B.C. Golf Notes: Williams Wins Without His ‘A-Game’
Ryan Williams And His Big Cheque After Winning The VGT Tour's Chilliwack Classic - Image Courtesy VGT/Fraser Mulholland
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Vancouver’s Ryan Williams warmed up for the upcoming Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada season by winning the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Chilliwack Classic.
Williams birdied his final two holes to shoot his second straight six-under 66 at Chilliwack Golf Cub. His 36-hole score of 12-under was good for a one-shot win over Seann Harlingten of West Vancouver and Courtenay’s Riley Wheeldon.
Williams, who earned $2,400 for the victory, said he won despite not having his best game. “I really didn’t play that well both days, but I just did the things I needed to do to score,” Williams said. “I only made one bogey. I took advantage of the par 5s, but I hit the tee ball horribly. I hit a lot of trees. I hit it everywhere, but I scrambled and putted extremely well.
“I don’t think I have ever won a tournament like that before, where I hit it that poorly off the tee. You can get away with that at Chilliwack but I don’t think you can get away with it at many other golf courses.”
Williams, who has been one of Canada’s top players on the Mackenzie Tour circuit the past two years, spent the winter and early spring working on his game in Arizona. “I had a good season down there,” Williams said.
“I was playing the Dream Chasers Tour in Arizona. I played 12 three-day events down there and I won two of them. I'm currently leading their Order of Merit. It was great, I had a full winter of really focusing on golf, practising daily and working out. It worked out great and it was nice to come home and play my first event and get a W.”
The Chilliwack event was the second of six “majors” on the VGT schedule this spring and summer. Williams will be in the field for the third major later this week at Pagoda Ridge in Langley.
Wheeldon won the first of the VGT majors when he fired rounds of 71 and 66 to win the Battle of the Bear at his home course, Bear Mountain in Victoria. Wheeldon’s four-under total of 137 was good for a one-shot win over Harlingten. He earned $2,500.
OFF TO NATIONALS: UBC’s women’s golf team goes looking for its fifth NAIA national title beginning Tuesday at Savannah Quarters Country Club in Pooler, Ga.
The Thunderbirds earned a spot in the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championship tourney by winning the Association of Independent Institutions conference championship earlier this month.
They're led by junior Kat Kennedy of Okotoks, Alta., who was the individual medalist at that AII tourney. Avril Lee of Port Moody, Barbara Neto-Bradley of Porto, Portugal, Emily Creaser of Edmonton and Eunice Hong of Thornhill, Ont., round out the UBC team.
UBC won the national tourney in 2001, 2004, 2010 and 2012. The Thunderbirds finished 11th last year. They enter this week’s nationals ranked 12th.
NICE PAYDAY: Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin cashed a cheque for $44,100 after finishing tied for 39th at the Players Championship. He now stands 90th on the FedEx Cup points list. Fellow Abbotsford resident Nick Taylor, who missed the cut at the Players,dropped to 103rd. Hadwin is in the field for this week’s AT&T Byron Nelson tourney in Dallas. Taylor is taking the week off.
MAKING THE CUT: Megan Osland’s cheque wasn’t nearly as big as Hadwin’s, but it undoubtedly felt good for the Kelowna native to cash one. Osland, a rookie on the Symetra Tour, survived her first cut at last week’s Symetra Classic in Charlotte, N.C.. She shot rounds of 69, 75 and 74 to finish tied for 46th at two-over. Osland, who earned $669, had missed the cut in her first five starts this year.
Kelowna’s Samantha Richdale tied for 19th in Charlotte at two-under par, while Langley’s Jessica Wallace tied for 27th spot at one-under par.
START NO. 3: North Vancouver’s Eugene Wong will get his third start of the year on the Web.com Tour at this week’s BMW Charity Pro Am in Greer, S.C. At last week’s Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., Merritt’s Roger Sloan tied for 45th place and Surrey’s Adam Svensson tied for 59th. Both are in the field this week in South Carolina.
EARNS EXEMPTION: Victoria Golf Club head pro Lindsay Bernakevitch has earned an exemption into the Bayview Place Island Savings Open, the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event next month at Uplands Golf Club.
Bernakevitch lost in a playoff to Gordy Scutt of Olympic View after both players tied for top spot with four-under 68s at a Vancouver Island Pro Tour event at Qualicum Beach. But Bernakevitch earned the exemption by edging Scutt by two points on the tour’s Order of Merit.
BIG WIN AT BANDON: The University of Fraser Valley men’s golf team picked up its fourth straight win of the spring season at the Southwest Oregon College Invitational tourney played at Bandon Dunes. The Cascades won the 12-team tourney by four shots. Zach Olson led the way, carding rounds of 74 and 73 to finish tied for third at four-over par.
The Cascades finished fifth in the women’s tournament. Next up for both teams is the Canadian/University College Championship, which goes May 31-June 3 at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville.
WALK FOR CHARITY: The Freedom 55 Financial Open, is holding a charity walk on Sunday, May 29 to coincide with the final round of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada season at Point Grey Golf & Country Club. All proceeds will got to the Canucks for Kids Fund.
“The idea is to get people to come out and watch the tournament,” said tournament chair David Lee-Fay. “We have mapped out a three-kilometre walk on the golf course which we will do late in the afternoon on the Sunday.” After the walk ends, participants will be able to watch the leaders finish their rounds.
To sign up or get more information, visit freedom55financialopen.com.