Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Allen Kong and Jenny Guo qualify for Drive, Chip and Putt finals at Augusta National
UBC Women Impress Against NCAA Div 1 Competition; Wong Third At PGA Women’s Cup; Several British Columbians Off To Q-School
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
It figures to be the longest six months of their young lives. Nine-year-old Allen Kong of Vancouver and 12-year-old Jenny Guo of West Vancouver have punched their tickets to the finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition at Augusta National Golf Club.
Now all they have to do is wait. And practise.
The finals go on Sunday, April 6 — the start of Masters week — so the two Metro Vancouver youngsters have lots of time to dream about competing on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National before a worldwide television audience.
“I am very excited because I have never been to Augusta before,” said Kong, a Grade 4 student at St. George’s School in Vancouver. Asked how much practising he will do between now and April, Kong said: “Probably seven days a week. Maybe six, if I get to ski one day.”
Guo, the reigning B.C. Juvenile Girls champion, is also pumped about the opportunity to travel to Augusta. “I am very excited, especially since I get to watch a Masters practice round,” she said. “I have watched it on TV, so it will be fun to see the course in person.”
Kong and Guo had to survive a rigorous qualifying process to make it to the finals. After advancing from their sub-regional qualifier, they both won their regional qualifier at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. Kong won his regional qualifier for boys aged 7 to 9 with a total of 133 points to beat his closest competitor by 10 points.
Each participant accumulates points through three drives, three chips and three putts. “I got first place for chipping and driving,” Kong said. “I didn’t get first place for putting.”
Guo accumulated 143 points to win her 12 to 13 age group in the regional competition and edged her closest competitor by four points. Her strong driving — a combination of length and accuracy — helped her win the regionals. “I got 53 points for my drives which was really good for me,” said Guo, who is Grade 7 at West Bay elementary school in West Vancouver. “My putting wasn’t that good.”
Guo did not match her total from the sub-regional competition, so was a little surprised to learn she had won. “I had 156 points at the sub-regional and I won by 15 or 20 points,” she said.
It was the third time lucky for Guo, who had failed to reach the finals in two previous attempts. “The first year I made it to the regionals but didn’t get past the regionals," she said. “The second year I didn’t get past the sub-regionals and this year I finally got through.”
Both Guo and Kong will have their families with them at Augusta National. They will get to attend Monday’s Masters practice round. “It was a big surprise for us,” said Kong’s mother, Michelle. “We didn’t expect it. Our family — my daughter and husband — will all go with him.”
CLOSE SECOND: Langley’s Clairey Lin and Team Canada 1 teammates Aphrodite Deng of Calgary and Shauna Liu of Maple, Ont., finished second at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship in Mississauga, Ont. The Canadians finished tied at 19-under par with South Korea, but South Korea was awarded the win using a pre-determined tie-breaker rule.
WONG PACES CANADA: Richmond’s Christine Wong led Canada to a second-place finish at the PGA Women’s Cup competition at the Sunriver Resort in Bend, Ore. The PGA of Canada team of Wong, Emma de Groot of Oakville, Ont., Caroline Ciot of Montreal, Katy Rutherford of Calgary and Casey Ward of Mississauga, Ont., finished the event at two-under par, 12 shots behind the winning team from the United States and 16 shots in front of the third-place squad from Australia.
Wong completed the 54-hole event in third place at two-under par, four shots behind winner Stephanie Connelly Eiswerth of the United States.
STRONG SHOWING: The UBC women’s team finished an impressive third at Seattle University’s Harbottle Invitational at Tacoma Country Club. Fifteen of the 17 schools competing were NCAA Division I programs and the result was UBC’s best finish in a Division 1 tourney in more than a decade. The Thunderbirds finished the event at one-under par, 11 shots behind the winning team from Cal State Fullerton.
The teams UBC beat included Santa Clara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Gonzaga and Fresno State. Grace Bell led the way for UBC as she finished tied for fourth at four-under par. Elizabeth Labbe, Una Chou, Bo Brown and Sienna Harder were the other UBC competitors.
RED LEAFS SECOND: Simon Fraser University’s men’s team finished second at the Western Washington University Invitational at Bellingham Golf & Country Club. The Red Leafs completed the 54-hole event at 11-under par. That was 26 shots behind runaway winners Colorado Christian. Danny Im, who closed with a six-under 66, and Brendan O’Brien were the top SFU players.
They both tied for 13th at five-under par. UBC-Okanagan finished sixth in the 13-team competition, but two of its players cracked the top 10. Christopher Zamini finished sixth at six-under par, while Ryan Gillis tied for seventh at five-under par. UBC Okanagan is playing host to this week’s Canada West Championship, which will be played Oct. 7-8 in Kelowna at Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear course.
PODIUM FINISH: The University of Victoria women’s team finished third at the Ottawa University of Arizona Fall Invitational in Surprise, Ariz. Brynne Davies led the Vikes with a career-best tie for third finish. Victoria finished eighth in the men’s competition. Owen Croft tied for seventh to lead the Vikes.
NO PROGRESS: Merritt’s Roger Sloan tied for 61st at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., and remains 168th on the FedEx Cup points list. Sloan needs to move inside the top 150 to retain any kind of of PGA TOUR status for 2025. Sloan finished the event at nine-under par, 14 shots behind winner Kevin Yu. Surrey’s Adam Svensson missed the cut. Sloan, Svensson and Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor are all in the field for this week’s Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Ut.
SEASON OVER: Vancouver’s Leah John tied for 46th at the season-ending Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells in Southern California. John finishes the season 61st on the Epson Tour points list and has retained good status for the 2025 season. She will compete in the LPGA Tour Qualifying Series Oct. 15-18 in Plantation, Fla., where she will attempt to move on to the final qualifying stage which goes Dec. 5-9 in Mobile, Ala.
John, a two-time B.C. Women’s Amateur champion who graduated from the University of Nevada this past spring, had two top-10s and made seven of 12 cuts in her rookie season on the Epson Tour. She earned just more than $28,000 US.
CLASS IN SESSION: It’s back to school this week for British Columbians Jared du Toit of Kimberley, Bryce Barker of Vernon, Callum Davison of Duncan and Chris Crisologo of Richmond. All four are scheduled to compete at first stage PGA TOUR qualifying school sites. Du Toit and Barker will play their first stage at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz.
Davison is competing at a first-stage site at Wilderness Ridge Golf Club in Lincoln, Neb., while Crisologo will tee it up at another site in in Broken Arrow, Okla. Jake Lane of Vancouver, James Allenby of Langley, Jeevan Sihota of Victoria and Khan Lee of Chilliwack are competing at first-stage sites Oct. 15-18. Lane is competing at a site in Bermuda Run, N.C. Sihota is at a site in Albuquerque, N.M., and Allenby and Lee are both scheduled to compete at a site in Murrieta, Calif.
FINAL CARD: Texan Noah Goodwin, who won the final playing of the GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna in 2022, hung on and claimed the 30th and final 2025 PGA TOUR card at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Indiana.
CHIP SHOTS: Vancouver’s Kaylee Chung has committed to San Diego State University. She’ll join the program in the fall of 2026. . .Eric Wang, a teaching professional at the Victoria Academy of Golf, won the PGA of BC’s Club Professional Championship at Nanaimo Golf Club. Wang’s 36-hole score of six-under par beat the field by six shots.