A busy summer of competitive golf reached a pinnacle for Jace Minni when he captured B.C. Juvenile Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna on Thursday.
The Beach Grove Golf Club junior defeated Vernon’s Ryan Vest in a playoff thanks to a 25-foot birdie on the opening hole.
Minni had earlier fired rounds of 72-70-74 in what proved to be a tight leaderboard with four other players within two shots of joining the playoff. The tournament featured the top U16 players in the province.
The victory capped what has been a busy couple of months for the soon-to-be Grade 11 student at South Delta Secondary School.
Mini tied for 22nd at the B.C. Junior Boys Championships in Kamloops back in early July and three weeks later finished 31st at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship in Medicine Hat.
It was that event that resulted in him missing out on watching his older sister Amanda play in the Canadian Junior Girls at Beach Grove.
She is heading into her sophomore season at Oregon State University. Jace is hoping to follow her footsteps to a collegiate career as he establishes himself as one of the top high school age players in B.C. Their father Scott Minni is a longtime B.C. PGA teaching professional.
Jace will conclude his summer schedule at next weekend’s Vancouver Open — hosted by McCleery, Langara and Fraserview. The event is part of Fraser Mulholland’s Vancouver Golf Tour and will feature a field of top local pros and amateurs.
Other scores of note in Kelowna included Minni’s Beach Grove teammate Adrian Murray finishing tied for 15th (76-72-77).
