BURNABY — The tee on the ninth hole at Riverway Golf Course was moved up to make it a driveable par 4 for those who wanted to gamble in Wednesday’s third round of the B.C. Amateur Championship.
Lots did, with mixed results.
The hole was playing about 280 yards into a slight breeze. The green is fronted by a hazard so coming up short was not an option. Tiger Xie of Surrey did not hesitate when he stepped up to the tee. “I really didn’t have to think about it,” Xie said. “I carry my driver about 280 or 285 yards, so it was pretty much a perfect number for me.”
His tee ball flew straight toward the hole and rolled about 40 feet past the pin. “As soon as I hit it I thought it was going to be good,” Xie said. His putt was even better. It was a downhill slider that dropped into the centre of the cup for an eagle.
Tiger Xie Eagled The Par 4 Tenth At Riverway GC In Round 3 of The BC Amateur
BC Golf Photo
Victoria’s Luke Bernakevitch, one of Xie’s playing partners, also hit the green. The big-hitting Bernakevitch only needed a three-wood to drop his drive on the front of the green. He just missed his 20-foot eagle putt and tapped in for birdie.
Nanaimo’s Manpreet Lahl was laughing as he walked off the ninth green after a miracle par of sorts. Lahl pulled his tee shot into the hazard and had to walk back into the fairway to play his third shot. His wedge landed short, just rolling onto the front of the green. Lahl then drained a lengthy putt for his four.
“Easy par,” Lahl said with a laugh as he headed for the 10th tee. Vernon’s Ryan Vest, who enters Thursday’s final round one shot out of the lead, decided not to gamble. Vest laughed when he acknowledged he hit a nine-iron off the tee followed by a nine-iron approach. He then proceeded to drain his long birdie putt. “So my strategy worked,” he said.
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED: Meanwhile, an eagle of a different sort was causing chaos on the par 4 fourth hole. Vancouver’s HongZhao (Thomas) Xiu had played his second shot into Riverway’s par 4 fourth hole and was walking toward the green. His ball had settled just short-right of the green and as Xiu approached his ball, he watched as it disappeared.
HongZhao (Thomas) Xiu's Eagle Encounter Was Of A Different Variety
BC Golf Photo
An eagle had dropped out of the sky, grabbed the ball with its talons and took off. “It just snatched it and it flew away with it,” Xiu said after his round. “I never saw it again. That’s never happened to me before. And I’ve never even seen anything like that happen on TV.” After consulting with a British Columbia Golf rules official, Xiu was awarded a free drop. “I made an up and down par,” Xiu said. With an assist from an eagle.
TOUGH TEST: The par 5 fifth hole is playing as a par 4 this week for B.C. Amateur Championship participants. Not surprisingly, it has played as the toughest hole through the first three rounds of the tournament. The 490-yard hole has played to a stroke average of 4.53. The easiest hole through the first three rounds has been the par 5 13th hole, which has played to a stroke average of 4.83 and yielded nine eagles and 132 birdies.