James Lee Opens Title Defence With Seven-Under 64 At B.C. Junior Boys Championship; Ha Young Chang And Dana Smith Share Junior Girls’ Lead
James Lee Is Off To A Solid Start In Defence Of His Junior Boys Title - File Image Credit Chuck Russell/Golf Canada
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
PRINCE GEORGE -- James Lee delivered a message to the rest of the field that he is deadly serious about defending his B.C. Junior Boys Championship.
All the 16-year-old did in Monday’s first round at Prince George Golf & Curling Club was drop nine birdies and shoot a seven-under 64. “Mostly, it was pretty stress-free,” Lee said of his round. “I made a couple of 10-footers and took care of the par 5s nicely. My putter was treating me well.”
Lee, a dual citizen who divides his time between the San Francisco area and Whistler, won last year’s B.C. Junior at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver.
He arrived in Prince George knowing his game was in nice shape. Lee lost in a playoff at the recent Bayonet Amateur in Seaside, Calif., on a golf course regarded as one of the toughest in the state.
Prince George Golf & Curling Club is a much more forgiving layout that allows Lee to unleash his driver on most of the par 4s and 5s. “You can kind of spray it anywhere, to be honest,” Lee said. “And if you don’t reach another fairway there’s just some little trees and rough in between them, so it’s generally not too bad.”
Lee has a one-shot lead on Richmond’s William (QiDong) Wei, who needed just 31 strokes on Prince George’s back nine. Manu Gandhi of North Vancouver and Joshua Ince of Surrey are tied for third after both shooting four-under 67s.
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British Columbia Golf Would Like To Thank TOURISM PRINCE GEORGE & COL JUICERY For Their Generous Support In Helping To Make This Provincial Junior Championship Happen
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Lee thinks Prince George could play tougher the rest of the week. “Thankfully, they had it set up pretty easy today with a lot of the tees up and the pins on flat parts of the greens,” he said. “They have got some interesting greens here and the ability to really trick this place out and put some tough pins with long holes. From what I saw in the practice round, this place could get pretty difficult later in the week.”
The B.C. Junior Girls Championship is also being held at Prince George this week and a new champion will be crowned as Burnaby’s Luna Lu is not defending her title. The girls played later in the day and Surrey’s Ha Young Chang and Dana Smith of Campbell River opened with one-over 72s to share the first-round lead.
Chang, 15, tied for fourth at last month’s B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Arbutus Ridge Golf Course in Cobble Hill. She just finished Grade 9 at Elgin Park Secondary and this past spring made it to the finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition at Augusta National Golf Club.
Smith, 18, is heading to Simon Fraser University this fall to begin her collegiate career. Rebecca Kim and Yeeun (Jenny) Kwan, both of Surrey, share third place after shooting two-over 73s.
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