Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Olson Wins In The 'Wack; Sloan Enjoys Nice ‘Workday’ In Ohio; Another Top 10 For Svensson
2020 Langley Concrete Chilliwack Men's Open Champion Zach Olson (Middle) Is Flanked By Low Gross Amateur Winner Jace Minni (L) & Overall Net Champion Alex Walker (R) - Image Courtesy VGT/Twitter
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
This professional golf thing seems to working out quite nicely for Zach Olson. The former University of the Fraser Valley standout finished fourth in his pro debut last week at the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Ledgeview Open.
It turns out that was just his warm-up act. Olson on Sunday made a clutch up-and-down on the 18th hole to win the VGT’s Chilliwack Men’s Open at Chilliwack Golf Club.
He finished the 36-hole event at 12-under par to beat another young pro, Isaac Lee of Pitt Meadows, by one shot. Olson’s up-and-down for par on No. 18 came from about 30 yards out and a sketchy lie. “It didn’t look good,“ he said. “I just told myself to swing through it and hope for the best. I managed to land it in a really good spot and had about four-and-a-half or five feet for par.”
He made that putt for par and then moments later watched Lee miss a putt for birdie that would have forced a playoff. The win was worth $2,500 to Olson, a Strathmore, Alta., native who just finished his studies and collegiate golf career at UFV. Olson was part of the UFV team that made school history by winning the Canadian University/College Championship in 2018 at Chilliwack Golf Club.
Olson is delighted with his fast start as a pro. “At Ledgeview last week I was just hoping to make a cheque in my first pro event and ended up fourth,” Olson said. “And here at Chilliwack, I actually work here and play quite often, so I felt comfortable this weekend.” Olson closed with a bogey-free 65 on Sunday after shooting a 67 in a roller-coaster round on Saturday that included two eagles.
Lawren Rowe of Squamish Golf Club and Luke Bogdan of Ledgeview tied for third at eight-under. Kevin Stinson of Cheam Mountain rounded out the top five at seven-under.
BACK ON TRACK: Merritt’s Roger Sloan closed with a two-under 70 and tied for 27th place at the Workday Charity Open in Dublin, Ohio. That is Sloan’s best result on the PGA TOUR since his tie for 13th at the Safeway Open last September. Sloan, who finished the event at seven-under par, earned $45,260.
Abbotsford products Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor also made the cut. Hadwin tied for 35th at five-under and made $31,542, while Taylor tied for 48th at three-under and earned $16,306 in his first PGA tournament since the long COVID-19 break. Hadwin and Taylor will remain in Dublin for this week’s Memorial tournament. The invitational event has a smaller field and Sloan did not draw into the tourney.
TOP 10 AGAIN: Surrey’s Adam Svensson recorded his second straight top-10 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour. The former B.C. Junior champion tied for eighth at 17-under par at the TPC San Antonio Challenge at the Canyons. Svensson, who earned $15,992, moved up to 37th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
file photo/BC Golf
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Fellow Canadian Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished solo second just a week after tying for third place. Pendrith is 12th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. The tour remains in San Antonio for another event this week.
BLUE HAWAII: GolfBC has closed one of its three Wailea courses in Maui until further notice. The Blue course was shut down July 6 due to the tough economic conditions in Hawaii. “This was an extraordinarily painful decision for us -- we explored every option we could think of -- but there’s no way we can sustain our current level of operations under present conditions,” said Anne Takabuki, president of Wailea Golf.
“We are planning to re-open the Blue course as soon as we are able.” The Hawaii tourism industry has been hit extremely hard by COVID-19. The state’s 14-day mandatory quarantine for out-of-state arrivals has been extended to at least July 31. Wailea’s Gold and Emerald courses remain open.
CHIP SHOT: Kimberley’s Jared du Toit, another former B.C. Junior champion, tied for 11th at a Dakotas Tour event in Sioux Center, Iowa. Du Toit finished the 54-hole event at 11-under, five shots back of the winner. . .The Fairview Mountain duo of Brian McDonald and Rob Tadey won the PGA of BC Pro-Assistant Championship at Okanagan Golf Club. McDonald and Tadey, who also won the title in 2017, finished the 36-hole event at 18-under par and split $2,500. That was two shots better than runner-ups Greg Pool and Quinn Vilneff of Northview Golf & Country Club.