Humphreys in good form as he readies for B.C. Amateur title defence; Barker wins Ogopogo in record-setting fashion; Stinson prevails at Chilliwack Open

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Victoria’s Jeevan Sihota recorded the biggest win of his young pro career at the Mickelson National Invitational in Calgary.

The 20-year-old earned a $30,000 payday after finishing the 54-hole event at 12-under par, one shot better than runner-up Brady McKinlay of Lacombe, Alta. “It’s been a while since I had my last win, so it feels good,” Sihota said in a telephone interview.

Sihota was tied for the lead heading into the final round and after bogeying his first hole, he played flawlessly the rest of the way. He closed with a six-under 66.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

His first qualifying school was everything Justin Towill thought it might be, a nerve-wracking, emotional roller-coaster that left him physically and mentally drained.

It was the longest four days of Towill’s golfing life and it wasn’t quite over when the Kelowna native holed his final putt at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay. Towill now had to watch the leaderboard and wait.

The 23-year-old had finished the 72-hole test at seven-under par and stood solo 10th. The top nine players earned exempt status for the North American swing of the PGA Tour Americas circuit.

UBC T'Bird Women's Golf Alum Sonja Tang - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Some additional British Columbia content has been added to this week’s CPKC Women’s Open at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver.

Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon, Sonja Tang of Victoria and Surrey’s Angela Arora were all given late exemptions into the event by Golf Canada. They will join Surrey’s Lauren Kim and Vancouver’s Victoria Liu in the Shaughnessy field.

Kim earned her exemption by winning the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, while Liu received hers for winning the Glencoe Invitational in Calgary earlier this summer. They join a star-studded field that includes nine of the top 10 and 22 of the top 25 on the LPGA Tour’s Race to CME Globe standings.

The winners of all five of the LPGA Tour’s major championships this year will be at Shaughnessy.

Yeji Kwon gets first pro win; Nathan Ward seeks to defend title at B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship; Hadwin, Taylor head to Open Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

DELTA, B.C. (July 15, 2024) - Shelly Stouffer saved her birdies for when she really needed them in the final round of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

The Nanoose Bay resident began the final round with a three-shot lead — thanks in no small part to a four-under 68 in the second round — but that cushion had evaporated by the time she and American Catherine Matgranga had reached the 16th tee at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay.

Matgranga, a Fort Worth, Tex., resident had birdied the 14th and 15th holes to pull even. Stouffer hadn’t made a birdie all day. The momentum seemed to be on the Texan’s side.

BC's Lauren Kim Will Tee It Up At Augusta Next Month - Kim Photo Couresty Golf Canada/BBrault

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Surrey’s Lauren Kim had to pinch herself a couple of times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, that she really was walking the fairways of Augusta National Golf Club.

“It was kind of unbelievable that I was even there,” Kim said of her recent visit to the legendary layout. “I didn’t think I would ever be playing at Augusta.” The really good news is that the 18-year University of Texas freshman will be playing it again very soon. Hopefully, twice.

BC's Lauren Kim Warmed Up For Her U.S. Women's Open Start Next Month With Some Fine Play At Liberty National In New Jersey -  Photo Credit Chuck Russell/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Rose Zhang didn’t make a birdie Sunday as she made history by winning in her LPGA Tour debut. Surrey teen Lauren Kim had eight of them as she played the same Liberty National course from most of the same tees.

The inaugural Mizuho Americas Open featured 24 of the top players from the American Junior Golf Association, who competed in their own tourney opposite the LPGA field. In the final two rounds, one AJGA player played with two LPGA players.

Kim was one of four B.C. juniors invited to the event, along with Luna Lu of Burnaby and Michelle Liu and Vanessa Zhang, both of Vancouver.

Lauren Kim With Her Augusta National Women’s Amateur Invite - (X-Formerly Twitter pic) / Augusta 16th Redbud credit Ryan Schreiber

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Lauren Kim was just 13 years old when she watched the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur back in the spring of 2019.

The Surrey native was just beginning a promising junior golf career back then and as she sat in front of her television and watched Jennifer Kupcho, now a LPGA Tour regular, win that event at Augusta National Golf Club, Kim allowed herself to dream about one day playing in the tournament.

That dream got real last week when Kim, now a freshman at the University of Texas and the reigning Canadian Women’s Amateur champion, received her invitation to this year’s event.

BC's Lauren Kim (R) Posed With LPGA Legend Betsy King Before The 2022 U.S. Women's Open At Pine Needles In North Carolina - Image Credit Kevin Kim

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Before she heads to the University of Texas to begin her collegiate golf career, Surrey’s Lauren Kim has a busy summer ahead of her.

Kim, who just graduated from Earl Marriott Secondary, has qualified to play in three major United States Golf Association events this summer.

In addition to the Women’s Amateur, Kim has also qualified to play in the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Junior Girls Championships.

BC's Lauren Kim Tees Off On The 1st Hole At Augusta National In The Final Round Of The ANWA - Image Credit Chloe Knott/Augusta National

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Her scorecard, which Lauren Kim will undoubtedly cherish for the rest of her life, shows that she made a two on Augusta National Golf Club’s par 3 16th hole.

Kim will always remember how close that two was to being a one.

“I had the crowd roaring,” the 18-year-old Surrey native said of her tee shot that landed on the slope right of the pin and then slowly rolled down toward the hole.

Leah John Is Set For Her Pro Debut On The Epson Tour  

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

With a kinesiology degree in her back pocket and loads of great memories of her time at the University of Nevada, Vancouver’s Leah John begins a new chapter of her golfing life this week as she makes her first start as a professional.

“I am really excited,” says the two-time B.C. Women’s Amateur champion. “It’s kind of like the feeling you have before going to the best concert of your life.”

Leah John Has Win No. 3 On Her College Resume At The University Of Nevada - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

For Lauren Kim, it was collegiate win No. 1 in what was just her third event. For Leah John, it was win No. 3 and it came just a week after win No. 2.

The two British Columbians, at very different points in their collegiate golf journeys, recorded their wins on the same day last week (Wednesday, Oct. 11). They both thought that was great.
“Canada is crushing it,” said John, who is in her final year at the University of Nevada.

“I immediately thought, 'we’re amazing,'” added Kim, a freshman at the University of Texas. “Two Canadians win on the same day. And Team Canada won at the World Junior Girls, too. That was pretty cool.”

Leah John Is No Stranger To Winning, With 2 BC Women's Am Trophies Prior To Her Stellar College Career - Image Of Leah With Causeway Trophy Courtesy U of Nevada Athletic Communications

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Vancouver’s Leah John has played five events in her senior year at the University of Nevada and has won three of them.

It’s obviously been a very good year and one that is setting the table for a professional career that is now just three months away.

“I will turn professional immediately after graduation and hop on the Epson Tour,” John said in an interview after finishing as co-medalist at the Causeway Invitational in Sacramento last week.

Ledgeview GC GM Brad Clapp, Seen Here During Last Year's BC Amateur At Ledgeview - BC Golf Photo

More Ziemer's Notes: Lauren Kim heads back to Augusta National; SFU women win in Colorado; Ewart top-20s in Argentina; Jackson Jacob triumphs in VGT season-opener

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(March 31st, 2025) - Ledgeview Golf Club, the Abbotsford layout that helped produce the likes of PGA TOUR winners Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and NCAA champion James Lepp, has received a Golf Canada award for its commitment to junior golf.

And that makes Ledgeview general manager Brad Clapp especially proud. So does the view from the club’s pro shop.

“As I look outside now, we have a couple of five-year-olds rolling a ball towards the hole learning what a break looks like,” Clapp, a former PGA Tour Canada winner, says in an interview.

BC's Stuart Macdonald And His Caddie, Father Rob, With The Diners Club Peru Open Trophy - Image Courtesy PGA TOUR Americas

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

When it was over, after Stuart Macdonald had tapped in a short putt to win the Diners Club Peru Open, he accepted congratulations from his two playing partners and then hugged his caddie. And wouldn’t let go.

Macdonald’s caddie was his dad, Robert, who after battling a serious illness, had travelled from Vancouver to South America to carry his son’s bag.

Stu Macdonald will never forget that emotional father-son embrace that followed a win that could change his professional golfing life.

Stuart Macdonald Is Shown Here Competing In The RBC Canadian Open - Image Credit BBrault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Stuart Macdonald made it look easy as he sailed through the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school in Murrieta, Calif.

But the 27-year-old Vancouver native will tell you it was anything but. Q-school, Macdonald says, is never easy. 

“Obviously, it felt good to get through and just be able to battle through everything that comes along with Q-school,” Macdonald told British Columbia Golf in a telephone interview.

“It feels like you are playing for your life, like your life is literally on the line. That’s what it feels like. I couldn’t eat for four hours after I played because your stomach is just in knots and it’s not very fun at all.”

Taylor, Svensson, Sloan in field for fall season opener; Stouffer on to match play at U.S. Swomen’s Mid-Amateur; UBC men, women open their seasons

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The PGA Tour Americas season ended in the worst possible way for Stuart Macdonald. The Vancouver native’s final round turned into an absolute nightmare as he dropped from seventh to 11th on the Tour’s points list and missed earning exempt status on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour by one spot.

Macdonald shot an eight-over 43 on the front nine of his final round of the Fortinet Cup Championship at TPC Toronto. And although he played even-par golf the rest of the way, it wasn’t enough to keep him inside the top 10 on the points list.

Capilano hires its new superintendent from within, now looking for new head pro; British Columbians blanked at Asian Tour Q-school; Anna Huang earns status on Ladies European Tour

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was a lost opportunity, one that had weighed heavily on Stuart Macdonald in recent months. After a fine season on the PGA Tour Americas circuit, the Vancouver pro had come agonizingly close this past fall to earning a promotion to the Korn Ferry Tour.

Ten Korn Ferry Tour cards were handed out when the PGA Tour Americas season ended in early September and Macdonald fell from 10th to 11th in the final event of the season. It’s not a stretch to say he was devastated.

But Macdonald’s story has a happy ending. You could call it a Christmas miracle of sorts.

Vancouver BC's Stuart Macdonald - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald will be on the bubble when the PGA Tour Canada circuit completes its season at this week’s Fortinet Cup Championship in Calgary.

Macdonald missed the cut at last week’s final full-field event, the CRMC Championship, in Brainerd, Minn. In doing so, he dropped from fourth to fifth on the Fortinent Cup points race.

The top five on the list after this week’s event at Country Hills Golf Club in Calgary will earn status on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour. Macdonald must hold his position or improve it in order to earn one of those five coveted cards.

BC's Stuart Macdonald - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was a great day to be a Purdue Boilermaker. That included the guys who bounce an orange ball around a basketball court and another who chases a little white ball around a golf course.

On the day the Purdue Boilermakers advanced to their first Final Four appearance at the NCAA basketball tourney in nearly half a century, one of the university’s alma mater was having himself a nice day on the links.

Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald, who played his collegiate golf at Purdue, closed with a four-under 67 to finish tied for third at the PGA Tour Americas’ Totalplay Championship at Atlas Country Club in Guadalajara, Mexico.

BC's Jared du Toit (L) And Stuart Macdonald (R) Are Off To Q-School Finals - Golf Canada Player Photos

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was one of the toughest weeks of their golfing lives, but Jared du Toit and Stu Macdonald both survived to play another day.

Another week, actually, as both players have earned the right to play in the finals of the Korn Ferry/PGA TOUR qualifying school later this month. It did not come easy.

“It was probably the hardest week for me in my career,” Vancouver native Macdonald said of surviving a second-stage qualifier in Valencia, Calif.