Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Q-school Ends In Disappointment For BC's Crisologo, Ewart & Macdonald
Yeji Kwon misses cut at LPGA Q-school; Henry Lee advances to final stage of Asian Tour Q-school; Surrey council to debate Peace Portal redevelopment in New Year
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(December 9, 2024) - The second stage of PGA TOUR Q-school wrapped up last week and its long list of casualties included British Columbians Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver, Chris Crisologo of Richmond and A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam.
For them and so many others, PGA TOUR regular Joel Dahmen had some words of encouragement he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “For every player who didn’t get thru 2nd stage this year, keep your head up,” Dahmen said in his post. “I never got through myself. Keep believing.”
Crisologo came the closest of the three British Columbians to advancing to the Q-school finals. He was one-under par — right on the number — heading to the back nine of his final round in Valdosta, Ga. But a bogey on the 12th hole and a double-bogey on the par 5 14th hole ended his chances.
Crisologo tied for 26th at two-over par, three shots shy of the magic number. Ewart was playing at the same Valdosta site and never found any traction. He tied for 39th at five-over par. Macdonald competed at a second-stage site in Valencia, Calif., and was never in the hunt. He withdrew part way through his final round.
Macdonald’s Q-school disappointment was undoubtedly compounded by the fact he came so close to earning Korn Ferry Tour status on this year’s PGA Tour Americas circuit. Ten KFT cards were handed out at the conclusion of the PGA Tour Americas schedule. Macdonald finished 11th on the points list.
Macdonald, Ewart and Crisologo all have status for the 2025 PGA Tour Americas circuit. Hopefully, all three can find some comfort in the message from Dahmen, who used a win at Point Grey Golf & Country Club on the former PGA Tour Canada circuit back in 2014 to propel himself to the Korn Ferry Tour and subsequently on to the PGA TOUR.
MISSES CUT: Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon missed the 72-hole cut at the final stage of the LPGA Tour’s Q-school in Mobile, Ala. Kwon’s four-round total of five-over par missed the cut number by three shots and she finished tied for 76th. The top 65 and ties got to play Monday’s fifth and final round with the top 25 and ties earning LPGA status for 2025. The 18-year-old Kwon, a former Canadian Junior Girls champion, does have some status on next year’s Epson Tour as a result of playing well at the second stage of Q-school.
OFF TO FINALS: Coquitlam’s Henry Lee has advanced to the final stage of the Asian Tour qualifying school. The University of Washington graduate tied for 15th and grabbed one of the final spots at a first-stage Q-school site in Chonburi, Thailand. He now has a spot in the Q-school finals, which go Dec. 17-21 in Hua Hin, Thailand. Kimberley’s Jared du Toit will be attempting to play his way into the Q-school finals at a first stage site this week in Cha-Am, Thailand. Du Toit was forced to return to Q-school after finishing 92nd on this year’s Asian Tour Order of Merit.
PORTAL PLAN: An application by the owners of The Hills at Portal Golf Club to have some of the golf course property excluded from the Agricultural Land Reserve to make way for residential development won’t be considered by Surrey council until early next year. Co-owners Joe Haley and Randy Bishop, who bought the property three years ago, have proposed removing a 20.5-hectare portion of the golf course from the ALR for residential development.
If their application is successful, Haley and Bishop plan to donate the remainder of the golf course property — about 40.3 hectares — to the City of Surrey to use as park land. In an email response to an inquiry from British Columbia Golf, the City of Surrey’s planning & development department said: “Currently, only the ALR exclusion application is being brought forward for City Council’s consideration, at which point Council would refer it to the Agricultural Land Commission with their comments. The ALC, not Surrey City Council, would either approve or deny the exclusion request. The application is tentatively targeted to be presented to Surrey Council in early 2025.”
The golf course, formerly known as Peace Portal, has been a south Surrey landmark since the late 1920s. Shortly after closing a deal to buy the course, Haley insisted he and his partner had no plans to try and develop the property. “We don’t have any plans to blow anything up or change anything, other than to add to it and make it better,” Haley said. “We didn’t get into this as a land thing where we are going to chop all of this up and build high rises.”
Q-SCHOOL PERK: The Annika Women’s All Pro Tour has introduced a new initiative that will see the top 20 players on its points list have their LPGA Tour qualifying school expenses paid for in 2025. The Annika 20 presented by Southern Company program will offer scholarships to offset the full expense of qualifying school fees, which in 2024 was $5,000 per player if they advanced all the way to the finals. Delta’s Mary Parsons and Megan Osland of Kelowna are both regulars on the WAPT, which will begin its 13-event 2025 season April 2-5 in Alexandria, La.
CHIP SHOTS: Point Grey’s Matt Palsenbarg won the first event of the PGA of BC’s new Simulator Series winning by four shots with an eight-under 64 on the Old Course at St Andrews . . . Vancouver’s Janav Darar has committed to play his collegiate golf at Menlo College, a NCAA Division II school in Atherton. Calif. He will join the program next fall.