BURNABY — There was joy and there was also relief. An emotionally-drained Matthew Wilson called it one of the most stressful rounds of golf he has ever played. The final round of the 124th playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship at Burnaby’s Riverway Golf Course was a topsy-turvey, roller-coaster of emotions for the Nanaimo native and several others contending for the title.
It seemed fitting that an extra hole was needed to crown a champion. The 20-year-old Wilson prevailed on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Ryan Vest of Vernon and Paxton Maxwell of Magrath, Alta. To say it wasn’t easy would be an understatement. Wilson looked to be in control coming down the stretch, but a couple of late bogeys proved costly and it went to a playoff.
“When you are in the lead with four holes to play, it’s not easy,” Wilson said. “I’ve given up a five-shot lead in a tournament before and it doesn’t feel good. I’ve also come from behind. At the end of the day you just have to grind it out and just get it done.”
Wilson won the playoff after smashing a drive down the middle of the fairway on Riverway’s par 5 18th hole. “I told myself on the tee, just hammer it, and get it down there as far as you can.”
Wilson’s six-iron approach settled inches right of the green in thick rough. He then hit a brilliant chip to a foot. After Vest and Maxwell both missed their birdie putts from inside 15 feet, Wilson tapped in his birdie for the win. And breathed a huge sigh of relief. “This means a lot,” he said. “This is B.C.’s big tourney and there are so many great names on that trophy. Just winning another B.C. Golf event is huge for me. I am going to celebrate this for a couple of days, I think.”
Wilson’s golf journey is an interesting one. His first love was hockey as a young kid. Golf came a bit later. It was during the Covid pandemic that he began to get serious about the game. He and some friends began to play a lot at Nanaimo Golf Club. A whole lot. At one point, Wilson played 140 straight days. He then took two days off to go mountain-biking. The following week he won the 2021 B.C. Juvenile Boys Championship at Golden Eagle Golf Course in Pitt Meadows. Now, five years later, he has added the prestigious B.C. Amateur Championship.
Magrath, Alberta's Paxton Maxwell Tees Off At Riverway GC's 1st Hole
Wilson, Vest and Maxwell finished the 72-hole event at six-under par. They played the final round together and for a while it looked like no one wanted to win. Each had their struggles during the round and there were others in the field who were nipping at their heels. “It was a grind on the front nine,” said Wilson, who closed with a one-over 72. “I didn’t have my best stuff.”
Wilson made birdies on the 11th and 12th holes to grab the lead and hung onto it until some struggles on the tough par 4 16th and 17th holes at Riverway. He bogeyed them both, but felt good about the five he salvaged at No. 17. Wilson’s drive on 17 flared right and his ball ended up under a tree. He was forced to take an unplayable lie and had 180 yards left with his third shot.
“I had to hit a nine-iron to get it over the trees,” he said. His ball landed on the front of the green and Wilson two-putted from long range for his bogey.
Walking every step of Wilson’s final round were his parents, Susan and Todd. It was an emotional day for them, too. “It’s pretty stressful,” Susan Wilson said. “I’m not the one playing the golf and I can hardly watch. But we’re really proud of Matthew.”
Wilson spent the last two years playing collegiate golf for Weber State University in Utah. He is transferring to play for the University of Tulsa this spring.
Vest just missed out on what would have been a wonderful birthday present. He turned 20 on Thursday. His putter went cold on him for the much of the final round, but he battled back late in the round to be part of the playoff.
BC's Interprovincial Team: (L-R) Ryan Vest, Matthew Wilson & Ethan Posthumus
“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I am proud of the way I finished,” said Vest, who helped the UBC-Okanagan Heat win last month’s Canadian University-College Championship. “I battled my way into a playoff and I had tons of fun out there with Matt. He’s a really good buddy of mine.”
Maxwell received an exemption to play in the event and made good use of it. He began the day with a one-shot lead, but a bogey on the eighth hole and a double-bogey on the ninth proved costly. “The game just felt a little harder today than it had earlier in the week,” Maxwell said. “But I am proud of the way I battled back and hung in there. It hurts obviously losing in a playoff.”
Richmond’s Alex Zhang finished alone in fourth place at five-under par. He declined the third spot on the team that will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in Calgary. That forced a playoff between Ethan Posthumus of Coquitlam and Nathan Szpakowicz of Vancouver for the final spot. They had both finished the tournament at four-under. Posthumus won the playoff with a birdie on the third extra hole.
A two-man better-ball competition was also contested this week at Riverway. The Richmond duo of Zhang and Aidan Liu won with the score of 26-under. That was two shots better than the team of Andrew Rouble of Kelowna and Hunter Kutcher of Langley.
Click HERE for complete final scoring.
CHIP SHOTS: Surrey’s Tiger Yaunjun Liu fired the low final-round score, a six-under 65. He finished tied for eighth at two-under. . .The top 25 and ties qualified to play in the Canadian Men’s Amateur, which is being held July 27-30 at Mickelson National Golf Club in Calgary.