If 13-year-old Akari Hayashi of Uplands Golf Club required any inspiration in the Zone 5 (Lower Island) women鈥檚 golf championships, she needed just look to a recent past champion that came before her.
Royal Colwood鈥檚 Naomi Ko, an NCAA freshman with the North Carolina State Wolfpack, came out of the Zone 5 tournament to be named sa国际传媒 junior athlete of the year, play for the Canadian youth national team and qualify for the 2016 U.S. Open next month at the CordeValle course in California.
The emerging sensation Hayashi won the Zone 5 amateur championship against the top golfers on the Lower Island, and most many years older. Hayashi shot a 77 on Tuesday at Arbutus Ridge to go with the 70 she shot Monday during the first round at Cordova Bay for a 147 total.
鈥淚t was nerve-wracking . . . I didn鈥檛 feel I did as well [Tuesday] as I did on Monday . . . but it was exciting to win in the end,鈥� said the Selkirk Montessori student, who will attend Grade 9 in the fall at Mount Douglas Secondary.
The second-place finisher in 2015 in both the sa国际传媒 junior and bantam [U-14] championships, and a member of the Canadian junior champion sa国际传媒 team, Hayashi is being touted as a name to watch. Much like Claremont-grad Ko before her.
鈥淚 have played a few rounds with Naomi [Ko] and she is really great . . . I want to follow what she is doing,鈥� said Hayashi.
鈥淚 dream about playing college golf and then become a pro, if I can. Who knows, maybe one day on TV in the LPGA.鈥�
Indeed, who knows.
Michelle McCann, also of Uplands, was second at 75 and 85 for a 160 total. Four-time Canadian senior champion Alison Murdoch of Victoria Club, also former British and Irish senior amateur open champion and enshrined in both the sa国际传媒 and Canadian Golf Halls of Fame, was the top senior with rounds of 82 and 79 for 161. Penny Baziuk of Ardmore was second senior with 82 and 82 rounds for a 164 total. The handicap champion was Marianne Hunt of Cowichan with scores of 82 and 88 for a gross of 170 and net of 139.
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