Doug Roxburgh Qualifies For Match Play At U.S. Senior Amateur

BC And Canadian Amateur Golf Great Doug Roxburgh - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

British Columbia Golf Editors, With Acknowledgment To Brad Ziemer (Vancouver Sun)

British Columbia Amateur golf legend Doug Roxburgh was competing at Egg Harbor Township in New Jersey for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship this past weekend and despite a tough start managed to get through to the match play portion of the tournament.

Roxburgh counts no fewer than 13 British Columbia Amateur titles to go along with his 4 Canadian Amateur wins and is a member of both the B.C. and Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

The U.S. Senior Amateur is open to players 55 and older and Roxburgh, still a very competitive 63-year-old, played his way into the event earlier this month at a qualifier in Washington state.

Opening with a 7-over 78, which included a two-shot penalty, on Saturday, Roxburgh then shot 1-over 71 on Sunday to sit at 8-over through two rounds. That left him right on the bubble, but he survived, finishing in a tie for 54th place. 

Roxburgh then took on Tim Jackson of Germantown, Tenn. in the round of 64 on Monday with Jackson ultimately claiming a 3 and 1 victory to knock Roxburgh out of the tournament.  (Click HERE for full scoring)

Roxburgh explained about the two-shot penalty assessed for giving the scorer in his group a ride between holes in his golf cart during Saturday’s first round with The Vancouver Sun’s Brad Ziemer, who spoke with Roxburgh by telephone.

As Ziemer also reported Roxburgh had initially thought the two-shot penalty might cost him a spot among the top 64 players who advanced to the match play portion of the competition following Sunday’s second round of stroke play but fortunately that didn't happen.

When asked about Hidden Creek Golf Club, a Coore-Crenshaw design, where the event is being held he said it was all he can handle. “The golf course is good,” he said. “It is kind of out in the pine trees and kind of scruffy. It reminds me of Sagebrush, with the way the bunkers are done and big, big greens. It’s in very good shape and it’s playing long. The yardage on the card is 6,850 so it’s long for seniors. There are some good par 4s. I have had to hit a driver and a 5-wood and even a driver and a 3-wood into some of them.”