By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

OLIVER -- At the beginning of the week, there was some discussion among players and tournament officials who all wanted to know, who is this James Lee from Whistler. 

Well, now they know. He’s the new B.C. Junior Boys Champion. 

The 15-year-old dual-citizen, who spends about three months a year in Whistler but lives in the San Francisco area, was something of an unknown quantity when the tournament began at Nk’mip Canyon Desert Golf Course.

A solid two-under 70 in the first round made everyone aware that Lee had game. He followed that up with rounds of 70, 71 and 70 to finish at seven-under par to win by one shot and record the biggest win of his young golfing life. 

Lee acknowledged he didn’t exactly see it coming. “You know, I have been playing pretty well lately, so I definitely thought it was a possibility,” he said. “I wasn’t obviously expecting to win. I was shooting for something in the top 10. This is a really nice surprise.”

Lee began the day five shots behind third-round leader Ryan Vest of Vernon and figured he’d have to go really low to stand a chance. But Vest struggled with his game all day and he and Lee were tied after 13 holes. Both players birdied the 16th hole to get to six-under and Lee took the lead on the short, par 3 17th with a birdie. “I hit a pretty good shot and I was about 12 feet pretty much pin-high right,” Lee said. “It was nice to make that one.”

Vest had a chance to force a playoff but just missed from about 12 feet for birdie on the 18th green. The 15-year-old former B.C. Bantam Boys champion was extremely disappointed with his final-round play. He shot a four-over 76 after recording back-to-back 67s in the second and third rounds. “I didn’t really hit any good shots today,” Vest said.

“I was in the trees all day. It’s hard to make birdies when you never get to putt them. I was terrible off the tee and I probably only hit six greens today. You can’t make birdies hitting it like that.”

Lee was fighting his own ball-striking battles at times in the final round. His scores make it look like he played consistent, maybe even boring, golf all week. He said it was anything but. “I would not say I was steady because my driver was all over the place. I hit one OB today (on No. 6). I started by hitting my drive on No. 1 and having to take an unplayable. I hit a couple in the environmental areas.

“I think my putting really saved me. My putting and my approach shots. I probably made six or seven putts of over 30 feet this week. That made a huge difference.” 

Lee, who plays almost as much hockey as he does golf, called winning a provincial championship a dream come true. “It’s huge. It’s just amazing to have a title from B.C. Any win is great, but this one is extra special. This is by far the biggest one. The biggest one prior to this was probably a field of 50 players.”

The win is going to make what was already shaping up to be a special summer absolutely spectacular. Lee recently qualified to play in the U.S. Junior Amateur later this month at Bandon Dunes in southern Oregon. In a couple of days, he’s heading to Britain to play in the Scottish and English Boys Championships. He’ll be packing some extra confidence gained by his win at Nk’mip.

“It’s hard not to be confident after this kind of win,” Lee said. “I try not to get ahead of myself too much, but this will certainly boost my confidence.”

Ethan Posthumus of Coquitlam closed with an even-par 72 to finish third at one-under par. Lee, Vest and Posthumus will represent B.C. at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship, which goes Aug. 7-10 at Rivershore Golf Links in Kamloops.

A 36-hole Zone competition was also contested this week. On the boys’ side, the Zone 2 team of Ryan Vest of Vernon, Grady Lancaster of Kaleden and Oakley Mayner of Kelowna won with a score of three-over par. On the girls’ side, the Zone 4 team of Katherine Hao of Burnaby and Jessica Ng of Vancouver won with a score of 16-over par.

A two-person best-ball competition was also held. Ryan Vest of Vernon and Braxton McDonald of Coldstream won with a total of 22-under par. The team of Matthew Wilson of Nanaimo and Cooper Alexander of Saanichton were one shot back in second place.

CHIP SHOTS: Osoyoos Indian band chief Clarence Louie was on hand to present medals to the top three finishers. . .Next summer’s B.C. Junior Girls and Boys Championships are scheduled to be played at Prince George Golf Club.

Click HERE for complete final scoring.