Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: UBC sweeps team, individual titles at Canadian championships; Hadwin comes up aces at Memorial; Ewart wins Jack Nicklaus Award; Eight British Columbians to tee it up at Canadian Open; Bald Eagle in Point Roberts to re-open June 1
It Was A Clean Sweep For UBC Golf At The Canadian University/College Championships - Image Courtesy Golf Canada
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
The University of B.C. women’s team put quite the exclamation mark on its perfect season at the Canadian University/College Championship in Bromont, Que.
The T-Bird women won the event by a whopping 98 strokes to cap a season in which they won all 12 events they played, including the NAIA Championship. The UBC women have now won the past five Canadian championships and 15 in the event’s 18-year history.
It was a perfect week for UBC, which swept both team titles at the Canadian championships as well as the two individual crowns.
The UBC women’s team of Sonja Tang, Elizabeth Labbé, Shania Remandaban and Grace Bell finished the event at five-under par. Tang won the individual title with an even-par total of 288.
Labbé was three shots back in second place while Remandaban and Bell were third and fourth. University of the Fraser Valley was second in the women’s team competition, while UBC-Okanagan finished third.
The UBC team of Ethan De Graaf, Aiden Schumer, Mackenzie Bickell, Russell Howlett and Dylan MacDonald won their seventh men’s Canadian title with a score of seven-under. That was eight shots better than runner-up Laval. University of Victoria was third. Schumer won the individual title with a score of 11-under par. Jacob Armstrong of UFV tied for second at nine-under.
HAPPY HADWIN: Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin had quite the celebration after recording his first PGA TOUR hole-in-one during the second round of The Memorial tourney in Dublin, Ohio. Hadwin used a seven-iron to ace the 194-yard 16th hole at Muirfield Village Golf Club. Hadwin tossed that club high into the air and danced his way to the front of the tee box after the ball fell into the hole. It prompted this Tweet from his wife Jessica: “I’ve never seen my husband so excited.”
TOP 20: Hadwin tied for 18th at the Memorial Tournament, finishing at two-under par after closing with an even-par 72. That was 11shots behind winner Billy Horschel, who beat the field by four shots. Hadwin earned $142,800 and moved up seven spots to 51st on the FedEx Cup points list. Surrey’s Adam Svensson, playing at the Memorial for the first time, tied for 45th at three-over par. He made $37,800 and now stands 115th on the points list.
B.C. CONTENT: Eight British Columbians will tee it up at this week’s RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto. PGA TOUR regulars Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, Roger Sloan and Adam Svensson will be joined by Jared du Toit of Kimberley, Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver, Callum Davison of Duncan and Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart.
Ewart, who is coming off a stellar season at Barry University in south Florida, had a big day on Sunday when he won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top player in NCAA Division II golf. He received the award from Nicklaus in a ceremony at the Memorial tourney.
SOLID START: Richmond’s Chris Crisologo started the New PGA Tour Canada season with a top 10 at the Royal Beach Victoria Open at Uplands Golf Club. Crisologo closed with an even-par 70 and finished the event tied for 10th at 10-under par. That was six shots behind winner Scott Stevens of Birmingham, Ala., who beat Jake Knapp of Costa Mesa, Calif., on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Two other British Columbians made the cut. Jeevan Sihota, the 18-year-old Victoria native, tied for 31st at six-under par in his pro debut. Riley Wheeldon of Comox tied for 46th at four-under par. The next PGA Tour Canada event is the ATB Classic in Edmonton, which goes June 16-19.
BOUNCE BACK: After missing five straight cuts Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald bounced back with a tie for 37th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s REX Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C. Macdonald closed with a two-over 73 in Sunday’s final round to finish at six-under par, 11 shots behind winner David Thompson. Macdonald remains 111th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. He needs to move into the top 75 to remain exempt next year.
OUT OF MOTHBALLS: Bald Eagle Golf Club in Point Roberts plans to re-open June 15 after being closed for more than two years. The course closed in the early spring of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closure of the Canada-U.S. border. An introductory green fee of $35 US will be offered June 15-30. That will rise to $40 US on July 1.
B.C. SWEEP: Two Metro Vancouver youngsters came out on top at the NextGen Western Championship in Rocky Mountain House, Alta. Lucy Lin, a 12-year-old from Langley, and 13-year-old Alex Zhang of Richmond won the girls and boys titles at Pine Hills Golf Club.
Lin finished the 54-event at four-under par, two shots better than another 12-year-old, Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. Lin and Park were the two youngest players in the 93-player field. Zhang’s winning total of one-under par was two shots better than runner-up Charlie Gillespie of Calgary.
NEW ROTATION: One of Metro Vancouver’s toughest par 4s is now a par 5. That’s not the only change for the old 461-yard fifth hole at The Hills at Portal Golf Club (formerly Peace Portal). It’s now Hole No. 14 as part of recently introduced new course rotation at the south Surrey layout. The tees have been moved up on the first hole, formerly a par 5, and it now plays as a par 4.
Apart from the first and 10th holes, the nines have been swapped at the course. Players head to the former 11th tee after playing the first hole. And on the backside, the former second hole now plays as No. 11. The course was sold last fall and the new owners have done extensive clubhouse renovations that include a new restaurant as well as a deck that overlooks the new 18th green (formerly No. 9).
CHIP SHOTS: William Eddy won the Gold Cup at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club with a two-round score of even-par. Andrew Robb and Jack Ferris tied for second at one-over. . .The Vancouver Resource Society will not be holding its annual U.S. Open pool this year due to staff scheduling issues. The society will operate its (British) Open Championship pool next month.