Earle Couper
Record Staff
A sizzling finish round 6-under par lifted Kevin Kwon to the junior boys championship of the CN Future Links Pacific Championship, held May 10-12 at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay.
Kwon, 18, of Pitt Meadows, B.C., soared to the top of the leaderboard Sunday afternoon as he birdied six of his final eight holes to snatch victory away from Mark Valliere of Courtenay, who took a one-stroke lead into Sunday's third round.
Kwon, a Team Canada Development Squad member had previously finished runner-up on two occasions at the CN Future Links Pacific Championship. He finished at 13-under-par for the tournament after rounds of 66-71-66 and was ecstatic to finally capture this title in his home province.
“This is huge, I came second here twice and I remember each of those tournaments,” Kwon said. “Mark [Valliere] and Hugo [Bernard] were playing solid all the way up to the end and I just happened to play well the last five or six holes to win.”
Kwon chipped on the 13th hole break away from fellow Development Squad teammate and overnight leader Valliere, 18, of the host Crown Isle club. Valliere finished in solo second behind Kwon at 7-under-par after a final round 73.
Cochrane, Alta., native Nicolas Scrymgeour, 17, finished in solo third at 5-under-par after a final round 70, while Team Canada Development Squad members Matt Williams, 17, of Calgary, and Hugo Bernard, 18, of Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., finished in fourth and fifth respectively after rounds of 71 and 73.
On the junior girls side Brooke Henderson, a member of Team Canada’s National Squad from of Smith Falls, Ont. finished one stroke ahead of teammate Jisoo Keel, 17, of Coquitlam, B.C., after firing a final round 2-under-par 70. The 15-year-old carded four birdies over the final 18 holes to finish at 9–under-par 207 (70-67-70) for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Keel.
Keel kept pressure on Henderson over the closing holes after posting birdies on holes 12, 13, 15, and 17 to finish at 8-under-par for the tournament after rounds of 71-67-70.
“This is awesome, it’s my first CN Future Links Pacific win and my third CN Future Links title,” said Henderson. “I played a solid three rounds to finish at 9-under-par so I’m pretty happy.”
“Jisoo kept me on my toes coming down the stretch,” she continued. “She’s a really great player and made some clutch putts when she needed to.”
The junior boys CN Future Links Pacific Champion earns an exemption into the 2013 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, which will be contested July 30-Aug. 2 at the Timberwolf Golf Club in Garson, Ont. The junior girls champion earns an exemption into the Royale Cup Canadian Junior Girls Championship July 30-Aug. 2 and a spot in any 2013 CN Canadian Women’s Tour event.
Other local junior boys turned in good performances at the tournament.
Logan Yanick of Courtenay (68-73-73=214) finished in a two-way tie for sixth. Terran Berger of Comox (72-72-76=220) tied for 14th. Matthew Irvine of Courtenay (72-73-81=227) tied for 32nd. Nicholas Crookall of Courtenay (80-77-85=242) was 59th. Tyson Slater of Comox (87-81-82=250) finished at 68th.
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– with a file from CN Future Links