Delta's Mary Parsons Holds The Winner's Hardware After Her Victory In The 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship At Big Sky GC In Pemberton - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Bryan Outram

Mary Parsons coolly rolled in her 6th birdie putt of the day on the par 5 18th and final hole of the tournament at Big Sky Golf Club on Friday to put the finishing touches on her 6-shot victory in the 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship. Parsons finished at even par (288) for the 4 rounds. 

Finishing tied for 2nd were Tiffany Kong and Hannah Lee, with halfway mark leader Sumie Francois coming in 4th and 13-year old Akari Hayashi rounding out the top 5.

The win wasn’t without its up downs along the way, but Parsons’ perseverance proved to be the difference in the end.

Nolan Thoroughgood Is The Youngest BC Amateur Champion At Age 15 In The History Of The Event - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

QUALICUM BEACH -- History was made at the 114th playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship. Twice. The tournament began with the legendary Doug Roxburgh teeing it up in his 50th straight B.C. Amateur. It ended Friday with the championship trophy being raised by the event’s youngest ever winner.

Nolan Thoroughgood, a 15-year-old Victoria resident who was competing in just the second four-round tournament of his young life, played with the poise of a seasoned veteran at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort. He closed with an even-par round of 72 for a 72-hole total of seven-under par to win by two shots over another promising junior, 17-year-old A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam.

Mary Parsons Is The Third Round Leader In The 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship At Big Sky Golf Club - Image Credit Golf Canada 

By Bryan Outram

The British Open may be taking place across the pond at Royal Troon this week but it was during the third round of the 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship that typical ‘Open’ weather decided to show up at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton.

With the leaders just heading into the home stretch of holes on the back nine the wind came howling through the mountains and the rain was coming in sideways.

As it turns out those were ideal conditions for eventual third round leader Mary Parsons, whose 2-under back nine score rescued her from an unsettling 4-over outward nine and staked her to a two-shot lead heading into Friday’s final round.

Nolan Thoroughgood's Three-Round Total Of Seven-Under Par Has Him One Shot Ahead Of Zach Anderson Of Nanaimo - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

QUALICUM BEACH -- Nolan Thoroughgood joined the junior program at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria when he was 11 years old. His parents didn’t see much of him that summer. “We live right beside the course so he went over every day that summer,” Garth Thoroughgood said of his son.

“He’d leave the house at 9 and we wouldn’t see him until 9 at night. They spoiled him there and he just fell in love with the game. He gave up hockey two years later and said he is just going to focus on golf.”

That decision seems to be working out just fine. On Thursday, Nolan -- now 15 and heading into Grade 11 at Royal Bay Secondary -- shot a two-under par 70 in the third round of the B.C. Amateur Championship at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort and will take a one-shot lead into Friday’s final round.

Andrew Hennings Shares The Halfway Lead In The 2016 BC Amateur At Pheasant Glen In Qualicum Beach - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

Veteran Doug Roxburgh, Playing In His 50Th Straight B.C. Amateur, Misses The Cut By One Shot At Pheasant Glen

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

QUALICUM BEACH -- The idyllic oceanside town of Qualicum Beach is a popular retirement spot and has what can safely be described as a mature citizenry. It has become decidedly younger this week with the arrival of the B.C. Amateur Championship at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort.

Of the 156 players who teed it up in the 114th playing of the B.C. Amateur, 124 are 24 years old or younger. And 43 of those are 18 and younger. The leaderboard through two rounds is a reflection of that youth. Two of the three co-leaders are 15 and 20. There is a liberal sprinkling of other teens and early 20-somethings fairly high up on the leaderboard.

The exception is ‘old-timer’ Andrew Hennings. He’s 33, which would qualify him as a spring chicken by Qualicum Beach standards. But in this field, he’s one of the old guys.

Burnaby's Sumie Francois Still Holds The Lead After Round Two Of The 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship At Big Sky Golf Club In Pemberton - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Bryan Outram

Round two of the 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship at Big Sky Golf Club was played under mostly sunny skies with the stunning backdrop of Mt. Currie doing its level best to provide a distraction to the competitors below. 

First round leader Sumie Francois of Shaughnessy G&CC continued her plan of playing conservatively off the tee and but for a balky putter may have been able to extend her 2-shot lead. As it was, her closest pursuer, Delta's Mary Parsons who plays out of Richmond's Mayfair Lakes GC, managed the only under par score of day two with a 1-under 71 to cut into Francois' lead by one shot going into round 3 on Thursday.

Former Junior Star Jonnie Motomochi From North Delta Is Now An Assistant Golf Coach With Oregon State - Image Courtesy Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

QUALICUM BEACH -- It wasn’t all that long ago that Jonnie Motomochi had the B.C. Amateur Championship circled on his summer playing calendar. These days it’s still highlighted, but for a different reason. 

Motomochi now scouts the tournament he used to play in.

A solid junior career landed Motomochi a golf scholarship to Oregon State University, where he played for the Beavers. Now he helps coach them.

Kelowna's William Deck Is (Pictured Here) Is Tied For The First Round Lead With Roy Kang At The BC Amateur Being Played At Pheasant Glen GC In Qualicum Beach - BC Golf Photo

13-Time Winner Shoots Two-Over 74; William Deck Of Kelowna And Roy Kang Of North Vancouver Share Lead With Six-Under 66s

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

QUALICUM BEACH -- It rained on Doug Roxburgh’s parade. The 13-time champion finished the first round of his milestone 50th straight B.C. Amateur Championship in a downpour early Tuesday afternoon at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum Beach.

It made for a soggy ending to what Roxburgh described as day when he didn’t have his best stuff. He finished with a two-over 74, which left him eight shots behind co-leaders William Deck of Kelowna and North Vancouver’s Roy Kang.

Burnaby's Sumie Francois Was The Only Player To Break Par In The Opening Round Of The 2016 BC Junior Girls Championship At Big Sky GC In Pemberton - Image Credit Kris Jonasson

By Bryan Outram

After round one of the BC Junior Girls Championship at Big Sky GCin Pemberton it’s 16-year old Sumie Francois in the lead after firing the only sub-par round of the day, a 2-under 70. Francois, who plays out of Shaughnessy G&CC, holds a two shot lead over last week’s runner-up from the BC Women’s Amateur, Delta’s Mary Parsons, who posted an even par round of 72.

This is Francois’ first time playing Big Sky and she carded four birdies and two bogies in a round where she stuck with mainly 3-woods and hybrids off the tees in a conservative approach she employed saying, “I do hit my driver pretty far and I didn’t want my misses to be big ones.”

Along With Bernhard Langer (Pictured), Rocco Mediate, Lee Janzen And Jesper Parnevik Have Also Committed To The PGA TOUR Champions Pacific Links Championship - Image Courtesy SportBox

Victoria, B.C. (July 11, 2016) – World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer committed to play the 2016 Pacific Links Championship, to be contested on Bear Mountain Golf Resort’s Mountain Course in Victoria, British Columbia, the week of September 19-25, 2016. The event will feature a US$2.5 million purse, with 81 players competing for a winner’s share of $440,000.

Langer, a two-time winner of the Masters Tournament, has notched 28 career titles on PGA TOUR Champions, which ranks third all-time behind Hale Irwin (45) and Lee Trevino (29).

Merritt's Roger Sloan, Shown Here At A Recent Media Outing At Bear Mountain GC In Victoria, Sits In 38th Spot On The Web.com Money List - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Surrey’s Adam Svensson recorded his first top-10 finish on the Web.com Tour on Sunday at the LECOM Health Challenge tourney in Findley Lake, N.Y. Svensson closed with a three-under 69 to finish at 13-under par and tied for ninth place.

Svensson earned $15,000, which moved him to 65th from 81st on the Web.com tour money list. That move is significant as the top 75 players on the money list qualify for the Web.com Tour Finals in September. 

Merritt’s Roger Sloan also had a good week. Sloan shot a five-under 67 to finish tied for 14th place at 12-under. Sloan moved to 38th on the money list. He had started the week 44th.

Pheasant Glen Golf Course In Qualicum Beach Is The Site Of The 114th B.C. Amateur This Week - Image Courtesy Facility

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Doug Roxburgh has always said that one of the things he has most enjoyed about competing in the B.C. Amateur Championship is travelling the province and playing courses that are new to him. It seems fitting that when Roxburgh tees it up Tuesday in his 50th straight B.C. Amateur Championship it will be on a course that he had not played until Monday’s practice round.

Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum Beach isn’t exactly new, but it is to Roxburgh. The course dates back to the early 1990s, when it opened as an executive-length layout.

The Aboriginal Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity Partners Council (Partners Council) of BC is pleased to announce the 2016 BC Aboriginal Provincial Golf Championships will be hosted in partnership with Talking Rock Golf Course and the Little Shuswap Band from August 7th-9th, 2016 in Chase, BC.

Aboriginal youth golfers are invited to attend this 3-day event sanctioned by the British Columbia Golf Association. Please note this event will also serve as a talent identification event to identify athletes to form a "Team BC Development Squad" to train for and pursue participation in the 2017 North American Indigenous Games held in Toronto, Ontario, from July 16 to 23, 2017.

Mill Bay's Tristan Mandur (L) Accepts The Bower Trophy As 2016 BC Junior Boys Champion From British Columbia Golf President Patrick Kelly - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Bryan Outram

It was home, sweet home for Mill Bay's Tristan Mandur as he calmly rolled in a 5-foot par putt on the 72nd hole at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club, his home course, for a one-shot victory over Coquitlam's A.J. Ewart in the 2016 British Columbia Junior Boys Championship.

"it feels incredible, I mean, to win it on my home soil it means even more. I've worked really hard this year and it feels good for it to pay off, " said Mandur following the trophy presentation.

Jisoo Keel Cruised To A Comfortable 6-Shot Win In The BC Women's Amateur At Beach Grove Golf Club - Image Credit Chinami Hancock/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Jisoo Keel didn’t save her best for last, but she really didn’t need it. The 20-year-old former Coquitlam resident began Friday’s final round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen six shots ahead of the field. When the day ended, nothing had changed and Keel was hoisting the AC Flummerfelt Cup.

Keel closed with a one-over 73 -- her highest round of the week -- to finish the 72-hole event at eight-under par. Delta’s Mary Parsons, who also shot 73 on Friday, was second at two-under.

Isaac Lee Of Pitt Meadows Fired His Third Straight Round Of Even Par 70 To Tie For The Lead With A.J. Ewart Going Into The Final Round Of The 2016 BC Junior Boys Championship - Image Credit Bryan Outram

By Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

The third and penultimate round of a golf tournament is often referred to as "moving day" in many golf circles as players attempt to put themselves in a good position to contend going into the final round and of course, hopefully, win.

Thursday's round 3 at the 2016 BC Junior Boys Championship took on more of a "try-desperately-to-hang-on-to-what-you've-already-got-and-don't-fall-off-the-map day" as players searched for answers to the thick rough and the tricky greens at the Arbutus Ridge Golf Club, host of this year's championship in Cobble Hill.

To that end, it would appear that Pitt Meadows' Isaac Lee, who plays out of Swan-e-set Bay Resort, seems to have the best recipe for success so far, which would be to simply shoot par. After his 3rd consecutive round of even par 70 Lee finds himself in the final group on Friday with 3rd round leader A.J. Ewart and host club member Tristan Mandur.

Somewhat quietly playing his way into the final group, Mandur also carded an even par 70, which included three birdies to go along with three bogies. Mandur sits at 1-over for the tournament.

Coquitlam’s Jisoo Keel Will Take A Six-Shot Lead Into Friday’s Final Round - Image Credit Brad Ziemer

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Nicole Bird jokes that she is looking for the next Graham DeLaet. That would be the female version, of course. Bird is one of a handful of U.S. college golf coaches who have spent the week in Tsawwassen assessing the talent at the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Beach Grove Golf Club.

Bird is heading into her 10th season as women’s golf coach at Boise State University, where DeLaet played his collegiate golf before becoming one of Canada’s top pros. “Besides Graham, we have had a few other Canadian men as well, so I am trying to kind of break into that a little bit,” Bird said.

Many of the young women competing at Beach Grove this week have already committed to a U.S. school. “But there are probably eight or 10 others who haven’t,” Bird said.

Former Junior Star Jisoo Keel From Coquitlam Has The Lead At  The Halfway Point Of The B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship At Beach Grove Golf Club - Image Credit Brad Ziemer

By Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

A funny thing happened when Jisoo Keel accepted a golf scholarship from Stanford University. She discovered there was more to life than golf. 

The now 20-year-old Coquitlam resident, who graduated from Gleneagle secondary and enjoyed a stellar junior career, headed south three nearly three years ago to chase her LPGA Tour dreams.

But lately, golf has taken a back seat to Keel’s educational ambitions. “I haven’t played much competitive golf the past two years,” Keel said Wednesday. “I have been more focused on school. I really want to make the most out of my Stanford education. I am heading into my senior year and hopefully I will be starting my Masters degree the following year.”

Coquitlam's A.J. Ewart Jumped Into The Halfway Lead At The BC Junior Boys Championship With A Bogey-Free 6-under 64 - Image Credit Bryan Outram

By Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

What a difference a day makes. Round two of the BC Junior Boys Championship at Arbutus Ridge Golf Course in Cobble Hill was played under beautiful blue, calm, sunny skies following an overcast, damp, windy and mostly cool opening round.

The change in the weather obviously agreed with many of the young guns in the field for the 71st edition of this championship as evidenced by some of the big turnaround scores posted.

The reversal of fortune was led by 2015 BC Juvenile Boys Champion A.J. Ewart who fashioned a bogey-free round of 6-under 64 to jump into the lead at the halfway point sitting at 3-under (137). 

Surrey's Hannah Lee, Shown Above Playing In The 2016 BC Jr. Girls Championship, Led A Group Of Six Girls From BC Who Have Qualified For The U.S. Jr. Girls Championship - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

The 2016 U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship will take place at the A.W. Tillinghast designed Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. from July 18-23. Eligibility for the event is for any female who has not turned 18 as of July 23 and whose Handicap Index does not exceed 18.4. 

U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship 18-hole qualifying took place at several locations around the United States during the month of June and six girls from British Columbia took advantage of those opportunities to grab spots in one of the most prestigious Junior tournaments in the world.