Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Desert debut for Sloan; Hadwin T14 in Maui; du Toit, Lane off to Thailand for Asian Tour Q-school finals; Dry December helps courses finish year strong
Merritt, BC's Roger Sloan - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a necessity for players like Roger Sloan who are joining the PGA TOUR via the Korn Ferry Tour or qualifying school.
The addition of eight lucrative Signature events to this season’s schedule has created a two-tier tour of sorts. Those Signature tournaments, with $20-million purses and limited fields, are off limits to the rank and file members of the PGA TOUR, who now must play when they can.
Sloan, who is rejoining the PGA TOUR after graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour this past summer, had hoped to begin his season at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
The Sony is not a Signature event, but follows one and the fact that several players who competed at last week’s season-opening Sentry tournament at Kapalua on Maui have made the short hop to Oahu to play in the Sony, means Sloan did not draw into the field.
The Merritt native will make his 2024 PGA TOUR debut at next week’s (Jan. 18-21) American Express tourney in La Quinta, Calif. He’ll also play the following week at The Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Sloan will then likely have to wait a while to play again. Two of the next three events —the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles— are Signature tourneys and the other ‘West Coast’ swing event, the WM Phoenix Open, always attracts a strong field. Sloan knows he must remain patient. “There will be plenty of opportunities to get a tee time this year,” he said.
SIGNATURE MOMENT: The other three British Columbians on tour are all eligible for this season’s Signature events, which makes their jobs a little less stressful this year. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin started his year with a nice payday, pocketing $320,250 for his tie for 14th finish at The Sentry in Maui. Hadwin closed with a nine-under 64 on Kapalua’s Plantation course to finish at 22-under par.
That was seven shots behind winner Chris Kirk. Surrey’s Adam Svensson tied for 33rd at 18-under and made $113,000, while Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor tied for 52nd at 11-under and earned $54,500. Hadwin, Svensson and Taylor are all in the field for this week’s Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. Taylor tied for seventh at last year’s Sony.
BACK TO SCHOOL: Kimberley’s Jared du Toit and Jake Lane of Charlie Lake both have spots in the field at the final stage of the Asian Tour qualifying school, which goes Jan. 16-20 in Cha-Am, Thailand. They will be part of a 220-player field that will be cut to the top 140 players and ties following the second round and the top 70 and ties after the fourth round.
The top 35 players after the fifth and final round will earn their cards for the 2024 Asian Tour season. Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald had a spot in the field but has opted not to make the long trip. Like du Toit, Macdonald is exempt through the first six events of the new PGA Tour Americas circuit, which debuts with an event March 21-24 in Tulum, Mexico.
FLORIDA FUN: Three British Columbians made the cut at the Women’s Orlando International Amateur in Florida. Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon led the way, tying for 23rd at 12-over par. Luna Lu of Burnaby tied for 44th and Clara Ding of White Rock tied for 49th. Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont. finished solo second at two-over par, three shots behind winner Mirabel Ting of Malaysia. Aphrodite Deng, a Canadian who now resides in New Jersey, tied for third.
STRONG FINISH: A mild and relatively dry December allowed British Columbia courses that remain open year-round to finish 2023 on something of a high note. Troy Peverley, vice-president of the West Coast Golf Group, provided a couple of examples. Peverley said Hazelmere in Surrey and Swaneset Bay in Pitt Meadows both had terrific Decembers. “December was exceptional,” Peverley said. “We were up 115 per cent over last December at Hazelmere and up 76-percent over a 27-year average.”
Swaneset was up 190 per cent over 2022 and 76 per cent over a 17-year average. “December is a small percentage of our overall rounds, but it definitely helps out,” Peverley said. That strong December allowed both Hazelmere and Swaneset to post year-end 2023 numbers that beat 2022. Hazelmere logged 62,000 rounds in 2023, up three percent over 2022, while Swaneset’s two courses did a total of 89,000 rounds. That was up four per cent from 2022.
CHIP SHOTS: Mason Lafrance is the new head professional at Langara Golf Course in Vancouver. . .Callum Ashby has been appointed head professional at Highland Pacific in Victoria. . .The PGA of BC has lined up 17-time LPGA Tour winner and current CBS golf analyst Dottie Pepper to appear at its Feb. 21 Virtual Education Series.