Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: A.J. Ewart Welcomes His Canadian Open Second Chance
More Ziemer's Notes: Million-dollar payday for Taylor at Memorial; B.C. Women’s Open set for Nicklaus North; Rivershore plays host to Canadian University/College Championship
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
A.J. Ewart played his first RBC Canadian Open in 2022 when he was still in college and remembers feeling a little like a deer in the headlights. He was nervous. Really nervous.
Ewart’s first round began on the 10th tee at St. George’s Golf & Country in suburban Toronto and the butterflies in his stomach were in full flight.
“It is maybe the easiest hole on the golf course,” Ewart said. “And my coach who was caddying for me picked this small target and said, ‘let’s hit it to here’ and I said, ‘I am just going to tee it up and hope I make contact.’ I just wanted to hit the ball. I managed to do that, which was great, but I was really nervous the first two holes and then I settled in. But it’s going to be a lot different now.”
Ewart feels so much better prepared for his second Canadian Open. He received a sponsor’s exemption to play in this week’s event as a reward for his fine play this spring on the PGA Tour Americas circuit. Ewart made the cut in all six events this spring, had two top-10s and did not have a single round over par.
He feels like he is more than ready to compete on golf’s biggest stage and is determined to prove that this week. “Just where I am as a human is night and day from when I last played the Canadian Open,” the Coquitlam native said. “I think the experience I’ve had the past two years has really helped develop me into the player I am today.”
Ewart will be one of six British Columbians in the field this week on TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s North Course. Merritt’s Roger Sloan also received a sponsor’s exemption and Brett Webster of Chilliwack played his way into the field by winning a regional qualifier held in early May at Squamish Valley Golf Course. They will join PGA TOUR regulars Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, both of Abbotsford, and Surrey’s Adam Svensson.
Ewart knows there will be nerves once again this year, but they will be of a different variety and eased by a quiet confidence in his game. “If there’s no nerves, you just don’t care, so obviously I am going to be nervous and I am ready for that,” he said. “It’s a national Open and it means a lot, but I’ll be ready.”
Ewart actually handled the 2022 Canadian Open quite well, all things considered. He finished his two rounds at five-over par to miss the cut by four shots. Ewart is also buoyed by the fact he probably knows TPC Toronto as well as anyone in the field. He played last year’s Monday qualifier there and also logged four competitive rounds at TPC Toronto at the PGA Tour Americas Tour Championship last fall.
“It’s a big golf course,” he said. “It requires a lot of shot-making. There are not many straightaway holes. You have to move the ball, the fairways are kind of sloped and you have to work the ball into slopes to keep it in the fairways. There is a premium on driving. I am sure the rough is going to be long. The greens are pretty sloped, too, so leaving yourself in the right spots is important as well as missing it in the right areas.”
Tyler Bakich, a former teammate of Ewart’s at Barry University in south Florida, will be his caddy.
LIFE ON THE ROAD: Having just returned from a six-event southern swing on the PGA Tour Americas circuit, Ewart says playing golf in South America can be a bit of an adventure. “There’s a lot that goes on outside the golf course,” he said. “It can be pretty chaotic, but I am really cautious and was really careful about what I ate and where I went. It helps travelling with some friends. But I really enjoyed it. It is a cool thing to do, to travel to foreign countries and sight-see and play in different parts of the world. “You play the game in different conditions. We played at sea level, we played at 10,000 feet, we played in wind and rain and perfect weather, so it really tests you and I think it helps you develop as a player.”
BIG PAYDAY: Nick Taylor’s solo fourth-place finish earned him a cool $1 million at the Memorial tourney in Dublin, Ohio. Taylor was in contention all weekend and displayed plenty of grit on a tough Muirfield Village Golf Club layout. His four-under total left him six shots behind winner and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. A couple of highlights stand out for Taylor. He holed a shot from 118 yards for an eagle on the par 4 14th hole in Saturday’s third round. And on Sunday, he rolled in a 44-foot putt for birdie on the par 4 17th hole. CBS reported that was the longest putt Taylor has made on the PGA TOUR since draining that epic 72-footer to win the 2003 Canadian Open. Taylor moved up nine spots to 16th on the FedEx Cup points list. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin tied for 51st at 11-over par and earned $49,500. He moved up two spots to 120th on the points list.
OPEN BOUND: Longtime Delta resident Yi Cao, a Chinese citizen who plays out of Beach Grove Golf Club, played his way into this week’s RBC Canadian Open at the final qualifier. Cao fired a two-under 69 at The Pulpit Club in Caledon, Ont., to tie for second. Four players from the 100-man field earned spots in the Open.
TITLE DEFENCES: Four British Columbia teams will compete in this week’s Canadian University/College Championship at Rivershore Golf Links in Kamloops. The University of B.C., University of Victoria, University of the Fraser Valley and University of B.C.-Okanagan all have men’s and women’s teams entered in the 72-hole competition. The UBC Thunderbirds are the defending men’s and women’s champions. UBC’s Una Chou and Dylan MacDonald will be defending the individual titles they won in 2024.
OPEN SEASON: The fourth playing of the GolfBC Group B.C. Women’s Open goes June 5-7 at Nicklaus North Golf Course in Whistler. The winner of the $60,000 event earns a spot in this year’s CPKC Women’s Open, a LPGA Tour event that will be played Aug. 21-24 at Mississauga Golf & Country Club. A strong field of pros and amateurs have registered for the Nicklaus North event, including former B.C. Women’s Open champion Christine Wong of Vancouver, Mary Parsons of Delta and Ivy League champion Vanessa Zhang of Vancouver. Victoria Liu of Vancouver, who just completed a stellar collegiate career at Princeton University, will make her pro debut at the event.
FURIOUS FINISH: Delta’s Max Osten had quite the finish to his round as he topped the field at a U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier at Port Ludlow Golf Course in Washington state. Osten, who just finished his freshman year at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, holed out for eagle on the par 4 16th hole and then birdied the 17th and 18th holes to shoot a four-under 66. Vancouver’s Jason Yu and Harrison Zipfel of St. Louis both shot 70s to claim the other two spots. The U.S. Junior Amateur goes July 21-26 at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: A U.S. Junior Girls qualifier was also held at Port Ludlow and Vancouver’s Bella Yang claimed one of the two available spots into that championship after firing a one-under 71. Chanyoung Park of Everett, Wash., topped the field with a four-under 68. The U.S. Junior Girls Championship will be played July 14-19 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Ga.
CHIP SHOTS: Leah John and Anna Huang, both of Vancouver, missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin. Huang finished 36 holes at seven-over par, while John was 10-over. The cut fell at one-over par. . .Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver and Roger Sloan of Merritt both missed the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour’s UNC Health Championship in Raleigh, N.C. Macdonald is in the field for this week’s BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greer S.C., while Sloan has accepted a sponsor’s exemption into this week’s RBC Canadian Open.