AJ Ewart Wins British Columbia Juvenile Boys Championships At Spallumcheen
Coquitlam' AJ Ewart Proudly Displays The Hardware From His Win At The BC Juvenile Boys Championship Played At Spallumcheen In Vernon - Image Credit Alfie Lau
by Alfie Lau
VERNON (August 20) - AJ Ewart of Coquitlam shot his third consecutive under-par round and took home the BC Juvenile Boys Championship by six strokes over runner-up Keaton Gudz.
Ewart shot rounds of 70, 66 and 69 to finish at (-8) 205. Gudz shot a final round 73 to finish at (-2) 211, while Andrew Spalti and Tristan Mandur finished T3 at (-1) 212.
For Ewart, it’s the biggest British Columbia Golf title he’s won since winning the 2012 BC Bantam Boys title. “I’ve been so close so many times so to finally win, I’m pretty happy right now,” said Ewart. “It’s pretty surreal.”
Ewart played a conservative tournament schedule, doing well at the Canadian Juniors but skipping the Canadian Amateur before he went to Wood Buffalo, AB to play the Western Canada Summer Games.
Ewart would win double gold there, winning as part of the BC team and also the individual boys title. He capped it all off with his win at Spallumcheen. “I took the five days off after the Canadians and that was good,” said Ewart. “I know I can always play the Canadian Amateur when I get older.”
Ewart started with a steady front nine which included two bogeys and three birdies. Ewart had begun the day with a one shot lead and his closest challenger, Cowichan’s Callum Davison, made no birdies on the front 9, with his two bogeys putting him four shots back of Ewart as they made the turn.
Ewart ended all suspense on the 10th hole when he hit an iron on the short par-4 and wedged up to make birdie. Davison was more aggressive, hitting driver and making bogey for a two-shot swing that gave Ewart a six-stroke lead.
“I kept on telling myself I had to play safe,” said Ewart. “As we were waiting on the 10th hole, I thought about hitting driver, but I knew the safe play was to hit an iron.”
Even with a bogey on the 12th hole, Ewart nursed his lead through to the end, winning in grand style with a birdie on the 18th hole even when his drive went down the ninth fairway. “I think I have some strokes to give,” said Ewart as he walked triumphantly up the ninth fairway. “I think I’ll be OK.”
image credit alfie Lau
AJ Ewart Was Solid On The Greens Throughout The Tournament
Victoria’s Keaton Gudz, who played in the final group with Ewart and Davison, also couldn’t get anything going on his front nine, with his two bogeys putting him too far back of Ewart to make a run on the back 9.
“He played unbelievable and he deserved to win because the played the best for all three days,” said Gudz. “He made a lot of putts and he got out in front and we weren’t going to catch him.”
Ewart just has one more tournament this summer, an AJGA event, before he gets ready for his high school basketball season, which begins in October. “I think I’ve grown seven inches in the last 8 months,” said 5’-11” youngster.
BEST BALL
In the best ball competition, the team of AJ Ewart and Khan Lee won the title after shooting a (-9) round of 62 to finish at (-22) 191, two strokes better than the second place team of Keaton Gudz and Tristan Mandur. The all-girl team of Megan Ratcliffe and Abigail Rigsby finished third at (-19) 194.
ZONE CHAMPIONSHIP
In the Zone Championship, the Zone 3 Fraser Valley Team of Khan Lee, AJ Ewart, Mitchell Thiessen and Isaac Lee won with a (-5) score of 421. They beat the second-place team, Zone 6 by 16 strokes. Zone 6 consists of Callum Davison, Aidan Goodfellow, Jeremiah Morris and Johnny Dial.
For full results from the BC Juvenile at Spallumcheen, please click here: