The Squamish Valley Golf Course Plays Host To This Week's British Columbia Junior Boys Championship, One Of Three BC Golf Championships Happening This Week - Image Courtesy Squamish Valley GC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Tristan Mandur won last year’s B.C. Junior Boys Championship on his home course, Arbutus Ridge Golf Club. He will defend that title this week on less familiar territory as this province’s top juniors gather at Squamish Valley Golf Club.

Mandur will face plenty of stiff competition as he attempts to become the first junior boy to defend his title since Surrey’s Adam Svensson went back to back in 2010 and 2011. 

This week’s field in Squamish includes current B.C. Amateur champion Nolan Thoroughgood of Victoria, this year’s B.C. high school champion Andy Kim of Langley and two of his Walnut Grove Secondary teammates, Andy Jang and Jaewook Lee, as well as 2014 B.C. Junior champion Keaton Gudz of Victoria.

The tournament runs Tuesday through Friday and is part of a busy week of amateur golf in British Columbia.

Team Canada's Maddie Szeryk Won The BC Women's Amateur By 4 Shots At Vernon Golf & Country Club - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/ British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

VERNON -- After leaving the door slightly ajar with an indifferent third round, Maddie Szeryk slammed it shut early in Friday’s final round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Szeryk birdied four of her first six holes, building her lead to as many as seven shots before cruising to a four-shot win at Vernon Golf & Country Club.

 A Six-Under 67 Moved Victoria’s Naomi Ko To Within Three Shots Of Leader Maddie Szeryk - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/ British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

VERNON -- Naomi Ko didn’t get mad. Instead, she got even with Vernon Golf & Country Club in Thursday’s third round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

An 80 in Wednesday’s second round had sent Ko, the first-round leader, tumbling down the leaderboard. The 19-year-old Victoria resident came to the course Thursday determined to make amends. 

Mission accomplished.

Mark Calcavecchia Has Had Great Success In Canada And Is Looking For More In 2017 The Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship - Image Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

2005 Canadian Open Winner Discusses His Return to British Columbia in an Exclusive Interview

VICTORIA, B.C. (June 29, 2017) – Tournament Organizers have announced that 2005 Canadian Open winner and 1989 Open Championship winner Mark Calcavecchia has committed to playing in the 2017 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship.

Calcavecchia has won two tournaments in British Columbia on the PGA TOUR; the 1997 Greater Vancouver Open at Northview and the 2005 Canadian Open at Shaughnessy. Calcavecchia also won the 2012 Montreal Championship on PGA TOUR Champions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 29, 2017
www.sahaleeplayerschampionship.com

Sammamish, Wash. - An impressive field of world-class amateur talent will converge on the Pacific Northwest and Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash. for the 23rd Sahalee Players Championship (SPC), to be played July 5-7, 2017.

The championship will be contested over 72 holes of stroke play, with 18 holes being played the first day, 36 the second, and 18 on the third and final day. Admission is free to watch the championship.

The SPC took a hiatus in 2016 while the club hosted the 2016 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, won by Brooke Henderson in a playoff with Lydia Ko.

Team Canada's Maddie Szeryk Is Setting A Strong Early Pace For The Rest Of The Field, Holding A 6-Shot Cushion Through 2 Rounds At The B.C. Women's Amateur In Vernon - Image Credit Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Maddie Szeryk is right where many thought she would be halfway through the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Vernon Golf & Country Club. The 20-year-old dual citizen from Allan, Tex., shot a four-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round to grab a commanding six-shot lead.

Delta, BC’s Jonnie Motomochi (R) Hopes To Stay With Coaching Golf After He Lost His Oregon State Coaching Job When His Work Visa Was Denied - Image Courtesy YouTube

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Jonnie Motomochi doesn’t know if he is a victim of Donald Trump’s pledge to crack down on foreigners obtaining visas to work in the United States. He just knows he is out of a job that he loved.

Motomochi, a Delta native, had spent the last four years working as an assistant coach with Oregon State University’s men’s golf team. He got the job after graduating from OSU and spending four years playing collegiate golf for the Beavers.

Royal Colwood's Naomi Ko Is In The Lead After Round One Of The 2017 BC Women's Amateur Following A First Round 69 At Vernon G&CC - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/ BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Victoria’s Naomi Ko birdied five of her first 11 holes en route to a four-under 69 Tuesday that gave her the lead after the first round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Vernon Golf & Country Club.

Ko, who just completed her sophomore year at North Carolina State University, leads Maddie Szeryk of Allan, Tex., by one shot. Both players are members of Canada’s national women’s team.

The 2015 BC Women's Amateur Champion, Surrey's Michelle Kim, Is In The Field For This Year's Championship In Vernon - Image Courtesy Vernon GC/ BC Golf

The BC Women's Amateur, the premier event for Amateur Women golfers in the Province of British Columbia is now underway at Vernon Golf & Country Club and features one of the strongest fields the event has seen in recent years. 

It includes the entire Women's National Squad in Grace St-Germain of Ottawa, Jaclyn Lee of Calgary, Naomi Ko of Victoria and dual-citizen Maddie Szeryk of Allen, Tex. Also, two members of the national developmental team, Chloe Currie of Mississauga, Ont., and Delta’s Mary Parsons, who came second last year at Beach Grove are in the field.

CLICK HEREfor live continuous scoring.

Daily wrap-ups will be added below as the tournament progresses.

By Jim Lee (edited by Jeff Sutherland)

A new golf report has been released by British Columbia Golf that is providing both updates and some illumination on some previously unquantified market segments.

Conducted last year (2016), it has found that the size of the golf market increased slightly in 2016 to 680,000 golfers, continuing its upward trend.

The participation rate also increased.

The 1979 BC Willingdon Cup Team Including Victoria's Rick Gibson (shown here), Vancouver's Doug Roxburgh, Kelly Murray and Steve Berry Wil Be Enshrined In The BC Golf Hall Of Fame - Images Courtesy Golf Canada & BC Golf Museum

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Victoria native Rick Gibson will be entering the British Columbia Golf Hall of Fame for the third time this fall.

Gibson, who is already in the hall of fame as an individual and as part of Canada’s 1994 Dunhill Cup-winning team, is being inducted again as part of the team that won the 1979 Willingdon Cup for B.C.
That team was unique in that it was comprised of all Marine Drive Golf Club members. Doug Roxburgh, Steve Berry and Kelly Murray were the other members of that team.

The Venerable Vernon Golf & Country Club Plays Host To This Year's B.C. Women's Amateur Championship Boasting An Incredibly Strong Field

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Keep it between the trees and below the hole. Those are the most basic instructions for Vernon Golf & Country Club, which plays host to the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship June 27-30.

Vernon is one of British Columbia’s oldest courses, dating back to 1913, and many of its fairways are lined with Lombardy poplars and weeping willows. Stray off the fairway and you will have a decision to make.

The 2017 BC Women's Senior and Super-Senior Champion Karen Pulz (R) Poses With Team BC Teammates Holly Horwood (L) And Jackie Little (C) - Image Credit British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It's not like she needed a reminder, but Karen Pultz got one the night before the final round of the B.C. Senior Women’s Championship at Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club.

At Wednesday night’s tournament banquet, Pultz was looking at the long list of past Senior Women’s champions when her good friend and a past champion of the event, Phyllis Laschuk, gave her some words of encouragement.

“Phyllis said it's time you put your name on this,” Pultz recalled Thursday. “I'm 60 years old and I was probably known as one of the best players never to have won the B.C. Senior. And now I am a little bit in shock to say the least because I've done it!”

The 2017 British Columbia Golf Women's Senior, Super-Senior & Net-Stableford Championship is underway at the beautiful Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club.

The competiton is open to all female golfers age 50 and older as of the first day of the National Senior Women's Championship (August 22, 2017).

Senior and Super-Senior: 54-hole gross stroke play competition. Players will be competing in all events in which they are age-eligible.

Net-Stableford: 54-hole Net-Stableford (Players may elect to play off a shorter set of tees, however, will not be in the primary championships).

Zone Team Gross - 2 person teams selected by each zone in advance of the competition. Scoring is based on players combined 2 day scores on day one and day two. Note players in this zone competition must be competing in the primary competition.

Best-Ball Team Net – players may submit the names of their teams at registration (prior to the beginning of play on day 1). Players may be in any of the primary or secondary (Stableford) championships. Net scores will be adjusted relative to the course rating. Scoring will be based on better-ball net score on each of the 54-holes of play.

For live scoring please CLICK HERE 

For a round-by-round wrap-ups please see below.

Fred Funk And His Son Taylor - Image Courtesy SportBox PR

Courtesy SportBox PR

VICTORIA, BC (June 15, 2017) - Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship Tournament Organizers announced that PGA TOUR Champions legends Fred Funk, Jay Haas and Paul Goydos have committed to playing in this year’s event, held at Bear Mountain Golf Resort in Victoria, BC.

The three golfers join Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer, Stephen Ames and Scott McCarron on the growing list of PGA TOUR Champions stars that have committed to the 2017 event to date. The latest additions to the Pacific Links Championship are all proud fathers that share the theme of unique and touching stories on the impact that golf has on fatherhood.

Richmond's Chris Crisologo (L) And Kimberley's Jared du Toit (R) Had Solid Outings This Week - Images Credit British Columbia Golf/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Jared du Toit left the GolfBC Championship in Kelowna with his first top 10 as a pro and a course record.

The Kimberley native is just two events into his new professional career and has already seen plenty of highs and lows. Du Toit, the 2015 B.C. Amateur champion, shot a 10-under 61 to set a course record at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club in the third round of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event.

That round came a day after du Toit had to birdie his final hole in the second round to make the cut. That was thanks mainly to a pair of triple bogeys in his first two rounds.

Former British Columbia Golf Manager Of Participation, Matthew Steinbach, Has Been Named The Full-Time Head Golf Coach Of His Alma Mater, Simon Fraser University - Image Credit Gabriel Lynn/ SFU Athletics

Courtesy Steve Frost/SFU Athletics

BURNABY, BC – Matthew Steinbach has been appointed Head Coach of the Simon Fraser University men’s and women’s golf programs, Senior Director of Athletics and Recreation Theresa Hanson announced today.

Steinbach was promoted from assistant coach to interim head coach of the programs on Dec. 12, 2016, when legendary former coach John Buchanan went on medical leave from the University. Buchanan passed away peacefully at home with his family on January 19, 2017 at the age of 77.

Today, Hanson removed the interim appointment and put Steinbach in control of Canada’s NCAA golf programs.

British Columbia Golf Will Be Looking To Keep Their Unbeaten Streak Alive At This Year's Canada Summer Games In Winnipeg

Canada is celebrating its 150th Birthday this year and with that the Canada Games will hold its 50th edition with the Summer Games in Winnipeg from July 28th to August 13th. 

Featuring 16 sports and over 250 events, combined with a major cultural festival, the 2017 Canada Summer Games will bring together exceptional athletes and artists from coast to coast to celebrate the occasion.

One of those sports is of course, Golf, and when it comes to competing in the Canada Summer Games, few provinces can boast the results in any discipline quite like BC can when it comes to golf.

In 2009 (the first year golf was played as a sport in the Summer Games) and 2013 the representatives from British Columbia took home every gold medal available, in individual and team competitions for both males and females.

With the announcement of the male version of their golf squad this year, the coaches and managers of BC's Summer Games Team look to put together the first component of maintaining that unblemished record.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

When Darren Douma began to lose his sight, he thought he was going to lose golf as well. 

Phil Mickelson helped convince him otherwise.

It was the spring of 2010 and Douma, having been diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, was watching that year’s Masters telecast. Mickelson was hitting his second shot out of the pine straw on the par 5 13th hole in the final round and, well, you probably remember the shot, too.

BC's Phil Jonas Will Be Teeing It With The Legends Of The Game In The 2017 U.S. Senior Open At Salem Country Club In Massachusetts 

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Phil Jonas is about to complete the Senior Open double.

Five years ago, Jonas played in the Senior Open Championship at Turnberry Golf Club in Scotland. On Monday, the 55-year-old Surrey-based teaching pro played his way into this summer’s U.S. Senior Open.