The new and player friendly Heather Hills GC in Maple Ridge again hosted our Optimist Junior Linkster golfers, and despite the “scotch mist”, a great tournout of junior golfers from Age 5 to 15 took part and enjoyed all facets of the day, practicing, playing, chipping and putting skills contests, awards and of course, the popular “draw” prizes!

Age 6 & Under “Pee Wee” golfers were off and running – literally! They go first as they play “without delay”! Zackary Wilensky of Coquitlam was in fine form and with one birdie “2” took the first place trophy with an excellent round of 80. Our youngest golfer, just five days after birthday number 5, Ethan Posthumus, also from Coquitlam, took the silver medal in his always enthusiastic fashion. Very close to young Ethan, was the up and coming Thomas Reed of Maple Ridge, and Thomas will settle for the bronze medal this time. It's great to see our youngest enjoy “playing” golf!

Age 7 – 8 “Pee Wees” division was dominated by our number one player for the division, 8 year-old Ilirian Zalli from Vancouver. Ilirian fired a 52, helped by three birdie “2's” and just one bogey. The two under par round was almost the day's best! Ilirian takes the new Junior Linkster Canadian trophy for first and David Hu of Vancouver settles for the silver, with an excellent round himself, of 60. Markus Yiu, another young Vancouver, played a steady round too and enjoys another bronze medal.

Age 9 – 10 “Divots” division winner, a frequent top 3 competitor, was Perry Xin of Vancouver, whose 57 had two extra strokes added on as his foresome was penalized for being out of position and finishing over twenty minutes behind the field. Perry still collected the trophy for first, but by one slim shot over Vancouver's Andrew Spalti, who had a great day with 3 birdies on the first seven holes! Andrew takes the silver medal with his score of 60 and newcomer to golf, James Yoo of Port Moody, wins the bronze medal, recorrding a great birdie “2” himself on hole number 3. Well done James.

Age 11 – 12 “Bear Cubs” division winner, and a super young golfer, Henry Lee of Coquitlam, always has a smile and wave for everyone, is a popular winner of the new Junior Linkster trophy. Henry's round of 51 was 3 under par – with 5 birdie “2's”! Tough to compete with that, but Vancouver's Christian Zalli gave it a go and wound up taking the silver medal at 61. Rapidly improving Riley Baynton of Coquitlam turned in a solid round of 66 to take a well deserved bronze medal for third place.

Age 13 & Up “Tiger Cubs” division winners, with an all-Fraser Valley presence, had Coquitlam's Nick Yan get back into the trophy position, helped by three birdies, to hold off Dewdney's Jake Scarrow, who takes second at 62 and had two “deuces”. Jake is a very skillful and free spirit who keeps everyone in a light hearted mood. Third place bronze medal goes to the hard working Philip Mak of Vancouver. Philip had three birdies in the middle of his round and finished with a 63 on the Heather Hills layout.

Junior Girls divisions had Maple Ridge's Amy Ehlert take the first place trophy for the younger gals, and the classy Tiffany Kong of Vancouver just edged past Lily He and Cecile Kwon, both of Pitt Meadows. These three all had slow play penalties.


Age 6 & Under “Pee Wees”

1. Zackary Wilensky (Coq) 80 *Won putting & chipping skills
2. Ethan Posthumus (Coq) 90
3. Thomas Reed (MplRdg) 91


Age 7 – 8 “Pee Wees”

1. Ilirian Zalli (Van) 52 (-2)
2. David Hu (Van) 60
3. Markus Yiu (Van) 66
4. Sher Sidhu (Sry) 76 *Won putting & chipping skills
5. Kyle Chang(Wbnk) 80
6. Nicolas Vogel (Grbldi) 88
7. Harry Lee (Coq) 90
8. Hilo Yamamoto (Whistler) 96


Age 9 – 10 “Divots”

1. Perry Xin (Van) 59
2. Andrew Spalti (Van) 60 *Won chipping skills
3. James Yoo (Pmdy) 74 *Won puttiing skills
4. Christopher Dale (Mission) 85


Age 11 – 12 “Bear Cubs”

1. Henry Lee (Coq) 51 (-3)
2. Christian Zalli (Van) 61
3. Riley Baynton (Coq) 66
4. Chris Fletcher (Van) 69
5. James Lee (Van) 76


Age 13 – 15 “Tiger Cubs”

1. Nick Yan (Coq) 60
2. Jake Scarrow (Dwdny) 62
3. Philip Mak (Van) 63
4. Noah Driessen (Drche) 66
5. Joel Kraakman (Drche) 70 *Won putting skills
6. Russell Rosenburg(Chill) 70 *Won chipping skills
7. Adrian Kerkhoven (Chill) 73


Junior Girls Division – Division I Division II
1. Amy Ehlert (Mplrdg) 88 1. Tiffany Kong (Van) 62
2. Alyssa Chang (Wstbnk) 97 2. Lily He (Pmds) 63
3. Claire Lovan (Sry) dnf 3. Cecile Kwon (Pmds) 68
4. Julie Lym (Van) 69