Aram Choi Returns To Amateur Golf And Wins B.C. Women’s Mid-Amateur Title
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
BALFOUR — If there were any doubts about who was going to win the B.C. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, Aram Choi erased them early in the final round at Balfour Golf Course. Choi birdied two of her first three holes and it was pretty much game over.
She went on to shoot a tidy, two-under 70 and her 54-hole total of two-under was good for a convincing eight-shot win over defending champion Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay.
Choi insists it was not as easy as it looked. “I haven’t felt this pressure in so long because I haven’t played in so long,” the Surrey resident said with a laugh. “It felt like a very long three days. I haven’t done anything like this in at least three years.”
The Mid-Amateur is open to players aged 25 and older. The 32-year-old Choi is making a return to competitive amateur golf after recently having her amateur status reinstated. She had turned pro a decade ago after playing collegiate golf at the University of Washington and Portland State University.
“I honestly did not expect this from myself,” said Choi, who works as a social worker for Fraser Health. “I thought I was going to shoot like high 70s, but I came out and played really well and it felt good to get back out here playing at a B.C. Am. It was really fun. It felt like I was back in my junior golf days.”
Choi credited her putter and short game with helping her win. “I was not hitting the ball well. But I putted well and I left myself in places where I could save myself a par or at worst make a bogey.” Choi decided to regain her amateur status because she wanted to compete again and couldn’t find many places to play as a pro. She hadn’t competed in a B.C. Women’s Amateur in 10 years.
“I just figured now that I have a full-time job and I don’t have a lot of time to practise, why not just get reinstated as an amateur,” she said. “Today just reinforces the fact that was the right decision.”
Stouffer began the day seven shots back and knew she had little chance of catching Choi. She was pleased to get a spot on the B.C. team at the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships, which go July 11-13 at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay.
Jamie Oleksiew of Vancouver, who was third at seven-over, will be the third member of the B.C. team. Stouffer did win the Mid-Master division for players aged 40 and over by four shots over Christina Spence-Proteau of Port Alberni. Jackie Little of Procter was another shot back in third place.
Stouffer now has eight B.C. Mid-Master Championships to go along with two B.C. Women’s Mid-Amateur crowns and four B.C. Senior Women’s titles. “I wanted to go low, you never know what is going to happen,“ said Stouffer, who closed with a one-under 71. “There is lots of trouble out there, but she has been playing very well. I wanted to make that Mid-Amateur team, so I am pleased about that.”
Click HERE to see complete final scoring.
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