Abbotsford B.C. – Yanling (Elaine) Liu of Vancouver, B.C. put the finishing touches on her wire-to-wire victory on Sunday while Maxim McKenzie of Chilliwack, B.C. secured a come-from-behind win to each take the 2025 NextGen Pacific Championship at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, B.C.
Buoyed by a three-under 33 during Friday’s opening nine, Liu didn’t take her foot off the gas over the weekend, firing rounds of 68-69-70 to finish seven strokes better than her closest chaser, Amy Seung Heung Lee of Surrey, B.C.
“I try my best to just stay in my own bubble and not think about it… I’m really proud of myself for trying to stay in my own bubble and not let other distractions get to me,” said Liu following her final round.
Liu kept her composure on Sunday to claim an exemption into the 2025 Canadian Junior Girls Championship set to take place Aug 16-18 at Club de golf Sainte-Marie in Sainte-Marie, Que.
After posting birdie at the difficult par-3 second, Liu flipped her name into red figures, before dropping back to even-par on her round with bogey at the fifth. The blemish went on to be just one of two mistakes Liu made in her final round on Sunday, playing the next 12 holes at one-under par despite finishing with bogey on 18.
Liu used the word “meaningful” to describe what Sunday’s victory meant to her. Committed to taking her talents to the university level in a year’s time, Liu has eyes on grabbing more victories as a junior golfer in the near future.
“Playing events like Golf Canada really affect me,” said Liu. “Ledgeview is a wonderful golf course and when I look back [on today] I won’t have any regrets.”
The margin of victory was much slimmer in the Junior Boys division however, with McKenzie battling Manpreet Lalh of Nanaimo, B.C. for the title in the final pairing. The two British Columbians took turns with the lead despite Lalh sitting in a tie for first place alongside Team Canada NextGen member Austin Krahn of Christina Lake, B.C. when the day began.
Starting his final round at even-par and two strokes behind the co-leaders, McKenzie vaulted all the way up the leaderboard with three birdies in his first five holes to lead Lahl by two strokes after the latter stalled out with an early bogey on the fifth hole.
Meanwhile, Krahn, who also teed off in the final group, was unable to build around the 66 he carded in the second round, following a pair of bogeys on the front nine. The opening allowed Lalh to make a move on the back nine, grabbing a birdie at the 11th to move into solo first before being derailed by bogeys at holes 12 and 14.
McKenzie definitively capitalized on his playing partners’ miscues with a timely birdie at the par-4 13th to regain his two-stroke lead. The back nine separated McKenzie from his chasers on Sunday to secure his first win in the NextGen Championship series, playing six of the nine hardest holes on the property at one-under par and taking advantage of the tournament’s most scorable conditions.
“It means a lot to me,” commented McKenzie on his win Sunday at his home course. “All the hard work I put is paying off so just keep doing what I’m doing. Coming from behind is obviously great,” he added.
The win is a long time coming for McKenzie at his home NextGen Championship after finishing back-to-back years in the top ten of the leaderboards including a T3 finish in 2024 at Summerland Golf & Country Club in Summerland, B.C. His final round four-under 66 is his best performance at the tournament and grants him automatic exemption into the 2025 Canadian Junior Boys Championship set to take place Aug 11-15 at Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B.
“I knew I was close,” said McKenzie. “Actually, getting it done last year, coming in third, getting the win this week is pretty big in the right direction.”
NextGen Pacific Championship – Advancing to 2025 Canadian Junior Boys Championship
*Top 8 qualify
| Maxim McKenzie (Chilliwack, B.C.) | -4 |
| Manpreet Lalh (Nanaimo, B.C.) | -1 |
| Austin Krahn (Christina Lake, B.C.) | +2 |
| Finley Dober (Kelowna, B.C.) | +4 |
| Tiger Yuanjun Liu (Surrey, B.C.) | +4 |
| Blake Newell (Surrey, B.C.) | +6 |
| Charlie Gillespie (Calgary, Alta.) | +6 |
| Bosheng (Dylan) Zhang (Tsawwassen, B.C.) | +6 |
| Oakley Mayner (Kelowna, B.C.) | +6 |
NextGen Pacific Championship – Advancing to 2025 Canadian Junior Girls Championship
*Top 8 plus ties qualify
| YanLing (Elaine) Liu (Vancouver, B.C.) | -3 |
| Amy Seung Hyun Lee (Langley B.C.) | +4 |
| Maggie Zhang (Richmond, B.C.) | +11 |
| Elsa Wu (Vancouver, B.C.) | +14 |
| Yeeun (Jenny) Kwon (Vancouver B.C.) | +16 |
| Karrisa Yuehan Zhao (West Vancouver B.C) | +17 |
| Jenny Guo (West Vancouver, B.C.) | +19 |
| Charlotte Tam (Burnaby, B.C.) | +19 |
The circuit continues next week at Black Bear Ridge Golf & Resort in Belleville, Ont. for the playing of the NextGen Ontario Championship. Practice rounds will get underway on Wednesday, May 7, followed by 54-holes of golf set to kick off on Thursday May 8 and wrap up on Saturday, May 10.
For the final leaderboards from the NextGen Pacific Championship, please click here.
About the NextGen Championships
The NextGen Championships are a high-performance junior golf series which totals six competitions. From May to July, six championships will take place across Canada where the region’s best junior golfers will compete to earn exemptions into their respective 2024 national championships. NextGen Championships provide junior players an opportunity to develop and showcase their skills at the highest level of tournament golf.
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