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Desert Blume Junior Open

BY DUNC MILLS

The McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour made its second-last ‘regular season’ stop of the 2020 season today at the beautifully groomed Desert Blume Golf Club in Medicine Hat.  It was smokin’ hot in the ‘Hat, as afternoon temperatures soared to 34C to greet 33 juniors from as far away as Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan.  With only today’s event and the final tournament of the season on Tuesday in Nanton, many players were doing their utmost to nail down berths in the 25th annual Tour Championship coming up this Friday at Wolf Creek Golf Resort.

Local knowledge paid big dividends today as 15-year-old Wyatt Bishop of the host club toured his home track in an even-par total of 72 strokes to capture his first Tour title. Bishop’s round was highlighted by a great stretch of four consecutive 3’s midway through the back nine.

Junior Boys Winner Wyatt Bishop (R) with father, Desert Blume GM Bill Bishop

Ethan Meyer, 18, of Lethbridge Country Club, did his best to defend his 2019 Desert Blume title, but fell 2 shots short with a 2-over 74 for runner-up honours.  Meyer’s round was remarkable in that he didn’t exactly burst out of the gate, taking a quadruple bogey ‘snowman’ on the first hole and then playing the final 17 holes in 2-under!

Wolf Creek qualifying spots went to both Meyer and Bishop, along with Harley Mohr, 14, of Fort Saskatchewan, who shot 77 in the flight for boys born in 2006 and later. Wild Card qualifying berths went to Brady Deboice (77) of Riverview GC in nearby Redcliff, along with clubmates Jacob Dorton (78)  and Owen Bruins (78) of Desert Blume. Bruins is one of those more and more prevalent “kid of a kid” Tour players,  as his father Matt was about Owen’s age in the early days of the Tour in the late 90s. The ‘echo’ effect is taking effect with the boom of junior golf in our province.

After 23 junior girls on hand on Saturday in Airdrie, we had only two junior girls competing today.  Aliyah Hull of Lakeside GC in Chestermere fired a 98 to defeat Abby Froom of Henderson Lake GC in Lethbridge and punch her ticket to Wolf Creek this Friday.

Congratulations to all the juniors on hand today, as the Desert Blume course is arguably the most difficult on the Tour for kids to walk, and it was certainly an even tougher challenge in the 34C heat.  No one quit and the kids played at a very acceptable pace. Well done!  (no pun intended)

 

OVERALL TOP TEN:

1. Wyatt Bishop                             Desert Blume                    72

2. Ethan Meyer                              Lethbridge CC                   74

3. Jalen Apedoe                            Serenity                               75

T4. Brady Deboice                         Riverview                           77

T4. Jeremy Hart                             Sirocco                               77

T4. Harley Mohr                             Ft. Saskatchewan             77

T7. Jacob Dorton                          Desert Blume                     78

T7. Owen Bruins                           Desert Blume                     78

9. Owen Burzminski                     Medicine Hat GCC            79

10. Jayden McIntyre                     Lethbridge CC                   82

 

The following players finished in the Top Six and ties in each age group, thereby earning Titleist Order of Merit ranking points.

 

BOYS BORN IN 2001-2003

1. Ethan Meyer                             Lethbridge CC                    74 Q

2. Brady Deboice                          Riverview                            77 WC

3. Jacob Dorton                            Desert Blume                      78 WC

4. Owen Burzminski                     Medicine Hat GCC            79

5. Jayden McIntyre                       Lethbridge CC                   82

6. Brayden Petro                          Lethbridge CC                     83

 

BOYS BORN IN 2004-2005

1. Wyatt Bishop                          Desert Blume                         72 Q

2. Jeremy Hart                           Sirocco                                    77 PQ

3. Brennan Abela                       Taber                                       85

4. Trey  Smith                             Speargrass                             86

5. Zach Moulaison                      Carstairs                                92

6. Josh Burzminski                    Medicine Hat GCC               94

 

BOYS BORN IN 2006 & LATER

1. Jalen Apedoe                         Serenity                                   75 PQ

2. Harley Mohr                          Ft. Saskatchewan                   77 Q

3. Owen Bruins                          Desert Blume                          78 WC

4. Kerrick Norrie-Asquith       Lethbridge CC                         87

5. Solomon Tong                       Heritage Pointe                       92

6. Cameron Hoose                    Windermere                             96

 

JUNIOR GIRLS

1. Aliyah Hull                            Lakeside                                   98 Q

2. Abby Froom                          Henderson Lake                    114

 

Q = Player qualified for Tour Championship on August 28th at Wolf Creek Golf Resort.

WC = Wild Card qualifier for Tour Championship

PQ = Player had previously qualified for Tour Championship.

 

Tour this week:

Last event of the regular season on Tuesday in Nanton.  Sold out field of 60 players.

Tour Championship on Friday at Wolf Creek will wrap up the 2020 season.

 

    Alberta Golf | Juniors Sponsors

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