Ziemer's BC Golf Notes: Bootleg Gap ready to play host to 123rd B.C. Amateur Championship

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 fiield 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.

NO LUCK IN LOUISVILLE: A return to his collegiate golfing home did not help reverse what has been a tough stretch on the PGA TOUR for Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin.
Hadwin missed the cut at the ISCO Championship in Louisville Ky., by one shot. He fell three spots to 132nd on the FedEx Cup points list. Hadwin, who played his collegiate golf at the University of Louisville, now faces a battle to retain full exempt status.

To remain exempt he must finish inside the top 100 on the points list. Not surprisingly, Hadwin is playing this week in the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif., which is being held opposite the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Surrey’s Adam Svensson, who is in an even more serious predicament, is also in the Barracuda field. Svensson missed the cut at the ISCO tourney and is now 166th on the points list.

Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor heads to Royal Portrush coming off a tie for 22nd finish at the Genesis Scottish Championship in North Berwick. Taylor completed that event at five-under par, 10 shots behind winner Chris Gotterup. Taylor, climbed two spots to sit 15th on the points list, is hoping his third Open Championship will be the charm. He missed the cut in his two previous appearances in 2022 and 2023.

STOUFFER NINTH: Six-time B.C. Senior Women’s champion Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay tied for ninth at the R&A Senior Women’s Amateur at Walton Heath Golf Club in southern England. Stouffer, who had won the Irish Senior Women’s Championship the previous week, was just one shot out of the lead through two rounds at Walton Heath, but was done in by poor third round of 86. She finished the 72-hole event at 14-over par, 13 shots behind winner Kathy Hartwiger of the United States.

GEORGIA BOUND: Coquitlam’s June Hsaio, Clairey Lin of Langley, Clara Ding of White Rock, Bella Yang of Vancouver and Annie Liu of Vancouver have spots
in this week’s U.S. Junior Girls championship at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Riverside Course. Hsaio is coming off a nice performance last week’s PNGA Women’s Amateur Championship at Wine Valley Golf Course in Walla Walla, Wash. Hsaio advanced to the quarter-finals, where she lost her match 4&3 to Inez Ng of Singapore.

Langley’s Erin Lee, who was second in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the championship, lost her Round of 16 match on the 21st hole to Anika Varma of Rocklin, Calif. Rebecca Kim of Surrey, Chelsea Truong of Victoria and Richmond’s Cadence Ko lost their matches in the Round of 32 after successfully qualifying for match play.
Australian Jazy Roberts defeated Varma 2&1 in the 36-hole championship match.

EAGLE ENDS IT: Langley’s James Allenby eagled the first playoff hole to win the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Chilliwack Open at Chilliwack Golf Club. Allenby and Coquitlam’s Henry Lee finished the 36-hole event at nine-under par. Jace Minni of Delta, Jeevan Sihota of Victoria and David Hansen of The Home Course in DuPont, Wash., tied for third at seven-under. The Chilliwack win was Allenby’s second straight VGT title. He earned $5,000 for the win.

OSLAND FOURTH: Kelowna’s Megan Osland closed with a five-under 67 and tied for fourth at the Texarkana Children Charities Open on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour. Osland currently stands third on the tour’s Callaway Race To Qualifying points list. The top five at season’s end go straight to the second stage of the LPGA Tour qualifying school. On the Epson Tour, Vancouver’s Leah John tied for 57th at the Hartford HealthCare Women’s Championship.

PRO-ASSISTANT CHAMPS: The Seymour Creek Golf Centre duo of James Legault and Steven Lecuyer shot a tournament record score of 26-under par to win the PGA of BC’s Pro-Assistant Championship at The Rise Resort in Vernon. Lecuyer was 59, or 13-under, on his own ball in the first round when he and Legault posted a best-ball score of 14-under 58. In the second day scramble, Legault and Lecuyer fired a 12-under 60. They beat the Fairview Mountain team of Brian McDonald and Rob Tadey by three shots.

OGOPOGO WINNER: Kelowna’s Justin Towill shot rounds of 65, 68 and 68 and his 15-under total was good for an eight-shot win at the annual Ogopogo Invitational at Kelowna Country Club. Towill played his collegiate golf at UBC-Okanagan and won the Canada West Championship in 2023. Grady Lancaster of Penticton was second at seven-under par. Burnaby’s Mike Belle, Casey Sullivan of Kelowna and Ryan Krisko of Kamloops tied for third at five-under par. Kelowna’s Norm Bradley won the senior championship by eight shots with a score of one-under par.

TOUR TALK: Richmond’s Chris Crisologo tied for 44th at PGA Tour Americas’ Bromont Open in Quebec. Crisologo finished the event at 10-under par, 11 shots behind winner Dillon Stewart of Fort Collins, Colo. Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart missed the cut by one shot. The PGA Tour Americas takes a break this week and resumes July 24-27 at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open. . .Merritt’s Roger Sloan tied for 31st at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Ascendant tourney in Colorado. Sloan finished at eight-under par, 10 shots behind winner Neal Shipley.

CHIP SHOTS: Richmond’s Christine Wong tied for 11th at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada in Burlington, Ont. . . Two-time B.C. Amateur champion Cooper Humphreys of Kelowna tied for 21st at the Trans-Mississippi Amateur in Bloomington, Ind. Humphreys finished the 54-hole event at even-par, 17 shots behind winner Lance Simpson of the University of Tennessee. . .After a six-year hiatus, the Beach Grove Amateur is returning Sept. 12-13. For more information contact the Beach Grove golf shop at 604-943-9381.