Roxburgh Ready For B.C. Senior Men’s Championship After Impressive Play At B.C. Amateur
Doug Roxburgh Is Set For The B.C. Senior Men's At Uplands Golf Club In Victoria - BC Golf File Photo
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Doug Roxburgh is heading to the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship feeling good about his game and the course the tournament is being played on.
Roxburgh has some pleasant memories, albeit well-aged ones, of Uplands Golf Club in Victoria. Roxburgh won his sixth of 13 B.C. Amateur Championships at Uplands in 1978, beating Brent Murray of Portland by six shots.
“It is a really good golf course,” Roxburgh says of Uplands. “It has hosted the Victoria Opens and lots of other events over the years and is always in fantastic condition. I am really looking forward to getting back there. It has been a long time.”
Roxburgh also likes the state of his golf game. Earlier this month at his 55th B.C. Amateur Championship at Christina Lake Golf Course, the 70-year-old Roxburgh shot a five-under 67 in the second round and ended up tying for 11th for his best B.C. Amateur finish since 2012.
“It started to come around at the Ogopogo (tournament) in Kelowna and I felt good at Christina Lake,” Roxburgh says of his game. “I love both of those golf courses. I’ve had some success at Christina Lake before and am very comfortable on it.
"The course set-up helped me out a bit, with some of the shorter par 3s the tournament committee had us on some days, but overall I was more than pleased with what happened up there. I have just been hitting some balls thinking about next week at Uplands.”
Since winning his first Senior Men’s title at age 61 in 2013, Roxburgh has had quite the run at the tournament. Roxburgh has won the event for players aged 55 and over five times, he’s finished second once, third once and sixth.
Last year, when he tied for 28th at Bootleg Gap in Kimberley, was the only time in the last nine years that the Marine Drive legend did not seriously compete for or win the championship.
Roxburgh says his preparations for the B.C. Amateur and the B.C. Senior championships are similar. But one thing is different. Roxburgh, in recent years, has accepted the fact that there won’t be a 14th B.C. Amateur victory. He’s not about to rule out a sixth B.C. Senior Men’s title, although he’s far too humble to suggest that he likes his chances.
2021 BC Senior Men's Champion Michael Kennedy Has Unfortunately Had To Withdraw From This Year's Event - BC Golf Photo
“There’s a lot of good seniors in the province,” he says. “Lance Lundy won the Rivershore Senior, John Gallacher won at Kelowna, Norm (Bradley) has been playing well, Mike Kennedy is the defending champ and there are a bunch of guys from the Island who know Uplands quite well, so we’ll see what happens. I am definitely looking forward to it. It’s been quite a while since I have even been to Victoria.”
(Editors Note: Several days following this story being posted, Michael Kennedy regretfully informed British Columbia Golf that he was going to have to withdraw from the 2022 B.C. Senior Championship at Uplands GC. The quotes and comments in this story were compiled prior to that knowledge.)
The tournament goes July 25-27 and its 144-player field filled up very quickly. The Senior Men’s is extremely popular and the fact it is being held at a highly regarded course like Uplands has made this year’s event an even bigger attraction.
“I am looking forward to getting over there, for sure,” says defending champion Michael Kennedy of North Vancouver. “I will be seeing Uplands for the first time. I have heard lots of good things about it, so I am looking forward to playing.”
The 60-year-old Kennedy, a longtime member of Seymour Golf & Country Club in North Vancouver, says even though he’s in the unique position of defending champion, he’s trying to treat this tournament like all the others. “I am trying to approach it the same way as I have in the past,” Kennedy says.
“I am really looking forward to reconnecting with fellow competitors from other years. I think that is a big part of participating in these events. There’s lots of good relationships from the past and I am looking forward to seeing some guys I haven’t seen since last year.
“I really want to enjoy the golf course. I have heard lots of great things about it. I just want to put in three solid rounds. I try not to focus too much on results. I don’t look at leaderboards, I just try to focus on the game and hit solid shots.”
Kennedy’s win last summer at Bootleg Gap caught him by surprise. Not so much the fact that he won, but the way it happened. After opening with two rounds of one-under 71, he closed with a three-under 69 that included a couple of late birdies.
“I knew I was playing good golf, but I wasn’t in the last group and there were some exceptional golfers in that last group and they had a few ahead of me at the start of the round and they seemed to be playing pretty solid golf back there,” Kennedy says. “I would say the round was going very solid, pretty well, but then a few late birdies kind of got me to where I needed to be.”
Kennedy, a partner at KPMG in Vancouver, ended up in a playoff with 2020 champion Norm Bradley of Kelowna and won it on the second extra hole with a birdie for the biggest win of his life. “Those are some great memories,” Kennedy says. “I hadn’t won a provincial championship before so it absolutely was a big win.”
The B.C. Senior Men’s tourney also includes a Super Senior category for players aged 65 and older. Burnaby’s John Gallacher won that title last year by five shots.
Click HERE for more information and scoring on the BC Senior Men's Championship.
Volunteers Needed: As always, these events are very dependent on volunteers to help them run smoothly. At this time BC Golf tournament officials find themselves still in need of some help at the volunteer positon. If you are interested please email ldquinn@telus.net for more information