Coquitlam's A.J. Ewart Is Shown Here Teeing Off In The Freedom 55 Financial Classic At Point Grey - Image Credit Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A.J. Ewart knows his time at Point Grey Golf & Country Club this week is all about experience and trying to soak up whatever he can on the biggest stage of his young golfing life.

But the 17-year-old Coquitlam resident, last year’s B.C. Juvenile Boys champion, is also hoping to make a few birdies. He made only one in Thursday’s first round of the Freedom 55 Financial Classic, the season-opening event on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada circuit.

A few wayward drives cost Ewart as he opened with a four-over 76, but he wasn’t going to let that sour him on what he recognizes is a great opportunity.

North Pacific Junior Girls' Team British Columiba At This Year's CN Futue Links in Kamloops, From L-R: Shirin Anjarwalla, Esther Lee, Euna Han, Abigail Rigsby, Alisha Lau and Amanda Minni - Image Credit Paige Schappert

by Paige Schappert, Teams Coordinator, British Columbia Golf

British Columbia is proud to host the 2016 North Pacific Junior Ladies' Team Matches. This year marks the 30th anniversary of these team matches and will see squads from British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington competing Saturday, May 28th - Sunday, May 29th at Pitt Meadows Golf Club.

The event is patterned after the Curtis Cup Matches for amateur women (which stimulates friendly rivalry for women golfers from the United States, Great Britain and Ireland).

Looking Back At Nanaimo Golf Club's Ninth Green. The British Columbia Men's & Women's Mid-Amateur Championships Take Place Here From May 31 - June 2nd - Image Courtesy Nanaimo GC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

If you haven’t had the opportunity to play Nanaimo Golf Club, chances are you have driven right by it. Drive off the ferry at Departure Bay in Nanaimo and head north up Island and you can’t miss it on the right hand side of the road. 

It's been there since 1962, which is only slightly longer than head professional Kerry Davison, who joined the course in 1983 and never left. That was not the original plan.

Drew Weaver, The 2015 Freedom 55 Financial Open Winner, Recieves The Trophy From Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada President Jeff Monday On The 18th Green At Point Grey GC Last Year - Image Credit Bryan Outram 

by British Columbia Golf (with files from Mackenzie Tour - PGA Tour Canada)

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season kicks off with Freedom 55 Financial Open The Mackenzie Tour’s fourth season begins this week at the Freedom 55 Financial Open at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, B.C.

Open Qualifying took place Monday May 23rd (Victoria Day) at Swan-e-Set Bay Resort & Country Club in Pitt Meadows. When the day was done, 10 more names were added to the final field for Thursday's start to the season with two more British Columbians and 3 Canadians in total among those to gain entry into the event.

The UBC T-Birds Men's Golf Squad Are Ready To Challenge For The NAIA Championship This Week. Pictured From L-R Are: Andrew Harrison , Jack Wood , Evan Holmes , Nate Ollis And Trent Abraham - Image Courtesy UBC Athletics

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

UBC coach Chris Macdonald likes the fact that this week’s NAIA men’s national championship tournament is returning to the TPC at Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

The course, which is the site of the PGA TOUR’s John Deere Classic, reminds Macdonald of Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club, where the T-Birds play and practise all year long.

Last Year's First Round Leader Of The Freedom 55 Financial Open, Langley's Thomas Hay, Is Looking To Carry That Lead A Little Further This Year - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Langley Resident One Of A Number Of B.C. Pros To Tee It Up In Season-Opener At Point Grey

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A 2015 season that started with considerable promise quickly turned sour for Langley’s Thomas Hay, who is confident that this year will be different.

At last year’s season-opening event on the Mackenzie Tour--PGA Tour Canada circuit, Hay grabbed the first-round lead with a bogey-free 66 at Vancouver’s Point Grey Golf & Country Club.

(Vancouver, B.C.) – Freedom 55 Financial announced that it has granted local Vancouver professional and Web.com Tour member Devin Carrey a sponsor exemption inthe Freedom 55 Financial Open, the season-opening event on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada schedule.

A 23 year old from Burnaby, Carrey played collegiate golf at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette and owns 13 top 25 finishes in 43 Mackenzie Tour starts.

Yvon Jeaurond, the Service Manager at the Victoria Golf Club for the last 10 years is a finalist for a very prestigious award in the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). 

As one of three finalists and the lone Canadian, there is still time for you to vote and name Yvon as the MVT (Most Valuable Technician) in all of North America. You do not have to be in the golf business or a member of the GCSAA to vote. Voting closes June 10.

Kimberley's Jared du Toit And His Arizona State Sun Devils Are Off To Eugene, Oregon For The NCAA Finals May 27 - June 1st - Image Courtesy ASU Athletics

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

B.C. Amateur champion Jared du Toit is off to the NCAA Championship tourney in Eugene, Ore. Du Toit helped lead the Arizona State Sun Devils to a first-place finish at a NCAA regional tourney in Albuquerque, N.M. on Wednesday.

Du Toit, a Kimberley resident who is completing his junior year and won last year’s B.C. Amateur at Fairview Mountain in Oliver, shot rounds of 72, 73 and 75 to finish in a tie for fifth place at four-over par. The Sun Devils posted a 54-hole team score of 12-over par to beat the field by 12 shots.

John (Johnny) Johnston (L) Is Shown Here With Former Vancouver Mayor Tom Campbell (R) And More Recently On The Clubhouse Balcony At His Home Course, Marine Drive - Images Courtesy Marine Drive GC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

John (Johnny) Johnston, a former Canadian Amateur champion who is a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame, died Tuesday at the age of 91.

Johnston, known as J.J. to his many friends, was a longtime member of Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver.

Mary Parsons Is Shown Teeing Off At The CN Future Links Pacific Championship At The Dunes In Kamloops. She Went On To Win By Four Shots -  Image Courtesy Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Mary Parsons is apparently driving well on and off the golf course. The big-hitting 16-year-old Delta resident used her length off the tee en route to an impressive four-shot win at the CN Future Links Pacific Championship in Kamloops this past weekend.

Then after that win -- the biggest of her young golf career -- Parsons returned home and passed her driver’s test on Monday morning. “It has been a great few days,” she said with a laugh in an interview Monday night.

Richmond's Chris Crisologo Added Another Accolade To His 2016 Season Being Named To The Division II PING All-Region West Team - Image Credit Matthew Steinbach

courtesy Steve Frost/SFU Athletics

(May 16, 2016) NORMAN, Okla. – Simon Fraser University sophomore Chris Crisologo was today named to the Division II PING All-Region West team by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Crisologo was one of 112 players across eight regions - East, Atlantic, Southeast, South, Midwest, South Central, Central and West – who earned all-region honors for 2016.

Ryan Williams And His Big Cheque After Winning The VGT Tour's Chilliwack Classic - Image Courtesy VGT/Fraser Mulholland

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Vancouver’s Ryan Williams warmed up for the upcoming Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada season by winning the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Chilliwack Classic.

Williams birdied his final two holes to shoot his second straight six-under 66 at Chilliwack Golf Cub. His 36-hole score of 12-under was good for a one-shot win over Seann Harlingten of West Vancouver and Courtenay’s Riley Wheeldon.

Delta, B.C.'s Mary Parsons Holds The Trophy After Winning The Junior Girls Title In The CN Future Links Event Held At The Dunes In Kamloops - Image Credit Chuck Russell/ Golf Canada

B.C. Girls Take Four Of The Top 6 Spots In Junior Girls Championship

Courtesy Herb Fung/ Golf Canada

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – The final round of the 2016 CN Future Links Pacific Championship at The Dunes at Kamloops Golf Club unfolded in much the same way as the previous two – with the Junior Boys and Junior Girls fields in pursuit of Tony Gil and Mary Parsons.

Neither would be caught as the pair completed wire-to-wire victories to open Golf Canada’s championship season.

For her part, Delta, B.C.'s Mary Parsons came out of the gate with a Dunes women's course record 66 and never looked back (that 66 was matched in the final round by Coquitlam's Euna Han).

Samantha Richdale gained 24 spots in the world rankings after finishing in a tie for 45th at the LPGA Tour’s Yokohama Classic. It was her best LPGA result of the season in three tournaments. The result helped her moved up to No. 3 in the Canadian rankings.

Augusta James, who lost a spot in the Canadian rankings to Richdale, gained three spots in the world rankings after finishing in a tie for 11th at the Symetra Tour’s Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic in South Carolina. It was her fourth Top-15 result this season in five starts.

Jennifer Kirby gained 79 spots in the world rankings after finishing in a tie for 7th in South Carolina. Kirby’s best career finish on the development tour enabled the former Golf Canada National Team member to move up to No. 12 in the Canadian rankings.

CARLSBAD, California — PUMA Golf announced the signing of Canadian golfer Adam Svensson, who is entering his first full season as a professional golfer with full status on the Web.com Tour. Svensson will don PUMA Golf apparel and accessories on-course throughout the 2016 golf season.

“Adam is a great fit for PUMA Golf,” said Dave Burgess, Director of Marketing at COBRA PUMA GOLF Canada. “He has proven his skills on the course and has a cool style and swagger. We are thrilled to be adding him to our Tour team.”

Victoria's Naomi Ko, Who Plays Out Of Royal Colwood GC, Has Qualified For This Summer's U.S. Women's Open - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Naomi Ko called it the round of her life and it could not have come at a better time for the 18-year-old Victoria native. A clutch five-under 67 in the second round of a 36-hole sectional qualifier at The Home Course in Dupont, Wash., earned Ko a spot in this summer’s U.S. Women’s Open.

Ko, a member of Canada’s national amateur team and former B.C. Junior Girls champion, topped a field of 48 players to earn the one spot available at the Monday qualifier.

North Vancouver's Eugene Wong Will Play In Just His Third Web.com Tour Event Of The Season Next Week - Image Courtesy Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

North Vancouver’s Eugene Wong will have lots on the line when he plays his third Web.com Tour event of the season next week in South Carolina. Wong expects to draw into the BMW Charity Pro-Am, scheduled for May 19-22. The Web.com Tour will conduct its second reshuffle of the season after that event and a solid showing by Wong would help him get into more tournaments the rest of the season.

Port Moody's Brendan Dillon Was The Top Canadian At The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada Q-School Held At Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community In Courtenay - Image Courtesy VGT

courtesy Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour

(May 6, 2016 – Courtenay, B.C.) – Lake Elsinore, California’s Aaron Wise shot an even-par 72 on Friday at Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community to take medalist honours and earn fully exempt status for the 2016 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada season at the British Columbia Qualifying Tournament.

The 19-year old sophomore at the University of Oregon finished at 14-under for the week, two shots ahead of Dallas, Texas’ Conrad Shindler and Atherton, California’s Jonathan Garrick.

Port Moody's Brendan Dillon was the top Canadian Finisher at 6-under par in a T6th followed closely by Langley's Adam Cornelson and Thomas Hay one shot back  at 5-under and T9th. The top 16 finishers earned exempt status for the 2016 Mckenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada season.

The Oregon Golf Association Reclaimed The PNGA Cup At Richmond Country Club By One Point Over Washington's Team With BC Golf And Idaho Coming In 3rd And 4th - Image Courtesy BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The PNGA Cup is headed back to Oregon, where it should feel right at home. After all, the Oregon Golf Association won five of the first seven PNGA Cup competitions, which began back in 2006. But after its win in 2012 the well went dry. Oregon had been blanked in the past three PNGA Cups. That changed Friday at Richmond Country Club when Oregon reclaimed the cup, beating Washington by a single point in the Ryder Cup-style team competition that also featured squads from British Columbia and Idaho.