Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Jeevan Sihota dominating on Vancouver Golf Tour
More Ziemer's BC Golf Notes: Taylor top-20s at Truist Championship; Max Osten second at PGA WORKS; Osland fourth on Annika Tour
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
(May 12, 2025) - It’s the Vancouver Golf Tour, but a 21-year-old from Victoria seems to be the guy cashing all the big cheques these days.
Jeevan Sihota is making one statement after another in the early weeks of the VGT’s summer schedule. His win at this past weekend’s Tsawwassen Springs Open was Sihota’s fifth of the season.
He finished this one off in style, closing the 36-hole event on Tsawwassen Springs’ 5,439-yard par-70 layout with a course record 59.
“It’s been a really solid start to the year,” Sihota said in something of an understatement. More like spectacular.
All this winning feels good for Sihota, a former junior star who struggled in his early days after turning pro at age 18. “A lot of lows and it took a while to get some highs,” Sihota said. “It has been really good recently but there were a lot of tough times in there. When you are not playing well, after having a pretty good junior career, it was hard.”
Sihota seems to be figuring things out. He’s always hit the ball a long way, but there were times when he didn’t know where his ball was going. “I learned pretty fast that distance isn’t everything,” Sihota said. “I am finally hitting it long and straight now which is huge.”
His mental game has also improved with age. “I am just so much sharper mentally than I was. Eventually you figure it out. The key is to keep putting yourself in the situations. I’m just more committed to my shots and not fearful of the result.”
After losing his status on the PGA TOUR Americas circuit, where he spent considerably more money than he made, Sihota and his dad, Jas, made the decision this year to stick closer to home.
Sihota will play a full season on the VGT, where he figures to bank some money, and play a select number of other events. Two of those tournaments will be in Calgary, where he will defend the championship he won last summer at the Mickelson Invitational, and he will also play in the Glencoe Invitational. Sihota should also get a sponsor’s exemption into the Victoria stop on the PGA TOUR Americas circuit in September.
The PGA TOUR Americas has reversed its North American schedule this summer. Instead of running west to east, it begins in New Brunswick and heads west. And the Canadian qualifying school that was normally held in Courtenay is in Prince Edward Island this year. “Honestly, I probably would have done Q school for PGA TOUR Americas if its was still here, but with them having it in Prince Edward Island, financially it is brutal for us to go out there.”
Siohota said he’ll work hard on his game this year and will attend the Korn Ferry Tour Q school this fall.
Sihota, who opened the event with a seven-under 63, staged an epic battle with Coquitlam’s Henry Lee in the final round at Tsawwassen Springs. Sihota had 11 birdies in his bogey-free 59 that gave him a two-round total of 18-under. Lee had 10 birdies of his own in the final round and shot 60 to finish one shot back.
“I putted really well both days,” said Sihota, who took home $2,500. “It could have been 59 on Saturday, too. I probably had five lip-outs in the first round and two balls in the hazard. Today they went in. That was the difference. It was just a really solid two days.”
VGT commissioner Fraser Mulholland has been impressed with Sihota’s game and the attitude he brings to the golf course. “He is trusting what he has, he is believing in what he has and is making decisions that are smart,” Mulholland said.
“He treats every event like a Tour event. He is playing practice rounds every week and is taking all of his notes. If he hasn’t seen a golf course before he is making sure he has the exact yardage to where the corner pinches in and he is making smart decisions to play his way around that golf course to shoot the lowest score. And he’s not doing what he did in the early days of his pro career, which was hit driver everywhere and try and hit it 350.”
SIGNATURE MOMENT: Nick Taylor had himself a solid Signature event. The Abbotsford product tied for 17th at the Truist Championship in Philadelphia and earned $270,500 from the $20-million purse. Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin tied for 60th and made $42,500. Taylor, who is 22nd on the Fed Ex Cup points list, and Hadwin (No. 115) are both in the field for this week’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, N.C. Surrey’s Adam Svensson tied for 59th at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in South Carolina, a PGA Tour opposite-field event, and made $9,200. Svensson is now 160th on the points list.
SOLID SHOWING: Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart had another good week on the PGA TOUR Americans circuit, tying for 12th at the Bupa Championship in Mexico City. Ewart, who was coming off a tie for 10th at last week’s Diner’s Club Peru Open, finished the Mexico City tourney at 12-under par. That was seven shots behind winner John Marshall Butler of Louisville, Ky. Ewart now stands 22nd on the Fortinet Cup points list. The PGA TOUR Americas plays its final Latin American event, the Inter Rapidisimo Golf Championship in Bogota, Colombia, May 22-25.
ON TO NATIONALS: Surrey’s Lauren Kim and her University of Texas teammates advanced to the NCAA Championship tourney with a second-place finish at a NCAA Regional tourney in Lubbock, Tex. The Longhorns finished four shots behind the winning team from Wake Forest. The 30-team NCAA Championship tourney goes May 16-21 at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
STELLAR SEASON: Vancouver’s Vanessa Zhang completed her first year at Harvard University with a tie for 14th finish at a NCAA Regional tourney in Columbus, Ohio. Zhang was competing as an individual at regionals following a stellar season that saw her win the Ivy League Championship in record-setting fashion. Zhang had four top-three finishes and seven top-10s in 2024-25.
IN THE WORKS: Delta’s Max Osten finished second in the men’s individual competition at the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship played at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. Osten just completed his freshman season at the University of Maryland/Eastern Shore. Siena Harder and Keira Hou, two members of the University of B.C. women’s golf team, also competed in the PGA WORKS competition.
Harder tied for 13th and had a hole-in-one in her second round, while Hou tied for 14th. 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.
THAT’S A WRAP: The Simon Fraser University men’s and women’s teams saw their seasons come to an end at their respective NCAA Division II regional tournaments. The SFU women finished 11th at the 18-team West Regional in Amarillo, Tex. Burnaby’s Meera Minhas closed with a three-under 68 to finish a team-best tied for 22nd in the individual competition. The SFU men played in the West/South Central Regional in Riverside, Calif., and finished 11th in a 20-team field. Junsu Im tied for 20th to lead the Red Leafs.
TOUR TALK: Kelowna’s Megan Osland finished solo fourth at the United Way Classic in Fort Smith, Ark., on Annika Women’s All Pro Tour. Osland completed the 54-hole event at five-under par, four shots behind winner Jacqueline Lucena of Gainesville, Fla. Osland earned $2,425. Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam tied for 37th at the Epson Tour’s Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic in Scottsdale. Kwon finished the 72-hole tourney at two-over par, 16 shots behind winner Sophia Popov of Germany. Vancouver’s Leah John tied for 50th at four-over par.
CHIP SHOTS: Victoria’s Nolan Thoroughood and Callum Davison of Duncan both advanced from a U.S. Open local qualifier in Junction City Oregon. . .White Rock’s Clara Ding tied for 20th at the American Junior Golf Association’s Mizuho Americas Open in Jersey City, N.J. The event was played at Liberty National Golf Club in conjunction with the LPGA Tour event of the same name. Ding and all of the other juniors were paired with a LPGA Tour player in the final round of the Stableford scoring event.