Pitt Meadows golfing phenom Lily He may only be 12 years old, but she proved she has talent far beyond her years last weekend as she had the low overall score at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s Lindsay Kenney Classic at Swan-e-set Bay Resort and Country Club in Pitt Meadows.
He dominated the girls’ competition on her home course despite soggy conditions and a challenging course layout to end up even par over the two days with rounds of 71 and 73, winning the Girls’ Division and the low overall score.
“I made many important putts,” said He. “Coming down the stretch, I was just trying my best and trying to make a par. I feel great [about winning], happy and proud.”
Tied for second place in the girls’ competition nine strokes behind He were Janet Zhang, 14, of Richmond and Maple Ridge’s Keanna Mason, 15.
Logan Yanick, 15, of Courtenay won the Boys’ 14-16 Division title and his choice of the international exemptions up for grabs after firing rounds of 75 and 77 for a two-stroke victory.
Nick Kystal, who calls Pitt Meadows Golf Club home, was the top local competitor with rounds of 78 and 80 to finish in fourth place.
The Boys 17-19 Division title went to Tom Bang, 17, of Coquitlam, who carded rounds of 74 and 81 on his home course to beat runner-up Jacob Vanderpas of Vancouver by three strokes.
In the U-14 boys’ contest, Jackson Trozzo of Langley had rounds of 90 and 84 to win by six strokes.
The 36-hole two-day tournament also included an interclub competition and qualifying for international exemptions into the 60th East Aurora International Junior Masters and the US Junior Amateur Regional Qualifier.
Quilchena Golf Club’s four-player team made a comeback to take the MJT Interclub title over Swan-e-set’s team, while in the divisional skills competitions, long-drive awards went to Jesse Reichelt, Marcus Brown, Seo Ho Choi, and Janet Zhang.