At a course named for a majestic bird of prey, a golfer named Crowe picked up his first tour victory.
Armstrong's DJ Crowe, who plays out of Vernon's Predator Ridge Resort, shot a 3-under 62 Saturday, April 26, to win the Zone 2 Junior Golf Tour stop at the Two Eagles Golf Club in West Kelowna. Crowe was two shots better than Finley Dober of Kelowna's Gallagher's Canyon Golf and Joshua Laverdiere of the Kelowna Golf and Country Club.
Crowe's round at Two Eagles did not actually include an eagle, but he did fire six birdies. His only blips were a double bogey on No. 7, and a bogey on No. 9.
Ellie Johnson from the Vernon Golf Academy was the top girl, finishing tied for eighth overall in a field of 41 boys and girls with a 5-over 70.
Kobe Menzies of Predator Ridge shot a 6-over 71 to nudge into the top-10 in 10th spot.
Nate MacPhee of Predator fired a 78 to finish alone in 19th spot.
The tour crossed Highway 97 to the Shannon Lake Golf Course in West Kelowna on Sunday, April 27, where Oakley Mayner of the Kelowna Golf and Country Club was the only player in the field of 43 to break par. Mayner collected his fourth tour victory of the season with a 3-under 67, good for a three-shot win over Dober.
Laverdiere and Luke Traverse of the Revelstoke Golf Club tied for third at 2-over 72.
Crowe finished in a tie for ninth with a 6-over 76.
MacPhee's 8-over 78 landed him in a three-way tie for 13th.
Jake Blankley from the Vernon Golf and Country Club landed in the top-20, shooting an 80 to finish alone in 17th position.
Menzies tied for 21st spot with an 83.Johnson fired an 85 to end up in a tie for 25th.
The tour will tee off at the Kelowna Golf and Country Club Saturday, May 3.
• Vernon's Bryce Barker – fresh off of winning a US Open local qualifier in Washington state – finished tied for third at the Vancouver Golf Tour's Johnston Meier Insurance Sandpiper Open at the Sandpiper Golf Course in Harrison Mills, in the Fraser Valley Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26.
Barker fired rounds of 69 and 71 to finish at 5-under 140, good for a payday of $1,150. He tied with Jace Minni from Delta's Beach Grove Golf Club.
Jeevan Sihota of Victoria finished at 11-under to collect the first-prize cheque of $2,500, including a round of 7-under-par 65 Friday. Khan Lee of Langley's GreenTee Country Club was second at 8-under. He pocketed $1,700.
