VICTORIA — Amy Lee isn’t just taking a gold medal home after successfully defending her B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at storied Victoria Golf Club.
“I will also be taking a lot of great memories with me,” the 17-year-old Langley resident said after her two-shot win. “This course is just beautiful with the landscape it has. The ocean holes are amazing.”
So was Lee’s golf. She went wire to wire to win the 54-hole event, which makes it sound like it was easy. It was anything but.
Lee had to fend off a serious final-round challenge from fellow Langley resident Erin Lee on a cool, drizzly summer afternoon at the A.V. Macan gem.
As is often the case in close final rounds, it was a couple of big par saves, not birdies, that proved to be the difference. On the par 5 11th hole, Amy Lee’s 5-wood approach shot sailed left and out of bounds, but she recovered to make a miracle par.
Erin Lee missed a five-foot putt for birdie right after Amy had knocked in her 25-footer for par. Opportunity lost, but Erin Lee kept the pressure on.
Amy Lee’s lead had been cut to one shot when she sprayed an approach shot into a greenside bunker on the par 4 16th hole.
“I think I had the shortest club in hand out of all three of us, but I was way too aggressive with that approach and it ended up trickling into the bunker.”
She hit a wonderful shot out of the sand that caught a big piece of the hole and rolled six feet by. She drained the par putt to keep her one-shot lead. “This week my mid-range and short putts have been pretty solid,” she said.
“So I just wanted to get it out as safely as possible and trust my putter. I knew it wasn’t going in because it was a little too strong. I’m just glad it hit the hole.” Lee pretty much locked up the tournament when she birdied the par 5 17th hole to go up by two.
She closed with a one-under 71 that left her at one-under for the tournament. Erin Lee fired a three-under 69 to finish at one-over. “I am pretty proud of myself for staying in it because I was six-over after the first nine holes of the tournament and then I went five-under for the rest,” said Erin Lee, who just finished her sophomore year at Long Beach State University in California. “So I am pretty happy about that. I’d just like the first nine holes back. I had a new putter in the bag that I wasn’t used to.”
As is the case pretty much every time she plays, Amy Lee had her dad Dennis caddying for her. “My dad has been following me for as long as I can remember,” she said. “He hasn’t missed a single game. He has always been there, always writing things down for me. Honestly, I think I trust him more than myself. He is a great caddie. I am really thankful for him.”
Her dad knows his daughter really doesn’t want to be reminded about where she stands in a tournament. So down the stretch in the final round, Lee insisted she didn’t know what her lead was. “I don’t know about other players, but for me I definitely don’t want know other players’ scores because I think that changes how I play and I want to stick to my game. I know if I stick to my game I will be able to perform well. That is kind of my mindset.”
It has worked pretty well so far. After winning the B.C. Women’s Am early last summer at Balfour Golf Course, Lee ran away from the field to win the B.C. Junior Girls title at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna.
She has had lots of success on the American Junior Golf Association circuit and has accepted a full ride scholarship to play her collegiate golf at the University of Texas in the fall of 2026. She expects to receive a congratulatory message from Texas coach Laura Ianello.
“She always keeps track of my tournaments because I sent her my schedule. She always checks up on me and sends me text messages saying good luck and play well this week. Her support really helps me because I just know I have a really good coach next to me. Even though she’s not here and all the way in Texas I still feel her presence. I am really thankful.”
Taya Battistella of Bellingham, Wash., finished third at five-over par, but won the B.C. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which is open to players aged 25 and older. The 45-year-old Battistella also won the Mid-Master Championship for players 40 and older.
Her Mid-Amateur Championship was clinched with two clutch birdies on the 17th and 18th holes, which allowed her to edge defending champion Aram Choi of Surrey by two shots.
“It feels really good to finish the way I finished,” said Battistella, who is an assistant golf coach at Western Washington University. “There are a lot of good players up in B.C. and I have a lot of respect for the girls and especially the younger girls coming up. You guys should be really proud of your programs. I was just coming up to play the golf course, which is pretty magical, and I am excited to go home with a win.”
Battistella shared the win with her five-year-old daughter Ryder, who walked the course with her grandfather in the final round. Amy Lee, Erin Lee and Choi will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at this summer’s Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which will be played July 22-25 at Riverside Country Club in Saint John, N.B.
Vancouver’s Nonie Marler finished third in the Mid-Am competition at 10-over par after closing with a three-under 69. She and Erin Lee now share the competitive women’s course record at Victoria Golf Club.
Click HERE for complete final scoring.
CHIP SHOTS: A two-person better-ball competition was won by the team of Amy Lee and Chelsea Truong of Victoria. Their 13-under total was two shots better than the runner-up duo of Erin Lee and Sueah Park of Langley.