After building an eight-stroke lead over the first three rounds of the British Columbia Junior Girls Championship, Surrey golfer Jamie Oleksiew was able hang on for the win last week at the Belmont Golf Course in Langley.
Oleksiew, 17, finished with a four-under-par total of 280, two strokes ahead of the runner-up, 16 year-old Alix Kong of West Vancouver. A member of Colorado University’s women’s golf team, Oleksiew played the first 17 holes of the final round at even-par, before a triple-bogey on the 18th hole ended her day.
“The last hole, I mean I hit a good tee shot but the wind caught it and it didn’t end up in a very good spot. I had to punch out, flew the green and ended up getting into trouble,” she said.
“I am pretty happy overall because this is the first tournament that I have finished under par and the first time I have won anything with BC Golf. I am pretty proud of myself and I shot a course record (in the third round) which I have never done before.”
Oleksiew posted rounds of (71-69-66-74-280), and was two shots better than Kong, and four up on third-place Naomi Ko, Oleksiew’s playing partner in the final round and a 15 year-old member of the Team Canada Development squad. The three players will form Team BC, and play at the Royale Cup Canadian Junior Girls’ at the Cherry Downs Golf and Country Club in Pickering, Ontario from July 30- August 2.
“Naomi and Alex are really good players so I think we have a really good chance of winning at the Canadians,” said Oleksiew.
