Port Ludlow, Wash. – Gavyn Knight of Parksville, B.C. shot 3-under 69 to earn medalist honors at today’s U.S. Junior Amateur Qualifier hosted by Port Ludlow (Wash.) Golf Club.
Knight overcame a double-bogey on the par-4 seventh hole and a bogey on the par-3 14th, firing six birdies on the hilly tree-lined layout at Port Ludlow to lead the field of 84 players who attempted to qualify today for the USGA national championship.
The other four spots available at this qualifier were secured by Joshua Ince of Surrey, BC., Akshay Anand of Issaquah, Wash., and Justin Bjornson of Surrey, B.C., all shooting 2-under 70. Alex Zhang of Richmond, B.C. survived a one-hole playoff for the fifth and final spot.
View full scores from today’s qualifier.
Knight, 18, had previously won the 2021 BC Junior Boys’ Amateur, and in December 2021 was named to the Canadian National Junior Team. He has committed to playing for Boise State University in the fall.
This year, Ince has already won a Maple Leaf Junior Tour event in Vancouver, B.C. He is a cancer survivor, undergoing numerous treatments and surgeries in the first few years of his life, and now canvasses for the Canadian Cancer Society and volunteers at the WICC-BC annual golf tournament, which raises money for cancer care and prevention.
Anand is the 2022 WIAA 4A State High School champion, playing for Redmond High School. He has signed a letter of intent to play golf for Northwestern University.
Bjornson, 16, has won at least one tournament every year for the past 10 years, with seven wins coming in 2017.
Zhang, now 13, won the 2019 U.S. Kids World Championship in his age bracket at 10 years old, then won the 2021 BC Boys’ Bantam & Novice Championship. In 2020 he was voted to have the “Best Pee Wee Golf Swing in the World.”
The first alternate for this qualifier is Xuan Kai Chang of Chinese Taipei. Second alternate is Wesley Bothel of Bellingham, Wash.
Washington Golf (WA Golf) is the local representative of the United States Golf Association (USGA) and conducted this Qualifier for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship.
The 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship takes place July 25-30 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Ore. To be eligible, golfers must have a Handicap Index of 4.4 or less. All entrants must not have reached their 19th birthday by July 30, 2022.
