Beach Grove junior member Russell Howlett continued his impressive summer of competitive golf with a second place finish at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s Ford Series event at the Chilliwack Golf and Country Club.
The 18-year-old South Delta Secondary graduate fired rounds of 73-69 to finish four shots back of Langley’s Riley Geiger. The tour has two more stops at Golden Eagle in Pitt Meadows (Sept. 19-20) and Mayfair Lakes in Richmond (Oct. 3-4) before Morgan Creek in South Surrey hosts the MJT National Championship (Oct. 9-12).
Earlier this summer, Howlett finished second at the B.C. Junior Boys Championship, on the Bear Course at the Okanagan Golf Club. He fired rounds of 70-75-69 to finish a single stroke back of Victoria’s William Bishop. With a limited schedule due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event coincided with the 108th B.C. Men’s Amateur which Howlett’s score was good enough for eighth overall, just six shots back of winner Tristan Mandur from Duncan.
Howlett began a three tournament stretch with his first-ever victory on the Maple Leaf Junior Tour, capturing the MJT Ford Series stop at Predator Ridge in Vernon. He recorded rounds of 74-71 to edge Kelowna’s Kyle Mayner by one stroke in the Junior Boys Division. Howlett then placed third PLYR Golf stop behind Mayner with rounds of 75-70.
