Tristan Mandur Completes The B.C. Double By Winning 118th B.C. Amateur Championship

Duncan's Tristan Mandur Added The 2020 BC Amateur Title To His Win In The 2016 Junior Boys - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

KELOWNA -- Tristan Mandur has had the goal since winning the B.C. Junior Boys title back in 2016. The 21-year-old from Duncan wanted the ‘B.C. double,’ meaning he was looking to add a B.C. Amateur Championship title to his collection.

Mission accomplished.

Mandur fired an impressive six-under par 66 in Thursday’s final round to win the 118th playing of the B.C. Amateur at Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear Course. He finished the 54-hole event, played under strict COVID-19 protocols, at 10-under par. That was one shot better than runner-up Dan Swanson of Abbotsford.

Mandur looked like he was going to cruise to victory after opening up a four-shot lead at the turn. But if we have learned anything about this crazy game, we have come to know that golf is almost never easy.

Swanson made Mandur sweat down the stretch. He posted nine-under par after he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to shoot a seven-under 65. But Mandur made a tough up and down for par on the challenging par 4 17th hole and then won it with another difficult up and down for birdie on the par 5 18th.

“This means a lot,” said Mandur, who is heading into his senior year at the University of Utah. “I have been knocking on the door the past couple of years, getting better each year. So this feels great to finally get it. It’s cool to win the B.C. Amateur after having won the B.C. Junior. Not too many people have done that.”

By the time he got to the 17th hole, Mandur knew that Swanson had drawn even with him. His approach on 17 went long and he had a delicate pitch. “I left myself a six-footer up the hill on 17 and routined it,” he said of his par save.

On 18, with Swanson already in at nine-under, Mandur hit a solid drive but his approach went left and long. “I hit a great drive and I knew I had to be left of the hole,” he said. “It came out a little hot, a little long. It wasn’t the easiest shot, but I picked where I wanted it to land it and it rolled close.” Really close. Mandur tapped the ball in for birdie and the win.

Mandur’s win was not a surprise. He had shown good form of late and finished second at a recent Vancouver Golf Tour event at Golden Eagle Golf Club in Pitt Meadows. “Last year at the B.C. Am I was in the final group on the third day,” he said. “I knew I was knocking on the door.”

image credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

Dan Swanson, Seen Here Holding Two Trophies - One Being His Son Jack,  Picked Up Both The Mid-Amateur And Mid-Master Titles In The BC Amateur

Mandur showed the first signs he was going to knock that door down when he birdied the seventh, eighth and ninth holes to make the turn at eight-under. Mandur had started the day tied for the lead at four-under with Brent Pound of Kamloops and Justin Towill of Kelowna.

But Swanson started rolling in putts. He eagled the par 5 13th hole and pulled even with a birdie on 15. “When I eagled the par 5 I knew I was right there and I had to play solid coming in,” said the 41-year-old Swanson, who successfully defended his B.C. Mid-Amateur title for players aged 25 and over. “I am just super happy with the way I played today. I didn’t think I had a 65 in me by any stretch. Not even close.”

Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart finished third at six-under after closing with a 66 on Thursday. The Bear Course, which Okanagan Golf Club superintendent Gary Stadnek and his crew had in pristine condition, presented a stiff challenge to the field. So did the weather. All three rounds were played in extreme heat with temperatures approaching 40 degrees.

With the British Columbia Golf schedule condensed due to COVID-19, four championships were contested at the Bear Course. Swanson also won the Mid-Master title for players aged 40 and over, while William Bishop of Victoria won the B.C. Junior Boys championship.

Mandur, Swanson and Ewart, as the top three finishers in the B.C. Amateur, were named to British Columbia’s inter-provincial team. In a normal year they would compete in the Willingdon Cup competition at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. But that tournament, along with all of Golf Canada’s other national championships, have been cancelled this year.

Two former B.C. Amateur champions finished inside the top 10. Jackson Rothwell of Victoria, who won last year’s championship at Big Sky in Pemberton, tied for fourth place at four-under. Victoria’s Nolan Thoroughgood, who won the title in 2016, tied for eighth at two-under.

Click HERE for complete Final Scoring

CHIP SHOTS: A two-man best-ball competition was held in conjunction with the tournament and the team of Aidan Goodfellow of Parksville and Ryan Stolys of Burnaby won with a score of 21-under par. That was one shot better than the Victoria team of William Bishop and Shunkichi Yanamoto. Ethan Hunt and Nik Federko, both of Kelowna, finished third at 19-under par. . .Next year’s B.C. Amateur Championship is scheduled to be played at Storey Creek Golf Club in Campbell River.