FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This year’s weather has been wild; record breaking snowfall over winter, enormous amounts of rain and flooding through spring, and now a summer fire season that is one for the BC history books.

People from all over the province, and country, are being affected by the fires in the interior and northern BC—whether you’re from there, vacation there, or have friends and family there, we all are connected to the people and places that are currently under evacuation, or that have been destroyed by fires in the last few weeks.

In light of the wildfires, Redwoods is using their knowledge, resources, and connections in the industry and community to do one of the things they do best: hosting a golf tournament to raise money for those displaced by the BC Wildfires.

Doug Roxburgh Will Seek His Third B.C. Senior Men's Title This Week At Myrtle Point GC In Powell River - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

In his last four B.C. Senior Men’s Championships, Doug Roxburgh has finished first twice, second and third. Don’t be surprised if he contends again at this week’s championship at Myrtle Point Golf Course in Powell River.

Roxburgh proved at last week’s B.C. Amateur Championship that his game is in good shape. He comfortably made the cut in his 51st B.C. Amateur, a tournament he has won a record 13 times. And Roxburgh has been playing more tournament golf of late than he has in several years.

Over the last month, he has competed at the Kelowna Senior, the Rivershore Senior in Kamloops, the B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship, the Ogopogo Invitational in Kelowna and last week’s B.C. Amateur at Morgan Creek in Surrey.

 AGA-BC Directors Meet With New Golf Canada CEO, Laurence Applebaum, At Point Grey Golf & Country Club. (From Left) Jerry Rousseau, Western Canada Turfgrass Association, Donald Miyazaki, PGA of BC, Mike Whalen, Canadian Society of Club Managers, Laurence Applebaum, Golf Canada, Kris Jonasson, British Columbia Golf, Joan Probert, National Golf Course Owner’s Association, Eric Beck, National Golf Course Owner’s Association, Trevor Smith, Allied Golf Association of BC President, Dale Jackson, Golf Canada. (Photo/AGA-BC)

By Jeff Sutherland 

Barely into his start, Golf Canada's new CEO is already making the rounds.

Laurence Applebaum, who spent the last five years as executive vice-president of the Women’s Tennis Association, set an aggressive 21-day schedule to meet with golf industry leaders across Canada... all on their home turf.

His stop in BC was July 19th, hosted by the Point Grey Golf and Country Club and was an opportunity for break out meetings with four separate groups including the directors of the Allied Golf Association (AGA) of BC (a collective of individual provincial golf sector leaders).

British Columbia Golf Coaches Clockwise From Top Left: Matt Cella, Keri Moffat, Colin Lavers And Jennifer Greggain - Images Credit Jurgen Kaminski/BC Golf

With two Canadian Junior Championships coming up, B.C.’s four coaches will be at the national championships working with two provincial teams and two development teams.

The coaches will be travelling with 14 B.C. juniors to national competitions and coaching them throughout the week. Both of the championships take place the same week of July 31st - August 4th in Ontario, with the boys in Kingston at Cataraqui Golf & Country Club and the girls in Cumberland playing the Camelot Golf & Country Club.

As fortunate as our province is to have some very fine golfers on both the women’s and men’s sides, this seems a good time to acknowledge the behind the scenes contribution by the dedicated B.C. Golf coaches.

The 2017 British Columbia Amateur Champion, Jake DuVall, Holds The Bostock Trophy Over His Head After Winning The Title In A Playoff Over Washington's Jacob Koppenberg - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It may have been the biggest fist-pump in the 115-year history of the B.C. Amateur Championship.

Victoria’s Jake DuVall was more than a little excited when he rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to beat Jacob Koppenberg of Bellingham at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey.

“This is huge,” an elated DuVall said. “I have never really won any big tournament anywhere near the stature of this one. It kind of gives me belief going forward into golf, thinking about turning pro, that I can do it in pressure situations and I am really excited.”

Victoria's Jake DuVall (L) And Bellingham, Wa.'s Jacob Koppenberg (R) Will Play Friday's Final Round With 13-Year-Old Jeevan Sihota, Also From Victoria - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

For a while Thursday, it looked like it was going to be a two-man race to finish at the B.C. Amateur Championship. Maybe it still will be, but when Jacob Koppenberg and Jake DuVall stumbled slightly on the back nine at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Thursday’s third round, it brought a handful of other players back into the tournament.

Despite their back-nine adventures, Koppenberg and DuVall somehow both managed to shoot one-under 71s on Thursday, so nothing really changed. Koppenberg, a 30-year-old from Bellingham, still has the one-shot lead he had on DuVall when the day began. Koppenberg sits at 10-under through 54 holes, while Duvall, a 23-year-old from Victoria, is nine-under.

Canada is celebrating its 150th Birthday this year and with that the Canada Games will hold its 50th edition with the Summer Games in Winnipeg from July 28th to August 13th.

Featuring 16 sports and over 250 events, combined with a major cultural festival, the 2017 Canada Summer Games will bring together exceptional athletes and artists from coast to coast to celebrate the occasion.

One of those sports is of course, Golf, and when it comes to competing in the Canada Summer Games, few provinces can boast the results in any discipline quite like BC can when it comes to golf.

13-Time B.C. Amateur Champion Doug Roxburgh (L) And 2016 Champion Nolan Thoroughgood (R) Both Made Some News At Morgan Creek In The Opening Round Of The 115th BC Amateur - Images Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Morgan Day and Mark Berg will tell you that spending some time at Morgan Creek Golf Course beats hanging out at the evacuation centre in Kamloops. Day and Berg both work at Williams Lake Golf Course and were among thousands of area residents who had to leave town because of forest fires that are threatening the area.

Day works in the pro shop and Berg is the course superintendent. “It has been an interesting last 10 days or so,” Day said. “We got the official evacuation order on Saturday and made the commute to Kamloops which normally takes three hours and it took around eight hours. It has been pretty surreal to be honest.”

Chris Crisilogo (Shown Here), Ian Kim, Mac Keats, Scott Kerr, Taylor Durham And Jacob Koppenberg Opened The B.C. Amateur With Four-Under 68s At Morgan Creek Golf Course In Surrey - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Chris Crisilogo didn’t have his 'A game' Tuesday, but it was still good enough to grab a share of the first-round lead on what is a crowded leaderboard at the B.C. Amateur Championship.

The Simon Fraser University standout had to do his fair share of scrambling to record a four-under 68 at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey that left him tied for the lead with SFU teammate Scott Kerr of Vancouver, Ian Kim of White Rock, Victoria’s Mac Keats, Taylor Durham of North Vancouver and Jacob Koppenberg of Bellingham.

Kathrine Chan (L) And Mary Parsons Earned Their Entry Into The 2017 U.S. Women's Amateur After Coming 1-2 In A Qualifier At Richmond Country Club - Image Credit Brad Ziemer

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Kathrine Chan learned Monday that boring is not always bad. A round of 18 straight pars that Chan called “boring” earned the 17-year-old Richmond resident a spot in next month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in southern California.

Chan’s even-par round of 72 topped the field and earned her one of two spots that were up for grabs at a qualifier at Richmond Country Club. Delta’s Mary Parsons earned the other spot with a one-over 73.

The Youngest Player To Ever Win The B.C. Amateur Championshp, Nolan Thoroughgood, Will Be At Morgan Creek This Week To Defend the Title He Won Last Year As A 15-Year Old - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The field for the 115th playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship is full following a supplemental qualifier Sunday at Northview Golf Club’s Canal course in Surrey.

Sixty players competed for the final 21 spots into the B.C. Amateur, which begins Tuesday at Morgan Creek Golf Club in Surrey. Keenan Flemming of Sechelt topped the field with a one-under 71. It took a score of 78 or better to earn a spot.

Shadow Ridge Golf Course In Kelowna Has Done A Terrific Job In A Very Short Period To Recover From The Flooding That Caused So Much Damage Just A Couple Of Months Ago - Image Courtesy Shadow Ridge GC/Stupeflix

After massive flooding at Shadow Ridge Golf Course in Kelowna when Mill Creek spilled its banks back in May, the golf course is almost back to 100% and all the crew that put in the hard work, time and effort are to be congratulated on a job well done.  

Director of Operations James Presnail said last week that conditions are “excellent” on the holes that weren’t affected by the flood, and that the course was now open on all 18 holes with no temporaries and for a $34 green fee you won't be disappointed.

BC Golf Particiaption Manager Tyler McKay (L) Helps Introduce A Young SuperHero To The Game Of Golf At The Aboriginal Day Ceremony At Musqueam Last Month - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

By Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

During the recent Aboriginal Day festivities held June 21st at Musqueam’s Community and Cultural Centres in Vancouver, a team from British Columbia Golf & Future Links, Driven by Acura, set up their SNAG golf display on a beautiful early summer day and saw over 160 youngsters take part in trying their hand at hitting shots toward targets with the specially designed equipment.  

As part of the initiative to inspire everyone to get active and involved in moving the community forward, BC Golf’s new Manager of Participation, Tyler McKay, was on hand with a great crew of assistants that included SFU Clan standout Chris Crisologo, UBC T’Bird Women’s Golf team member Avril Li, former Team Canada Junior member Matt Kettleson and BC Golf intern Phong Pham.

Between them all they were instrumental in helping interested youngsters, some who had swung a golf club before and many who had not, have some fun in hitting the velcro-style balls at nearby targets.

Angela Zhang (L) Of Vancouver And Logan Carver (R) Of Calgary Are Your Girls And Boys Champions Respectively From The Future Links, driven by Acura Western Championship at Fernie Golf and Country Club - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Courtesy Golf Canada

FERNIE, B.C. – Logan Carver rebounded after a sloppy start to edge the competition in the final holes while Angela Zhang won the girls division at the Future Links, driven by Acura Western Championship at Fernie Golf and Country Club on Thursday.

courtesy Golf Canada

Over the past several years, the USGA and The R&A have been working with golf’s handicapping authorities to develop a single World Handicap System (WHS) for the sport.

More than 15 million golfers in over 80 countries presently have a handicap, a numerical index long used as a reference to gauge a golfer’s potential skill level.

TV Personality And Co-Host Of The Popular Canadian TV Show ‘The Social’ Cynthia Loyst Will Host The 2017 Pacific Links Championship Executive Women’s Day Initiative

VICTORIA, B.C. (July 13, 2017) – Tournament Organizers, Pacific Links International, and PGA TOUR Champions are excited to announce the launch of the 2017 Pacific Links Championship Executive Women’s Day initiative, which will be part of event week and hosted on Saturday, September 16 at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa.

Cynthia Loyst, Co-Host of national CTV television program ‘The Social’ will act as the keynote speaker of the Executive Women’s Day event. She’s created an advice column, a clothing line, numerous documentaries and is the creator and lead contributor to the popular online destination Find Your Pleasure.

Christian Zalli's Win In The 2017 BC Junior Boys Championship At Squamish Valley GC Vaulted Him Up The WAGR List 1,386 Places - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/BC Golf 

MEN’S TOP 10

A minor shake up near the top of the Top-10.

Adam Hadwin maintains the No. 1 Canadian ranking but some jostling behind him sees Graham DeLaet move up to No. 2 with a six place gain. DeLaet finished in a tie for 20th at the PGA’s Greenbrier Classic, earning 1.94 world ranking points in the process.

Mackenzie Hughes also finished in a tie for 20th but only picked up three places in the world rankings, leaving him just two places back of DeLaet.

Nick Taylor moves up to No. 4 with a six spot gain as well thanks to a tie for ninth at The Greenbrier. It’s his fourth top 10 result of the season and was worth 4.42 world ranking points. Unfortunately, Taylor just missed out qualifying for the Open Championship as one of the top four finishers at the tournament who were not already exempt into the major championship.

Abbotsford Pro Adam Hadwin Says He Has Lots To Learn About Links Golf Before Teeing It Up At Royal Birkdale - Image Courtesy adamhadwin.com

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Adam Hadwin doesn’t quite know what to expect, on or off the golf course, as he heads to England for his first Open Championship.“I haven’t been over there, I have never been to Europe, not even to vacation or anything,” Hadwin tells British Columbia Golf. “It is going to be different, but I am looking forward to that challenge.”

Well, for starters, Adam, they drive on the left side of the road over there. Seriously, that figures to be the least of Hadwin’s worries. He is more concerned about the crash course in links golf that will begin when he arrives at Royal Birkdale, site of the July 20-23 Open Championship.

Team British Columbia In This Year's Eddie Hogan Cup Consists Of From L-R: Aidan Goodfellow, Zach Ryujin, Isaac DH Lee And Joel Veenstra - All Images Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

The 49th annual Eddie Hogan Cup tournament is scheduled to take place August 11th – 13th, 2017 at the Riverside Golf & Country Club in Portland, Oregon and British Columbia has been represented every single year since its inception in 1969. 

BC has won the Eddie Hogan Cup title twice since 1972, with the first coming in 2009 and then again 4 years later in 2013 where team member Kevin Vigna also won the individual title. The Eddie Hogan Cup is filled with excellent competition from across the USA including Southern and Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Hawaii and others.

It is restricted to boys 18 years of age or younger as of the final date of competition. However, a player may NOT have started college.

Morgan Creek Golf Club In Surrey Is Prepared To Play Host To The 115th Playing Of The B.C. Amateur And Richmond's Chris Crisologo Has His Eyes On The Prize - Image Courtesy BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It is the tournament that Chris Crisologo circled on his busy summer schedule, one that he wants to win more than all the others. And it may surprise you to learn that the B.C. Amateur Championship is that tournament.

A win at the Canadian Amateur or U.S. Amateur would ultimately mean much more for his career, but it is the B.C. Amateur that is closest to Crisologo’s heart. “I really want to get a good showing in a B.C. Am for once,” says Crisologo.

“That is kind of my goal this summer. Even going into the year I said I really want to give myself the best opportunity in the B.C. Am and ride  the momentum into the Canadian Am and I guess the U.S. Am now.”