Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Macdonald falls just short of Korn Ferry Tour promotion
Taylor, Svensson, Sloan in field for fall season opener; Stouffer on to match play at U.S. Swomen’s Mid-Amateur; UBC men, women open their seasons
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
The PGA Tour Americas season ended in the worst possible way for Stuart Macdonald. The Vancouver native’s final round turned into an absolute nightmare as he dropped from seventh to 11th on the Tour’s points list and missed earning exempt status on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour by one spot.
Macdonald shot an eight-over 43 on the front nine of his final round of the Fortinet Cup Championship at TPC Toronto. And although he played even-par golf the rest of the way, it wasn’t enough to keep him inside the top 10 on the points list.
Macdonald finished the final event tied for 47th at 10-over par. That was 15 shots behind winner Will Cannon of Hilton Head, S.C., who birdied the final hole to help seal Macdonald’s fate.
After completing his round, Macdonald bounced in and out of the top 10 as the leaders finished their rounds. Richmond’s Chris Crisologo was one of those late finishers. Crisologo tied for eighth to move up 23 spots to 75th on the points list. By finishing inside the top 80, Crisologo will have status for the start of the 2025 PGA Tour Americas season.
About the only perk that Macdonald receives for finishing 11th is that he goes directly to the second stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School. Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart, who missed the cut in Toronto, will also get a pass to second stage by virtue of finishing inside the top 25 at No. 23.
FALL FINISH: The PGA TOUR’s fall season begins at this week’s Procore Championship in Napa, Calif., where Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor, Adam Svensson of Surrey and Merritt’s Roger Sloan are all in the field. The fall season consists of eight events which will determine who finishes inside the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list and retains exempt status for the 2025 season. Taylor enters the fall season at No. 58 on the points list, Svensson is No. 76 and Sloan is No. 175. The top 50 spots are locked in following the conclusion of the playoffs.
Taylor and Svensson have clinched their spots in the top 125 and will be focused on attempting to finish 51st through 60th. That would get them into two Signature events in 2025 — the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. Players who finished the playoffs inside the top 50 are free to compete in the fall season but cannot improve their points position. That group includes Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin, who finished the playoffs at No. 47. Sloan will be focused on trying to crack the top 125. There is also a conditional category for players finishing between 126th and 150th on the points list.
MISSING THE CUT: Taylor and Hadwin didn’t get the call they were hoping for from Mike Weir. The captain of the International team for this month’s Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club selected fellow Canadians Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes among his six captain’s picks, but Taylor and Hadwin were not selected. Taylor and Hadwin both finished higher than Hughes in the International team’s standings. Taylor was 12th on the list, Hadwin was 13th and Hughes was 15th. South Korea’s Si Woo Kim, who was 14th on the list, was also picked by Weir as a captain’s selection ahead of Taylor and Hadwin.
SILVER ANNIVERSARY: Speaking of Weir, the 25th anniversary of his breakthrough win at the Air Canada Championship passed last week. It was Sept. 5, 1999 when Weir fired his second straight seven-under 64 to beat Fred Funk by two shots to win at Northview Golf Club’s Ridge course in Surrey. Weir, who finished the event at 18-under par, earned $450,000 for what was his first of eight PGA TOUR victories.
OPEN SEASON: The UBC men’s and women’s teams open their seasons at this week’s Bushnell Fall Invitational in Springfield, Ore. New assistant coaches Taylor Kim and Keir Smith will lead the women’s and men’s teams respectively at the Oregon event. Aidan Schumer, Dylan MacDonald, Hudson Lafayette, John Paul Kahlert and Mackenzie Bickell will play for the men, while Grace Bell, Elizabeth Labbé, Una Chou, Jessica Ng and Bo Brown will compete for the women.
Those are very familiar lineups for the T-Birds, who are returning most of their players from last year. “Some of our players are finishing off their fifth years from Covid,” said UBC head coach Chris Macdonald. “Just having two teams who have had a lot of experience together, have played well together in the past, it’s really nice for them. I hope they have a very special year and go out on top.”
STIFF COMPETITION: The UBC men will move on to play the Canadian Collegiate Invitational next week in Muskoka, Ont. The Thunderbirds qualified for that event by winning the Canadian University/College Championship this past spring. Next week’s event features several top NCAA Division I schools, including Michigan, Kent State, Penn State, Missouri, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Michigan State, Miami (of Ohio) and Washington State.
Macdonald said his players are keen to play against some top U.S. teams. “It’s a pretty cool tournament with a lot of great Division I teams in it,” Macdonald said. “The guys are super-excited about it.” The individual winner of the Canadian Collegiate Invitational, which is being played at Öviinbyrd Golf Club, will receive an exemption into the 2025 RBC Canadian Open.
ON TO MATCH PLAY: Nanoose Bay’s Shelly Stouffer has moved on to match play at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, Mass. Stouffer, who has won five straight B.C. Senior Women’s Championships, fired rounds of 70 and 77 to tie for sixth place in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the event.