Merritt-area course being discovered by more golfers

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

QUILCHENA, B.C.(August 1, 2024) — I recently got reacquainted with an old friend I hadn’t seen in several years. I am happy to report she is doing fine after a rough few years.

Sagebrush Golf Club is as wonderful as I remember. Perched on a hillside above Nicola Lake in British Columbia’s cowboy country, Sagebrush offers a golf experience that is both memorable and fun. 

It’s not quite as quiet as I remember and that’s because word is apparently spreading that Sagebrush is back, with stable ownership and a solid management team who have worked hard to get the course back to its former glory.

Vanessa Zhang third at Canadian Juniors; Royal Colwood plays host to this week’s Canadian Women’s Amateur; Ziggy Nathu wins Golden Ears Open

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf (July 29, 2024)

Adam Svensson’s push for the PGA TOUR playoffs just got more difficult. The Surrey native entered the final round of the 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn., tied for sixth and in great position to move inside the top 70 on the FedEx Cup points list.

But a four-over 75 in the final round dropped Svensson down into a tie for 37th. Instead of moving up the points list, Svensson fell two spots from 79th to 81st. The top 70 players qualify for the PGA TOUR playoffs and with just one regular-season event remaining, Svensson will likely need at least a top-five finish to crack the top 70.

Former CFL defensive back Todd Wiseman sees football-golf connection; 54-40 bassist Brad Merritt saved by early tee time; Roxburgh rides roller-coaster on front nine

By: Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

REVELSTOKE, B.C. (July 25, 2024) - Todd Wiseman played seven seasons as a defensive back in the Canadian Football League, where the Kamloops resident believes he learned some mental skills that help him on the golf course.

Of course, there’s no tackling, interceptions or sprinting down the fairways in golf, but Wiseman says the rhythm of a round of golf has some similarities with what he faced during his playing career with the B.C. Lions, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts.

“A football play lasts for about 10 or 15 seconds and then you regroup and it’s a new setting, a new down and distance,” Wiseman said. “It’s a new group of receivers and you have to re-think what you are doing.”

By: Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

REVELSTOKE, B.C. (July 25, 2024) - Befitting a golf course that was once a horse-racing track, Steve Savage made his move at the clubhouse turn.

Savage holed out for eagle from 118 yards on the par 5 ninth hole at Revelstoke Golf Club and rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt on the long par 5 10th hole to break away from the pack and take control of the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship.

The 62-year-old Vancouver Golf Club member then hung on down the stretch to win by a nose — make that one shot.

By: Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

REVELSTOKE, B.C. (July 24, 2024) - John Gallacher was pleased about shooting under his age in Wednesday’s second round of the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship.

What he didn’t immediately realize is that he is leading the tournament at Revelstoke Golf Club. “Oh, really,” the 73-year-old Burnaby resident said with a smile when informed he had the lead. “Good for the old guys.”

Seventy-something guys aren’t supposed to challenge for titles like this one, but no one should be surprised. Gallacher has been a perennial contender at the B.C. Senior and is a two-time past champion.

By Keirsten Spade/Golf Canada

Vancouver, B.C.(July 23, 2024) – Humid and sunny conditions continued into round two of the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, presented by BDO making for another exciting day.

With a stellar performance, Team British Columbia secured the coveted title of this year’s Inter-Provincial Team Championship at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, B.C. 

Team British Columbia was represented by Ha Young Chang (Surrey, B.C.), Amy Seung Hyun Lee (Langley, B.C.) and Chelsea Truong (Victoria B.C). 

Click HERE for complete story...

Revelstoke Golf Club Welcomes B.C. Senior Men’s Championship As It Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

REVELSTOKE — Every golf course has a history, but few have as fascinating a past as Revelstoke Golf Club.

Golf was first played in 1924 on this scenic tree-lined layout that hugs the Columbia River and is playing host to this week’s B.C. Senior Men’s Championship as part of the club’s 100th anniversary celebrations.

But before it became a golf course, part of what is now the back nine was a horse-racing track. If you look closely, you can still discern remnants of the old racetrack.

Leah John top-10s on Epson Tour and also gets CPKC exemption; New B.C. Senior Men’s champion to be crowned in Revelstoke: Marine Drive plays host to Canadian Junior Girls Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf (July 22, 2024)

Mary Parsons’ first professional win came with a bonus she really wasn’t expecting. Along with the $10,000 first-place cheque for winning the Kathy Whitworth Championship in Trophy Club, Tex., on the Annika All Women’s Pro Tour, Parsons knew she was also getting a spot in an Epson Tour event in late August.

But the Delta native is also receiving something much bigger than that. Parsons was informed after her win that she has a spot in this week’s LPGA Tour event, the CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary. “I am very thrilled,” Parsons said over the phone. “It will be my second LPGA start. I played back in 2019 as an amateur. It will be exciting to play an LPGA event as a pro now. I will try to keep it rolling and see what I can do.”

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

After they collected their gold medals at the B.C. Summer Games golf competition, the winners really weren’t looking to celebrate. They just wanted to catch up on their sleep.

The 44 juniors who played in the 36-hole competition at Meadow Gardens Golf Course spent two nights in their own ‘athletes village.’ Their digs were the hard classroom floors of local schools. And teenagers being teenagers, not much sleep was had. “Definitely not,” laughed Langley’s Ryan Leprieur, who won the boys’ individual title.

“Sleeping on the floor of a school classroom isn’t ideal to say the least. They gave us a little foam pad and a blanket. That’s about it.”

Edward Bellrose Takes Mid-Master Title In Golden, B.C.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

GOLDEN, B.C. (July 18, 2024) - He is only 25, so there could be many more highlights to come, but chances are Wyatt Brook will always remember July 2024 as some of the best days of his golfing life.

“Considering I had one top 10 in a British Columbia Golf event before in my life, this has been a pretty special two weeks,” Brook said after winning the B.C. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Golden Golf Club.

That win followed Brook’s third-place finish last week at the B.C. Amateur Championship at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

GOLDEN, B.C. (July 17, 2024) - Wyatt Brook is what you would call a Mid-Amateur rookie and he’s making quite the splash at his debut event.

The 25-year-old Heffley Creek resident fired a four-under 68 in the second round and has a six-shot lead heading into Thursday’s final round of the B.C. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Golden Golf Club.

GOLDEN, B.C. (July 16, 2024) - Golden Golf Club proved to be a stern test in the first round of the B.C. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship and that came as no surprise to director of operationsGraeme Kreiner.

“It’s playing tough now with our greens,” Kreiner said. “They are not Augusta-fast, but there is so much slope and we do have a nice speed on them now. You certainly have to pay attention when you have the putter in your hands.”

The same could be said about your driver. Golden is a tree-lined layout and narrow in spots. Stray too far off the fairway and you’re in trouble.

Yeji Kwon gets first pro win; Nathan Ward seeks to defend title at B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship; Hadwin, Taylor head to Open Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

DELTA, B.C. (July 15, 2024) - Shelly Stouffer saved her birdies for when she really needed them in the final round of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

The Nanoose Bay resident began the final round with a three-shot lead — thanks in no small part to a four-under 68 in the second round — but that cushion had evaporated by the time she and American Catherine Matgranga had reached the 16th tee at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay.

Matgranga, a Fort Worth, Tex., resident had birdied the 14th and 15th holes to pull even. Stouffer hadn’t made a birdie all day. The momentum seemed to be on the Texan’s side.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

ABBOTSFORD (July 12, 2024) - There is a certain symmetry to Cooper Humphreys becoming the first player to successfully defend his B.C. Amateur Championship in nearly 20 years and doing it at Ledgeview Golf Course.

The renowned Abbotsford layout has produced an impressive list of fine players, including the likes of Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Ray Stewart and James Lepp. It was Lepp who last repeated as B.C. Amateur champion when he won his last of four straight B.C. Ams in 2005.

Humphreys most definitely has some Lepp in him. Like Lepp in his heyday, the 19-year-old Vernon resident can make the game look easy.

Photographer Bryan Outram was out on the course and here are his top shots from the final round...

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

ABBOTSFORD (July 11, 2024) - Cooper Humphreys and James Fahy each have a chance to accomplish something at the B.C. Amateur Championship that hasn’t been done in a while.

Humphreys, the 2023 champion from Vernon, has an opportunity to become the first player to successfully defend his title since James Lepp won four in a row beginning in 2002. Fahy, a Vancouver resident, will be looking to become the first player older than 30 to win a B.C. Amateur since Victoria’s Bryan Toth captured the 2006 championship.

Fahy, like Toth was in 2006, is 32 years old.

B.C. Amateur Halfway Leader James Fahy

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

ABBOTSFORD (July 10, 2024) — James Fahy has apparently decided the road to follow at the B.C. Amateur Championship is Route 66. The 32-year-old Marine Drive Golf Club member fired his second straight four-under 66 at Ledgeview Golf Course to grab the halfway lead at the 122nd playing of the B.C. Amateur. He is more than a little surprised to be leading.

“We’ll see what happens,” Fahy said. “I am kind of waiting for things to get a little loosey-goosey. Golfing at 32 is very different than 22.”