Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Ledgeview recognized for its commitment to junior golf
Ledgeview GC GM Brad Clapp, Seen Here During Last Year's BC Amateur At Ledgeview - BC Golf Photo
More Ziemer's Notes: Lauren Kim heads back to Augusta National; SFU women win in Colorado; Ewart top-20s in Argentina; Jackson Jacob triumphs in VGT season-opener
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(March 31st, 2025) - Ledgeview Golf Club, the Abbotsford layout that helped produce the likes of PGA TOUR winners Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin and NCAA champion James Lepp, has received a Golf Canada award for its commitment to junior golf.
And that makes Ledgeview general manager Brad Clapp especially proud. So does the view from the club’s pro shop.
“As I look outside now, we have a couple of five-year-olds rolling a ball towards the hole learning what a break looks like,” Clapp, a former PGA Tour Canada winner, says in an interview.
Like many courses, Ledgeview saw lots of kids the last two weeks during Spring Break at their golf camps. But junior golf is a 52-week-a-year commitment at Ledgeview. That’s why Golf Canada recently announced that Ledgeview was one of six winners of its National Facility Awards for Junior Golf presented by Humi.
Ledgeview won the Junior Golf Opportunity Award, which is awarded to the facility providing exceptional access and membership opportunities for junior golfers.
Ledgeview has a 200-person waiting list for regular membership, but Clapp says the course never turns down a parent looking for a junior membership for their child. The club’s junior membership has grown to nearly 130 from about 30 in the past four years.
“We keep our (junior) membership and junior green fees quite affordable and juniors under the age of 12 play for free after 5 p.m.,” Clapp says.
Clapp says the club’s board of directors and membership are supportive of the club’s commitment to junior golf. Everyone realizes it will benefit the club in the future.
“As a PGA professional, I know that sustainability comes from junior golf, replacing an aging population and getting juniors involved in the game,” says Clapp.
Clapp also knows how junior golf can help shape the character of kids. He credits the junior golf program at Chilliwack Golf Club with helping him navigate his formative years. Clapp is also quick to credit Brady Stead, Ledgeview’s director of instruction, with leading the junior program. Stead received the PGA of BC’s Jack McLaughlin Junior Golf Leader of the Year Award in 2024.
“I think why we are seeing so much traction is we almost always have a next step for our juniors,” Clapp says. “We have done a good job of making sure that our junior campers have a next step on the ladder to garner that excitement and continue it rather than just let it fizzle out.”
Vancouver’s Marine Drive Golf Club won Golf Canada’s Competitive Junior Program of the Year award. Other B.C. courses that were named as finalists in the six categories included Pitt Meadows Golf Club, Gallagher’s Canyon Golf Club in Kelowna and Bowen island Golf Club.
SECOND CHANCE: In her debut last year at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, Lauren Kim was delighted to make the cut and have an opportunity to play Augusta National in the final round of the tournament. This year, the Surrey native is setting her sights a little higher. “I definitely want to be playing in the last few groups,” she said in a recent interview. “I know that just playing there is one thing, but being in contention is something I would love and I know I am capable of doing so.”
This year’s tourney goes April 3-5 and Kim, currently ranked 20th in the world, will be the lone Canadian in the field. She’ll arrive in Augusta in good form. The University of Texas sophomore recently won the Betsy Rawls Invitational for her second collegiate win and last week tied for sixth at the Charles Schwab Collegiate at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Tex. She has seven top-10 finishes this year. “I am definitely excited to be going back,” she said.
“It’s Augusta and it is such a great field and they run the event so well. And all the girls who play are people I know. We compete against each other in college, grew up together, so it is fun. We are all there to win and most importantly to make the cut and play Augusta National the last day.” Kim tied for 14th at last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Her two-over par total in the 54-hole event left her 10 shots behind winner Lottie Woad of England.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: Simon Fraser University’s women’s team earned its second win of the year at the Colorado-State Pueblo Southern Colorado Open. The Red Leafs finished the 36-hole NCAA Division II event with a score of 20-over par to win by five shots. Dana Smith, Cadence Ko and Anaya Bhandal all tied for fourth in the individual competition.
The SFU men finished second at the Sonoma State Spring Invitational in Sonoma, Calif. The Red Leafs fired the low team score of the final round and finished the 54-hole event at 27-over par. That was nine shots behind the winning team from CSU-Monterey Bay. Junsu Im led the way for SFU with an eighth-place finish. Teammate Denby Carswell tied for 15th.
WORKING THE WEEKEND: After missing the cut in his previous two starts, Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin tied for 39th at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Hadwin closed with a one-over 71 to finish at seven-under par, 13 shots behind winner Min Woo Lee of Australia. Hadwin earned $36,575, but fell one spot to 95th on the FedEx Cup points list.
Surrey’s Adam Svensson tied for 67th at one-under and made $19,950. Svensson, who is in the field for this week’s Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, remains 156th on the points list. Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor missed the cut in Houston. His next start will come at The Masters Tournament, which goes April 10-13.
SORRY ABOUT THAT: Credit to Adam Hadwin for making amends for angrily shattering a sprinkler head at the recent Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla. Hadwin covered the cost of a replacement and sent an order of Chipotle Mexican Grill food to the grounds crew at the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club.
FURIOUS FINISH: Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang, a Harvard University freshman, closed with a four-under 68 and tied for eighth at the Clemson Invitational in Sunset, S.C. Zhang made five straight birdies in her final round and finished the 54-hole event at eight-under par. That was eight shots behind winner Kary Hollenbaugh of Ohio State.
Harvard had two other B.C. players on its roster for the Clemson tourney. Former B.C. Women’s Amateur champion Michelle Liu of Vancouver tied for 41st at one-over par, while sophomore Bonnie Zhai of Surrey tied for 75th at nine-over. Harvard finished 12th in the 15-team competition.
VIKES SECOND: The University of Victoria women’s team finished second at The Warrior Spring Classic in Lewiston, Id. Cindy Koira led the way for UVic with a second-place finish in the individual competition. The UVIc men finished 20th at The Battle tourney hosted by Wayland Baptist University in Bullhead City, Ariz.
TOP-20 FINISH: Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart tied for 20th in the PGA Tour Americas season-opener in Cordoba, Argentina. Ewart completed the event at 10-under par, six shots behind winner Ryan Grider of Oklahoma City. Fellow British Columbians Lawren Rowe of Squamish and Chris Crisologo of Richmond both missed the cut. All three players are in the field for this week’s Brazil Open in Rio de Janeiro.
PLAYOFF WINNER: Langley’s Jackson Jacob won the Vancouver Golf Tour’s season-opening event at Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen. Jacob beat Henry Lee of Coquitlam on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after both players had finished the 36-hole event at eight-under par. Richmond’s Brycen Ko finished third at seven-under. Jacob, who played his collegiate golf at the University of the Fraser Valley, earned $3,000 for the win.
IN THE WORKS: UBC Thunderbirds Sienna Harder and Keira Hou will compete as individuals at this spring’s PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship, which goes May 5-7 at Whistling Straits GC in Kohler, Wisc. Formerly known as the National Minority Collegiate Championship, the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship is regarded as the most culturally significant championship in collegiate golf. UBC’s Una Chou won the women’s individual title at last year’s PGA WORKS tourney at the famed Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.
CHIP SHOTS: Allen Kong of Vancouver and Jenny Guo of West Vancouver will both compete in the finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition on April 6 at Augusta national Golf Club. . . Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald is in the field for this week’s Korn Ferry Tour event, the Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club in Savannah, Ga.