MJT Providing Lessons For Golfers Of The Future

(files from the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour)

Overall champion and Boys 14-16 winner was MJT veteran Jay Kim, 16, of Coquitlam and Morgan Creek Golf Club, who fired 71 to win by five strokes.

"I hit 16 greens which made it easier and I hit a lot of fairways," he said. "The conditions were very good considering it is late September and coming down the stretch I just wanted to play it safe and let nothing bother me; I feel good about this win."

Runner-up was Maple Ridge's Tae-In Lee, 16, of Swan-e-set Bay Resort (76) and third place was scooped by Gunntas Sidhu, 14, of Port Coquitlam and Meadow Gardens Golf Club (77).

Two 15-year-old girls, both from Coquitlam, took first and second place in the Girls division. Former MJT Cleveland Golf Player of the Year, Jennifer Yang, carded an even par 72 to beat Anica Yoo by two strokes. Deroche's Brooklyn Kraakman, also 15 and a junior at Mission Golf Club, placed third after posting a score of 77 for the day.

Another Coquitlam player took top honours in the Boys 17-19 division: Chris Lee, 17, of Pitt Meadows Golf Club, shot 74 to win by four strokes over Brett Sherwood, 17, of Surrey and Surrey Golf Club. Lee outlined the main reasons for his success as his putting and ball striking;

"I also owe my victory to some luck," he confessed. "I was thinking I needed to finish strong to have a chance at winning. The weather was optimal for golf. I feel good (about winning)."

A score of 79 gave third place to Andrew Rasmussen, 17, of Delta and King's Links Golf Club.

Falls Golf Club junior, Tristan Desjarlais, 13, posted his best tournament round this season to win his first MJT title in Boys 13 and under. Desjarlais, who shot 74, said, "I feel great because I have never won on the MJT before. Down the stretch I was thinking I got to go par, par, but then I went bogey, birdie. So it was good."

Jun Kang, 13, of Port Moody and Redwoods Golf Club, took second place (78) and Jaesung Choi, 13, of North Vancouver and Seymour Golf Club, came third (80).

The divisional winners in the Mr. Lube Long Drive Competition were Jun Kang, Brandon Brassart, 16, of Abbotsford, Chris Lee and Jennifer Yang. The Sundog Skills competition divisional winners were Cole Briggs, 12, of Langley, Sean Moen, 16, of North Vancouver, Andrew Rasmussen and Jamie Oleksiew, 15, of South Surrey. There were also many draw prize winners in the tournament.

The other two tournaments on the MJT Srixon One Day Series are at Point Roberts Golf and Country Club in Point Roberts, WA, on October 10th, and at University Golf Club in Vancouver on October 17th. For more information or to register, visit www.maplejt.com or call 1-877-859-4653.

The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT), presented nationally by Boston Pizza, provides opportunities for young Canadians to learn how to golf and introduces players as young as four years old to the game via free instructional clinics. In addition, the MJT encourages young players to further their education with scholarship awards.

MJT SRIXON ONE DAY SERIES
Meadows Gardens GC - - September 27, 2009

Boys 14-16
Par 72, Yardage 6597, Slope/Rating 123/71.6

1 Jay Kim, Surrey, Morgan Creek GC 16 71
2 Tae-In Lee, Maple Ridge, Swan-e-Set Bay GC 16 76
3 Gunntas Sidhu, Port Coquitlam, Meadow Gardens GC 14 77
4 Sean Moen, North Vancouver, Osoyoos G&CC 16 78
5 Andy Yang, Coquitlam, Swan-e-Set Bay Resort 16 78
T6 Ryan Grill, Abbotsford, Ledgeview G&CC 16 80
T6 Ayrton Mantha, Penticton, Penticton GC 16 80
T6 Brandon Brassart, Abbotsford, Ledgeview G&CC 16 80
T9 Tony Mak, Richmond, Mayfair Lakes GC 14 81
T9 Tom Bang, Coquitlam, Westwood Plateau GC 15 81
11 Oscar Baek,Coquitlam, Swan-e-Set Bay GC 14 82
T12 Callum Robinson, Langley, Hazelmere GC 15 83
T12 John Kim, Coquitlam, Redwoods GC 16 83
T14 Kenny Zhou, Richmond, Quilchena GC 14 85
T14 Mitchell Anderson, Coquitlam, Westwood Plateau GC 14 85
16 Alex Sohn, Langley, Redwood GC 16 87
17 Dylan Reichelt, Langley, Newlands GC 16 89
T18 Howard Lee, Port Coquitlam, Redwoods GC 14 89
T20 Victor Baptiste, Oliver, Nk'mip Canyon 14 90
T20 Gage Marchand, Maple Ridge, Pitteadows GC 16 90
T20 Aaron Tham, North Vancouver, Seymour Golf Acad. 15 90
T20 Yuan Zhai Vancouver, - - - 14 90
24 Jason Koh, Maple Ridge, Redwood 94
25 Bryce McLean, Armstrong, Royal York GC 14 96
26 Brett Teister, Maple Ridge, Swan-e-Set Bay GC 16 100
27 Paul Bordignon, Burnaby, Westwood Plateau GC 15 102
28 Kaibo Ma, Vancouver, University GC 15 103
29 Alexander Moidl, Maple Ridge, Westwood Plateau GC 16 109
Myles DeBrincat, Coquitlam, Vancouver GC DNF
Eric Mitchell, Surrey, Surrey GC DNS
Ian Matthews, Coquitlam, Golf Academy at Westwood Plateau 16 DNS

Boys 17 & Up
Par 72, Yardage 6597, Slope/Rating 123/71.6

1 Chris Lee, Coquitlam, Pitteadows GC 17 74
2 Brett Sherwood, Surrey, Surrey GC 17 78
3 Andrew Rasmussen, Delta, King's Links GC 17 79
4 Jung-Sang Yu, Langley, Redwoods GC 19 82
5 Alex Thierman, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows GC 19 83
6 Brendan Southwind, Vancouver, Quilchena GC 17 84
7 Seung Jun Woo, Maple Ridge, Swan-e-Set Bay GC 17 93
8 Kyle Pettie, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows GC 17 96
9 Jae Jun Lee, Coquitlam, Pitteadows GC 18 98

Girls
Par 72, Yardage 5519, Slope/Rating 116/71.3

1 Jennifer Yang, Coquitlam, Swan-e-Set Bay Resort 15 72
2 Anica Heera Yoo, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows GC 15 74
3 Brooklyn Kraakman, Deroche, Mission G&CC 15 77
4 Jamie Oleksiew, S. Surrey, Hazelmere GC 15 78
5 Kailey Dirksen, Mission, Mission G&CC 17 90
6 Janelle Kraakman, Deroche, Sandpiper GC 15 92
7 Olivia Babichuk, Port Moody, Westwood Plateau Acad. 14 93