Junior golfers dust off snow and play

By Medicine Hat News on May 7, 2019.

Bad weather may have slowed the start of Medicine Hat’s golf season, but local juniors were busy competing already this past weekend.

At a snowy Paradise Canyon in Lethbridge, a handful of Hat-and-area boys were among the leaders at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s Alberta Season Opener.

Caleb Kinch had the best finish, third in the junior boys division with rounds of 72 and 73 on the par-71, 6,372-yard layout. Pincher Creek’s Ethan Choi won, shooting 3-under on the final day to wind up at even par.

Perhaps the most exciting moment for the Gas City crew was provided by Nolan Burzminski. Burzminski got a hole-in-one on the 12th hole in Sunday’s final round, helping him to a seventh-place finish in the junior division with rounds of 77 and 78.

Other Hat products in the 17 – and 18-year-old division included Sam Bratvold (13th) and Mathieu Chapdelaine (withdrawn). Redcliff’s Brady DeBoice was 16th.

In juvenile boys, 16-year-old Ryan Hodgins was tied for 10th, while Desert Blume’s Jacob Dorton was 28th.