Canadians Eddie Gu and Alex Zhang Enter Winners Circle of the 2019 U.S. Kids Golf World Championships
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2019-08-07
By REEGAN PRICE, CJGA
PINEHURST, North Carolina — The 2019 U.S. Kids Golf World Championships wrapped up with a number of young Canadians placing in the top tier of the elite junior competition operated by U.S. Kids Golf. The Top Canadian performances of the competition were by Aurora, Ontario’s Eddie Gu (Boys 9) and Richmond, BC’s Alex Zhang (Boys 10) who both took the top spot in their respective divisions at the conclusion of the 54-hole competition.
Gu, who is a regular competitor on the CJGA’s Ontario Linkster Tour circuit strung together rounds of 70-67-70 over his three days at Pinehurst for a total of 207 (-9) which landed him in a tie for 1st in the Boys’ 9-year old division with Thailand's, Ajalawich Ananta Sethakul, following the conclusion of stroke play. Gu would go on to defeat Sethakul in a playoff to claim the top spot for this year’s championship.
Playing in the Boys’ 10 age division, Alex Zhang, posted rounds of 72-69-64 for a 54-hole total of 205 (-11) enough for a three-shot margin of victory over Anshul Mishra (India) and Luke Parsons (USA). Zhang who is also a regular competitor on the CJGA’s Linkster circuit in British Columbia is no stranger to being at the top of the leaderboard having posted a win and three Top-10 finishes already this year.
Five other Canadians finished in the Top-10 in their divisions at this year’s championship including Elliana (Scarborough, ON – T2 Girls 9), Jayden Arnold (Calgary, AB – 3rd Boys 8), Anna Huang (Vancouver, BC – 3rd Girls 10), Alexis Card (Cambridge, ON – 7 Girls 8), and Aleah Shields-Rodipe (Calgary, AB – T8 Girls 8). In total 69 Canadians from age 6 – 12 took part in this year's U.S. Kids Golf World Championships after qualifying or receiving invitations to participate through various channels this spring.
“We want to congratulate all the Canadians who took part in this year's U.S. Kids Golf World Championships. The performance of Eddie & Alex in this year's championship along with the sheer number of young Canadians who took part at Pinehurst demonstrates that the level of competitive talent in Canada is strong and the desire of Canadians to compete at the highest level is still growing, we look forward to continuing to offer opportunities to young Canadian players to earn their way into these elite championships,” said Earl Fritz, Executive Director of the Canadian Junior Golf Association.
Each Spring the Canadian Junior Golf Association holds a number of regional qualifiers on the CJGA Linkster Tour for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships across Canada which help to award exemptions into the World Championships based on their individual performance. This summer the CJGA also partnered with U.S. Kids to create two new U.S. Kids Local Tours in Toronto and Atlantic Canada with the aim of expanding into additional markets in 2020.
2019 – U.S. Kids Golf World Championship Results – Click Here
2019 – U.S. Kids Golf World Championships Canadian Finishes
Boys 6 & Under
Bentley Hoogerdyk – T20
Girls 7 & Under
Keisha An – T19
Kaeleigh Chung – T26
Boys 7
Mason Garant – T34
Rickie Wang – 44
Dustin Zhao – T69
Girls 8
Alexis Card – 7
Aleah Shields Rodipe – T8
Mila Snook – T21
Ava Gilbart – T49
Ari Tur – T54
Boys 8
Jayden Arnold – 3
Matthew Cui – T16
Liam Ampil – T72
Bryce Burridge – T72
Bennett Love – T100
Adrien Breault – T116
Girls 9
Elliana Buhagiar – T2
Nobelle Park – T29
Lilian Zhao – T36
Serin Girard – T50
Kaprice Park – T50
Sarah Kim – T62
Vivian Zhao – T77
Grace McKee – T84
Payton Pattison – T89
Boys 9
Eddie Gu – 1st
Max Li – T77
Grady Anaka – T106
Lucas Sturgeon – T118
Carter Lavigne – 123
Chase Strang – T128
Girls 10
Anna Huang – 3
Celina Yeo – 13
Eileen Park – T45
Francesca Ampil – T53
Charlotte Sparrow – T61
Juanita Beatrix Tandoc – T70
Sierra Kowalyshyn – 92
Boys 10
Alex Zhang – 1st
Manav Bharani – T18
Jaden August – T31
Dawson Lew – T35
Brayden Card – T45
Matthew Simpson – T54
David Hopkins – T63
Chengze Zhu – T81
Lucas Gilbart – T83
Girls 11
Michelle Xing – 28
Swetha Sathish – T36
Boys 11
Sky Sun – 14
Eric Zhao – T18
Luke Smith – T22
Harvey Liu – T89
Rylan Sutherland – T132
Brady Durkin – 143
Girls 12
Emily McKee – T37
Alexa Ouellet – T47
Bridget Wilkie – T51
Sienna Harder – T68
Aly Donoghue – T89
Giselle Wong – T102
Sarah Yang – T107
Ann-Sophie Bourgault – WD
Boys 12
Jordan Hwang – T16
Jayden Brar – T46
Jeremiah Walker – T65
Kurt Rivers – T77
Matthew Rastogi – T103