Burnaby’s Ryan Lee was on his game, especially on the second round, en route to topping the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s Humber College PGM Classic at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey last week.
The 11-year-old golfer fired rounds of 76 and 73 to capture first overall in the boys peewee division, winning by four strokes.
Giving him a handle on the lead began with putting.
“In my opinion, I think that my highlight in this event was getting an eagle on the seventh hole because I was one back of the lead, and then I drained that putt to lead by one,” Lee said in a statement.
“The key reasons for my victory was my good – but sometimes lucky – putts on every single hole.”
After an opening round of four-over 76, where two birdies were balanced out by two double-bogeys, Lee started the second day two strokes back of the leader.
On the par-5 seventh hole, he got onto the green in two and sank the putt, which lifted him into the lead.
He would birdie four more holes before the day was done, finishing one-over par on the round, and at 149, five-over for the tournament.
“The fact that I can hit my driver 300 yards and get it in two on most of the par fives also helped me achieve some vital birdies,” added Lee.
Surrey’s Justin Bjornson sat second overall, while Burnaby’s Denby Carswell placed fourth, after rounds of 79 and 82 for a 161 total.
In the bantam boys division, 14-year-old Andy Luo matched Vancouver’s Cole Bowering shot-for-shot through 36 holes, forcing a playoff.
On the first extra hole, Bowering took it by a shot.
Luo’s second-place result after the playoff was a result of a strong second round, where he erased a four-shot deficit to pull even. Three birdies on the final day helped level the field and force an extra hole.
He finished the tournament with a two-day total of 153 (79, 74).
In the 15-18 girls division, Emily Xu was fairly consistent with rounds of 79 and 80 (159) to finish 17 shots back of winner Susan Xiao of Surrey. Xu placed eighth overall.
In under-15 girls, Burnaby’s Luna Lu finished 12th overall.
