Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Late Birdies Propel Stouffer To Canadian Mid-Am Win
Yeji Kwon gets first pro win; Nathan Ward seeks to defend title at B.C. Mid-Amateur Championship; Hadwin, Taylor head to Open Championship
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
DELTA, B.C. (July 15, 2024) - Shelly Stouffer saved her birdies for when she really needed them in the final round of the Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
The Nanoose Bay resident began the final round with a three-shot lead — thanks in no small part to a four-under 68 in the second round — but that cushion had evaporated by the time she and American Catherine Matgranga had reached the 16th tee at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay.
Matgranga, a Fort Worth, Tex., resident had birdied the 14th and 15th holes to pull even. Stouffer hadn’t made a birdie all day. The momentum seemed to be on the Texan’s side.
But as she has done so often the past few years, Stouffer hit clutch shots when she needed them. After both players parred the 16th hole, Stouffer finished birdie-birdie to win by two shots and win her second Canadian Mid-Am title in the last three years.
The win followed by two weeks Stouffer’s fifth straight B.C. Senior Women’s Championship at the Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops. “It’s going well so far,” said of her season to date. “I am liking the direction it is going.”
Stouffer’s youngest son, Brett, caddied for her on the back nine of the final round. “My son is playing golf, too, and it’s been hard to organize because he was over at Ledgeview this week playing in the B.C. Amateur, so that’s why he was here for the last nine holes and finished caddying for me. It’s been a good ride so far and I’m just going to try and keep going.”
The Mid-Amateur is open to players aged 25 and older. Stouffer, 54, also won the Mid-Master competition for players aged 40 and older.
The B.C. team of Stouffer, Vancouver’s Jamie Oleksiew — who finished third in the Mid-Am —and Aram Choi of Surrey won the Margaret Todd Trophy as winners of the inter-provincial team championship.
With her victory, Stouffer has earned an exemption into this year’s U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which goes Sept. 7-12 in West Newton, Mass. She’s also now exempt for the 2025 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.
ROLE MODELS: Brett Stouffer, who just turned 17, has only been playing tournament golf for two years and has had a good summer. He tied for 17th at the recent B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna and tied for 48th at last week’s B.C. Amateur Championship at Ledgeview Golf Course in Abbotsford. Brett acknowledges being inspired by his mom’s success on the golf course.
“I think I got into it because she was doing super well,” he said. “She won the USGA (Senior Women’s) title, and I was like, that’s kind of cool. So I started doing some tournaments and she has been very supportive.”
His mom is not his coach, however. “I have never taken a swing lesson from her,” Brett said with a grin. “She can give me advice sometimes and I will listen to it sometimes.”
Brett also draws inspiration from his late father, Ward, a popular and accomplished longtime British Columbia golf pro who died in early 2017 when Brett was nine. “I always think of him when I am out on the golf course,” Brett said.
“My ball marker actually has his name engraved on it, which is kind of cool, and I have his initials on my left shoe. I think about him a lot, He gave me some advice when I was younger and had just picked up a golf club. He told me to just make it fun. If you are not having fun, don’t play.
MAIDEN WIN: Port Coquitlam’s Yeji Kwon earned her first win as a pro and she did it in impressive fashion at Central Arkansas Open on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour. The 18-year-old Kwon, who turned pro earlier this summer, won by five shots with a 72-hole total of 13-under par. She earned $10,000 for the win and also receives an exemption into the Epson Tour’s Four Winds Invitational, which goes Aug. 30-Sept. 1 in South Bend, Ind.
“My dad was on the bag all week,” the former Canadian Junior Girls champion said after her win. “I just tried to stay as focused as possible and he was with me trying to keep me calm, so it was a really big help this week. I’m super thankful for my parents and everything they’ve done for me and I can’t thank them enough.” Delta’s Mary Parson and Megan Osland of Kelowna both tied for 10th at the Arkansas event.
TITLE DEFENCE: Summerland’s Nathan Ward will defend his title at this week’s B.C. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Golden Golf Club. Ward birdied his final hole at last year’s tournament to beat Richmond’s Mike Aizawa by one shot at Sandpiper Golf Course in Harrison Mills. Ward will play the first two rounds of this week’s event with 2022 Mid-Amateur champion Patrick Weeks of Vancouver and Wyatt Brook of Heffley Creek.
Brook finished third at last week’s B.C. Amateur Championship at Ledgeview. The 54-hole tournament runs Tuesday through Thursday. The Mid-Amateur is open to players aged 25 and older. A Mid-Master Championship for players aged 40 and older will be run concurrently at Golden.
OPEN SEASON: The Abbotsford duo of Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin both have spots in this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. Both made the cut at last week’s Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick. Hadwin tied for 34th at nine-under par and earned $46,890, while Taylor tied for 57th at six-under and made $20,520. Canadian Open champion Robert MacIntyre of Scotland birdied the final hole and won with a score of 18-under to edge Adam Scott of Australia by one shot.
Merritt’s Roger Sloan tied for 53rd at the PGA Tour’s ISCO Championship in Nicholasville, Ky. Sloan finished at 10-under par. That was 12 shots behind winner Harry Hall of England, who won a five-man playoff. Sloan, who earned $9,720, and Surrey’s Adam Svensson are in the field for this week’s opposite-field event, the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, Calif.
TOP-25 FINISH: Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart, who was playing on a sponsor’s exemption, tied for 25th at 14-under par at the PGA Tour Americas’ Explore NB Open in Fredericton. Lawren Rowe of Victoria tied for 31st at 13-under. The event was cut to 54 holes late Sunday due to weather. Ian Holt of Stow, Ohio, won with a score of 26-under. Ewart has also received a Golf Canada exemption into this week’s Bromont Open in Quebec.
GAME, SET, MATCH: Surrey’s Joshua Ince was eliminated in the Round of 16 at the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Men’s Amateur at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash. Jackson Jacob of Langley also advanced to match play and was knocked out in the Round of 32. Sam Renner of Bend, Ore., beat Bryden Brown of Moscow, Id., two-up in the championship match.
CHIP SHOTS: Ilirian Zallin of Richmond Country Club shots rounds of 64 and 69 and his 11-under total was good for a one-shot win over Bryce Barker of Vernon Golf Club at the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Meadow Gardens Open in Pitt Meadows. Zalli earned $8,250 for the win. Barker took home $3,000. . .Burnaby’s Luna Lu and Vancouver’s Elaine Liu are competing in this week’s U.S. Junior Girls Championship at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, Calif.