Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Several British Columbians to play Forme Tour qualifier; Macdonald records career-best finish on Korn Ferry Tour; Taylor ties for 42nd at Memorial: Mandur impressive at NCAA Championships
Former BC Amateur Champion Jared du Toit Is Looking To Compete On The New Forme Tour - Images Credit BC Golf
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
As a fully exempt member of the PGA Tour LatinoAmerica circuit, Kimberley’s Jared du Toit could have played in this week’s event in Florida. Instead, the former B.C. Amateur champion is joining a few other British Columbians at the new Forme Tour qualifying school at The Home Course in DuPont, Wash.
“It was kind of a tough decision, but I felt like it was the better move for me to have something for the summer, ideally,” du Toit said. He’ll be hoping to be one of a select few to earn status at Q-School, which runs Tuesday through Friday.
Other notables in the field include another former B.C. Amateur champion, Chris Crisologo of Richmond, Callum Davison of Duncan, Lawren Rowe of Squamish, Trevor Yu of Vancouver and three former University of B.C. golfers, Ziggy Nathu of Richmond and Alberta natives Andrew Harrison and Evan Holmes.
The Q-School winner will receive a full exemption, while those finishing second through fifth will earn conditional status and be exempt for the first four events. This week’s Q-School had originally been scheduled as a Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada Q-School at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay. But with the border remaining closed and quarantine restrictions in effect, the PGA TOUR started a new tour and secured Forme -- a wellness technology company -- as title sponsor.
The Forme Tour will consist of eight US$115,000 events this summer in the United States. Players exempt following the 2019 Mackenzie Tour season, including Langley’s James Allenby and Riley Wheeldon of Comox, are eligible for play on the Forme Tour. The rest of the fields will be filled by those advancing from qualifying schools held this spring. The top five players on the Forme Tour will earn some status on next year’s Korn Ferry Tour.
The Mackenzie Tour will be played in Canada this summer for players who are residents of Canada. That schedule has not been released but will include two British Columbia events in Victoria and Kelowna. Both B.C. tournaments will be played in September.
MAKING THEIR POINTS: The aforementioned du Toit, Wheeldon and Rowe all played in last week’s Reno Open on the Golden State Tour. The tournament was played with Stableford scoring in effect. Du Toit tied for 33rd with 26 points.
Wheeldon tied for 58th with 17 points, while Rowe tied for 69th with 14 points. Kaleb Gorbahn of Smithers missed the cut. Matt Marshall of Yamhill, Ore. won the event with 42 points. He earned $15,000 and an exemption into this summer’s Barracuda Championship on the PGA TOUR.
CAREER BEST: Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald is on quite the roll on the Korn Ferry Tour. Macdonald recorded his career-best finish Sunday when he tied for third at the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C.
That finish moved Macdonald up 16 spots on the Korn Ferry Tour points list to No. 70.
Anyone finishing the regular season inside the top 75 remains exempt for next year and qualifies for three post-season events where 25 PGA TOUR cards will be up for grabs.
Macdonald, who has recorded top-10s in his last two events and three of his last four, says he’s playing with lots of confidence. “I think on the weekends, especially, I probably feel a little more confident,” Macdonald said over the phone.
“I definitely feel calmer, I feel more relaxed and I think that just comes from being in these positions. I have got the reps and I definitely feel a little less stressed and know I can rely on my game. I know I can play well in high-pressure situations.”
Macdonald closed with a five-under 66 to finish at 19-under par. That was two shots behind winner Mito Periera of Chile, who beat American Stephan Jaeger in a playoff. Macdonald earned $30,125.
Surrey’s Adam Svensson closed with a six-under 65 and tied for 18th at 13-under par. He dropped one spot to 12th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, but is close to clinching his PGA TOUR status for the 2021-22 season. The Korn Ferry Tour considers 1,700 points its ‘fail-safe threshold’ for finishing inside the top 25 and Svensson now has 1,621 points.
EVEN FINISH: Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor closed with an even-par 72 and tied for 42nd at the Memorial tourney in Dublin, Ohio. Taylor finished the event at three-over par, 16 shots behind winner Patrick Cantlay. He earned $33,015 and climbed two spots on the FedEx Cup points list to 135th. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin missed the cut by one shot and remains 105th on the points list.
Taylor and Hadwin were both scheduled to play in a U.S. Open qualifier on Monday in Columbus, Ohio. Former B.C. Amateur champion Nolan Thoroughgood of Victoria is playing a final U.S. Open qualifier Monday in Richland, Wash. Taylor and Merritt’s Roger Sloan are both in the field for this week’s Palmetto Championship at Congaree in Ridgeland, S.C.
STRONG SHOWING: B.C. Amateur champion Tristan Mandur of Duncan tied for 17th at the NCAA D1 Men’s Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Mandur, who was playing as an individual for the University of Utah, finished the 72-hole stroke play competition at three-over par.
That was 10 shots behind individual winner Turk Petit of Clemson. Pepperdine won the team title. Mandur is expected to defend his B.C. Amateur title next month at Storey Creek Golf Club in Campbell River.
TOUGH TEST: Kelowna’s Megan Osland was one of many casualties at the U.S. Women’s Open, which was played at the Olympic Club’s difficult Lake Course in San Francisco. The course played extremely tough and scores were high with plenty bogeys, double-bogeys and those dreaded 'others'.
Osland struggled mightily, shooting 90 in the first round and then withdrawing. Ontario’s Brooke Henderson was the lone Canadian to make the cut. She tied for seventh at one-over par.