Career-Best Round Gives John The Lead At B.C. Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship
Leah John Is Your First Round Leader In The 2018 BC Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship At Kimberley Golf Club - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Leah John doesn’t quite know what she is going to do for an encore in Wednesday’s second round of the B.C. Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship at Kimberley Golf Club.
All John did in Tuesday’s first round was fire a bogey-free, course-record four-under par 68 to grab a two-shot lead. “That was my first bogey-free round and also the best score I have ever had,” the 18-year-old Vancouver resident said after the round.
John, who is a member of Marine Drive Golf Club, credited her playing partners with helping her go low. “I just hung in there as long as I could,” she said.
“I did a good job of staying in the moment, especially with my putts. My putting was definitely a deciding factor today. The girls I was playing with, Amanda Minni and Phoebe Yue, are both strong players and they really pushed me today. So I was really appreciative of that opportunity.”
Karen Zhang of Richmond shot a two-under 70 and sits alone in second place, while Minni is third after opening with a 71. John had to make some key par-saving putts to keep her card clean. “I had two or three par-save putts where I had six feet or so and just stayed in the moment, took my time reading the putt and just made them,” she said.
Not surprisingly, John said she loves Kimberley Golf Club. “I guess to put it simply, it is not boring,” John said. “Every shot is different, you are forced to shape your shots, it is hilly and you can’t see the greens most of the time, so it makes it a really fun course to play on.”
John just graduated from York House School in Vancouver. She is taking a gap year and plans to work hard on her golf game. She hopes to play collegiate golf in the fall of 2019.
She has a number of big tournaments scheduled this summer, including the Canadian Women’s Amateur at her home course. “I was fortunate enough Marine Drive gave me their exemption,” she said. “I am so excited.”
John doesn’t quite know what to expect the rest of the way, acknowledging she is uncharted territory. “To be brutally honest with you, I haven’t been in these situations all that many times,” she said. “It will be a good learning experience. I guess I will just try to take it shot-by-shot and hole-by-hole, just breathe and also enjoy the day. I just want to enjoy the experience.”
Click HERE for complete BC Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship scoring.
CHIP SHOTS: Surrey’s Claire Lovan sits fourth after opening with an even-par 72. Three players -- Angela Arora of Surrey, Tina Jiang of Richmond and Emily Lili Xu of Burnaby -- all shot 73s. Langley's Rebecca Jiang had the shot of the day with a hole-in-one on the 175-yard par 3 7th hole. The 72-hole competition runs through Friday. The top three players after Friday’s final round will represent B.C. at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, which goes July 31-Aug. 3 at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen.