Samantha Richdale From Kelowna, BC Is In Daytona Beach, Florida Looking To Gain Full-Time Status On The LPGA Tour For 2018 - Image Credit: Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/British Columbia Golf

 Courtesy Brad Ziemer's BC Golf Notes

Kelowna’s Samantha Richdale is the lone British Columbia player competing at the final stage of the LPGA Tour’s Q-School, which goes Nov. 29-Dec. 3 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Richdale had limited status on the LPGA Tour this year. She played in only four events and made $3,696. Richdale spent most of her year competing on the Symetra Tour, where she placed 47th on the money list with earnings of $17,971.

Victoria, BC's Jim Rutledge Will Attempt To Regain Full-Time Status On The Champions Tour Next Week At The Champions Q-School Final Stage In Arizona - Image Credit: Bryan Outram/British Columbia Golf

By Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

Jim Rutledge has endured a couple of lean years on the PGA Champions circuit, but the Victoria native is making another run at regaining full-time status on the 50-and-over tour. Rutledge, 58, has advanced to the final stage of the Champions Q-School, which goes Nov. 28-Dec. 1 at TPC Scottsdale’s Champions course in Arizona.

Rutledge lost his exempt status after the 2015 season and has had to try and play his way into events via weekly qualifiers. He teed it up in just three tournaments this year and played six times in 2016. His best finish this year was a tie for 40th at the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary.

Vancouver's Stuart Macdonad, Shown Here Competing In The Pacific Coast Amateur, Will Be Looking To Punch His Ticket To The Web.com Tour On A Full-Time Basis This Coming Week - Image Courtesy PCGA

By Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

Qualifying schools are supposed to be golf’s ultimate pressure-cookers, but so far they haven’t fazed Stuart Macdonald. The 23-year-old rookie pro from Vancouver has sailed through the first and second stages of the Web.com Tour qualifying school to earn a spot in the finals.

“Getting through first and second stage isn’t exactly the easiest thing to accomplish,” Macdonald said in an interview. “So to get to the finals and have a chance to play on the Web.com Tour is good. I am excited to get there and see what I can do.”

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Announced Their 2018 Qualifying Tournament Sites Including Vancouver Island's Crown Isle Resort - Image Courtesy Facility

(November 15, 2017 – Toronto, Ont.) - The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament will take place at five separate sites during the spring of 2018 as players compete for Mackenzie Tour membership for the 2018 season.

Submitted by Brad Ziemer,  Nov 14, 2017

The PGA Champions circuit won’t be making a third stop at Bear Mountain in 2018.

The senior tour’s 2018 schedule was released recently and does not include the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship, which had been held at the Victoria-area resort the past two Septembers.

The tournament’s demise should not come as a surprise. This year’s event, which was won by Jerry Kelly, was the only event on the PGA Tour Champions 2017 schedule that did not have TV coverage after the tournament sponsor failed to ante up for Golf Channel coverage.

The only Canadian stop remaining on the PGA Tour Champions schedule is the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary. That event goes Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club.

Submitted by Brad Ziemer,  Nov 14, 2017

Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club is making a pitch to bring the Presidents Cup to Vancouver.

“Recently the Club has been asked to participate in a bid process which could see Shaughnessy host the Presidents Cup in 2023,” general manager Jason Sigurdson said in a recent note to members.

Submitted by Brad Ziemer,  Nov 14, 2017

West Vancouver’s Seann Harlingten and Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver have both qualified for the final stage of the Web.com Tour qualifying school.

Harlingten advanced by finishing tied for 20th at a second stage Q school site at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, Calif., while Macdonald finished alone in seventh place at another site at the TPC at Craig Ranch in McKinney, Tex.

Riley Wheeldon of Comox missed advancing by one shot at Bear Creek, while Kimberley’s Jared Du Toit fell four shots short.

Macdonald and Harlingten will join fellow Canadians Ryan Yip of Calgary and Albin Choi of Toronto at the Q school finals, which go Dec. 7-10 at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz.

Submitted by Brad Ziemer,  Nov 14, 2017

Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor is in the field for this week’s RSM Classic, the finale of the PGA Tour’s fall season full-field schedule. Ontario’s Mackenzie Hughes is defending champion at the Sea Island, Ga., event.

Taylor missed the cut last week in Mexico, but has had a nice fall season with one top 10 and another top-15 finish. He enters the RSM Classic 29th on the FedEx Cup points list.

Vancouver, BC's Stuart Macdonald Is Moving On To The Final Stage Of Web.com Tour Q-School In Arizona Next Month - Image Credit (Chuck Russell/Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada) 

Courtesy Golf Canada

Canadians Stuart Macdonald and Albin Choi both advanced to the third and final stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School on Friday at separate events across the United States.

Macdonald, a Team Canada graduate and Vancouver product, carded a final-round 68 (-4) to finish alone in 7th place. The Purdue University alumnus came in at 11-under par (66-75-68-68) to become the only Canadian to advance at the TPC at Craig Ranch event in McKinney, Texas.

Players from British Columbia continue to hold prominent places in the Golf Canada Top 10 Rankings Powered by RBC with Abbotsford's Nick Taylor leading the way for the professional men moving up 15 spots to number 186 in the world.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor has his 2018 PGA TOUR season off to a fast start. After finishing tied for ninth at the season-opening Safeway Open in Napa, Calif., Taylor followed up with a tie for 13th place Sunday at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia.

Taylor closed with a seven-under par 65 to finish at 12-under par. That was 12 shots behind winner Pat Perez, who beat runner-up Keegan Bradley by four strokes. Taylor has made $292,450 in the first two events of the 2018 season and stands ninth on the PGA TOUR’s FedEx Cup points list.

Courtesy Bob Vokey & Golf Canada

Canadian Bob Vokey was born in Verdun, Quebec in 1939. His father, Walter, was a precision tool and die maker, an avid golfer and constant tinkerer of golf equipment. Bob did not necessarily share his father's passion for golf as a child, but he observed and assisted in his father's club creations.

Bob, at 25 left Montreal for the United States and settled in Carlsbad, California. Despite his earlier feelings toward golf, he became smitten with the game and wanted to become involved in some way. He lived near a golf course, and started to play competitively, eventually developing his father's passion for "tinkering" with golf clubs.

Canada's Brooke Henderson Holds The Trophy After Her Fifth Career LPGA Tour Win At The McKayson New Zealand Open - Image Credit: Photosport

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian Brooke Henderson made light of the challenging conditions on Monday to run away from the field and claim the MCKAYSON New Zealand Open by five shots.

Henderson, the world No. 12, had looked the class act of the field all week in Auckland. The 20-year-old claimed her fifth LPGA title – and second of the year - with sizzling rounds of 65, 70, 67 and a remarkable 69 in extremely challenging conditions over Sunday and Monday as stormy weather sent the tournament into a fifth day.

Picking up her round Monday after competing just six holes on Sunday as rain and thunderstorms lashed the Windross Farm course, Henderson made light of the still gusty conditions to see off challenges from China’s Jing Yan (-12) and Korea’s Hee Young Park (-11).

The 2017 Vancouver Open Champion, James Allenby, Poses With Winning Trophy And A Big Cheque 

Courtesy Vancouver Golf Tour (VGT)/Fraser Mulholland

Langley’s James Allenby rose to the top against many of the PACIFIC NORTHWEST’S top Pros at the Johnston Meier Insurance Vancouver Open this weekend at Northview Golf & Country Club.

Allenby’s win came in dramatic fashion, closing his final round out in style with a 2-putt birdie en route to a stellar round of 6-under par 66 and a one-shot win over Victoria’s Steven Lecuyer and Oregon’s Nick Sherwood.

Allenby’s 3-day total of 69, 70, 66 (-11) bettered a full field of 142 players including 48 Professionals heralding from as far east as Edmonton, Alberta to as far south as Albany, Oregon.

A Final-Round 66 Secured A Two-Stroke Triumph For Phil Jonas In The PGA Of BC Club Professional Championship At Victoria Golf Club - Image Courtesy PGA of BC

VICTORIA, BC,  September 19, 2017 (PGA of British Columbia) - Phil Jonas separated himself from the field to win the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Canada PGA of BC Club Professional Championship presented by Oakcreek Golf & Turf at Victoria Golf Club.

Jonas (Philip Jonas Golf Academy) fired a tournament-low, 4-under-par round of 66 on the esteemed Oak Bay course to finish with a 36-hole total of 3-under-par 137, beating out Matthew Palsenbarg (Northview Golf Academy) by two strokes to claim the Dick Munn Memorial Trophy.

Marc-Etienne Bussieres Closed With A Final-Round 6-under 66, Making An Eagle And Three Birdies Over The Final Nine Holes To Win The PGA Assistants Championship - Image Courtesy PGA of Canada 

[RICHMOND, B.C., Sept. 14, 2017]—Marc-Etienne Bussieres parlayed an incredible final nine holes at Richmond Country Club into a win at the PGA Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf.

Bussieres closed with a final-round 6-under-par 66, making an eagle and three birdies over the final nine holes to chase down and eventually pass his good friend Sonny Michaud.

Vancouver Golf Tour’s Flagship Event Begins Friday At Northview Golf Club - Image Courtesy Northview Golf Club

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Vancouver Golf Tour commissioner Fraser Mulholland chuckled when asked if he had been able to talk Adam Hadwin into defending his Vancouver Open title this weekend at Northview Golf Club. “Not quite,” Mulholland says. “We’re glad to not have him in the field if we can watch him play the Tour Championship for $10 million. It’s just so great for him to be hitting all these milestones.”

Hadwin, a three-time winner of the Vancouver Open -- including last year at Pagoda Ridge in Langley -- will be wrapping up his spectacular PGA TOUR season this weekend at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. Then it’s on to the Presidents Cup, where the Abbotsford native will play for captain Nick Price’s International team.

Kimberley, BC's Jared du Toit Has Had A Pretty Solid Start To His Pro Career, Earning Canadian Player Of The Year Honours On The PGA Tour Canada-Mackenzie Tour Circuit - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

He wasn’t happy with the way he finished his round, but Kimberley’s Jared du Toit hung on to win Canadian Player of the Year honours on the PGA Tour Canada-Mackenzie Tour circuit.

That award, sponsored by Freedom 55 Financial, carries a hefty $25,000 bonus and du Toit said it helped soothe the frustration he was feeling about ending his round Sunday with three straight bogeys.

Du Toit closed with an even-par 70 to finish the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship in London, Ont., at 10-under par and tied for 17th place. He finished the season 23rd on the money list with $26,233, although he made more than that in unofficial money on Sunday.

The starting tee time for the Pacifi Links Bear Mountain Championship have been released and there are some marquee pairings to follow...

The 54-hole National Championship Takes Place Sept. 18-20 At The Richmond Country Club And Features A Field Stacked With Talent - Image Courtesy PGA of Canada

Via PGA of Canada (Chris Fry)

[RICHMOND, B.C.]—British Columbia’s fourth-largest city is set to host the PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf.

“The PGA of Canada is excited about visiting the beautiful province of British Columbia and the highly-regarded Richmond Country Club,” says PGA of Canada president Steve Wood. “The PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf annually features some of the best players in our association and this year is no different.”