By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Four new inductees, each with a long list of playing accomplishments, will be welcomed this fall into the B.C. Golf Hall of Fame.

Craig Doell of Victoria, Brian DeBiasio of Qualicum, Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay and the late Ron Willey of Nanaimo will be inducted at a dinner Oct. 26 at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver.

Doell, DeBiasio and Stouffer all expressed delight at being selected to join the Hall of Fame. “I am thrilled to be selected to the B.C. Golf Hall of Fame and to have my name in there with so many great players is amazing,” said Stouffer. “I never played golf as a junior, so to be recognized now for my accomplishments is pretty cool.

It is with great pleasure the Board of Directors announce the 2023 Inductees into the Golf Hall of Fame of BC.

The 2023 Inductees will join 44 honoured members plus 2 teams presently in the Golf Hall of Fame of BC at a dinner on October 26th at Marine Drive GC. The 2023 Inductees are listed below:

Jackson Rothwell Is Seen Here With His Dad As His Caddy During His 1st BC Amateur Triumph At Big Sky GC In Pemberton In 2019 - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Jackson Rothwell insists he isn’t thinking about a possible hat trick. The Victoria native is instead looking forward to competing relatively close to home and seeing some familiar faces at the 121st playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville.

One of those familiar faces will be his dad, Alex, who always caddies for his son at the B.C. Amateur. That, Rothwell said, is a big part of what has made his two B.C. Amateur wins so special.

“It’s a fun week for me because my dad takes the week off and he is on the bag for me,” the 22-year-old Rothwell said in a phone interview from Calgary, where he was competing in an event at Mickelson National Golf Club.

Amy Lee's Win Completed Her 'Triple Crown' Of BC Junior Golf  - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

PRINCE GEORGE — Amy Lee began the day three shots back and by the time she arrived at the 17th tee she had a three-shot lead and seemed to have the B.C. Junior Girls Championship in her back pocket.

But a double-bogey on that par 4 17th hole at Prince George Golf & Curling Club made for a tense finish to the championship for the 15-year-old from Langley.

“No. 17 really got me startled, I have to admit,” said Lee, who rebounded nicely with a birdie on the final hole and won the championship by three shots.

James Lee Successfully Defended His BC Junior Boys Championship - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

PRINCE GEORGE — His tournament ended, appropriately, with a birdie on the par 5 18th hole at Prince George Golf & Curling Club.

James Lee went wire-to-wire to defend his B.C. Junior Boys Championship and his play on the par 5s was the key. Lee absolutely feasted on the 5s, playing them 16-under for the tournament.

“Obviously, I did the bulk of my scoring there,” Lee said of his dominance on the par 5s. “The par 3s are a little more tricky here, so it was nice to have some short par 5s you could take advantage of.”

James Lee Takes A Five-Shot Lead Into The Final Round Of The BC Jr. Boys Championship - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

PRINCE GEORGE — The birdies didn’t come quite as easily in the third round, but James Lee is still on track for what could be a record-setting performance at the B.C. Junior Boys Championship.

Lee fired a three-under 68 and sits at 15-under par. He is five shots clear of Vernon’s Ryan Vest heading into the final round at Prince George Golf & Curling Club, which was set up more difficult than the previous two days.

Campbell River's Dana Smith Is The Halfway Leader In The BC Junior Girls Championship - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

PRINCE GEORGE — Dana Smith is wrapping up her junior golf career this summer and preparing to begin her collegiate golf journey at Simon Fraser University this fall.

The 18-year-old Campbell River native can’t think of a much better way to end this phase of her golfing life than with a win at this week’s B.C. Junior Girls Championship. Smith is halfway there as she leads the tournament at Prince George Golf & Curling Club through two rounds.

“I am hoping I can put together two more nice rounds so that I can finish off my junior career strong,” said Smith, who is even-par through 36 holes.

BC's Megan Osland - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Kelowna’s Megan Osland not only had to beat her opponents, she had to beat the heat to win the Oscar Williams Classic on the Women’s All Pro Tour. The 72-hole event was held in Anna, Tex., during what has been an epic heat wave in parts of the southern U.S.

“I would say most of the days it was between 40 and 45 degrees Celsius, plus the humidity,” Osland said over the phone. “I had a 7 a.m. tee time one day, so I got to the course just before 6 a,m. and I got out of the car and I just started sweating. At 6 a.m.! It was crazy. The heat was definitely a battle in itself.”

Capilano Golf & Country Club Entertained A Prospective New Member Recently - Twitter Screen Grab

At British Columbia Golf we are staunchly in support of 'diversity & inclusion' in golf and indeed in all sports. We might have some 'safety of environment' concerns in this specific instance, however.

Jeremy Watt posted this video on Twitter of an 'uninvited' guest at the venerable golf club in West Vancouver.

Prince George Golf & Curling Club Hosts The 2023 BC Junior Championships - Image Courtesy PGGCC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The B.C. Junior Boys & Girls Championships are heading north to Prince George Golf and Curling Club and that brings back some memories for general manager John Swanson.

The last time the B.C. Juniors was held in northern British Columbia was 20 years ago when the 2003 Junior Boys competition was played at Dawson Creek Golf Club.

Swanson happened to be general manager at Dawson Creek at the time and that field had some interesting names that included Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin and Roger Sloan, who all went on to play on the PGA TOUR.

BC's Lauren Kim (R) Posed With LPGA Legend Betsy King Before The 2022 U.S. Women's Open At Pine Needles In North Carolina - Image Credit Kevin Kim

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Before she heads to the University of Texas to begin her collegiate golf career, Surrey’s Lauren Kim has a busy summer ahead of her.

Kim, who just graduated from Earl Marriott Secondary, has qualified to play in three major United States Golf Association events this summer.

In addition to the Women’s Amateur, Kim has also qualified to play in the U.S. Women’s Open and the U.S. Junior Girls Championships.

Playing golf from the appropriate set of tees is a great way to derive a lot more enjoyment from the game.

At the same time, how do we really know how to determine credibly what those tees should be for each of us?

Chelsea Truong Is The 2023 BC Women's Amateur Champion - Images Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

(June 23, 2023) COBBLE HILL - Chelsea Truong needed to play the round of her life and it didn’t start particularly well. The 17-year-old from Victoria opened her final round of the 118th B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship with a bogey.

Considering she started the final day at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club seven shots back of the lead, it would have been easy for Truong to hang her head and concede that this wasn’t going to be her week. But Truong isn’t wired that way. The words give up are not in her vocabulary.  There was lots of golf left, she told herself, and as it turns out it would be some very special golf.

British Columbia Golf hosted their inaugural All Abilities Golf Championship at McCleery Golf Course from June 12 - 13, 2023.

The Vancouver Parks Golf (@VanParksGolf) course proved to be an outstanding host and as Tournament Chair and British Columbia Golf Director Joe Higgins said as players prepared to tee off, "The event will be a celebration of adaptive golf, and what’s possible when so many work for a common goal. We have lots of work ahead and we’re excited for what’s to come."

The video below was produced by event liason and BC "Golf Fore All" committee member Shayain Gustavsp.

Jennifer Gu Leads At The Halfway Mark Of The BC Women's Amateur - Image Credit Brad Ziemer

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

COBBLE HILL — Jennifer Gu’s second round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship started smoothly enough with six straight pars. Then things got interesting.

“The rest of the round was a little bit of a roller-coaster,” Gu said with a laugh. “I had almost every number from two through seven.”

That included an eagle three on the par 5 18th hole that capped off a round of two-under 70 that left the West Vancouver native with a three-shot lead at the halfway mark of the 118th playing of the Women’s Amateur.

Image Credit Shayain Gustavsp

On June 21, for National Indigenous Peoples Day, we recognize and celebrate the history, heritage, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis across Canada.

For generations, many Indigenous groups and communities have celebrated their culture and heritage on June 21 or around that time of year because of the significance of the summer solstice as the longest day of the year.

National Aboriginal Day, now National Indigenous Peoples Day, was announced in 1996 by then Governor General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc, through the Proclamation Declaring June 21 of Each Year as National Aboriginal Day.

To find out was is happening throughout British Columbia to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, click HERE.

Coquitlam, BC's AJ Ewart Made His Pro Debut In Victoria After A Stellar College Career - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf 

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

VICTORIA — A.J. Ewart will remember some good shots and some not so good shots, but the one thing he will remember most about his first event as a golf pro was that feeling of knowing he belongs.

The 24-year-old Coquitlam native tied for 37th at the PGA Tour Canada season-opening Royal Beach Victoria Open at Uplands Golf Club. His first pro cheque was worth $940. Not as big as he’d hoped, but it’s a start.

“I am happy with how I played,” Ewart said after closing with a one-over 71. “Every day I had it going. All in all, I am happy. I made a couple of silly mistakes I will learn from, but I also learned that my good golf can play with these guys. I just need to clean some things up and move on to next week.”

BC's Victoria Liu Will Play In The CPKC Canadian Women's Open In August - BC Golf Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A record-setting round helped Victoria Liu play her way into the CPKC Women’s Open and the 20-year-old is more than a little excited about teeing it up in her first LPGA Tour event an her home course.

“I play out of Shaughnessy so it’s very exciting,” Liu said after winning the Glencoe Invitational in Calgary. “I was really hoping to get to play in that tournament and so I’m happy I have earned a spot.”

Liu, who just finished her second year at Princeton University in New Jersey, opened the Glencoe with a course record eight-under 64 that she called the round of her life.

Although volunteer spots have been filling up for the 2023 CPKC Women’s Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, BC, taking place August 21-27, 2023, there's still time to sign up and be a part of a great event and see the best women golfers in the world, including our very own Brooke Henderson. 

Men's Overall Stroke Play Champion, Matthew Hallat Tees Off At McCleery GC - All Images Credit BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Like all good golf tournaments, this one came down to the 18th hole.

Matthew Hallat of North Vancouver won the inaugural B.C. All Abilities Championship at Vancouver’s McCleery Golf Course with a clutch par on the final hole.

Hallat, a former Paralympic skier who is now high performance director, para-alpine, with Alpine Canada, said events like the B.C. All Abilities Championship are an important first step in growing the sport and improving access for people with health conditions or impairments.