Humphreys, Fahy Chasing History At B.C. Amateur Championship
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
ABBOTSFORD (July 11, 2024) - Cooper Humphreys and James Fahy each have a chance to accomplish something at the B.C. Amateur Championship that hasn’t been done in a while.
Humphreys, the 2023 champion from Vernon, has an opportunity to become the first player to successfully defend his title since James Lepp won four in a row beginning in 2002. Fahy, a Vancouver resident, will be looking to become the first player older than 30 to win a B.C. Amateur since Victoria’s Bryan Toth captured the 2006 championship.
Fahy, like Toth was in 2006, is 32 years old.
The 19-year-old Humphreys will start the final round with a one-shot lead after firing a two-under 68 in the third round at Ledgeview Golf Course. He stands at nine-under par through three rounds, one better than Fahy and four better than Wyatt Brook of Heffley Creek.
“It was okay, not awesome,” Humphreys said of his round. “There were a bunch of mental mistakes. The game feels okay, there’s just a bunch of mental stuff I need to work on.”
The front side of Humphrey’s round was something of a roller-coaster. He double-bogeyed the par 3 fourth hole when his tee shot found a penalty area. He then followed that up with an eagle on the par 5 fifth. “That double was so bad,” Humphreys said. “That was another mental mistake. I was trying to go at the pin, I wasn’t taking my medicine and going 10 feet right of it.”
Humphreys said he was determined to stay patient after that double, knowing the birdies would come. Instead, he got something better with that eagle. “I just hit driver, six-iron to 10 feet and made the putt,” he said. “That felt nice.” Humphreys definitely has a liking for the fifth as he is now 5-under on that hole through three rounds with two eagles and a birdie so far.
Humphreys was surprised to learn that it has been 20 years since someone won back-to-back B.C. Ams. Told that it was James Lepp, Humphreys smiled and said, “it would be nice to join that group.”
Fahy, a Marine Drive Golf Club member who works as an investment adviser, began the third round with a one-shot lead over Humphreys. “I did not make it easy on myself,” Fahy said of his even-par 70. “It was a battle. I just wasn’t striking the ball the way I needed to. The wind was up a little bit today, so that caused a little bit of havoc.”
Fahy had a chance to tie things up on the 18th green but he missed a short birdie putt. However, he earlier drained plenty of par-savers to keep his round on the rails. “I kept myself in it by making a lot of three- to five-footers for par, a lot of them downhill. I am feeling good to have gotten through the day and to still have a shot at it tomorrow. That’s really all that this is, the journey to get to day four.”
Fahy has surprised himself by how well he’s played this week. He hasn’t played much tournament golf of late and arrived at Ledgeview with rather low expectations. “It is a little surreal, to be honest,” he said. “I know you saw my playing competitors and they are at least a decade my junior. I was looking at Cooper’s calves and I said you can tell how much more golf he plays than I do just based on our tans.
“It has been a fun ride. I wouldn’t have ever thought I’d be in this position and I’m just coming out to play some golf and see what happens. I was partially expecting I’d have top go back to work today. I am just trying to enjoy the ride.”
Fahy knows the B.C. Amateur has been dominated by young players in recent years. Told he has a chance to become the first 30-something winner since Toth in 2006, he chuckled and said: “Thanks for that, I feel like I have enough pressure on me.”
Humphreys, who won last year’s B.C. Amateur at Morningstar Golf Course in Parksville by six shots, has been battling something of an internal struggle this week. “I haven’t been very good about committing to shots lately,” said Humphreys, who is off to the University of San Diego later this summer to begin his collegiate golf career.
“I have to work on that. I just have a lot of thoughts about what other people have told me to do versus what I want to do. I am working on doing what I want to do.”
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