Manu Gandhi laps the field.

Greg Moody presents the Ed Lex Trophy to Manu Gandhi

On a day when Nick Taylor broke a 69-year drought by sinking a walk-off, 72-foot putt, the 2023 Zone 4 Men’s Junior Boys Championship came down to a finale that was, okay, less dramatic

For that the blame goes to Manu Gandhi.

Already atop the leaderboard after shooting a one-over 72 at North Vancouver’s always challenging Northlands Golf Course, Gandhi tore apart his home course, nearby Seymour Golf & Country Club, also in North Vancouver, during the second round of the 36-hole event.

Gandhi was already four under par, with a lead approaching double digits, when he arrived at the short, par-4, 17th. Instead of hitting his driver on the steeply uphill 290-yard hole, he pulled a three-metal. “If I hit driver, it kind of squeezes in near the green,” he said afterward.

Gandhi’s tee shot flew a bunker guarding the left side of the fairway, leaving about 50 yards to the pin. From there he spun a low wedge to five feet past, and sank the putt for his sixth birdie of the day.

Then came the 18th, a 530-yard par-5 that yields its share of birdies but also lots of bogeys and others due to a pond that’s hard up against the right edge of the green. Gandhi hit his drive to the right rough, punched a screaming four-iron to just off the left edge of the green, chipped to three feet, and sank the putt for yet another birdie. Final score, 66, giving him a two-day total of 138, and an eight-stroke lead over Jim Zhu in second place.

(It’s worth noting that the course played to an average of 75.74 strokes while co-hosting last year’s Canadian Amateur Championship, albeit from slightly longer tees and with different pins. Gandhi played in the event as a 17-year-old, making the cut and finishing T-67.)

Greg Moody, Zone 4’s Junior Coordinator and a clubmate at Seymour, has known Gandhi for years and watched him progress. “He’s a great kid, and he makes a great champion,” he said afterward.

The West Vancouver resident, who recently turned 18, and has just graduated from high school, will be off to UBC this fall.

“I’m super stoked,” he says. UBC should be too.

Gandhi will headline Zone 4’s team at British Columbia Golf’s Junior Boys Championship, to be held July 2-6 at Prince George Golf and Curling Club. Joining him are Ian Pashkewych and Jacob Knoblauch, based on their Order of Merit standing during the zone’s 12-event season. With his victory, Gandhi overtook Stewart Walker, who led the Order of Merit all season but was unavailable for both the Zone 4 and British Columbia Golf championships due to other golf commitments.

- Jim Sutherland