Strong B.C. contingent competes at this week’s Canadian Women’s Amateur; Cooper Humphries qualifies for U.S. Amateur; Langley’s Clairey Lin advances to U.S. Junior Girls Round of 16
He is coming off two very special wins at the B.C. Junior Boys and B.C. Amateur Championships, but Austin Krahn calls this week’s B.C. Indigenous Championship the most meaningful event he will play.
The 17-year-old Christina Lake resident won the men’s title at the first two B.C. Indigenous Championships played in 2023 at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver and last year at University Golf Club in Vancouver.
Those wins were also special, but what Krahn most cherishes are the friendships he has forged and the opportunity the event gives him to celebrate his heritage.
“It’s so meaningful because you get to honour so many things when you play in this golf tournament,” Krahn said. “It’s not just about yourself, it’s about your past, especially for me it is about my family, in particular my Nana. I’m playing out there for her this week and through that show my love for my heritage and my love for her. It’s nice to be able to do that through playing golf and having fun.”
This week’s event goes Tuesday and Wednesday at St. Eugene Mission Golf Resort in Cranbrook. Krahn will have some family joining him in this week’s field as his brothers David and Mitchell are also playing.
“I have heard great things about St. Eugene, so it's going to be so much fun to go out there. I am looking forward to seeing all the friendly faces again. The last time I saw them was probably in September at the B.C.-Ontario (Indigenous) matches. I have made some great friends playing in the event.”
While Krahn tries to win his third straight Indigenous championship, a new women’s champion will be crowned at St. Eugene as last year’s champion, Kylie Jack of West Kelowna, is not in the field this week.
AMATEUR HOUR: Surrey’s Lauren Kim, Canada’s top-ranked amateur, leads a strong contingent of British Columbians at this week’s 111th Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Riverside Country Club in Saint John, N.B. Kim, currently ranked 18th in the world, won the 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur.
She finished fifth and was the low Canadian last year when the event was held at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria. Kim is heading into her junior year at the University of Texas. Two-time B.C. Women’s Amateur champion Amy Lee of Langley, Angela Arora of Surrey and Yeeun (Jenny) Kwon of Vancouver will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at this week’s event.
TRUCKEE TROUBLE: Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin and Adam Svensson of Surrey both missed the cut at the PGA TOUR’s Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif. Both players need a big finish to their seasons to remain fully exempt in 2026. Hadwin now stands 134th on the FedEx Cup points list, while Svensson is 170th. Players must finish inside the top 100 to remain fully exempt.
Those finishing 101st to 125th will retain limited status for 2026. Svensson and Hadwin are both in the field for this week’s 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn. Next week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C. is the final regular-season event before the PGA TOUR playoffs begin. A seven-event Fall schedule follows the playoffs where players missing the playoffs will have an opportunity to secure their position inside the top 100.
OPEN AND SHUT: Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor also missed the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. After opening with a six-over 77, Taylor rebounded nicely with a 68 in the second round, but missed the cut by two shots.
Taylor now stands 17th on the FedEx Cup points list and has a great opportunity to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Two playoff events, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis and the BMW Championship in Owings Mills, Md., precede the Tour Championship, which goes Aug. 21-24 in Atlanta.
JUNIOR BOYS: Richmond’s Alex Zhang, Max Osten of Delta, Jason Yu of Vancouver and Dylan Zhang of Tsawwassen are competing in this week’s U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas.
IN MEMORIAM: The B.C. Senior Men’s Championship later this month will be missing a familiar face, one that always seemed to be smiling. Ray Henry, a regular on the amateur golf scene for many decades in B.C., died last week after a sudden illness. He was 78.
A native of Portrush in Northern Ireland, Henry was most recently a member of Pheasant Glen Golf Course in Qualicum. His victories included the 1990 B.C. Match play with Keir Smith and the 2012 B.C. Super Senior Championship at Nanaimo Golf Course in Nanaimo.
Henry, who worked for many years as an air traffic controller at Vancouver International Airport, was known for his sharp sense of humour. “He was a great friend and a great roommate on the road,” said longtime friend Doug Stone.
“He loved the game and was very proud of his Portrush roots. I will miss his relentless Irish chatter.”
AMATEUR HOUR: Kelowna’s Cooper Humphreys has played his way into the U.S. Amateur Championship. The two-time B.C. Amateur champion shot a five-under 66 to win a final qualifier in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The U.S. Amateur Championship goes Aug. 11-17 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Humphreys, Manpreet Lahl of Nanaimo and Mackenzie Bickell of Richmond will represent British Columbia Golf at this week’s playing of the 58th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Langley’s Clairey Lin made it to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Junior Girls Championship in Atlanta. Lin lost that match one-down to stroke-play medalist Grace Carter of Jupiter, Fla. Coquitlam’s June Hsiao also advanced to match play. She lost her Round of 64 match one-down to Mia Clausen of Carlsbad, Calif. Calgary native Aphrodite Deng won the 36-hole championship final by defeating Xington Chen of Singapore 2&1.
SEASON BEST: Vancouver’s Leah John tied for 20th at the Casella Golf Championship in Guilderland, N.Y., for her best finish of the season on the Epson Tour. She earned $2,224. Delta’s Mary Parsons and Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam both missed the cut. Kelowna’s Megan Osland tied for 26th at the CHBHS Okie Championship in Muskogee, Ok., on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour.
CHIP SHOTS: Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald tied for 25th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Mo. Macdonald now sits 39th on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list. Four regular-season events remain before the tour’s playoffs. . .The PGA Tour Americas resumes after a one-week break with this week’s Commissionaires Ottawa Open. A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, Jared du Toit of Kimberley, Lawren Rowe of Squamish and Richmond’s Chris Crisologo are in the field.