The clock is ticking on his junior golf career and Manpreet Lalh would like nothing better than to end it with a bang.
“Yeah, that is definitely my goal,” Lalh said. “I came into the year saying, ‘it’s my last year, so we have to buckle down a bit and get it done.’”
The 18-year-old from Nanaimo certainly got it done in the first round of the B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Quilchena Golf & Country Club in Richmond...
Lahl fired a five-under 67 to grab a three-way share of the lead at the 72-hole championship. Defending champion Austin Krahn of Christina Lake and Oakley Mayner of Kelowna also opened with 67s.
The big-hitting Lahl, who is heading to the University of B.C. this fall, feasted on the par 5s. He birdied all four of them after setting himself up with long drives. “I hit an eight-iron into two of them and a seven-iron into the other two,” Lahl said.
“My length is definitely a big advantage because this course doesn’t play short,” Lahl said of Quilchena, “It’s nice to be able to have seven- and eight-irons into the par 5s. It’s a lot better than fives or fours, that’s for sure.”
Krahn eagled the par 5 18th to finish off his round in style. “I hit a 4-iron into 18 from about 207 yards and caught it a little bit off the toe and needed to get a bounce up. It landed pretty firm and got up there. It was a good shot.”
Krahn, who rolled in his 12-footer for eagle, said being defending champion this week is serving as extra motivation. “I think it’s a massive motivation. You always want to play well and you have that reputation of playing well in the past, so there’s kind of an expectation.”
Mayner, who is heading to UBC-Okanagan to play his collegiate golf this fall, eagled two holes en route to a 30 on the front side. “The first eagle on No. 5 was about a 15-foot putt,” he said. “Then I holed out from about 130 yards on the par 4 seventh hole. I hit a pitching wedge and it landed, took two hops and went in.”
The 18-year-old Mayner could have gone even lower. His foot slipped on his tee shot on the par 4 17th hole and his ball hooked out of bounds. He went on to make a double-bogey, but bounced back with a nice up and down birdie on No. 18. “There were a couple of other shots on the back I wish I could re-do, but it’s all right, I am happy with a 67.”
Maxim McKenzie of Chilliwack and Eden Kim of Coquitlam are just one shot back after shooting 68s. Kim had seven birdies in his round.
Click HERE for complete scoring from the first round.
CHIP SHOTS: The top three players this week will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship, which is being played Aug. 12-15 in Bathurst, N.B.