In its third year, the Sea to Sky Junior Golf Championship is bursting at the seams. The tournament, which is open to corridor golfers aged 10 to 18, filled its 24 spots and generated a waiting list before the games begin with a fun two-ball scramble on Friday (July 23) and the opening competition round on Monday (July 26).
"It's become a very popular tournament," said event organizer Charlie Maxwell of the 麻豆社国产Valley Golf Club.
With more youngsters clamouring to play, he said, "we're probably going to have to expand our area to include North and West Vancouver."
The three-round tournament draws corridor athletes who like to hit the links, from novices to advanced and skilful players, and tries to create "a different environment for the kids to exist in," Maxwell said.
In the serene golf course settings, "they learn to relate to each other, they learn consideration, they learn compassion," he said.
Maxwell, one of the veteran CPGA-certified instructors at the 麻豆社国产Valley course, said the tournament has shown there are some good players in the Sea to Sky Corridor, and the winners of the first two tournaments have produced some good scores.
Squamish's Patrick McEachran led the way overall in the 2009 edition, posting a gross score of 242 strokes despite last summer's blazing heat. Whistler's Ethan Fairley was the tournament's inaugural champion in 2008. McEachran is "looking forward to defending" his title next week, Maxwell said.
Last year, Squamish's Amanda Woida won the girls' division with a gross score of 265 and led the longest drive competition with her 271-yard rocket. Whistler's Rebecca Flynn impressed, too, as the category's runner-up, and both players are expected to return in 2010, with Woida flying back from Africa in time to walk the fairways in Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish.
"There's some really talented kids showing up," Maxwell said.
Organizer Adriane Polo said this year's tournament is drawing nine players from Whistler as well as a few from Pemberton, with the balance from the 麻豆社国产area.
The three-part tournament officially begins Monday at 2 p.m. with the first round of play at Pemberton's Big Sky Golf and Country Club, followed by rounds at Whistler's Nicklaus North Golf Course on Tuesday (July 27) and 麻豆社国产Valley on Wednesday (July 28), both at 2 p.m.
The Chateau Whistler Golf Club is getting in on the action this year, too, welcoming the Sea to Sky players to a two-ball scramble event that will serve as a fun warmup to the competitive rounds. Working together in four-person teams, players will shoot and putt from the best ball.
"There's a lot of comradeship in that kind of a deal It's a great deal of fun, the kids love it," Maxwell said.
The tournament runs with a handicap system to level the playing field in each category. The event has four flights: boys 10 to 12, 13 to 15 and 16 to 18 and girls 10 to 18.
The tournament size of 24 entries is dictated by the amount of time the event's players can have on the Sea to Sky courses in their busy season, and organizers are "very thankful that we can get any time at all," Maxwell said.
