VICTORIA — The large Canadian flag that flies high above Victoria Golf Club was getting a real workout on what was a cool and blustery day for the second round of the 120th playing of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.
Members will tell you that the behaviour of that flag can be quite reliable when it comes to predicting scores at the scenic oceanside layout.
When things are relatively calm and that flag is only gently fluttering in a soft breeze, Victoria Golf Club can yield some low scores. But when it’s really flapping, par is your friend, and so it was no surprise that the golf course was the real winner on Wednesday...
“It was tough out there,” said Langley’s Amy Lee, who emerged with a one-shot lead after posting a one-over 73 that left her at even-par for the tournament.
“I was focused on my ball trajectory today. That was something I knew was important. It was important to keep the ball low and under the wind. It was a two-club wind on some holes.”
The 17-year-old Lee, who is attempting to defend the title she won last year at Balfour Golf Course, got her round started nicely with three straight birdies out of the gate. She stumbled slightly down the stretch with bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.
“I knew it was going to be much windier than yesterday so I tried to make as many birdies as possible the first four holes because those are the easier ones and I knew that when I got to the water holes I would be just trying to make pars,” Lee said.
“Then on the back nine it was just about finding the fairway and finding the green. It was quite hard with the wind picking up on the back nine as well and some of the pin placements were tough. I put a couple of balls where I shouldn’t have, but I learned.”
Lee has a one-shot lead on Surrey’s Aram Choi, last year’s Mid-Amateur winner. Choi shot an even-par 72 and said she was, “getting it up and down from everywhere.”
She also played most of her second round without her driver. She banished it to her bag after the third hole following a couple of errant drives. “I hit it way right on my first tee shot and then on the third hole I almost hooked it OB,” she said. “I made a miracle par on both of those holes.”
The Flag Was Whipping At Victoria GC In The 2nd Round Of The BC Women's Amateur - image credit: Brad Ziemer/BC Golf
Choi hasn’t played much golf this year and did not come to the tournament with lofty expectations. She’s now in a position to not only defend her Mid-Am title for players aged 25 and older, but also challenge for the Amateur championship.
“No, I did not have that mentality whatsoever,” Choi said about contending for the Amateur title. “I was like, if I finish top three in the Mid-Am I am happy. Who knows now. There’s one round left. It sounds like there will be wind and rain tomorrow, so it should be fun.”
Lindsay Bernakevitch, the longtime head professional at Victoria Golf Club, said the ever-present wind is the great equalizer at the course. “Those of us who play here a lot will bring our ball flight down just to control it,” Bernakevitch said.
“Even down-wind sometimes you don’t want to get it up too high into the air and let the wind carry it. Almost every green here you can run the ball in. You really want to make sure you are leaving yourself below the hole. What I have witnessed so far is a lot of players out of position. Some players are trying to play too aggressively and others are actually playing too cautious. It is interesting to watch players leave themselves in spots where our members would know never to go.”
The round of the day was shot by Langley’s Erin Lee, who carded a one-under 71 and will enter Thursday’s final round four shots behind Lee at four-over par.
Choi leads the Mid-Am competition by five shots over Taya Battistella of Bellingham, Wash. Battistella leads the Mid-Master Championship for players aged 40 and older by five shots over Veronica Ivy of Victoria.
See complete second round scoring by clicking HERE.
CHIP SHOTS: The top three finishers this week 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.