Adam Svensson may have come in to the B.C. Junior Boys golf championship as the odds-on favorite but if anyone can challenge him it’s Kevin Kwon.
The Pitt Meadows golfer fired a five-under par 67 to match Svensson’s round 67 as the duo shared the first round lead after Day One at the Rossland-Trail Country Club.
Svensson, the defending B.C. junior and men’s amateur champ from Surrey, has gone head-to-head with Kwon before. In 2009, Kwon won the B.C. Juvenile Boys championship by two strokes over Svensson, with the margin of victory coming in the final round.
It remains to be seen how this week plays out.
The field of 156 golfers was greeted by perfect weather conditions Tuesday with a slight breeze tempering the sunny skies. Although the results for the final half of the field were unavailable at press time, some local players did post strong starts.
Rossland’s Brenan Moroney and Kevin Bennett had the top local rounds of the day.
Moroney, who started the day on the back nine, fired a one-under par 35. However, after the turn to the front nine, the local junior struggled to find his game regrouping with a birdie on the final hole to finish with an impressive round of 76, four-over par.
Bennett had a steady day featuring 12 pars en route to a five-over round of 77.
Alex Rugg of Montrose and Rossland’s Braden McKay carded rounds of 80 and 82 respectively.
Fruitvale’s Garrett Underwood came in with an 83 and Salmo’s Kevin MacDonald posted an 84.
Two other locals, Tyler McKay of Rossland and Tanner Koppan of Christina Lake, were still on the course as of press time.
Round 2 tees off today, which also doubles as the final round for the zone and club championships. After today, the low 70 scores plus ties will advance to the final two days of competition.