Back-To-Back 72s From 11-Year-Old Long Highlight MJT’s Inaugural Greater Toronto Area Stop
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2018-05-23
Lakeridge Links & Whispering Ridge
BROOKLIN, Ontario (MJT) — It was a great first tournament at Lakeridge Links Golf Course in Brooklin for the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour on the newly introduced Greater Toronto Area circuit this past weekend, directed by PGA of Canada Master Professional Henry Brunton, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and a welcomed addition to MJT Tournament Director Dave Smallwood’s Ontario team.
Players were competing for the Hoselton trophy in six divisions as well as for short-listed age-specific exemptions into the IMG Academy Junior World Championships in San Diego, CA, this July. Finalists will be announced once qualifying finishes across the country. Direct exemptions into the Future Champions Golf Callaway World Championship at the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort in Rancho Mirage, CA, were also on the line.
The MJT members who qualified accordingly for these two different international tournaments were Mekenna Kehoe (Strathroy, ON), Katie Cranston and Nicole Gal (Oakville, ON), Cynthia Ni (Richmond Hill, ON), Alex Long (Toronto, ON), Owen Kim (Oakville, ON), and Bennett Ruby (Waterloo, ON).
MJT Junior Boys 17-18: Jaxon Shelton, 17, of Camlachie, ON, overcame a one-shot deficit after the first round to win the Junior Boys division by five shots over Eric Tae Kyoung Yun, 17, of Richmond Hill, ON.
MJT Juvenile Boys 15-16: In the MJT Juvenile Boys division, Bennett Ruby, 16, of Waterloo, ON, fired two impressive rounds of 71-74 (145), good enough for an 11-shot victory over local favourite Jordan Breen, 15, of Brooklin, ON, and low overall off the blue tees. With his scores, Ruby earned himself a short-list position and hopes his scores will be good enough to send him to San Diego in July.
MJT Bantam Boys 13-14: Owen Kim, 13, of Oakville, ON, led wire-to-wire in the MJT Bantam Boys division with rounds of 74-73 (147). Runner up honours went to Beni Long, 13, of Toronto, ON, who shot a two-day total of 153 (80, 73).
MJT Peewee Boys 12U: Alex Long, 11, of Toronto, ON, ran away with the MJT Peewee Boys title after shooting a very impressive even-par 144 (72, 72) off the red tees. Long will hope those remarkable scores will hold up in the Boys 11-12 division as qualifying wraps up across the country.
MJT U15 Girls: Mekenna Kehoe, 12, of Strathroy, ON, was the champion in the MJT U15 Girls division with a two-day total of 164 (77, 87). Kehoe opened the tournament which an outstanding five-over-par 77, good enough for an eight-shot lead over the closest competitor. The lead proved to be insurmountable as runner-up finishers Katie Cranston, 14, of Oakville, ON and Nicole Gal, 13, also of Oakville, ON finished three strokes back.
MJT 15-18 Girls: In a tightly contested MJT Girls 15-18 division, Cynthia Ni, 15, of Richmond Hill, ON was victorious by a single stroke over Kiley Rodrigues, 17, of Kingston, ON. Only two shots back was third place finisher Lauren Bevan, 15, of Pickering, ON.
In addition to the individual division champions featured above, overall event highlights are posted on the MJT website here which show winner details for the PLYR Long Drive, PLYR Closest-to-the-Pin, MJT Comeback Award as well as the MJT Academy Program Point Standings.
The next Boston Pizza-presented Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour stop in the province is the MJT-PGA of Ontario Junior Championship at Galt Country Club in Cambridge, June 16 and 17. There are a number of international competitions qualifying players from this major event on the Ontario schedule, so players are encouraged to register early to secure a spot. The event following this is the MJT Ontario Canada Day Classic at Tarandowah Golfers Club, in Springfield, June 30 and July 1, another major qualifier for international events. For more information please visit www.maplejt.com or call 1-877-859-4653.
About the MJT: The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour presented by Boston Pizza is Canada’s number one-played Junior Golf Tour as well as the only national junior tour run exclusively by PGA of Canada Professionals and the ‘Road to College Golf’ in Canada. The organization is presented nationally by Boston Pizza and supported by valued Premier, Tournament and Product Partners. The MJT hosts more than 70 events across Canada, including free Ford Go Golf Junior Clinics, the MJT Mini Tour for 7-12 year olds, the Collegiate Tour for 19-23 year olds, and multi-day events for competitive players aged 11 to 18, which are also qualifiers for international competitions. The program offers annual awards, scholarships, and frequent player incentives to help reward player's performance and participation throughout each season. MJT alumni include many Professional Tour players and PGA of Canada Professionals, as well as Canadian Amateur, National and Provincial Junior Champions. The MJT aims to develop champions, in golf and in life, promoting the game from grassroots through to provincial, national, university and professional level. For more information on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, please visit www.maplejt.com