Red Deer’s Eileen Park continued her dominance of the Maple Leaf Junior Tour this week.
The 13-year-old won the U15 girls age group at the Olds Golf Club, firing a two-day total of 151, 12 strokes ahead of Saylar May of Rocky Mountain House. Park shot a five-over-par 77 in round one, followed by a two-over 74 in the final round Tuesday. It was her third title in a row.
“It feels really good to win again, I made a lot of long putts these rounds for par saves,” she said.
“When the pressure built up during the game, and I was worried things aren’t going as planned in the beginning, I took a lot of deep breaths.”
Sylvan Lake’s Brady Durkin captured a thrilling victory of his own, winning by just one stroke over Brae Rogalczyk of Innisfail in the Bantam Boys age group. Durkin, 14, shot even-par on day 1, followed by a 79 on Tuesday to round out the tournament. Rogalczyk shot one-under on Monday, before posting an 81 on Day 2. Durkin said the competition was tough but he kept his composure and that helped him to the victory.
“Winning this feels great as there was such good competition and I played solid over the two days,” Durkin said.
“I sank a huge birdie putt to take the lead, which was a favourite moment. To keep calm this weekend, I just took some deep breaths and a sip of water before my shot.”
Overall, 106 golfers competed played in the event. The next stop on the tour is McKenzie Meadows Golf Club in Calgary, July 4-6.