Four rounds of the Fred Wellsby Junior Divot Tour are officially in the book.
The nine-day tournament got underway on July 2 at Kinkora Golf Course in Chilliwack where it was Abbotsford’s Ben Fleenor who finished with the day’s best overall score shooting a 7-over-63 in the 14-16 age group. Though it is Chilliwack’s Owen Hopfner who finished just a shot back from Fleenor in that opening round, who has gone on to rack up some impressive performances since then.
Day two saw the tour move to Valley Golf Course in Abbotsford where Hopfner finished with the day’s best score shooting a brilliant 4-over-66 with three birdies through 18. Hopfner, keeping up his form, then shot a 5-over-67 the following day and 4-over-60 on Monday (July 8) to officially qualify for the tour’s championship round on July 11.
Hopfner isn’t the only representative of Chillwack on the tour though, nor is he the only Hopfner. Owen’s younger brothers Kaleb and Blake are both playing on the tour in the 11-13 age group along with Chilliwack’s Mason Neufeld.
Kaleb and Blake finished the opening round with the second and third highest scores of the day shooting a 12-over-68 and 14-over-70 respectively. Neufeld was not far behind shooting a 16-over-72.
Kaleb put up another strong showing the following round at Valley Golf Course shooting 11-over-73 to finish the round in third place. Blake and Mason failed to match their highs from the previous day, but still posted respectable 19-over-81 scores.
Kaleb once again came out strong in the third round shooting his way to the day’s best overall score finishing just two over-par. Neufeld bounced back from his previous showing to score a 10-over-72 with Blake shooting a 16-over-78.
Monday’s (July 8) fourth round was at Cheam Mountain Golf Course and saw Kaleb fighting for a top finish again, fighting his way to a second place finish in his age group with a score of 6-over-62. Blake put together a 17-over-73 with Neufeld finishing two strokes behind him.
Like his brother, Kaleb has qualified for the championship round on July 11, with Blake and Neufeld still able to book their tickets for the final in the penultimate round at Cultus Lake Golf Course on Wednesday (July 10).
