Max Osten also finishes atop the Order of Merit in our nine-tournament tour.

Greg Moody presents the Ed Lex Trophy to Max Osten

Our 2024 Junior champion isn’t quite in Rory McIlroy (18 months) or Tiger Woods (6 months?!) territory, but he did start golfing at 4, when his avid-player dad first set him up with a club. “At that time we lived a few blocks from West Richmond Pitch and Putt,” says Max Osten, who now lives with his parents in Ladner.

A year after his introduction Osten found himself mesmerized while attending the Canadian Open at Shaughnessy. “The game was very difficult, and I’m very process oriented,” he says, and that seemed an ideal combination. By then playing out of Richmond Country Club, he joined the Zone 4 Men’s Junior Tour when it resumed after a brief Covid break. “This year the tour was kind of a sweet spot for me,” he says. “Greg Moody puts on great events.”

Out of the gate he top-fived in three consecutive tournaments, ultimately leading to a position atop the Order of Merit. But while consistency is an elusive and wonderful thing, Osten had not yet enjoyed an outright win entering into our 36-hole championship, played on consecutive days at University Golf Club and Quilchena Golf and Country Club.

“For me and, I think, a lot of guys, University is a challenge,” says Osten, noting the exceptional difficulty of the first several greens. “The key is to be patient.” Following this mantra, he completed the more difficult front nine one stroke over par, before cruising through the back with four birdies, along with a single bogey. Osten, who’s now playing off plus 1, considers his short game to be his strongest suit, but concedes he’s among the longer hitters. “I try to use my height,” he says. On the 509-yard 10th hole, he went driver, 8-iron, before two-putting for a birdie.

Osten’s first-day 69 had him one stroke behind leader Jacky Tang, heading into Round Two at Quilchena. There, Mr. Consistency lit it up, at one point getting to five under, before conceding two late bogeys, even as several others struggled. Ultimately his 36-hole score of 139 was five better than the 144 notched by Tang, Connely Parker and Jerry Li, in a three-way tie for second.

This summer Osten will be heading east to play in several high-profile Junior and Amateur events before beginning university next fall at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, an NCAA Division-1 school. Joining him on the Zone-4 team at the B.C. Junior Championship, to be played at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna, are William Wei and Richard Sun. Meantime, our team for the B.C. Summer Games in Maple Ridge is Troy Gadella, Jack Edwards and Luke Van Alstine. We’ll be cheering on them all.

- Jim Sutherland