Hadwin Looking To Continue His Vegas Roll; Crisologo Aces First Q -School Test; Kim Shines In College Match Play Event; Zalli-Jacob Win 79th B.C. Match Play Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(October 14, 2024) - The UBC-Okanagan men’s team didn’t just win the Canada West Golf Championships, they dominated the competition. The Heat capitalized on home-course advantage to post a team total of 24-under par and beat the field by 17 shots at Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear Course in Kelowna.

Second-year player Ryan Gillis led the way, winning the individual title with a 36-hole score of nine-under par. UBC-Okanagan teammates Thomas Lemay and Andrew Rouble joined Gillis on the podium. Heat coach Clay Stothers was obviously delighted with the performance of the men’s team.

“I couldn’t imagine us winning by 17 shots and having three players on our team coming first, second and third,” Stothers said. “It was a surreal, magical couple of days when everything kind of lined up nicely.”

Reigning Canadian Senior Women's Champion Shelly Stouffer - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Shelly Stouffer has been waiting almost a year to enjoy one particularly nice perk she received for winning last summer’s Canadian Senior Women’s Championship.

The wait is finally over. Stouffer is ready to cash in her exemption and tee it up at this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open in Kettering, Ohio. Stouffer acknowledges she may feel a little star-struck this week.

The 120-player field is chock-full of LPGA Tour legends.

BC's Ha Young Chang Won A Regional Drive, Chip & Putt Competition At Pebble Beach - Image Courtesy Minku Chang

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Surrey teenager Ha Young Chang is counting the days until she visits Augusta National Golf Club for the finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. She figures to be spending a lot of those days at the driving range and practice green.

“I am really excited,” says Chang, a Grade 9 student at Elgin Park Secondary. “I have always watched it on TV. I know I’ll be a little nervous.”

Sloan posts season-best finish at Wyndham Championship; Wyatt Brook cherishes Willingdon Cup win; Lauren Kim knocked out in Round of 16 at U.S. Women’s Amateur; Ames repeats at Boeing Classic

By: Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(August 12, 2024) - A spirited playoff push by Surrey’s Adam Svensson fell just short at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Svensson entered the final regular-season event at No. 82 on the FedEx Cup points list and needed to move inside the top 70 to qualify for the lucrative three-event playoffs.

He came close with a tie for seventh finish that moved him to 75th, just short of where he needed to get. Fellow British Columbians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both of Abbotsford, had no such worries about making the playoffs.

Vanessa Zhang third at Canadian Juniors; Royal Colwood plays host to this week’s Canadian Women’s Amateur; Ziggy Nathu wins Golden Ears Open

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf (July 29, 2024)

Adam Svensson’s push for the PGA TOUR playoffs just got more difficult. The Surrey native entered the final round of the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn., tied for sixth and in great position to move inside the top 70 on the FedEx Cup points list.

But a four-over 75 in the final round dropped Svensson down into a tie for 37th. Instead of moving up the points list, Svensson fell two spots from 79th to 81st. The top 70 players qualify for the PGA TOUR playoffs and with just one regular-season event remaining, Svensson will likely need at least a top-five finish to crack the top 70.

T-Birds hit the road to play at home; Leah John, Mary Parsons head to LPGA Q school; Humphreys helps San Diego win collegiate event

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(October 21, 2024) - Much of the focus of the PGA TOUR’s fall season is centred on players trying to fight their way into the top 125 or stay inside that magic number to retain their playing privileges for 2025.

But there’s another race that gets less attention and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor is in the thick of it. Players who finish the fall season 51st to 60th on the FedEx Cup points list earn a couple of nice perks in 2025.

Abbotsford, BC's Nick Taylor Has His Eye On A Return To The Masters After His First Experience At Augusta - File Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Nick Taylor’s first Masters experience included 17 birdies, a four-putt, an anxious Friday night and Saturday morning sweating out the cut and countless great memories of his week at Augusta National.

He hopes to do it all again someday soon.

“I was hoping for a really low one today to maybe sneak into that top 12, but I will do everything I can to get back here, that’s for sure,” Taylor said over the phone after Sunday’s final round.

BC's Nick Taylor Putted Brilliantly At The WM Phoenix Open - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Nick Taylor did more than win the WM Phoenix Open in dramatic fashion by birdieing three of his final four holes and then adding two more in a sudden-death playoff with Charley Hoffman.

Taylor served notice that he is right now Canada’s best male player and, quite frankly, a world-class talent who seems to have that ability to rise to the occasion and perform at his best in the big moments.

Abbotsford, BC's Nick Taylor - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Nick Taylor went head to head with two of the best players in the world and never blinked. And while the Abbotsford native had to settle for second place, he earned one heck of a nice consolation prize at the PGA TOUR’s WM Phoenix Open.

Taylor took home $2.18 million as he finished the star-stacked $20-million event at TPC Scottsdale at 17-under par, two shots behind new world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler...

From L-R: BC's Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin & Adam Svensson - Images Credit Golf Canada/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

One is comfortably inside the top 30, while the other two are looking to move inside that magic number as the PGA TOUR playoffs head to Olympia Fields, Ill. for this week’s BMW Championship.

Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor who tied for 24th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, now sits 16th on the points list and seems a lock to remain inside the top 30 and qualify to play in his first Tour Championship next week in Atlanta.

Fellow British Columbians Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford and Adam Svensson of Surrey have a little more work to do this week as they currently reside outside that magic top 30 number.

UBC Golf Coach Chris Macdonald - BC Golf Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Chris Macdonald has spent considerable time thinking about the young lives lost in the devastating accident in Texas involving a New Mexico school’s golf teams.

The longtime coach of the University of British Columbia’s men’s and women’s golf teams has also reflected on how much time he has spent driving his teams to and from tournaments.

“It’s just devastating, such a tragedy,” Macdonald said of the crash that killed six members of the University of the Southwest men’s and women’s golf teams, as well as their coach, and left two other students critically injured. “I think I have probably driven over 200,000 kilometres in a mini-van with the teams in the 22 years I have been here.

Point Grey winner Dahmen comes up clutch in final round; Macdonald, Ewart, Crisologo prepare for second stage; du Toit makes cut in Hong Kong, now heads to Qatar

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The PGA TOUR wrapped up its 2024 season at last week’s RSM Classic on St. Simons Island in Georgia, where Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor didn’t play but got some good news anyway.

Taylor managed to hang on to his spot inside the top 60 on the Fed Ex Cup points list — finishing 60th — and that means he can add a couple of lucrative Signature events to his 2025 PGA TOUR schedule. Players finishing 51st to 60th on the points list earned invitations into two California Signature events, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the Monterey Peninsula and the Genesis Championship at Riviera Country Club in suburban Los Angeles.

The 2024 season was a mixed bag for the four British Columbians who had PGA TOUR status. Here’s how we grade their play in 2024.

Adam Hadwin Is Shown Here In 2024 Sony Open In Hawaii (Image Credit: Bryan Outram/BC Golf)

Ziemer's Notes: Macdonald heads to Bahamas for Korn Ferry Tour opener; Zalli about to become a world traveller on DP Challenge Tour; Humphreys top-10s at Thunderbolt Invitational; Clara Ding impresses in Florida

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(January 6, 2025)  - A four-round total of 18-under par will usually get you a top 10, maybe even a win, most weeks on the PGA TOUR.

Not at Kapalua’s Plantation course, where the season-opening Sentry tournament is an absolute birdie-fest.

Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin had 24 birdies and an eagle in his 72 holes of golf at the Plantation and just eked out a top-30 finish by finishing 29th at 18-under par.

Tower Ranch GC - Image Courtesy BCGMA

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Vernon businessman Gurjit Jhajj’s timing could not have been much better when he got into the golf business by purchasing Sunset Ranch in Kelowna about five years ago.

The ensuing COVID-19 pandemic gave golf a boost and brought new players to the game. Sunset Ranch, like most other courses, has benefitted.

That got Jhajj, owner of Durali Properties Ltd., thinking about adding a second course to his company’s portfolio. He did not have to look much farther than just down the road.

The BC Golf Industry Lost A Special Friend With The Passing Of Trisha Larsen

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The British Columbia golf industry and tourism sector lost a great champion and friend with the recent passing of Trisha Larsen. 

Larsen, who was 54, died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. She founded The Web Advisors marketing agency in 2011, but Larsen’s involvement with and promotion of the British Columbia golf industry goes back nearly three decades.

BC's Jonnie Motomochi Caddied For Yu Liu In The CPKC Women's Open - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Back in 2003, Delta’s Jonnie Motomochi made headlines when at age 12 he became the youngest player to compete in the Canadian Amateur Championship, which was held that year at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club.

Motomochi was back at Shaughnessy last week, but this time he wasn’t playing. Motomochi caddied for China’s Yu Liu at the CPKC Women’s Open. “A kid that I coach, his dad knows her dad, they used to practise at the same course in Beijing,” said Motomochi, who coaches at Morgan Creek Golf Club in Surrey.

“Her caddie got Covid so they gave me a call Monday night. “It was a great experience. She’s a really good player, so it’s been fun. I didn’t say much, I didn’t do much.”

It Was A Clean Sweep For UBC Golf At The Canadian University/College Championships - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The University of B.C. women’s team put quite the exclamation mark on its perfect season at the Canadian University/College Championship in Bromont, Que.

The T-Bird women won the event by a whopping 98 strokes to cap a season in which they won all 12 events they played, including the NAIA Championship. The UBC women have now won the past five Canadian championships and 15 in the event’s 18-year history.

It was a perfect week for UBC, which swept both team titles at the Canadian championships as well as the two individual crowns.

The UBC Men's & Women's Golf Teams Were Both Victorious In The Warrior Invitational - Image Credit Toby Kerr (UBC Communications)

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Officially, the University of B.C. women’s team has won two straight NAIA golf championships. But factor in the two years UBC was forced to miss the national tournament because of Covid, the Thunderbirds have won the last three national titles they have been able to compete in.

Don’t bet against them making it four straight when the NAIA Championships go May 14-17 at TPC Deere Run in Silvas, Ill.

UBC's Women's Golf Team Finished 3rd At This Year's NAIA Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

You can’t win them all, which the University of B.C. women’s golf team discovered last week in Illinois. The Thunderbirds entered the NAIA national championship tourney at TPC Deere Run looking for what, officially, would have been a three-peat.

Unofficially, they were attempting to win their fourth straight title. In addition to their 2022 and 2023 crowns, the T-Birds also won the national championship in 2019. The event was not played in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic and UBC was not permitted to travel to the tournament in 2021.

Team BC Poses With The North Pacific Junior Ladies Team Matches Trophy For The Third Straight Year - Image Courtesy Jennifer Greggain/Instagram

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Coach Chris Bertram is not about to discount the home course advantage his University of the Fraser Valley Cascades will enjoy at this week’s Canadian University/College Championship at Chilliwack Golf Club.

The Cascades know the Chilliwack layout inside and out, having regularly practised at the course for many years. “We have called that our home course for 12 or 13 years and it is always going to be an advantage playing at a place that you are familiar with,” says Bertram. “We get to play there regularly so there aren’t too many shots out there that we haven’t seen.

“But Chilliwack isn’t the kind of place that has a lot of blind tee shots or tricky green complexes. The course is out in front of you and players can figure the course out fairly quickly, I would say. But I don’t discount the fact that being out there every day the last few weeks is a big advantage for us.”