British Columbia Golfers Win Willingdon Cup
British Columbia's Winning Willingdon Cup Squad From L-R: Jared du Toit, Kevin Kwon And Stuart Macdonald - Image Credit Alfie Lau
by Alfie Lau
The British Columbia Golf team of BC Amateur champion Jared du Toit, runner-up Stu Macdonald and third-place finisher Kevin Kwon came from behind to win the Willingdon Cup at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championships in Ontario.
“It was a nice little surprise to wake up to,” said Stuart Macdonald of the winning team. “It feels awesome. We’ve joined some good names up there [in the championship’s history]. I know B.C. has had some pretty good runs with the Willingdon Cup. I thought we had a pretty good team this year.”
Macdonald spoke glowingly of his teammates, saying, “I felt like we had the three best in the province. I’ve played with Jared in the past and we play a lot with each other. I hadn’t really played with Kevin too much. I’ve always seen him up at the top in a lot of BC tournaments. I got to know him pretty well and we’re all good friends now. I think we had a lot of camaraderie between the three of us.”
The event, contested over the first two rounds of the Amateur being played at both Lambton Golf & Country Club and Weston Golf & Country Club, saw the BC team come back from a three-stroke deficit after the opening round to win by three strokes over the second-place teams from Alberta and Quebec.
BC finished at even par 286, as they withstood a furious push by the Quebec team, who had the best second day score of (-6) 138.
BC was helped by second-round scores of 70 from both Macdonald and Kwon, who both made the cut in the individual portion of the tournament. Du Toit missed the cut by one stroke, but still contributed to the team effort.
Since 1927, the Willingdon Cup has been awarded to the provincial or territorial team with the lowest scores from the first 36 holes of the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. The top-two daily scores from each round of the twelve three-man teams counted towards the competition.
Buoyed by the team-competition win, MacDonald shot the low-round of the day, a bogey-free 5-under 67, to move into a tie for fifth.
“I started off solid. I just really kept the ball in play in the fairway and gave myself a lot of opportunities,” said the Purdue University Boilermaker. “I took advantage of the par-5s. The par-5s out here are mostly reachable. So if you can do that, you can get a good number out here. I putted pretty solid. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the round, happy that I can be up on the leaderboard and maybe have a chance tomorrow.”
Additional information regarding the 2015 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, including tee times and scoring, is available HERE.
2015 CANADIAN MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS – TEAM
1. Team B.C. – Jared duToit, Kimberley, BC, Stuart Macdonald, Vancouver, BC, Kevin Kwon, Maple Ridge, BC, *146-140-286 E
2. Team Quebec - Étienne Papineau, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Hugo Bernard, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC, Pierre-Alexandre Bedard, Chibougamau, QC, *151-138-289 +3
2. Team Alberta - Brett Hogan, Calgary, AB, Andrew Harrison, Camrose, AB, Jack Wood, Banff, AB, *146-143-289 +3
4. Team Ontario - Elliott Whitley, Hamilton, ON, Josh Whalen, Napanee, ON, Mitchell MacLeod, Shanty Bay, ON, *143-114-257 +11
5. Team Manitoba - Devon Schade, Beausejour, MB, Ryan Sholdice, Stony Mountain, MB, Zach Sackett, Winnipeg, MB, *150-150-300 +14
6. Team New Brunswick - Nick Earle, Woodmans Point, NB, Pat Livingston, Fredericton, NB, Calvin Ross, Fredericton, NB, *154-151-305 +19
7. Team Newfoundland and Labrador - Blair Bursey, Gander, NL, Matthew Bonnell, Corner Brook, NL, Mike Furlong, St. John's, NL, *158-148-306 +20
8. Team Prince Edward Island - Brodie Ward, North Milton, PE, Cody MacKay, Warren Grove, PE, Curtis Hall, Charlottetown, PE, *158-150-308 +22>
8. Team Saskatchewan - Danny Klughart, Prince Albert, SK, Mitchell Matichuk, Melville, SK, Tyler Wright, Regina, SK, *151-157-308 +22
10. Team Northwest Territories - Ron Lafond, Yellowknife, NT, Stewart Gray, Yellowknife, NT, Gord Delorm, Yellowknife, NT, *156-157-313 +27
11. Team Nova Scotia - David Williamson, Truro, NS, Shaun Margeson, Fall River, NS, Geoff Campbell, Wellington, NS, *155-160-315 +29
12. Team Yukon Territories - Landon Kulych, Whitehorse, YT, James McGrath, Whitehorse, YT, Phil Mullin, Whitehorse, YT, *159-160-319 +33
www.twitter.com/AlfieLau