B.C. Golf Notes: Mandur Set To Defend Junior Title; Four British Columbians In Sahalee Field

The Squamish Valley Golf Course Plays Host To This Week's British Columbia Junior Boys Championship, One Of Three BC Golf Championships Happening This Week - Image Courtesy Squamish Valley GC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Tristan Mandur won last year’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship on his home course, Arbutus Ridge Golf Club. He will defend that title this week on less familiar territory as this province’s top juniors gather at Squamish Valley Golf Club.

Mandur will face plenty of stiff competition as he attempts to become the first junior boy to defend his title since Surrey’s Adam Svensson went back to back in 2010 and 2011. 

This week’s field in Squamish includes current B.C. Amateur champion Nolan Thoroughgood of Victoria, this year’s B.C. high school champion Andy Kim of Langley and two of his Walnut Grove Secondary teammates, Andy Jang and Jaewook Lee, as well as 2014 B.C. Junior champion Keaton Gudz of Victoria.

The tournament runs Tuesday through Friday and is part of a busy week of amateur golf in British Columbia.

The B.C. Junior Girls Championship also goes this week at The Bear Course at Okanagan Golf Club in KelownaDelta’s Mary Parsons, who won last year’s event at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton, is not defending her title this week.

The junior girls field includes Surrey’s Hannah Lee, who finished tied for second last year and third in 2015. The Women’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur and Mid-Master Championships are also being played this week at Kokanee Springs Golf Course in Crawford Bay.

The Mid-Master is for players 40 and over, while the Mid-Amateur is open to players 25 and older. The men’s field features a collection of some of this province’s best senior players, including John Gallacher of Burnaby, Sandy Harper of Nanaimo, Gudmund Lindbjerg of Port Moody and Doug Roxburgh of Vancouver.

The women’s field includes Jackie Little of Vernon, Christina Proteau of Port Alberni and Holly Horwood of Vancouver.

SET FOR SAHALEE: This week’s 23rd playing of the Sahalee Players Championship once again has a strong British Columbian presence. A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, Kevin Kwon of Maple Ridge, Henry Lee of Coquitlam and Lawren Rowe of Victoria are in the 66-man field.

The 72-hole event goes Wednesday through Friday at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. Thirty-six holes will be played on Thursday.

BACK ON COURSE: The Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada circuit resumes this week following a two-week break with the $175,000 Players Cup at Pine Ridge Golf Course in Winnipeg. British Columbia players in the field include Adam Cornelson of Langley, Jared du Toit of Kimberley, Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver, Riley Wheeldon of Courtenay and Ryan Williams of Vancouver.

MILLION MARK: Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor tied for 29th place at the Quicken Loans National in Potomac, Md., this past weekend. Taylor finished the event at one-over par, eight shots behind winner Kyle Stanley. Taylor cashed a cheque for $45,144 to crack the $1 million mark in earnings this year. He’s made $1,044,611 and is now 80th on the FedEx Cup points list. Taylor has now made 17 of 23 cuts this year on the PGA TOUR.

Taylor is in the field at this week’s Greenbrier Classic in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. That tournament was not held last year when the area was hit by severe flooding. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin is taking this week off after a rare missed cut last week at the Quicken Loans.

DILLON DOMINATES: Brendan Dillon of Vancouver Golf Club opened with a seven-under 63 and cruised to a five-shot win at the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Ledgeview Open on Sunday. Dillon finished the 36-hole event at 10-under par after shooting a 67 on Sunday. He earned $2,500 for the win.

Kevin Stinson of Cheam Mountain Golf Course finished second at five-under and made $1,500.

SMALL STEP: The transition from amateur to pro golf can be a difficult one and Surrey’s Taylor Kim is learning that in her rookie season on the Symetra Tour. Kim made her third cut in nine starts this past weekend, tying for 52nd place at the Tullymore Classic in Canadian Lakes, Mich.

Kim, who graduated just over a year ago from Kent State University in Ohio, won the 2014 B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

HOT STREAK: Vancouver resident Stephen Ames registered his third straight top 10 on the PGA TOUR Champions circuit, tying for seventh place at the U.S. Senior Open in Salem, Mass. Ames has a win and six top 10s in 11 events so far in 2017. He is 10th on the Champions money list with $703,536 in earnings.