After a two-month pause in competitive golf in B.C. due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour was able to resume its 2021 season on June 19 and 20 with an elite field of junior golfers competing for titles in six divisions at the MJT Ford Series at Hazelmere Golf & Tennis Club in Surrey.
John Paul Kahlert, 18, from Maple Ridge finished third in a tough Junior Boys division. He shot rounds of 73 and 78 for a 151 total.
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He was up against tough competition. The low overall score in the tournament was fired by Junior Boys first-place finisher Danny Im, with rounds of 71 and 74 (145), to win by a single shot. The 16-year-old MJT veteran player from Langley sat in a one-shot deficit after the first day, but finished with two birdies in his last three holes on day two to edge out the victory. He beat 2020 MJT Player of the Year, Kyle Mayner, 18, of Kelowna, BC, who shot solid scores of 70 and 76 (146) to finish second.
Kahlert is a Thomas Haney secondary graduate who signed to golf for the UBC Thunderbirds men’s golf team.
Full results can be viewed at maplejt.com.
The BC Junior Tour season next heads to Chilliwack on July 6 and 7 for MJT Ford Series at Chilliwack Golf and Country Club.
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The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour 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 MJT hosts close to 90 events across Canada, including free Ford Go Golf Junior Clinics, the MJT Mini Tour for 12U and multi-day events for competitive players aged 11-19 which also offer qualifiers for international tournaments. The program has annual awards, scholarships and incentives to help reward performance and participation throughout each season.
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