Junior golfer Darien Herlick of Weyburn spent four days in Phoenix, Ariz., at the MJT Boston Pizza National Championship from Nov. 8-11, and ended up in 10th place for the bantam boys age group.
Attendance at the national championship, which brought the best junior golfers from Canada and the U.S., was by invitation only, and was based on the points that Herlick accumulated on the MJT Tour events over the past year. He was the only bantam player from Saskatchewan to take part in the tournament.
“He enjoyed the championship, as he got to see the level of competition in his age division, and met a lot of new friends,” said his mother, Nikki.
Darien’s first reaction was he expected to do better, but being moved up to the bantam division and being the youngest in the division, “I felt I did a good job of competing. Being that this week was not my A game, it was a great experience and I learned a lot this week of where I need to be for next year.”
Darien received first place for the Order of Merit for Saskatchewan at the tournament.
The golf event was held at the Legacy Golf Club in Phoenix, and the bantams played on a course adjusted to their age level, for a total of 5,958 yards.
Thursday was a practice round, and the tournament rounds went on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Herlick had a round of 76 on Friday, 78 on the second day, with one birdie recorded, and 77 on the third day with two birdies, for a grand total of 231, good for 10th place.
