From L-R: Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Adam Svensson - Images Courtesy Golf Canada/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The PGA TOUR wraps up its regular season at this week’s Wyndham Championship with many players scrambling to play their way into the top 70 and qualify for the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs.

The British Columbia trio of Nick Taylor, Adam Svensson and Adam Hadwin have no such worries. All three are well inside the top 70.

Taylor, who is 12th on the FedEx Cup points list, is taking his second straight week off and not playing the Wyndham Championship. Hadwin and Svensson are both in the Wyndham field.

BC's Megan Osland - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Kelowna’s Megan Osland not only had to beat her opponents, she had to beat the heat to win the Oscar Williams Classic on the Women’s All Pro Tour. The 72-hole event was held in Anna, Tex., during what has been an epic heat wave in parts of the southern U.S.

“I would say most of the days it was between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius, plus the humidity,” Osland said over the phone. “I had a 7 a.m. tee time one day, so I got to the course just before 6 a,m. and I got out of the car and I just started sweating. At 6 a.m.! It was crazy. The heat was definitely a battle in itself.”

Delta, BC's Mary Parsons (3rd From Left) Was Part Of The Bronze Medal Winning Team From Canada In The Mixed Team Golf Event At The Peru Pan American Games. L-R: Austin Connelly, Brigitte Thibault, Parsons, Joey Savoie - Image Credit: David Jackson/ COC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Delta’s Mary Parsons won a medal Sunday and came close to earning a second one at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Parsons, Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., Joey Savoie of La Prairie, Que., and Austin Connelly of Lake Doucette, N.S., combined to win the bronze medal in the mixed team event on Sunday.

The Canadians finished with a team score of 552, just three shots behind the silver medalists from Paraguay. The United States took the gold medal with a team score of 544. “I think all four of us grinded out every shot to kind of get to where we are,” Parsons said. “We knew coming down the stretch we had to keep pushing because it wasn’t going to be over until it’s over.”

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It has been a tough few years for Bald Eagle Golf Club, the Point Roberts layout that was forced to close during the Covid pandemic, then re-opened in 2022 only to close again for the 2023 season.

It is now scheduled to re-open sometime early this summer with a new, but familiar name and a new owner. The course is returning to its former name, Point Roberts Golf & Country Club, and has targeted June 15 as a re-opening date, although there is a good chance it could be a week or two after that.

Yeji Kwon misses cut at LPGA Q-school; Henry Lee advances to final stage of Asian Tour Q-school; Surrey council to debate Peace Portal redevelopment in New Year

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(December 9, 2024) - The second stage of PGA TOUR Q-school wrapped up last week and its long list of casualties included British Columbians Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver, Chris Crisologo of Richmond and A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam.

For them and so many others, PGA TOUR regular Joel Dahmen had some words of encouragement he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “For every player who didn’t get thru 2nd stage this year, keep your head up,” Dahmen said in his post. “I never got through myself. Keep believing.”

BC's Lawren Rowe - Photo Credit Chuck Russell/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Lawren Rowe of Squamish closed with the low round of the day, a five-under 67, and the former University of Victoria standout tied for seventh at the PGA Tour Americas’ debut event, the Bupa Championship at Tulum in Mexico.

The PGA Riviera Maya course played tough all week. The 36-hole cut was five-over par and only 11 players finished the event under par. Rowe was one of those 11 as he completed the tournament at one-under par.

Clay Feagler of The Woodlands, Texas won the event on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff after finishing at four-under par.

Sagebrush Golf Club In Quilchena, BC - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

If all goes as planned, the Sagebrush experience will cost a little less this season and taste much better.

The highly regarded Merritt-area layout is moving to a more traditional fee green-fee structure for the 2024 season and new general manager Chris Hood is also focused on upping Sagebrush’s food and beverage game.

“We did a survey at the end of last year of our players and one of things that came back from people is they wanted to see more simplified rate structure more in line with what other courses do,” Hood, a veteran of the B.C. golf industry, said in an interview.

Victoria, BC's Jeevan Sihota - Image Credit: Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The Latin American portion of the PGA Tour Americas circuit concludes at this week’s Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Bogota, Colombia, where Victoria’s Jeevan Sihota must make the cut to secure his playing privileges for the tour’s North American swing.

Sihota enters the tournament ranked 61st on the Fortinet Cup points list. The top 60 players after this week’s event will be exempt for the nine Canadian events and one U.S. tournament on the North American swing that begins next month in Victoria.

SFU Red Leafs Men's Golf Team - Image Courtesy SFU/Sonoma State Athletics

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The solid play of senior Aidan Goodfellow (Centre In Team Photo Shown) and a pair of clutch 18th-hole birdies by Michael Crisologo and Jordan Bean helped the Simon Fraser University men’s golf team earn a spot in the NCAA Division II national championship tourney for the first time since 2015.

The Red Leafs tied for fourth at the West/South Central regional tourney in Rohnert Park, Calif., where the top five teams earned spots in the national championship tourney.

It was a nail-biter of a final round as only seven strokes separated the top nine teams.

Merritt, BC's Roger Sloan - Image Credit: Bernard Brault /Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

When the harsh reality of losing his PGA TOUR card hit home, Roger Sloan acknowledges going through a period of mourning of sorts.

“When we lost our card, it got really dark there for several weeks,” Sloan said in a telephone interview from his Houston-area home. “You don’t know when you are going to get back out there. Your friends are out there, you hang out with a bunch of guys out there and it kind of just gets ripped from you.

“I still have dreams of winning on the PGA TOUR and it’s hard to win on the PGA TOUR when you are on the Korn Ferry Tour. So some dreams get ripped from you and that tugs at your heart a little bit. It does get dark. There is a period of time where you just have to let it sink in a little bit, know that it is going to pass and look forward to what opportunities you have right now.”

Merritt's Roger Sloan Is The Lone BCer In This Week's Season-Opener On The PGA TOUR - BC Golf File Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

One season ends and another begins. There really is no off-season anymore on the PGA TOUR, which tees off its 2020-21 season with this week’s Safeway Open in Napa, Calif.

It is the first of a record 50 tournaments, including six majors, scheduled over the next year in what the PGA TOUR has dubbed a ‘super season.’

The U.S. Open and Masters, both postponed due to COVID-19, will be played twice over the next year.

BC's Roger Sloan Has His Work Cut Out For Him This Week - Image Credit Marcus Oleniuk/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Merritt’s Roger Sloan saved his exempt status on the PGA TOUR with a clutch finish at last summer’s season-ending Wyndham Championship. 

Sloan needs an even bigger finish this week as he returns to the Wyndham, where he lost in a six-man playoff and tied for second last year. That finish moved him from 131st on the points list to 92nd, got him into the playoffs and secured his exempt status for this past season.

Sloan enters this week’s event in Greensboro, N.C., in even more desperate straits than he was a year ago.

BC's Roger Sloan Won The Korn Ferry Tour's Utah Championship - Golf Canada Photo/Bernard Brault

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Merritt’s Roger Sloan took a huge step toward regaining his PGA TOUR playing privileges by winning the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship in dramatic fashion. Sloan birdied three of his last four holes — including his final two — to win by one shot.

The victory, which came nine years after his first Korn Ferry Tour win in Nova Scotia, moved Sloan from 92nd to 27th on the tour’s points list. Only two regular-season events remain and if Sloan can stay inside the top 30, he will earn PGA TOUR playing privileges for the 2024 season.

Hadwin Looking To Continue His Vegas Roll; Crisologo Aces First Q -School Test; Kim Shines In College Match Play Event; Zalli-Jacob Win 79th B.C. Match Play Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(October 14, 2024) - The UBC-Okanagan men’s team didn’t just win the Canada West Golf Championships, they dominated the competition. The Heat capitalized on home-course advantage to post a team total of 24-under par and beat the field by 17 shots at Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear Course in Kelowna.

Second-year player Ryan Gillis led the way, winning the individual title with a 36-hole score of nine-under par. UBC-Okanagan teammates Thomas Lemay and Andrew Rouble joined Gillis on the podium. Heat coach Clay Stothers was obviously delighted with the performance of the men’s team.

“I couldn’t imagine us winning by 17 shots and having three players on our team coming first, second and third,” Stothers said. “It was a surreal, magical couple of days when everything kind of lined up nicely.”

Reigning Canadian Senior Women's Champion Shelly Stouffer - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Shelly Stouffer has been waiting almost a year to enjoy one particularly nice perk she received for winning last summer’s Canadian Senior Women’s Championship.

The wait is finally over. Stouffer is ready to cash in her exemption and tee it up at this week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open in Kettering, Ohio. Stouffer acknowledges she may feel a little star-struck this week.

The 120-player field is chock-full of LPGA Tour legends.

BC's Ha Young Chang Won A Regional Drive, Chip & Putt Competition At Pebble Beach - Image Courtesy Minku Chang

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Surrey teenager Ha Young Chang is counting the days until she visits Augusta National Golf Club for the finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship. She figures to be spending a lot of those days at the driving range and practice green.

“I am really excited,” says Chang, a Grade 9 student at Elgin Park Secondary. “I have always watched it on TV. I know I’ll be a little nervous.”

Sloan posts season-best finish at Wyndham Championship; Wyatt Brook cherishes Willingdon Cup win; Lauren Kim knocked out in Round of 16 at U.S. Women’s Amateur; Ames repeats at Boeing Classic

By: Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(August 12, 2024) - A spirited playoff push by Surrey’s Adam Svensson fell just short at the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Svensson entered the final regular-season event at No. 82 on the FedEx Cup points list and needed to move inside the top 70 to qualify for the lucrative three-event playoffs.

He came close with a tie for seventh finish that moved him to 75th, just short of where he needed to get. Fellow British Columbians Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both of Abbotsford, had no such worries about making the playoffs.

Vanessa Zhang third at Canadian Juniors; Royal Colwood plays host to this week’s Canadian Women’s Amateur; Ziggy Nathu wins Golden Ears Open

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf (July 29, 2024)

Adam Svensson’s push for the PGA TOUR playoffs just got more difficult. The Surrey native entered the final round of the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn., tied for sixth and in great position to move inside the top 70 on the FedEx Cup points list.

But a four-over 75 in the final round dropped Svensson down into a tie for 37th. Instead of moving up the points list, Svensson fell two spots from 79th to 81st. The top 70 players qualify for the PGA TOUR playoffs and with just one regular-season event remaining, Svensson will likely need at least a top-five finish to crack the top 70.

T-Birds hit the road to play at home; Leah John, Mary Parsons head to LPGA Q school; Humphreys helps San Diego win collegiate event

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(October 21, 2024) - Much of the focus of the PGA TOUR’s fall season is centred on players trying to fight their way into the top 125 or stay inside that magic number to retain their playing privileges for 2025.

But there’s another race that gets less attention and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor is in the thick of it. Players who finish the fall season 51st to 60th on the FedEx Cup points list earn a couple of nice perks in 2025.

Abbotsford, BC's Nick Taylor Has His Eye On A Return To The Masters After His First Experience At Augusta - File Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Nick Taylor’s first Masters experience included 17 birdies, a four-putt, an anxious Friday night and Saturday morning sweating out the cut and countless great memories of his week at Augusta National.

He hopes to do it all again someday soon.

“I was hoping for a really low one today to maybe sneak into that top 12, but I will do everything I can to get back here, that’s for sure,” Taylor said over the phone after Sunday’s final round.