The 123rd playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship goes this week at Bootleg Gap Golf Course in Kimberley, where a solid field figures to face a stern test.
Bootleg can be stretched to more than 7,100 yards and there’s plenty of trouble to get into...
The par 5 18th hole is being converted into a long par 4 and the Les Furber-designed layout will play as a par 71 for the championship. But British Columbia Golf tournament director Jerome Goddard is still predicting it will take a score of double digits under par to win the championship.
“I think the routing is some of Les Furber’s best work,” Goddard said. “It’s 7,100 yards and change, but it doesn’t play that long with how far the ball flies and the way the course is routed.
“It allows players to hit driver, it has a wide range of variety on the par 3s and it will certainly reward distance, especially on the par 5s, where if you can put yourself in good position, there’s room to score.”
A new champion will be crowned at Bootleg Gap. Kelowna’s Cooper Humphreys, winner of the past two B.C. Ams, is not back to try and make it three in a row.
It would not be surprising to see some of the young players who played well at last week’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Quilchena Golf Course in Richmond contend this week.
That list starts with 17-year-old Austin Krahn of Christina Lake, who birdied five of his last six holes to win his second straight B.C. Junior title.
Kelowna’s Oakley Mayner, Maxim McKenzie of Chilliwack and Nanaimo’s Manpreet Lahl, who were all in the hunt at at Quilchena, are also in the Bootleg field.
“That being said, this is a tighter course than Quilchena, there’s going to be a bit less bomb and gouge and a bit more of placing your way around the golf course,” Goddard said.
“These guys don’t see a lot of 7,000-yard golf courses and there could be a tendency to pull driver everywhere, which at Quilchena was the strategy, here not as much. The player from last week who is able to recalibrate to this golf course will be able to succeed.”
There are plenty of other players to watch. The 156-player field is full of talented collegiate players from the University of B.C., Simon Fraser University and south of the border.
FINAL QUALIFIERS: The final 14 spots into the field were filled via a supplemental qualifier held Sunday at Purcell Golf Course in Kimberley. Eric Blackmore of Cranbrook topped the field with a two-under 69. Former B.C. Senior Men’s champion Harry Ferguson of Invermere also played his way into the field.
Click HERE to the scoring for the BC Amateur Supplemental Qualifying.
Click HERE to see the first & second round pairings for the BC Amateur