Vest, Yang Lead Heading Into Final Round Of B.C. Juvenile Boys & Girls Championships
Ryan Vest, Shown Here In An Event From The Maple Leaf Junior Tour In Whistler Last Year, Is The 36-hole Leader In The B.C. Juvenile Boys Championship - Photo Submitted
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Vernon’s Ryan Vest shot the day’s best score, a three-under par 69 that moved him into the lead heading into Thursday’s final round of the B.C. Juvenile Boys Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club in Kelowna.
Vest, who plays out of the Predator Ridge Golf Resort, had six birdies and three bogeys on his card in Wednesday’s second round. He stands at three-under par through 36 holes and has a one-shot lead on Jace Minni of Delta.
The 54-hole event is open to players 16 years old and younger. The field consists of 79 boys. The B.C. Juvenile Girls Championship is also being contested at Gallagher’s Canyon with 15 players in the field.
On the girls’ side, Langley’s Emma Yang hung on to her lead. Yang, who plays out of The Redwoods Golf Course, shot a three-over 76 and is three-over par through two rounds. She leads by two shots over Victoria’s Akari Hayashi, who shot an even-par 73 on Wednesday.
Coquitlam’s Abby Chow is third at nine-over after a six-over 79 on Wednesday. Surrey residents Claire Lovan and Alyssa Chang are tied for fifth spot at 10-over par.
Things are tighter on the boys’ side of the tournament where eight players are within six shots of the lead. Minni, who plays out of Beach Grove Golf Club, fired a two-under 70 Wednesday to move into second place.
Niklas Jaakkola of North Vancouver is third at one-under par after shooting a two-under 70 Wednesday. Dylan Bercan sits fourth at even-par. First-round leader Kyle Chang of Surrey is tied for fifth place with Leo Harper of Burnaby at one-over par.
B.C. Junior Boys champion Ilirian Zalli of Burnaby is tied for eighth place at three-over par. Zalli came from behind to win last month’s Junior Boys championship, where he closed with an eight-under 64. He likely needs that kind of round to contend on Thursday.
A two-person best-ball competition is being held concurrently with the Juvenile Championship. The team of Harper and Billy Zhang of Coquitlam lead with a two-round total of 12-under. That is one shot better than the team of Alyssa Chang and Kyle Chang of Surrey.
The 36-hole Zone Competition was won by Zone 4 (Delta, Greater Vancouver, Squamish, Sunshine Coast), consisting of Burnaby's Harper and Zalli along with Angela Arora from Surrey and Adrian Murray of Delta . Zone 4 finished at eight-over par, 14 shots better than runner-up Zone 2 (Okanagan), comprised of Kelowna's Matt Hopley, Kaeden Miles and Kyle Mayner along with Adam Niles of Kamloops.
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