Rocky View golfers had a good showing in the season’s first significant event in Lethbridge, last weekend.
Nick Scrymgeour of Cochrane won the boys’ 14-16 division, while Crossfield’s Patrick Murphy came third, during the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s MJT 1st Choice Savings Series event at the windy city’s Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, April 30 to May 1.
Airdrie’s Riley Fleming finished third in the boys’ 17-19 division, with Derek Rucki of Chestermere placing sixth and Cochrane’s Zac Sparks finishing 29th. Chestermere’s Andrew Rados also placed ninth in the 14-16 division, while Carter Cissell of Crossfield finished second in the boys’ 13 and under category.
Players braved stormy and mixed conditions on day one, followed by warmer weather on day two. Scrymgeour, 15, shot four strokes under par on the front nine of the final round to secure the victory.
“I birdied six through nine on the front to really get into it,” he said. “This is a great way to kick start this year. We had a great time, as Patrick (Murphy) and Matt (Williams, second-place finisher) are good friends. It kept me calm. The golf course was awesome, the pairings were awesome – it was perfect.”
Scrymgeour, who had rounds of 75 and 70, for an overall 145, also earned an exemption into an upcoming PGA Junior Series event in the U.S.
The Maple Leaf Junior Golf tour is Canada’s only national junior tour run exclusively by Canadian PGA professionals, and is considered the road to college golf for aspiring young players.
Its next event is scheduled for May 14-15, at the Nanton Golf Club, and will be a major international qualifier for the Callaway Junior World Championships in San Diego later this year.
Airdrie’s Ty Rattie and his Portland Winterhawks have advanced to the WHL Championship final series after defeating the Spokane Chiefs in six games during the Western Conference finals.
Portland will open the WHL final at home May 6 against the Eastern Conference champion Kootenay Ice.
Rattie, a likely first-round pick in next month’s NHL draft, has 16 points in 16 playoff games.
