Junior golfers locked into a double header and then some over the weekend, hitting 45 holes in two days.
The Zone One West Kootenay Junior Golf circuit made the last two stops on the tour before heading to the Top 20 Tournament at Kokanee Springs Saturday.
The Top 20 round will decide the overall tour champion as well as individual age group winners.
Over 30 teed up for 18 holes at Champion Lakes Saturday before driving off 27 holes on Sunday at the Creston Golf Club.
Saturday’s match featured an exciting three-way race.
Tyler McKay from the Rossland-Trail Country Club (RTCC), Tanner Kopan from Christina Lake, and Nolan Taylor of Nelson’s Granite Pointe, battled it out to the final hole.
McKay had a chance to win the match, needing to par the 18th, but a disappointing double bogie notched him a 76, one shot back of both Taylor and Kopan.
Taylor, playing in a group behind Kopan, teed off having to par to tie Kopan’s 75 and force an extra hole.
Staring at a 15-foot par putt, victory seemed unlikely, but the Nelson golfer sank the putt with a fearless stroke, sending the duo to a playoff.
Kopan led off the par-five, 556-yard first hole, hitting his drive far to the right and leaving a difficult second shot. But the long-hitting Taylor also crushed a wayward drive, relinquishing the advantage.
The golfers followed up with poor second shots; Kopan leaving himself under a tree and Taylor hitting off the side of a hill, two feet above a fairway bunker.
Kopan made a good shot to about 80 yards to the pin. Taylor, with a poor lie and facing a blind shot at the green, hit a nine iron over towering conifers, the ball settling to within a 10-yard pitch to the hole.
When Kopan hit his fourth shot long and couldn’t sink the par, the door was wide open for Taylor.
After a decent knock on the green, he had about a 12-footer for par and the victory. As he did on the 18th, Taylor made an aggressive stroke and dropped the putt for the win.
With overall honours going to Taylor, Kopan won the 17-18-year-old division with Redstone’s Kevin Bennett finishing second (79).
Tyler McKay and Brennan Moroney from RTCC continued their ongoing duel.
After Moroney won last week in Castlegar, it was McKay’s turn, taking first among the 15-16-year-olds with Brennan Moroney, finishing second (77) and Garrett Underwood, Champion Lakes, third (81). Braden McKay repeated his performance from the previous week, winning the 13-14-age group by carding an 86.
In Sunday’s round at Creston, 33 players teed it up for the first18 holes and the top 15 making the cut for a final nine holes.
After a second-place overall finish at Castlegar, Redstone’s Kevin Bennett won it all at six-over par, beating Tyler McKay from RTCC by two shots and Tanner Kopan from Christina Lake by three.
Christina Lake’s Jordan Hoodikoff also played well winning in Castlegar with a round of 75 and placing third overall at Champion with a round of 76.