Leah John Survived A Late Stumble And Takes A Two-Shot Lead Into The Final Round Of The B.C. Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship At Kimberley GC - BC Golf File Photo

By Brad Ziemer. British Columbia Golf

Leah John seems to be winning her game of 'catch-me-if-you-can' with the rest of the field at the B.C. Junior Girls Presented by Maui Jim Championship.

She hopes she can hang on for one more day. No one has been able to reel in John, the 18-year-old Vancouver resident who has been leading the event since she opened with a four-under 68 in Tuesday’s first round.

John fired a four-over 76 in Thursday’s third round and will carry a two-shot lead into Friday’s final round at Kimberley Golf Club as she tries to go wire-to-wire for what would be the biggest win of her junior golfing career.

Song Bai Jumped Out To A Four-Shot Lead Following A 3rd Round 66 At The B.C. Junior Boys Championship At Kamloops G&CC - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

KAMLOOPS -- Song Bai played in last year’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Squamish Valley Golf Club and missed the cut after shooting rounds of 82 and 83. This year? Well, that’s been quite a different story. A rather remarkable one.

Bai, a 16-year-old who plays out of Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, shot a six-under par 66 Thursday and carries a four-shot lead into Friday’s final round of this year’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Kamloops Golf & Country Club. He is 12-under par through 54 holes.

BC's 2018 Girls Junior Americas Cup Team Clockwise From Top Left: Akari Hayashi, Phoebe Yue, Chaewon Baek And Karen Zhang - Images Credit BC Golf/GJAC

The 2018 Girls Junior Americas Cup will be held at Hiwan Golf Course in Evergreen, Colorado  from July 23-27th. 

Twenty-five miles west of downtown Denver, off of Interstate 70, you will find Hiwan in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains situated at an elevation of 7,665 feet. The Rocky Mountains are notable for containing the highest peaks in central North America. The range’s highest peak is Mount Elbert located in Colorado at 14,440 feet.

A Very Confident Ilirian Zalli Goes Into Round Three Of The B.C. Junior Boys Championship Tied For The Lead With Khan Lee - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

KAMLOOPS -- Ilirian Zalli is tied for the lead halfway through the B.C. Junior Boys Championship, but that wasn’t much consolation after letting what he felt could have been a great round slip away.

Zalli played his first nine holes in four-under par before stumbling slightly on the back nine en route to a three-under 69 that left him at seven-under par through 36 holes. He is tied with Langley’s Khan Lee, who shot the day’s best score, a five-under 67.

Leah John Continues To Lead The B.C. Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship At Kimberley GC After Two Rounds - Image Credit Lance Kraus Photography

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Leah John finally made some bogeys Wednesday, but a funny thing happened. Her lead doubled at the B.C. Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship at Kimberley Golf Club.

John, who opened the tournament with a bogey-free, four-under par 68, shot a two-over 74 in the second round and now leads by four shots with a 36-hole total of 142 or two-under par.

Former Oregon State Beaver Jonnie Motomochi Has Found An Important And Fulfilling Role Helping Promising Young Players Get Scholarship Opportunities - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

KAMLOOPS -- It’s safe to say the majority of the 120 players who teed it up at this week’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship are hoping their prowess on the links might earn them a golf scholarship.

Jonnie Motomochi, who not so long ago was one of them, would like to help make that happen. The 27-year-old Motomochi has started a college golf consulting business aimed at helping parents and their sons and daughters navigate the college golf scholarship waters.

A Pair Of Eagles Carried Richmond's Michael Crisologo To The First Round Lead At The BC Junior Boys Championship In Kamloops - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

KAMLOOPS -- Michael Crisologo was having a decent round of golf Tuesday as he came to the 11th hole at Kamloops Golf & Country Club.

Then the eagle landed. And that was followed by another one. Just like that, his round became a very good one that put him in the lead at the B.C. Junior Boys Championship.
“Back to back eagles,” the 17-year-old said with a big smile after his round.

Leah John Is Your First Round Leader In The 2018 BC Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship At Kimberley Golf Club - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Leah John doesn’t quite know what she is going to do for an encore in Wednesday’s second round of the B.C. Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship at Kimberley Golf Club.

All John did in Tuesday’s first round was fire a bogey-free, course-record four-under par 68 to grab a two-shot lead. “That was my first bogey-free round and also the best score I have ever had,” the 18-year-old Vancouver resident said after the round.

The 2017 BC Junior Boys Champion Christian Zalli Kisses The Trophy After His Win At Squamish Golf & Country Club. He Won't Be Back To Defend But His Younger Brother Ilirian Is There - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

As the championship season really gets into high gear here in British Columbia, this week we have both the BC Junior Girls Presented By Maui Jim Championship taking place at Kimberley Golf Club in Kimberley and the BC Junior Boys Championship at the Kamloops Golf Club in Kamloops.

Jackson The Golden Retriever Takes A Break In The Golf Cart During Redwoods GC's Dog Days of Summer Event - Image Courtesy Redwoods Golf Course

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Christian Zalli is not age-eligible to defend his B.C. Junior Boys Championship this week. But his little brother, Ilirian, will be at Kamloops Golf & Country Club and has to be considered one of the favourites in the field.

Ilirian tied for second at last year’s B.C. Junior at Squamish Valley Golf & Country Club, finishing two shots behind his big brother. Ilirian, the 2016 B.C. Bantam Boys champion from Vancouver, tore up the Zone 4 Junior Tour this spring. He won the Zone 4 Junior Championship by six shots and ran away with the Order of Merit title.

For the first time in the history of the Canada Games, the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay travels from coast-to-coast across the nation and we need your help to spread the word!

The MNP Canada Games Torch Relay is a significant element of the Canada Games and has united communities across the nation for the past 51 years. It will officially start in Ottawa from the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in fall 2018 and will visit over 40 communities across Canada before arriving in Red Deer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Games.

To nominate a torchbearer for the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay, click here.

2018 BC Men's Mid-Amateur Champion Jay Snyder - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SICAMOUS -- Jay Snyder has played more tournament golf the last few weeks than he has in years and all that work paid off Thursday when he won the B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship. Now he pledges to spend more time with his wife, Sophie, who is expecting their first child in December.

“My wife right now is very unhappy with me because I was away for a week at Winged Foot (in New York), then I played the Squamish Amateur, the Marine Drive Amateur and then I played this, so in June I haven’t seen a lot of my wife and she is pregnant and cranky so . . .,” Snyder said with a smile. He didn’t finish the sentence so we will.

He’d better put the clubs away for a while. 

BC Golf Tournament Director Greg Moody Presents The Women's Mid-Amateur Trophy To 2018 Winner Christina Proteau, Her 6th Victory In The Event - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SICAMOUS -- Christina Proteau has a long list of provincial and national golf titles, so it would be easy to assume that another one wouldn’t mean all that much. That could not be further from the truth. This one meant so much to Proteau, the mother of two young boys who is a Crown prosecutor in Port Alberni.

She fired a one-under par 71 Thursday at Hyde Mountain Golf Course to win her sixth B.C. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship title. The tears she wiped away from her eyes told the story.

Cobble Hill's Brent Wilson, The 2015 PNGA Men's Mid-Amateur Champion, Is Tied For The Lead Going Into The Final Round Of The BC Men's Mid-Amateur At Hyde Mountain GC - Image Courtesy PNGA

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SICAMOUS -- Brent Wilson and Dan Swanson have more in common than the fact they happen to share the lead heading into Thursday’s final round of the B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship at Hyde Mountain Golf Course.

Swanson and Wilson have also both suffered heartbreak at Storey Creek Golf Course in Campbell River during British Columbia Golf championships.

Hyde Mountain GC On Mara Lake - Image Courtesy Golf BC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SICAMOUS -- Here in the Houseboat Capital of Canada, it makes perfect sense that Hyde Mountain Golf Course would have its own marina.

There’s no need to drive your car to the scenic course that sits on Mara Lake. Just pull your boat up to the dock located on Hyde Mountain’s fourth hole, pick up the courtesy phone and a shuttle will be there in minutes to take you to the newly renovated clubhouse.

And once you see the views from the huge triple-tiered patio outside that clubhouse, you will likely play your round in anticipation of some time spent at the 19th hole.

The 2018 British Columbia Golf Women's and Men's Mid-Master and Mid-Amateur Championships are taking place at the Hyde Mountain Golf Course in Sicamous.

BC Golf's Brad Ziemer previewed the event here:

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Last year’s champions will be in the field to defend their titles this week when Hyde Mountain Golf Course in Sicamous plays host to the B.C. Women’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur and Mid-Masters Championship.

Last year at Kokanee Springs Golf Resort in Crawford Bay, Victoria’s Craig Doell won both the Men’s Mid-Amateur and Mid-Masters titles. Doell beat Cameron Powell of Fernie in a playoff to win the Mid-Am category, which is for players 25 and over. Doell edged Nanaimo’s Sandy Harper by one shot to win the Mid-Masters crown, which is for players 40 and older.

Abbotsford’s Dan Swanson, recently reinstated as an amateur, should be a player to watch this week. On the women’s side, Parksville’s Josee Deslauriers won both of the Mid-Amateur and Mid-Masters titles last year at Kokanee Springs by four shots over Jackie Little of Procter. Little won her sixth B.C. Senior Women’s title last week at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay and is in the field this week at Hyde Mountain.

The 54-hole competition goes Tuesday through Thursday.

Tournament Information 

Recently Reinstated Amateur Dan Swanson Took The First Roud Lead In The Men's Division At The B.C. Mid-Amateur At Hyde Mountain GC In Sicamous - Image Courtesy VGT

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SICAMOUS -- The views of Mara Lake from Hyde Mountain Golf Course are sublime, but the competitors at this week’s B.C. Mid-Amateur and Mid-Master Championships can’t really enjoy them during their rounds.

They’re too busy focusing on their next shot and avoiding the trouble that seems to be ever present. “It’s not easy,” said Abbotsford’s Dan Swanson, who grabbed the first-round lead with a two-under par 70.

“It is kind of claustrophobic on some holes. It kind of makes it easy. You can’t go left, you can’t go right, so there’s only one place to go -- right down the middle. Just pick your line and trust your swing because if you don’t that’s when it starts to go sideways on you.

Team Proteau Is At It Again As Christina And Husband Jim Along With Their Sons Jameson And Thatcher Are All Pulling Together Toward Another BC Golf Title For Mom - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SICAMOUS -- They are not just golf tournaments, they are more like family adventures when Christina and Jim Proteau hit the road these days.

They are packing much more precious cargo than Christina’s clubs, which happen to have won a collection of provincial titles. The Proteaus are also bringing along their two young sons -- Jameson, who is three and a half, and eight-month-old Thatcher -- and that makes things interesting.

Proteau, who grabbed the first round lead in the B.C. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship on Tuesday, insists she and her husband wouldn’t change a thing.

2017 Mid-Am Champs Craig Doell (L) And Josee Deslauriers Are In Sicamous At Hyde Mountain GC This Week To Defend Their Titles - Images: Hyde Mtn./BC Golf/PNGA

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Last year’s champions will be in the field to defend their titles this week when Hyde Mountain Golf Course in Sicamous plays host to the B.C. Women’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur and Mid-Masters Championship.

Last year at Kokanee Springs Golf Resort in Crawford Bay, Victoria’s Craig Doell won both the Men’s Mid-Amateur and Mid-Masters titles. Doell beat Cameron Powell of Fernie in a playoff to win the Mid-Am category, which is for players 25 and over. Doell edged Nanaimo’s Sandy Harper by one shot to win the Mid-Masters crown, which is for players 40 and older.

Golf Canada is offering 17 scholarships this year to assist aspiring young Canadian golfers. See the information below for details and either click on the Apply Now button in the poster or HERE to be taken to the scholarship page.