Abbotsford’s Noah Reddicopp Hangs On To Win B.C. Bantam Boys Championship
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
BOWEN ISLAND (August 29, 2024) — Noah Reddicopp had a big lead and then suddenly he didn’t. Not just once, but twice.
The 14-year-old Abbotsford resident earned the B.C. Bantam Boys Championship the hard way, bouncing back from a pair of triple-bogeys to win the title for players aged 14 and younger by one shot.
“I feel quite relieved that it is finally over,” Reddicopp said with a smile after his final round at Bowen Island Golf Club.
The Ledgeview Golf Club junior began the final round with a four-shot lead and just before hitting his opening tee shot, Reddicopp sat down briefly on a nearby bench and gave himself a pep talk.
“At the start of the day I was just going to go out and try and play as best I can,” he said. After opening his round with a par, Reddicopp faced his first hurdle when he triple-bogeyed the par 5 second hole. That four-shot lead was now just a single stroke. “After the triple on No. 2, I just tried to stay focused and make pars after that,” he said.
Reddicopp did a nice job of doing just that. He played the next 14 holes in even-par and had re-established his four-shot lead with two holes to play. Then disaster struck again on the par 3 17th hole (No. 8 on Bowen Island’s nine-hole layout). Reddicopp’s six-iron sailed over the green and he had to take a drop. He ended up with another triple-bogey and that big lead was again just one shot.
It was gut-check time and once again Reddicopp responded well. He hit a solid drive on the par 4 finishing hole and stuck his approach to within a few feet of the pin. He missed his short birdie putt but tapped in for par and the win.
He won his first provincial title and learned some hard lessons along the way about playing with the lead. “I was proud of the way I handled things until No. 17,” said Reddicopp, who is about to begin Grade 9 at MEI Secondary.
“I definitely learned some things that I hope will help me in the future when I am playing with a lead. I think you need to play like you don’t have the lead. Just play the best golf you can, play as solid as you can. Don’t think about what other people are doing, just focus on your round and focus on having a good round.”
Reddicopp, who won with rounds of 70 and 76 to finish the 36-hole competition at six-over par, acknowledged his final round was an emotional roller-coaster. “Especially to have the lead by four and then it all just goes out the door on No. 2 with that triple,” he said. “It was just like wow. . .that kind of woke me up for the rest of the day.”
Reddicopp has had a nice end to his summer. He finished third the previous week at the B.C. Juvenile Boys (U17) Championship at Blue Ocean Golf Club in Sechelt. “This was probably the last tournament of the summer and it’s a good way to end it,” he said.
West Vancouver’s Jack Guo finished second at seven-over par. The 12-year-old shot the low round of the tournament — a one-under 69 — in the final round. Victoria’s Owen Beaulac was third at eight-over par. Guo won the Novice Boys Championship for players aged 12 and under that was also contested at Bowen Island. He edged Jackson Wang of Surrey by two shots.
It was quite the week for the Guo family. Jack’s twin sister Jenny finished second at the Canadian U15 Championship in Elmira, Ont., and their mother, Na Yu, made the cut at the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship in Georgetown, Ont.
“I really wanted to win this one because last year I came pretty close,” Guo said. “So this year I came to win. My round could have been even better today, but I doubled 17. But that’s okay.”
Click HERE to see complete final round scoring.