Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Lauren Kim clutch in Colorado; Sloan T21 in Detroit; Svensson gets another chance to officially lock up PGA Tour card; Crisologo finishes strong on Forme Tour; Stinson wins on Vancouver Golf Tour
Surrey, BC's Lauren Kim - Image Credit Chuck Russell/Golf Canada
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Surrey’s Lauren Kim completed a Colorado triple play of sorts by successfully qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Kim and national junior girls teammate Michelle Liu of Vancouver were two of four qualifiers at a site in Westminster, Colo.
Liu won the qualifier by shooting a four-under 68. Kim fired a two-under 70 and finished in a three-way tie for second. Four spots were available at the Colorado site. Earlier, the 15-year-old Kim had topped the field at a U.S. Junior Girls qualifier in Colorado and won the American Junior Golf Association’s Hale Irwin Colorado Junior by 12 shots.
Seymour Golf & Country Club in North Vancouver is playing host to a U.S. Women’s Amateur qualifier on Tuesday (July 6), where 26 players are scheduled to compete for two spots and one alternate position. A 36-hole U.S. Amateur qualifier was scheduled for Monday (July 5) at Victoria Golf Club where 81 players will be competing for three spots.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship goes Aug. 2-8 at Westchester Golf Club in Rye, N.Y. The U.S. Amateur Championship is scheduled for Aug. 9-15 at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Kim will have some B.C. company when the U.S. Junior Girls Championships begin next week in Chevy Chase, Md. Anna Huang of Vancouver and Langley’s Erin Lee are also in the field, which includes a total of nine Canadians. Vancouver’s Michelle Liu is an alternate and could still draw into the event, which goes July 12-17 at Columbia Country Club.
NICE FINISH: Richmond’s Chris Crisologo closed with a seven-under 65 to finish tied for 28th at the Forme Tour’s Auburn University Club Invitational in Alabama. Kimberley’s Jared du Toit also tied for 28th at 12-under par, 11 shots behind winner Philip Knowles of Bradenton, Fla. Two other British Columbians made the cut.
Langley’s James Allenby tied for 32nd at 11-under and Riley Wheeldon of Comox tied for 50th at eight-under. The Forme Tour now takes a two-week break and returns with the Bolingbrook Golf Club Invitational in Illinois. That event runs July 20-23.
SOLID WEEKEND: Merritt’s Roger Sloan carded a pair of 68s on the weekend and tied for 21st at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. Sloan finished the tournament at 12-under par. That was six shots behind Australian Cam Davis, who won in a five-hole playoff. Sloan moved up 12 spots on the FedEx Cup points to 142nd. He must finish inside the top 125 by season’s end in mid-August to retain exempt status for the 2021-22 season.
Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor has no such worries. Taylor remains exempt next season due to his win at the 2019 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Taylor tied for 52nd in Detroit at seven-under and dropped two spots to 143rd on the points list. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin missed the cut and dropped three spots to 111th. Sloan and Taylor are both in the field for this week’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill. Hadwin is taking the week off. He has a spot in next week’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in southern England.
GETTING CLOSE: This could be the week Surrey’s Adam Svensson officially locks up his PGA Tour card for next season. Svensson can clinch his card with a finish of 28th or better at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes. The Korn Ferry Tour considers 1,700 points its ‘fail-safe threshold’ for earning a PGA Tour card. Svensson enters the event with 1,669 points.
A finish of 28th this week would give Svensson the 31 points he needs for 1,700 points. Svensson really doesn’t seem to have much to worry about. He enters this week 11th on the points list and the top 25 earn 2021-22 PGA Tour cards. It’s hard to imagine Svensson dropping out of the top 25 with only five regular-season events remaining. Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald returns after a taking a two-week break. Macdonald enters the Colorado event 58th on the points list.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: With collegiate golf returning to normal this fall (fingers crossed), UBC coach Chris Macdonald and SFU coach Matt Steinbach both have their recruiting hats back on. Steinbach and Macdonald attended last week’s B.C. Junior Boys and Girls Championships at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville, where Gavyn Knight of Parksville won the boys’ competition and West Vancouver’s Jennifer Gu took the girls’ title.
Steinbach and Macdonald are expecting their men’s and women’s teams to play full seasons this fall and next spring. “I think we were on the Island at Fairwinds (at the 2019 B.C. Junior Boys and Girls) the last time we were recruiting at a B.C. Golf event, so that is two years ago,” Steinbach said. Although the Junior championships were held last summer, spectators (including college coaches) were not permitted to attend.
“The athletes are the ones we are happiest for because they get to play these tournaments and compete and be out here,” Steinbach said. “It has been a while since I have seen them play and lot of them have grown and changed in shape and size. It makes me feel like things are returning to normal and it gives me hope we have rounded the corner.”
TIMELY BIRDIES: Cheam Mountain pro Kevin Stinson finished birdie-birdie and won the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Ledgeview Open in Abbotsford by one shot. Stinson shot rounds of 67 and 68 to complete the 36-hole event at five-under par. He earned $4,000. Zach Olson of Chilliwack Golf Club took home $2,800 for his second-place finish. Kevin Spooner of Capilano Golf & Country Club was third at three-under and made $2,500. It was the second win of the season for Stinson, who leads the VGT’s Order of Merit.