A Lake Country teenager more than held his own competing against many of the top junior golfers on the continent.
Brandon Frechette finished second best in a field 0f 57 players at the North American Junior Amateur Championship, Dec. 30 to Jan. 3 at the Wigwam Golf Resort in Phoenix, AZ.
The Grade 11 George Elliot Secondary School student made it all the way to the match play final, before falling 3 and 2 to Trey Deihl from New Mexico.
“It was a great experience to play with a lot of amazing golfers from all over North America,” Frechette said. “I feel like my golf game is in a very good place right now. My play off the tee has improved drastically distance-wise and my short game was the best it has ever been.”
Frechette, 16, shot rounds of 75-76 in stroke play at NAJAC to make the cut and qualify for the match play round of 32.
Ranked 20th heading into the playoffs, Frechette defeated 12th seed Jack Stevens 4 and 2, then upset No. 4 seed Angelo Gallevo on the first sudden death hole in the round of 16.
In the quarterfinal round, Frechette took out fifth-seeded Alejandro Armij on the first a sudden death hole. That set the stage for a major upset in the semis, as the Lake Country teen won 3 and 2 over the No. 1 seed, Ryan Park.
Frechette was coming off a solid 2017 season, where Brandon led his GESS team to the provincial high school title.
He also won a Zone 2 event at the Vernon Golf and Country club last summer with a winning score of 75.
Frechette said his recent success has largely been a result of the great coaching and support from his golf coach, Clay Stothers, from Okanagan Golf Club.
Frechette plans to continue with golf at the university level in the future.
As for his goals for this coming season, Frechette plans to continue building his game, both mentally and physically.
“I want to play and contend in more high-level tournaments,” he said. “I also want to continue working on the mental components of golf. I will continue to work with my coach, Clay Stothers, and my fitness coach, Connor Kosak, as a part of the OGolf Performance Team based out of the Okanagan Golf Club.”
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