Surrey teen Susan Xiao new junior queen after conquering Camelot field in Ontario
15-year-old finishes at 5 under; Parsons finishes second, Lau sixth
Susan Xiao was in control the entire way Friday.
The 15-year-old golfer from Surrey won the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Camelot Golf and Country Club in Cumberland, Ont., thanks to her final round 3-under par.
She wasn’t completely mistakefree, but the one blemish that did occur — a bogey on the par-3 17th hole — was late enough in her round that it was of no consequence.
Xiao was cruising Friday and a little hiccup near the end was not going to slow her down, as she continued an impressive 2017 season with a victory on a national stage.
She finished the tournament at 5-under par — five shots better than silver medallist Mary Parsons of Delta. Alisha Lau of Richmond finished sixth.
Xiao, who calls Morgan Creek Golf Club her home course, made easy work of the front nine with a birdie on the second hole and pars the rest of the way, eliminating the chances of any real trouble. She then put the rest of the field in the rear-view mirror with a string of three straight birdies on the back nine.
The nerves she may have felt standing out over the first tee had passed. Following the run of three consecutive birdies, the next five holes to close out the day were simply a formality for the pending gold medallist.
“I feel so honoured, beyond happy to win this. I can’t — words can’t describe how happy I am right now,” she said in a phone interview.
“I think it was just me staying in my own game and not looking at what my opponents are shooting because that can mess things up.”
She won the junior girls title in front of her mom, dad and a select group of friends who made the trip east for the event.
“My mom and dad, they helped me a lot this week. I couldn’t have done it without their help,” she said.
“Even if I had a bad shot, they were like, ‘Oh, it’s OK.’ That happens to everyone.”
There wasn’t much, if anything, about her game this week that Xiao didn’t like. She struck the ball well off the tee with her driver, she said. Approach shots, she was pleased with those, too. Ditto for her putting. It all came together for a cool final round.
Going into Grade 11, Xiao says the goal is to play college golf in the United States. She’s already talked to some schools but hasn’t made a decision. Her season to date includes a win at the MJT Vancouver Championship in March and three third-place finishes. She also placed sixth at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship a week ago.
“I didn’t have a very high expectation,” she said of playing against the nation’s finest female amateurs last week. “I was just like, ‘I’ll just see what I can do,’” said Xiao.
CHIP SHOTS
Talk about an eventful Friday for Jared du Toit of Kimberley.
He started his second round at the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada’s Syncrude Oil Country Championship with a double bogey on the opening hole. He then reeled off six consecutive birdies, closed out his front nine with a bogey, started his back nine with a bogey and finally completed his round with five birdies over his next eight holes.
He finished the day with 11 birdies and only four pars on the scorecard, giving him a round of 7-under par 63, moving into a tie for sixth at 6-under par for the tournament. At the time, he sat four shots back of leader Patrick Newcomb.
Du Toit didn’t care for the start to his round.
“I think that lit a little bit of a fire under my belly,” he told the Mackenzie Tour website.
B.C. was well represented on ■ the leaderboard at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship this week at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, Ont.
While no one was going to catch Calvin Ross of Fredericton, N.B. — he lit up Cataraqui with an amateur course record 8-under par 62 in the third round — Tristan Mandur of Mill Bay took home the silver medal after finishing at 2-under par.
Victoria’s Nolan Thoroughgood finished fourth at even par and Langley’s Khan Lee got into the top five at 1-over par for the tournament after a 2-under par final round.
I feel so honoured, beyond happy to win this. I can’t — words can’t describe how happy I am right now.