Richmond’s Alex Zhang Hangs On To Win Canadian Junior Boys Championship
BC's Alex Zhang Won Both The Junior & Juvenile Boys National Titles - Image Credit Christian Bender/Golf Canada
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Alex Zhang is making a habit of winning big events the day before his birthday. His latest came on his final day as a 14-year-old at North Bay Golf Club in Ontario where the Richmond resident won the biggest title of his young life, the Canadian Junior Boys Championship. Actually, make that ‘titles,’ as Zhang also won the Juvenile Boys Championship for players aged 16 and under.
“Best gift ever,” a delighted Zhang said of a birthday present — two national championship trophies — that arrived a day early.
Two years to the day earlier, Zhang burst onto the junior golf scene by winning the 2021 B.C. Bantam Boys title at Langara Golf Course in Vancouver by eight shots.
This one was a little closer, although for a while it looked like Zhang might run away with the title. After three birdies on his front nine, Zhang had a five-shot lead when he made the turn in the final round of the championship. Then things got interesting, although that’s probably not the word Zhang would choose to describe his back nine.
He bogeyed the 11th and 12th holes, but still had a four-shot cushion. Things started to get uncomfortable when Zhang made his only double-bogey of the week at the par 3 16th hole. “I thought I hit a really good iron shot, but it went long,” Zhang said. “I actually four-putted. I was a little too aggressive with my second putt.”
He managed to par the 17th hole and a closing bogey on the 18th hole gave him a one-shot win over B.C. Junior Boys champion James Lee of Whistler and Jake Houston of Baie-D’Urfe, Que. “This is definitely very special and I am very proud of myself of being able to do this and add my name to the list of great players who have won this championship,” Zhang said. “It’s pretty cool. I had a sloppy finish, but I am really happy to get it done. It means a lot.”
Image Credit: Bryan Outram/BC Golf
Exactly Two Years Ago Alex Zhang Won The BC Bantam Boys Title At Langara GC
Zhang, who plays out of Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver and is entering Grade 10 at Magee Secondary, closed with a two-over 74 and finished the 72-hole event at two-under par. He becomes just the 11th player since the tournament’s inception to have won both the Junior and Juvenile Championships in the same year.
Zhang, a member of Golf Canada’s NextGen (junior) team, was proud of the way he handled some adversity on the back nine when his big lead started slipping away. “I am most proud of how I fought through the bad shots on the back nine today,” he said. “I was able to forget about them. In the past, I have had a little bit of a problem thinking about those shots too much. I was just trying to stay in the present, accept everything that happened and try my best on the next shot.”
The final round was played in breezy conditions, although that didn’t seem to bother Zhang in the early stages of his final round. He birdied the first hole and added two more on the front side. “I was a little nervous on the back nine,” Zhang said. “I just hit some sloppy shots and made a few mistakes that cost me. But I tried to stay in the moment and not let that bother me.”
Zhang’s two titles in North Bay reinforce the fact that he is one of this country’s rising young golf stars. He played on Canada’s second-place team at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan earlier this summer and was on British Columbia’s three-man team at the recent Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at Capliano Golf & Country Club in West Vancouver.
Lee, the two-time B.C. Junior Boys champion, has also had a big summer. He won the Northern California Junior Boys Championship and tied for 16th at the recent Canadian Amateur Championship. He was the low Canadian at the Pacific Coast Amateur.
Click HERE for complete final scoring from the Canadian Junior/Juvenile Boys Championships.
CHIP SHOTS: Vernon’s Ryan Vest, the runner-up at the past two B.C. Junior Boys Championships, tied for fourth in North Bay at even-par. Matthew Wilson of Nanaimo tied for 10th at four-over par. . .The B.C. team of Lee, Vest and Ryan Liang of Vancouver finished second, three shots behind Ontario, in the inter-provincial team competition.