Lightning strikes for Kelowna golfer en route to junior victory at Harvest

While intense storm conditions on Monday cancelled the scheduled first round of the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’ Ford Series event at the Harvest Golf Club on Monday, Kelowna’s Derek Graham had a four-hole lightning strike of his own a day later on the way to the junior-division championship.

Graham, playing on his home course, birdied the seventh, eighth and 10th holes and sandwiched an eagle in between on the ninth en route to carding his best-ever tournament round of 4-under 68.

Despite three-putt first-hole bogey and stumbling to consecutive bogeys on the 15th and 16th, Graham, who also claimed a birdie on the par-5 14th, held on for a two-stroke victory over Austin Bosquet of Coldstream in the shortened version of the tournament.

A member of the UBC Okanagan Heat golf team last season, Graham attributed his sub-par streak midway through the round and for most of the day to his short game.

“My putter was hot and I was hitting a solid wedge,” said the 18-year-old, who will again vie for a spot on the UBCO team at a qualifying tournament next month at the Okanagan Golf Club. “After playing poorly around the green at the MJT tournament in Kamloops last month, I’ve been working with A.J. Eathorne at Predator Ridge on that part of the game. It really paid off.

Graham’s eagle came on the 530-yard par-5 ninth hole. He hit his drive from the blue tee to within 215 yards of the pin and had his second shot end up 15 feet from the hole.

“I had hit a four-iron over the green on Monday, so I went with a six -iron this time,” he explained. “Then I was really just wanting to get close with my putt for the birdie, but the ball found the hole.”

The win earned the 2015 Kelowna Secondary School graduate a berth on the Maple Leaf Junior Tour B.C. team at the International Team Challenge at Hunters Pointe Golf Club near Niagara Falls, Ont. in September.

Third place in Tuesday’s MJT tournament junior division went to 19-year-old Ryan Buchanan, another KSS grad who shot a 73, tied with Tyler Leclair of North Vancouver. Marcus Apchin, a teammate of Graham at KSS, placed fifth by firing a 74.

Meanwhile, Matt Hopley of Kelowna continued to show why he’s considered one of the top young golfers in the province by carding a 68 off the white tees to lead the field of 14 in the bantam division.

The 14-year-old Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club junior member earned the title with a six-stroke margin over Hunter Penalva of Vernon.

“I’m very happy that I could break 70 for the first time in a tournament and win,” said Hopley, a member of the Zone 2 team earlier this summer at the B.C. junior championship. “I would really like to go down to Arizona for nationals and compete with some of the best 13- and 14-year-olds in the country.”

Brandon Chai, 15, of Coldstream, shot 71 to edge 15-year-old Andy Jang of Langley by a stroke for his first MJT victory in the juvenile boys division.

“I hit a lot of greens, especially on the front nine and my bunker play was really good when I needed it to be,” said Chai, an Aberdeen Hall student in Kelowna. “There are a lot of good players on this tour. I feel really good because it is my first MJT win.”

Xander Bankes of Rossland came through with a solid 77 to win the MJT peewee (11-12) title by three strokes. Evan Douglas of West Kelowna placed fifth with an 82.

West Kelowna’s Rhiannon Jones, 18, was tops among the six female golfers, carding a par-72 and winning by five strokes over Haley Hewer of Penticton. Jones also receives a spot on MJT Team B.C. at the International Team Challenge.

The team of Penalva, Parker Wadsworth, George Wilkins and Cole Wilson from Predator Ridge Golf Resort in Vernon won the MJT Interclub competition at the tournament with a total net score of 137. They earned a free entry into the MJT Ford Series event at Predator Ridge Golf Resort in Vernon Aug. 22-23.