Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: August 18th, 2025

B.C. Golf Notes • By Brad Ziemer British Columbia juniors shine at national championships; Leah John top-10s on Epson Tour; Taylor heads to Atlanta 25th on points list; Portland LPGA Tour appearance inspires Kaylee Chung; Seymour Golf & Country Club plays host to Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship

The depth of British Columbia’s junior golf talent was on full display at last week’s Canadian Junior Girls and Boys championships.

Vancouver’s Ruihan Kendria Wang was second at the Junior Girls Championship in Saint-Marie, Que., where her six-under total was four shots behind repeat winner Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont. Langley’s Clairey Lin was third and Maggie Zhang of Richmond was fourth. Vancouver’s Bihan (Bella) Yang tied for seventh.

The B.C. team of Zhehui Yu of Burnaby, Emma Kral of Victoria and Cadence Ko of Richmond won the inter-provincial team title by four shots over second-place Ontario.

At the Junior Boys Championship in Bathurst, N.B., three British Columbians finished inside the top four. Kelowna’s Oakley Mayner led the way with a second-place finish. After opening with an even-par 72, Mayner recorded rounds of 69, 64 and 68 to finish the event at seven-under par, four shots behind winner Dawson Lew of Toronto.

Maxim Mackenzie of Chilliwack and B.C. Junior Boys champion Austin Krahn of Christina Lake tied for fourth at one-under par. Vancouver’s Jason Yu tied for seventh at even-par.

The B.C. team of Krahn, Mackenzie and Mayner finished second, three shots behind Ontario, in the inter-provincial team competition.

Mayner is joining the UBC-Okanagan golf program this fall and coach Clay Stothers is delighted to see him playing so well this summer.

“I have known Oakley since he was about 10 years old and he has transformed his game to become an elite player and for him to come join us is extremely exciting,” Stothers said. “To see him go 64 and 68 the last two days is impressive. He has this crazy ability when the pressure is on to perform even better.”

ON TO ATLANTA: Nick Taylor’s final round at the BMW Championship began with two birdies, but not much went right after that. The Abbotsford native struggled to a five-over 75 and tied for 33rd in the 50-player field. Thankfully, Taylor had already locked up his berth in this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The top 30 players on the FedEx Cup points list advanced to Atlanta and Taylor fell three spots to sit 25th. Fellow Canadian Corey Conners, who is 19th on the points list, is also in the Tour Championship field.

EPSON TOP 10: Vancouver’s Leah John followed up her recent Epson Tour win with a tie for ninth finish at the Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic in Pendleton, Ore. John closed with a seven-under 65 and completed the event at 12-under par, six shots behind winner Erika Hara of Japan. She now stands 18th on the Epson Tour points list. The top 15 players at season’s end earn LPGA Tour status for 2026. John and Delta’s Mary Parsons are both in the field for this week’s Dream First Bank Charity Classic in Garden City, Kan.

LPGA INSPIRATION: The best experience of her life. That’s how Vancouver’s Kaylee Chung described her appearance at the LPGA Tour’s Standard Portland Classic. 

“Playing in Portland was such a mix of nerves and excitement,” the 17-year-old Chung said. “I thought I was okay, but I was super nervous. I could actually feel my heart beat faster, but it turned out to be the best experience of my life.”

Chung, who is heading into Grade 12 at Lord Byng Secondary, missed the cut in Portland but shot respectable scores of 76 and 75. She had earned an exemption into the event by winning the Les Schwab Amateur in Portland earlier this summer.

“I’m proud of myself and I felt honoured being surrounded by world famous players,” she said. “This experience has inspired me to keep chasing my dreams.”

MISSISSAUGA MOMENT: Lauren Kim of Surrey, Anna Huang of Vancouver and Clara Ding of White Rock all have spots in the field for this week’s 51st playing of CPKC Women’s Open at Mississauga Golf Club in Ontario. The field is once again an impressive one, featuring six of the current top 10 and 19 of the top 25 on the LPGA Tour’s 2025 Race to the CME Globe standings.

MID-AM IN NORTH VAN: B.C. Mid-Amateur champion Greg Koster of Courtenay, Nasheel Kassam of Vancouver and Greg Palmer of Port Alberni will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship, which goes this week (Aug. 19-22) at Seymour Golf & Country Club in North Vancouver.

THAT’S A WRAP: The B.C. Boys and Girls U17 Championships — the final British Columbia Golf championship events of the season — go this week at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club in Cobble Hill. Seventy-five boys and 27 girls are registered to compete in the 54-hole event.

ON TO FINALS: The Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season ended at the Albertsons Boise Open, where Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald tied for 58th and Roger Sloan of Merritt tied for 55th. Macdonald now stands 46th on the points list, while Sloan is 124th. Both players have qualified for the four-event KFT Finals, which begin Sept. 11-14 at the Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation in Franklin, Tenn. The top 156 players draw into that event. The top 144 players move on to compete in the second playoff event and the top 120 play in the third. The top 75 players then advance to play in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, where the top 20 players will earn 2026 PGA Tour cards.

BACK IN BUSINESS: The PGA Tour Americas returns after a one-week break with this week’s playing of the Manitoba Open at Breezy Bend Country Club in Winnipeg. Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart and Chris Crisologo of Richmond are in the field, while Jared du Toit of Kimberley was listed as the second alternate.

OPEN SEASON: The Odlum Brown Vancouver Open, the flagship event of the Vancouver Golf Tour, goes Aug. 22-24 at the City of Vancouver’s three municipal courses. A field of 64 pros will chase the $12,000 winner’s cheque. Five past champions — Jace Minni (2024), Kevin Spooner (2023), Ilirain Zalli (2022), Steven Lecuyer (2019, 2021) and James Allenby (2017) — are in the field. After the first two rounds at McCleery and Langara, the final round will be played Sunday, Aug, 24 at Fraserview.

A player to watch is Victoria’s Jeevan Sihota, who has seven wins on the VGT this year. 

STALLED IN SEMIS: B.C. Women’s Amateur champion Amy Lee of Langley advanced to the semi-finals of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Junior Girls Amateur Championship at Redhawk Golf Course in Nampa, Id. Lee lost that semi-final match 3&2 to eventual champion Madeleine Conser of Portland. Conser won the 36-hole final 7&6 over Tatum Otto Bellevue, Wash.

The PNGA Junior Boys Amateur was also held at Redhawk, where Coquitlam’s Eden Kim lost his quarter-final match 4&3 to Andy Metzler of Boise, Id.

CHIP SHOTS: Vancouver’s Ilirian Zalli withdrew in the second round of the DP World Tour’s Danish Golf Championship in Copenhagen... Surrey’s Aram Choi emerged as the first alternate at a U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur qualifier last week in Portland. . .Kelowna’s Cooper Humphreys, Josh Ince of Surrey and Wyatt Brook of Kamloops failed to advance to match play at last week’s U.S. Amateur Championship at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.