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HISTORY MADE AS NICK TAYLOR
WINS CANADIAN JUNIOR BOYS TITLE
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Sussex, New Brunswick (RCGA) – Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. won his first national title in convincing fashion topping the field by a record 11-strokes as play concluded at the 2006 Canadian Junior Boys Championship in Sussex, N.B.
The 18-year-old Taylor lead wire-to-wire opening a five-shot lead after the first round and never looking back as he cruised through the final three rounds. Taylor carded a four-day total of 71-69-72-70—282, finishing 2-over par.
“Everything was clicking this week,” said Taylor. “The biggest thing for me was staying out of the rough, especially the first day when it was windy. That lead took a lot of pressure off and let me play my own game.”
Taylor’s 11-stroke victory is the largest ever at the 68 year-old Canadian Junior Boys Championship. Danny Maue of Kitchener, Ont. held the previous record of 10-strokes set in 1978. Another Abbotsford native - James Lepp – also made a run at Maue’s mark with a nine-stroke victory in 2001. Lepp just turned pro this year.
“It’s a bonus,” commented Taylor on his large margin of victory. “No matter what the score, it’s such a big deal to win this championship. To win it by this much is a really good feeling.”
2004 junior boys champion Rafael Lee of Burnaby, B.C., and Brad Revell of Kingston, Ont. both carded a final round 69 to tie for second place at 293. Matt Hill of Bright’s Grove, Ont., who fired a sizzling four-under, 66 during the second round carded a final round 74 to finish fourth at 295.
J.P. Solis of Mexico recorded his lowest score of the week with a final-day 73 earning him an impressive top-20 finish. All seven National Junior Boys Amateur team members cracked the top-30 with five breaking into the top-15.
In the juvenile competition, Mathieu Rivard of Granby, Que. overtook Brett Cairns of Courtland, Ont. to earn the 16 and under title. Rivard, who lost the lead to Cairns yesterday, had a four-day score of 79-70-76-74—299. Cairns was just three-strokes back at 302.
Weather was a major factor presenting players with many different playing conditions over the course of the week. During Monday’s round, wind wreaked havoc with gusts measuring a high of 61km/hr. On Tuesday players were greeted with dry calm conditions in the morning but the afternoon draw dealt with significant rainfall and Wednesday’s play was delayed due to fog. Conditions were ideal for the final round.
Following the RCGA’s Pathway to Champions, Taylor has earned an exemption into the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship which tees off on Sunday at Mississaugau Golf & Country Club in Mississauga, Ont. The pathway could very well continue in two weeks with two Canadian Open exemptions awarded to the Canadian Men’s Amateur champion and runner-up. In 2004, Darren Wallace (age 15 at the time) played among the worlds best golfers at the Canadian Open by winning the Canadian Men’s Amateur. This year’s Canadian Open will be played September 4-10 at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
Also this week the RCGA crowned the Canadian Junior Boys Inter-provincial Team champion with British Columbia taking its third consecutive title and fourth in fifth years. British Columbia made up of Taylor, Rafael Lee of Burnaby, Ian Mulder of Abbotsford and Kevin Spooner of West Vancouver carded a final two-day total of 227-212--439 topping Quebec by 15 shots. Quebec finished second at 454 and Ontario rounded out the top three at 456.
The future of Canadian golf has been on showcase this week as New Brunswick hosts both the Canadian Junior Boys Championship and the Royale National Junior Girls’ Championship. Sussex hosted the nation’s top junior boys while the junior girls’ championship being held in Bathurst will wrap up tomorrow. Updates, player fields as well as live scoring for both championships can be found online at www.rcga.org.
The following are the final scores for the Canadian Junior Boys Championship on Thursday, August 10, 2006 at Sussex Golf and Curling Club in Sussex, N.B.
1 Nick Taylor, Abbotsford, BC 71-69-72-70--282
T2 Rafael Lee, Burnaby, BC 77-72-75-69--293
Brad Revell, Kingston, ON 76-77-71-69--293
4 Matt Hill, Brights Grove, ON 79-66-74-76--295
9 Lucas Bogdan, Abbotsford, BC 81-74-74-72--301
T22 Brett Webster, Abbotsford, BC 80-80-75-72--307
T61 Ian Mulder, Abbotsford, BC 89-80-74-76--319
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