Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Victoria’s Willy Bishop to defend Junior title at Morningstar; Surrey’s Lauren Kim loving Colorado; Peace Portal put up for sale; Jared du Toit top-20s in Forme Tour opener; Svensson closes in on PGA TOUR card
Willy Bishop Will Travel Just Down The Road A Little From Victoria To Defend His Junior Boys Title - Image Courtesy VGC
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
A new Junior Girls champion will be crowned, but Victoria’s Willy Bishop will defend his Junior Boys title this week when the B.C. Junior Boys & Girls Championships are held at Morningstar Golf Course in Parksville.
Bishop collected both the Juvenile and Junior Boys titles last summer. Surrey’s Angela Arora, who won last year’s B.C. Junior Girls’ title, will not play in Parksville. Arora, like Bishop, is now a member of Golf Canada’s national junior team and is currently playing tournaments in the United States.
West Vancouver’s Jennifer Gu, who finished second at last week’s B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Summerland Golf Club, is in the Junior Girls field in Parksville.
The 72-hole competition runs Tuesday through Friday and has attracted a field of 111 boys and 45 girls aged 18 and under. (Click HERE to video Preview from Morningstar GC)
LOVING COLORADO: Surrey’s Lauren Kim is another national junior team member who won’t be playing in Parksville. Kim has been playing events in Colorado recently and the 15-year-old has been playing very well. A few days after winning the American Junior Golf Association Hale Irwin Colorado Junior Girls title by 12 shots, Kim topped the field at a U.S. Junior Girls Championship qualifier in Colorado.
Kim shot a three-under 67 to claim medalist honours and earn one of two spots that were up for grabs for the 27-player field. Fellow national junior team member Michelle Liu of Vancouver finished as second alternate after firing an even-par 70. The U.S. Junior Girls Championship goes July 12-17 in Chevy Chase, Md. Kim was scheduled to compete in a U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier later this week in Colorado.
FOR SALE: Peace Portal Golf Course, a fixture in south Surrey for more than 90 years, is being put up for sale by its owners. In a recent letter to the club’s members, general manager Rob Falk says: “The ownership of Peace Portal Golf Club is comprised of five multi-generational families.
image courtesy http://www.peaceportalgolf.com/
The board of directors has decided that after decades in the golf business to offer the golf course up for sale. I have dealt with the board of directors for many years and I know them well. They will do their best to insure the integrity of the membership stays intact. I hope for the sake of my staff and the membership that a suitable buyer comes forward that will continue the legacy of Peace Portal Golf Club.”
TOP 20: Kimberley’s Jared du Toit closed with a five-under 67 and tied for 19th at the new Forme Tour’s season-opener in Watkinsville, Ga. Du Toit finished at eight-under par, eight strokes behind winner Sam Saunders of Albuquerque, N.M. Langley’s James Allenby (T54) and Riley Wheeldon of Comox (T62) also made the cut.
The Forme Tour plays its Auburn University Club Invitational this week in Auburn, Ala. Five British Columbians are in the field. Du Toit, Allenby and Wheeldon will be joined by Richmond’s Chris Crisologo and Callum Davison of Duncan.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Eleven-year-old Lucy Lin made a little history when she qualified for the B.C. Amateur Championship at the recent Zone 4 Championship at Kings Links Golf Course in Delta. Lin fired a three-over 75 to tie for 24th, good enough to earn a spot in the B.C. Amateur.
However, Lin, a temporary resident of Delta, has decided not to play in the B.C. Amateur, which goes July 13-16 at Storey Creek Golf Club in Campbell River. Leah John, who won last week’s B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Summerland Golf Club, plans to play in the event’s supplemental qualifier on July 11 and hopes to become the first woman to play the tournament in its 119-year history.
GETTING CLOSE: Surrey’s Adam Svensson is tantalizingly close to securing his PGA TOUR card for the 2021-22 season. Svensson took another step with a tie for 18th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Live and Work in Maine Open. He moved up one spot to 11th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. Svensson collected 48 points and now has 1,669 points on the season.
The Korn Ferry Tour considers 1,700 its ‘fail-safe threshold’ for securing a PGA TOUR card. A finish of 28th or better would give him the 31 points he needs to reach the 1,700 mark. Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald did not play in Maine. The next Korn Ferry Tour event is the TPC Colorado Championship, which goes July 8-11.
ROCKET REBOUND: Merritt’s Roger Sloan and the Abbotsford duo of Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor will be looking to bounce back at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. All three missed the cut at last week’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Ct., where Harris English prevailed over Kramer Hickok in a marathon eight-hole playoff.
CHIP SHOTS: West Vancouver’s Kevin Spooner won the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Golden Eagle Open in Pitt Meadows. Spooner finished the 36-hole event at 12-under par to beat Zach Olson of Abbotsford by two shots. Spooner earned $2,500 for the win. . .Vancouver’s Tiffany Kong is getting some West Coast company on the Princeton University women’s golf team next season. Vancouver’s Victoria Liu, who finished third at last week’s B.C. Women’s Amateur at Summerland Golf Club, will be playing for the Ivy League school this fall.