Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Mike Haraguchi Appointed Head Pro At Capilano
New Capilano GC Head Professional Mike Haraguchi
Taylor, Hadwin head to Pebble Beach and Netflix; Lauren Kim gets second crack at Augusta National; Sloan heads to Panama for season debut on Korn Ferry Tour
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(January 27, 2025) - You can count on one hand the number of head professionals Capilano Golf & Country Club has had since opening in 1939. Mike Haraguchi is honoured to be among them.
The highly regarded West Vancouver private club recently appointed the Richmond native as their new head pro.
He succeeds Mark Thirtle, who departed last year to become director of golf at La Cumbre Country Club in Santa Barbara, Calif.
“To be honest, being the fifth head pro in our history — and the fact I have worked for three of the previous four — is a pretty cool thing,” Haraguchi said in an interview.
“It’s a great place to be, it’s a fabulous golf course and the membership is great. I have been here 20-plus years and they have treated me very well. It’s a very special feeling.”
After spending some time playing the Canadian Tour, Haraguchi was hired by former Capilano head pro Gerry Chatelaine back in April of 2004. He most recently served as the club’s associate professional.
Haraguchi, who won the 2005 PGA of BC Championship, said he has been touched by the response he has received from members since his appointment was announced.
“I actually said to my wife, I don’t know if I have ever replied to that many emails in one day as I did the day it got announced,” he said. “It feels amazing to know I have the members’ support. You can’t ask for much more than that.
“There are so many things that make Capilano a special place. The property is amazing. The golf course is outstanding and the membership here is a very tight-knit group. I find it very different than many other courses. Here everybody knows everybody, where at some other private clubs it can be a very different atmosphere. It is almost like a family atmosphere so to speak.”
When he’s not at the golf course, the 47-year-old Haraguchi can often be found on an ice rink. He is a longtime member of the Richmond Cowboys, a hockey team with a rich history that does some great work in the community.
In addition to Thirtle and Chatelaine, Capilano’s other previous pros include the legendary Jock McKinnon, who served from 1939 to 1979, and Brad Burgart.
BAD TIMING: Surrey’s Adam Svensson didn’t only have to finish his second round in some crazy wind at at last week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Svensson also had the misfortune of having the horn signalling the suspension of play blow at the exact second he was stroking an eight-foot putt for birdie that would have kept him inside the cutline. Not surprisingly, he missed it.
Svensson, who also missed the cut the previous week at the American Express tourney, does not have a spot in this week’s Signature event, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on California’s Monterey Peninsula. Fellow British Columbians Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, who both took last week off, will play at Pebble Beach.
Taylor won the AT&T back in 2020. That was his second PGA TOUR win. He’s had three more since then, including his recent victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Taylor’s solid start this season has him 26th on the Official World Golf Ranking.
FEATURE ROLES: Taylor and Hadwin will be among the PGA TOUR players featured in the third season of the Full Swing series on Netflix that begins on Feb. 25. It seems likely the series will explore their link to Ledgeview Golf Course in Abbotsford.
AUGUSTA INVITE: Surrey’s Lauren Kim is heading back to Augusta, Ga. The University of Texas sophomore recently received her invitation to play in this spring’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Kim, who at No. 23 in the world is Canada’s highest ranked amateur player, tied for 14th at last year’s tournament. This year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur goes April 2-4. Kim and her Texas teammates begin their spring schedule Feb. 2-4 at the Northrun Grumann Regional tourney in Palos Verdes, Calif.
OUT OF AFRICA: Vancouver’s Ilirian Zalli missed the cut in his DP Challenge Tour debut at the SDC Open in Limpopo, South Africa. The former B.C. Junior Boys and Vancouver Open champion fired rounds of 72 and 73 and fell three shots short of the cutline. The DP Challenge Tour secured a title sponsor last week and is now officially known as the HotelPlanner Tour. Zalli is in the field for this week’s MyGolfLife Open in Hartbeespoort, South Africa.
SEASON DEBUT: Merritt’s Roger Sloan will make his 2025 Korn Ferry Tour debut at this week’s Panama Championship. Sloan has full status on the Korn Ferry Tour after losing his PGA TOUR card following the 2024 season. Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald will also play in Panama. Macdonald missed the cut in the Korn Ferry Tour’s two season-opening events in the Bahamas.
PORTAL PLANS: A proposal by the owners of The Hills at Portal Golf Club to close the course to allow for residential development is expected to be reviewed by Surrey City Council some time in February. Joe Haley and business partner Randy Bishop bought the near century-old course — formerly called Peace Portal — in the fall of 2021.
Haley said at the time they had no plans to try and redevelop the property. But they announced this past fall they hope to turn part of the property — which is in the Agricultural Land Reserve — into a residential development and donate the remainder to the City of Surrey for use as a park. Council is expected to make a recommendation to the Agricultural Land Commission, which will make the ultimate decision on whether the property can be removed from the ALR.