There's Lots Of Interest In Victoria Teen Nolan Thoroughgood Since Winning Last Summer’s B.C. Amateur Championship - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

SQUAMISH -- Nolan Thoroughgood has a decision to make and this one is a little more complicated than choosing what club to hit off the tee.

Thoroughgood, who last summer at age 15 become the youngest winner in the 114-year history of the B.C. Amateur Championship, has just finished Grade 11 and is being heavily recruited by universities on both sides of the border. The Victoria native has to decide this summer, even though he won’t be starting university until the fall of 2018.

Surrey Native Susan Xiao Is To Be Honored By Rolex And The AJGA As One Of Junior Golf’s Best - Image Courtesy AJGA

BRASELTON, Ga. – Susan Xiao of Surrey, British Columbia, was named an honorable mention Rolex Junior All-American by the American Junior Golf Association, establishing herself among the top tier of current and former junior golfers from around the world.

Surrey, BC's Susan Xiao Added The Junior Girls PNGA Player Of The Year Award To Her 2017 Trophy Case Which Includes The Hardware Shown Here From The Canadian Junior And Juvenile Girls Titles - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Federal Way, Wash. – The Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) announced its 2017 Players of the Year for the region and among those winners is Susan Xiao of Surrey, B.C., who topped the Junior Girl’s category.

In 2017, Xiao captured the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, the AJGA UA Canadian Championship and the MJT Vancouver Season Opener. She had top-5 finishes in four other events.

Brent Wilson Of Cobble Hill On Vancouver Island, BC Was The Come-From-Behind Winner In The PNGA Men's Mid-Am At Bear Mountain, Making It Basically A Home-Town Victory - Image Courtesy PNGA

courtesy PNGA

Victoria, B.C. – Brent Wilson of Cobble Hill, B.C. shot a final round 1-under-par 70 to come from behind and win the 31st Pacific Northwest Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

The 54-hole stroke-play championship was held on the Valley Course at the Westin Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C., and was conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA).

BC's Chris Crisologo (Inset Left) And Tristan Mandur (Inset Right) Have Each Qualified For Next Month's Prestigious U.S. Amateur

Richmond’s Chris Crisologo has played his way into next month’s United States Amateur Championship. Crisologo earned one of two available spots at a 36-hole qualifier at Palouse Ridge Golf Club in Palouse, Wash. Crisologo fired rounds of 72 and 67 to finish one-under par for the day. That was six shots behind medalist Joe Highsmith of Lakewood, Wash.

The 119th playing of the U.S. Amateur goes Aug. 11-18 at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina. Crisologo, a member of Canada’s National Amateur Team and the 2018 B.C. Amateur champion, will be joined in the U.S. Amateur field by fellow British Columbian Tristan Mandur of North Cowichan.

image courtesy BCGSA via Twitter

Bid On Rounds Of Golf To Support A Great Cause With Rounds 4 Research 

Bid now to get great deals on great golf! Whether you choose to bid on courses that have challenged the greatest players in golf or whether you just want a great deal on a local gem, you are supporting the future of the game by funding turfgrass research programs.

A Member Of The Rather Exclusive '59 Club' Paul Goydos Was On Hand To Help Promote This Fall's Pacific Links Championship At Bear Mountain In Victoria - Image Credit Bryan Outram

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

VICTORIA -- Bear Mountain hopes its first Champions Tour event won’t be its last. The Greater Victoria resort is preparing, on very short notice, to play host to the Pacific Links Championship on the 50-and-over circuit. The 54-hole, $2.5-million US event goes Sept. 22-25.

And Bear Mountain’s owner, Ecoasis Developments, has made it clear it would love to have a permanent spot on the Champions Tour schedule. “We want this to be successful in 2016,” David Clarke, chief financial officer of Ecoasis, told a news conference this week. “But not just 2016 . . .we would really love to see this as a fixture on the Champions Tour schedule going forward.”

Victoria's Nolan Thoroughgood Will Be Playing In His Own Backyard As He Represents Canada In The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup Qualifier At Bear Mountain Resort This Week - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

Courtesy Golf Canada

VICTORIA, B.C. – The Toyota Junior Golf World Cup Qualifier makes its return to Canadian soil on Tuesday, with four nations competing for a spot in both the Boys and Girls divisions at Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa, Team Canada’s National Training Centre.

The 54-hole stroke play tournament is comprised of teams from host nation Canada, Mexico, Guatemala and Puerto Rico. The Boys division consists of four athletes per team, each submitting a cumulative total from the three lowest scores per round (omitting the highest score). The two lowest team scores after Thursday’s final round will qualify for the 2018 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.

The Par-5 18th Hole At Big Sky Golf Club Was Selected As One Of The ‘Great Holes Of The Northwest’ - photo by David Buzzard

Federal Way, Wash. – In the November 2015 issue of Pacific Northwest Golfer magazine, the par-5 18th hole at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton, B.C. is recognized as one of the “Great Holes of the Northwest,” one of just four holes selected each year by the Northwest’s largest and longest-running golf publication.

Billy Horschel Watches Helplessly As A Gust Of Wind Takes His Golf Ball Down The Slope From The 15th Green Into The Water Hazard Below - Image Courtesy Streamable.com

British Columbia Golf, with files from Golf Saskatchewan

Anyone watching the Masters this past Saturday likely had the opportunity to witness one of the stranger and perhaps more unfortunate incidents of the tournament...forgetting about, of course, Jordan Spieth's troubles on the 12th hole on Sunday.

The bizarre incident came on the par-5 15th hole during Saturday's 3rd round after 3-time PGA TOUR winner Billy Horschel landed his second shot just off the side of the green. His chip onto the green ran past the hole and toward the water. It did stop and Horschel rushed over to mark it, almost sensing that the wind could take over at any moment.

Courtesy Darren Douma President, WCBGA

British Columbia kicked off a ten-day stretch of Championship Blind Golf in Creston, BC with the first-ever BC Provincial Championships, July 5^th and 6^th. The Championships had five BC players participating and two who were newcomers to blind golf. 

As one can see when looking at the results, both had success in their first championships. The Creston Golf Club provided a challenging course for these championships and Mother Nature also cooperated and provided great weather for the 36 holes of championship play.

This event was also the lead-in to two other championship events to follow taking place in BC in Kimberley (The Western Canadian Blind Golf Championships) and Cranbrook (The ISPS Handa Canadian Blind Golf Championships).

Many Canadians have a strong connection to Ukraine. We all feel for the many colleagues, clients, and community members who have deep connections to Ukrainian family and friends here in Canada and in the Ukraine. To those who are living this nightmare, we share their worry for loved ones and stand with them in the hope that this catastrophic war and resultant refugee crisis will end soon.

Hoping to make a difference to the lives of these refugees, Peter Boronkay, a governor of Golf Canada and resident portfolio manager, along with a team of volunteers is attempting to set a new Bowen Island Golf Course record for the number of rounds played in one day. Peter will play from dawn to dusk in order to attempt to complete 10 rounds (90 holes) on Monday, June 6, 2022.

You are invited to support this initiative by contributing to the Canadian Red Cross in support of the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appealthrough the following donation portal or by calling:
1.800.418.1111

http://www.redcross.ca/UkraineCrisis/GolfMarathonforUkraine

Donations of $20 or more will receive a charitable donation tax receipt.

Sample donation sizes for an estimated 90 holes played:

$0.50/hole = $45
$1/hole = $90
$2/hole = $180
$5/hole = $450
$10/hole = $900

Angela Bowers Of Victoria Has Become The First Female Caddy From The Victoria Golf Club To Earn The Prestigious Evans Caddie Scholarship Award - Image Credit Alisa Kerr/Victoria GC

By Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

In caddie parlance, they are called 'loops' and Angela Bowers has made more than 140 of them at Victoria Golf Club.

That’s a lot of walking, sometimes in the rain and wind, with a heavy bag slung over your shoulders, but Bowers never lost sight of the potential reward waiting at the end of her journey.

And now that she has officially earned that proverbial pot of gold at the end of her caddying rainbow -- a prestigious Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship that will take her to the University of Washington this fall -- Bowers is also proud of the fact she made a little history along the way.

by Alfie Lau

When no players withdrew from the U.S. Open field at Chambers Bay on Thursday, dashing the hopes of alternate Mackenzie Hughes of Ontario, the red-and-white Canadian colours were left to be carried high by two other golfers with Ontario links.

The low Canadian was Edmonton’s Brad Fritsch, who now calls North Carolina home.

Tom Brandes (L), Winner Of The 2016 PNGA Senior Men’s Amateur, And Tom Kubisa, Winner Of The 2016 PNGA Super Senior Men’s Amateur - Image Courtesy PNGA

Pemberton, B.C. - Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash. pulled away from the field in the final round to win the 52nd Pacific Northwest Senior Men's Amateur, while Tom Kubisa of Bremerton, Wash. shot rounds of 73-71-73 to earn a victory in the 7th Pacific Northwest Super Senior Men's Amateur.

Lance Lundy was the top finisher from B.C. in the Senior Amateur in 3rd place followed by Mission's Jim Shaw in 4th. In the Super Seniors Gudmund Lindbjerg from Port Moody finished as the runner-up to Kubisa, 4 shots back.

The two championships were held concurrently at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton, B.C., and were conducted by the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA). The Senior Men's Amateur includes men 55 years of age or older while the Super Senior Men's Amateur includes men age 65 years or older.

By DANIEL RAPAPORT, GolfDigest.com

A 22-year-old Irishman made history becoming the first golfer with disabilities to compete in a European Tour event. 

Click here to read the full story...

The 2016 PNGA Cup is being held this year from May 4-6 at the Richmond Country Club in Richmond, British Columbia.

This Ryder-Cup style championship features some of the most notable amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest region with 12-member teams representing the regional golf associations that makeup the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, which includes British Columbia Golf, Idaho Golf Association, Oregon Golf Association, and Washington State Golf Association.

Teams play four-ball, foursome and singles matches to select a champion.

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.

The 2017 PNGA Cup is being held this year from May 3-5 at the Timberstone Golf Course in Caldwell, Idaho.

This Ryder-Cup style championship features some of the most notable amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest region with 12-member teams representing the regional golf associations that makeup the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, which includes British Columbia Golf, Idaho Golf Association, Oregon Golf Association, and Washington State Golf Association.

Team British Columbia In This Year's 50th Anniversary Edition Of The Eddie Hogan Cup Consists Of From L-R: Zach Ryujin, Cole Wilson, Michael Crisologo And Sean Buckles - Images Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf & Chuck Russell (Golf Canada)

The 50th annual Eddie Hogan Cup tournament is scheduled to take place August 11th – 12th 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 as well as British Columbia.

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.