British Columbia Women's Amateur At Vernon GC Now Underway; Live Scoring Here

The 2015 BC Women's Amateur Champion, Surrey's Michelle Kim, Is In The Field For This Year's Championship In Vernon - Image Courtesy Vernon GC/ BC Golf

The BC Women's Amateur, the premier event for Amateur Women golfers in the Province of British Columbia is now underway at Vernon Golf & Country Club and features one of the strongest fields the event has seen in recent years. 

It includes the entire Women's National Squad in Grace St-Germain of Ottawa, Jaclyn Lee of Calgary, Naomi Ko of Victoria and dual-citizen Maddie Szeryk of Allen, Tex. Also, two members of the national developmental team, Chloe Currie of Mississauga, Ont., and Delta’s Mary Parsons, who came second last year at Beach Grove are in the field.

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Daily wrap-ups will be added below as the tournament progresses.

 Victoria's Ko Goes Low To Take 1st Round Lead In 2017 BC Women's Amateur

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Victoria’s Naomi Ko birdied five of her first 11 holes en route to a four-under 69 Tuesday that gave her the lead after the first round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Vernon Golf & Country Club.

Ko, who just completed her sophomore year at North Carolina State University, leads Maddie Szeryk of Allan, Tex., by one shot. Both players are members of Canada’s national women’s team.

“I holed out from the sand for my only birdie on the back nine on No. 11,” Ko said. “On the front nine I was making a lot of putts and I was able to give myself that opportunity by putting some of my approach shots pretty close to the hole.”

Ko, who won the 2016 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, is a member at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria. She hadn’t seen Vernon Golf Club until her practice rounds earlier this week and quickly learned that the greens are a considerable challenge.

“You definitely have to think about where you want to position yourself on the greens,” she said. “There are some holes where you can go for it and make some birdies, but there are some where walking away with par is just fine.”

Szeryk, a dual-citizen who is Canada’s top-ranked amateur, also had five birdies in her round on Tuesday. The 20-year-old is coming off a record-setting junior season at Texas A&M University.

Her 71.24 stroke average and 128 birdies were both school records. Earlier this month, Szeryk won the Women’s Western Amateur Championship near Chicago.

Ko and Szeryk are two of four national team members playing this week in Vernon. Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee opened with a one-under 72 and shares third place with 2015 B.C. Women’s Amateur champion Michelle Kim of Surrey.

Grace St-Germain of Ottawa, the fourth national team member, opened with a five-over 78 and is tied for ninth heading into today’s second round of the 72-hole event.

Kat Kennedy of Okotoks, Alta., sits alone in fifth place after shooting a one-over 74 on Tuesday. Kennedy just concluded her collegiate golf career at the University of B.C. She recently defended her title at the Canadian University/College Championships.

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CHIP SHOTS: Three-time champion Christina Proteau of Port Alberni opened with a six-over 79. So did national development team member Mary Parsons of Delta, who finished second at last year’s B.C. Women’s Amateur at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen.

Maddie Szeryk Opens Up Six-shot Lead At Halfway Mark Of B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Maddie Szeryk is right where many thought she would be halfway through the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Vernon Golf & Country Club. The 20-year-old dual citizen from Allan, Tex., shot a four-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round to grab a commanding six-shot lead.

Szeryk had two birdies on both sides in a bogey-free round that left her at seven-under par through 36 holes. Surrey’s Michelle Kim, the 2015 B.C. Women’s Amateur champion, is alone in second at one-under. Kim shot an even-par 73 on Wednesday.

Szeryk came to the event as the clear favourite. She is Canada’s top-ranked amateur at No. 29 in the world and is coming off an impressive junior year at Texas A&M University.

Earlier this month, Szeryk won the prestigious Women’s Western Amateur Championship near Chicago. She finished 13th at the NCAA Division 1 Championships in late May and earned first-team All-American honours.

Szeryk is one of four members of Golf Canada’s national women’s team competing this week in Vernon. All four players are inside the top five after two rounds.

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee is alone in third place at even-par. Grace St-Germain of Ottawa is fourth at two-over and first-round leader Naomi Ko of Victoria is fifth at three-over. Ko, the reigning Canadian Junior Girls champion, struggled to an 80 Wednesday after opening with a four-under 69 on Tuesday.

CHIP SHOTS: Three-time champion Christina Proteau of Port Alberni moved into sixth place at four-over after shooting a two-under 71 Wednesday. . .The final group of Szeryk, Kim and Lee will tee off at 9 a.m. in Thursday’s third round.

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Victoria’s Naomi Ko Bounces Back With Record Round At B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

VERNON -- Naomi Ko didn’t get mad. Instead, she got even with Vernon Golf & Country Club in Thursday’s third round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

An 80 in Wednesday’s second round had sent Ko, the first-round leader, tumbling down the leaderboard. The 19-year-old Victoria resident came to the course Thursday determined to make amends.

Mission accomplished.

Ko fired a six-under 67 -- a women’s course record from the blue tees at Vernon -- and shot herself back into contention. She trails leader Maddie Szeryk, a dual citizen from Allan, Tex., by three shots heading into Friday’s final round.

“I tried to just put that behind me,” Ko said of Wednesday’s big number, which followed a four-under 69 that had given her the first-round lead. “Honestly, it wasn’t that bad a round, it was just that one hole. I had a triple (on No. 11) and there’s nothing I could do about it. I was pretty upset, because score does matter, but I just tried to come out today and go as low as possible. That was the plan that I set for myself.”

After playing the front nine in one-under, Ko really got her round going on the back side. She made back-to-back birdies at the 11th and 12th holes and then rattled off three straight birdies on 15, 16 and 17 to shoot a five-under 32 on the back nine.

“I am really proud of myself for bouncing back from yesterday,” said Ko, a Royal Colwood Golf Club member who is the reigning Canadian Junior Girls champion. “My goal today was to get into the final group on Friday and I guess I accomplished that.”

While Ko was blitzing Vernon Golf Club with birdies, Szeryk was for the first time this week struggling with her game. After making a total of just two bogeys in her first two rounds, Szeryk made six of them on Thursday. But she bounced back nicely late in her round, with birdies on two of her final three holes.

She hit the par 5 16th hole in two and just missed a 12-foot putt for eagle. She added another birdie on the par 4 18th after hitting her 9-iron approach to within 10 feet.

She ended up salvaging a one-over 74 and sits at six-under par through 54 holes. The six-shot lead she began the day with had been cut in half by the time Thursday’s round ended. “It was a tough round but I definitely fought hard to keep it around par,” Szeryk said. “It was nice to finish with a couple of late birdies. I just have to work on a few things and I am excited for tomorrow.”

Ko and Szeryk know each other well. They are both members of Golf Canada’s national women’s team. Fellow national squad members Jaclyn Lee of Calgary and Grace St.-Germain of Ottawa are also in the field.

Szeryk, who just completed her junior year at Texas A&M University, is Canada’s top-ranked amateur at 29th in the world. She recently won the Western Women’s Amateur near Chicago, where she beat Ko 3&1 in the Round of 16.

“We are pretty competitive,” said Ko, who just finished her sophomore year at North Carolina State University. “It's always a friendly competition, but once we are out there, friendship is kind of set aside and we are trying to do our best.”

Szeryk and Ko will be joined in the final group Friday by Surrey’s Michelle Kim, the 2015 winner of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship. Kim sits at one-under, five out of the lead, after shooting an even-par 73 on Thursday.

Lee sits alone in fourth place at even-par, while St-Germain is fifth at three-over. The top three B.C. players after Friday’s final round will represent the province at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which goes July 25-28 at Cutten Fields in Guelph, Ont.

CHIP SHOTS: The final group tees off at 9 a.m. Friday. . .Ko and Lee lead the two-woman best-ball competition that is being contested during the tournament. They stand at 17-under through 54 holes. That is four shots better than the team of Kim and Gloria USu Choi of Langley.

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Maddie Szeryk Cruises To Four-Shot Win At B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

VERNON -- After leaving the door slightly ajar with an indifferent third round, Maddie Szeryk slammed it shut early in Friday’s final round of the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Szeryk birdied four of her first six holes, building her lead to as many as seven shots before cruising to a four-shot win at Vernon Golf & Country Club. The 20-year-old dual citizen from Allan, Tex., finished the 72-hole event at nine-under par after closing with a three-under 70 on Friday.

“I played really well to begin my round and it was nice to start that way,” Szeryk said. “I was then able to focus on hitting good shots and giving myself chances.”
She capitalized on most of those chances, making six birdies in her round. Five of them came on the front nine.

The win was Szeryk’s second provincial championship. She won the Ontario Women’s Amateur in 2015. “To have two provincial championships under my belt is pretty awesome,” she said.

Szeryk’s mom, Karen, was all smiles. Karen, a non-golfer, caddied for her daughter for the first time this week. “I did not ruin anything, she only had to tell me a couple of times to get out of the way,” she said with a laugh after the round. “My job was to keep it light. Every night I read a couple of articles so I could talk about what was going on in the world and not talk about golf.”

Maddie told her mom she could give her just one piece of advice a day. That came early in Friday’s round. “Today I had to give it on the second hole, and it was ‘let’s stay out of the trees today,’” Karen said.

That, of course, is easier said than done at Vernon, where the fairways are lined with poplars, weeping willows and assorted other trees. “This course has a lot of trees,” Karen said. “And we’ve seen a lot of them.”
The tournament featured all four members of Golf Canada’s national amateur team and three of them finished 1, 2, 3. Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee was second, thanks to a five-under 68 on Friday that featured four straight birdies starting on the seventh hole.

Naomi Ko of Victoria tied for third at even par with 2015 B.C. Women’s Amateur champion Michelle Kim of Surrey. The fourth Team Canada member, Grace St.-Germain of Ottawa, finished alone in fifth place at three-over par.

Lee had it to seven-under for her round through 16 holes, but finished with two bogeys. “It was a solid round today,” said Lee, a 20-year-old two-time Alberta Women’s Amateur winner who attends Ohio State University. “It was disappointing to finish bogey-bogey but I was happy with the number of chances I gave myself today.”

Szeryk, Canada’s top-ranked amateur at No. 29 in the world, began the day with a three-shot lead on Ko, who had set a course record with a six-under 67 on Thursday.

But her fast start on Friday put to rest any hopes the rest of the field had of catching her. “This course tests every part of your game,” Szeryk said. “If you miss in the wrong spot you are in trouble so you have to have everything pretty sharp.”

Szeryk said she kept peeking at Lee’s score on the back nine. “We could kind of see the score guy ahead and it was like, okay, she keeps making birdies, but I was making some birdies, too.”

Szeryk was doused with water by her national team friends after holing out for par on the 18th green. Friday’s result was just the latest in a long list of impressive results for Szeryk. She won the Women’s Western Amateur two weeks ago in Chicago and had an impressive junior year at Texas A&M University.

Kat Kennedy, the Canadian University and College champion who just completed her collegiate career at the University of British Columbia, aced the 122-yard par 3 third hole Friday with a 9-iron. Kennedy, from Okotoks, Alta., finished in sixth place at seven-over par after shooting a 74 on Friday. “To be honest I think I thinned it a little,” Kennedy said of her hole-in-one. “I was just hoping it would clear the front bunker. I kind of turned away and didn’t see it go in.”

As the three top British Columbia finishers, Ko, Kim and Langley’s Gloria USu Choi, will represent B.C. at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, which goes July 25-28 at Cutten Fields in Guelph, Ont. Choi beat Port Alberni’s Christina Proteau in a playoff to earn the third spot.

CHIP SHOTS: The battery in Michelle Kim’s range-finder overheated on the back nine and her golf bag began smoldering. . .The 2018 B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship will be played at Golden Golf Club.

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