Lee repeats as champion in China
MJT players battled the worst winter in more than half a century
After qualifying last year on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT), six junior golfers from across Canada were sent to compete in the China Junior Open, which ran January 22 to 25 at Huangshan Golf Club in Huangshan, Anhui Province, China. Organized by the China Golf Association, the HSBC China Junior Open attracted nearly 200 competitors from the mainland of China, Hong Kong, Macao region, the United States, France, Canada and other countries.
Kevin Lee, 13, of Surrey, B.C., who won as a 12-year-old in Hainan in 2007, shot 81-79-75 (235) and repeated as champion of his division with an incredible seven stroke winning margin. The stellar talents of the young Lee previously won him the MJT Cleveland Golf Player of the Year for boys 13 and under and two MJT National Tour Championship titles.
Scoring was impacted by a tricky golf course with many blind tee shots and the unexpected arrival of China’s worst winter in more than half a century. The journey back home for the Canadian contingent, which also included Sean Fraser of Sackville, NS, Lyle McKenzie of Winnipeg, MB, Ryan Werre of Redcliff, AB, Christopher Cooke of Canmore, AB, and Matthew Hamilton of West Vancouver, B.C., was achieved with some difficulty after the snowstorms paralyzed transportation and froze the power grid.
MJT International Events Partner, Travel Underwriters, kindly outfitted the junior golfers who enjoyed an incredible cultural experience with team chaperone Vince Liu despite the weather. Final scores and more tournament information can be found on the China Golf Association website at www.golf.org.cn.