The 118th Playing Of The B.C. Amateur Championship Will Go July 28-30 At Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear Course In Kelowna - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The formal announcement of the easing of travel restrictions has allowed British Columbia Golf to salvage part of its championship schedule. Premier John Horgan has given British Columbians the all-clear to travel about the province and that means the 118th playing of the B.C. Amateur Championship will go July 28-30 at Okanagan Golf Club in Kelowna.

Kris Jonasson, chief executive officer of British Columbia Golf, is delighted that tournaments will be played this summer.

“It is really pleasing that we are able to get part of our championship season in,” Jonasson said. “It only really happened because Golf Canada unfortunately had to cancel all of the national championships because we needed to move into those time slots to make it happen.”

Trail Native And Former Burnaby Mountain Assistant Kate Weir Is The New Head Pro At Rivershore, A Robert Trent Jones Sr. Layout In Kamloops - Image Courtesy PGA of BC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Ask Kate Weir how she got started playing golf and the new head pro at Rivershore Golf Links will tell you that she really didn’t have a choice. 

Her parents golfed and they were determined their daughter would, too, so Weir accompanied them to Rossland-Trail Country Club (now called Birchbank Golf Course). 

It wasn’t exactly love at first swing.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Commissioner Michael Whan likes to refer to the LPGA Tour as family, one that has grown with the addition of three British Columbia chapters to the LPGA Amateur Golf Association.

Whan was part of a recent conference call welcoming British Columbia to the association, an organization that aims to connect women who play the game. “Whether you play the game professionally, whether you teach it, whether you are helping young girls learn it, or whether you just play with your friends on a nine and dine, we all want to be engaged in this together,” Whan said.

LPGA Commisioner Michael Whan & Canadian Golf Hall Of Fame Member Lorie Kane Will Be On Hand For The Online Announcement Of BC's LPGA Amateur Golf Association Chapters And Canadian Women's Open Champ Brooke Henderson Will Have A Recorded Message To Share - Images Courtesy LPGA and BC Golf/JKam photos

Recently, British Columbia Golf became one of the latest golf associations to affiliate with the LPGA Amateur Golf Association, with the creation of 3 'Chapters' in B.C., the Vancouver Island chapter, Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley chapter and the Okanagan/Kamloops/Shuswap chapter.

The LPGA Amateurs focus on creating opportunities for women of all ages to become involved in and enjoy the game of golf. Here is the 'About Us' message as taken from their website:

Walking A Golf Course Is One Of The Most Health Beneficial Activities We Can Take Part In - Image Courtesy wallpaperflare.com

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was another frustrating day on the golf course, where a round that had shown considerable early promise was derailed once again by sloppy play. But my numbers were not all bad. Despite my less than stellar score, there were some positives about that recent round at Peace Portal Golf Course in Surrey.

When I checked the step-counter on my phone, it told me that I had taken more than 13,000 steps during the round and walked about nine kilometres. (Clearly, I did not hit every shot straight down the middle).

I also climbed the equivalent of 23 floors, which is testament to Peace Portal’s hilly terrain. It is numbers like these, rather than the ones I mark on my scorecard, that have convinced me that golf is good for me.

- National Orders of Merit, a points-based ranking which recognizes top male and female amateur performance, will not be awarded for the 2020 championship season -

For Immediate Release

OAKVILLE, ONT. (Golf Canada) – Due to continued health concerns as well as government restrictions on travel and group gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic, Golf Canada has cancelled all of its amateur golf competitions for the duration of the 2020 season.

The National Sport Federation had previously announced the cancellation or postponement of a number of its junior and amateur competitions scheduled through mid-June.

BC Golf Hall Of Fame Inductee Bill Hobbis Has Received The Highest Honour That Can Be Awarded From His Home Club, Royal Colwood GC 

Story & Image: Courtesy Royal Colwood Golf Club

Bill Hobbis, Lifetime Membership Announcement

The Board of Directors is very pleased to announce that Bill Hobbis has been selected to be awarded a Lifetime Membership. Our bylaws state, “The Board shall have the power to elect to Life Membership any Member who has given the Club unselfish and meritorious service.”

Bill certainly fills those criteria. Briefly, and for the sake of brevity, incompletely, here are the highlights of his golfing career.

Coach Shayain Leads Her Women's Golf Day Clinic In Their Warm-up Session - Image Courtesy Shayain Gustavsp

At this year's Annual General Meeting, British Columbia Golf welcomed 3 new directors onto their Board. One of those new directors is Shayain Gustavsp, who also happens to be an accredited LPGA Teaching Professional. 

In honor of Women's Golf Day, on Tuesday, June 2nd 2020, Coach Shayain hosted a Women's Golf Clinic in Richmond. She knew this clinic was going to be different than those she'd held in the past. Due to Covid-19 she would have to adhere to social distancing guidelines and yet still create an intimate environment for her students.

Jared du Toit Of Kimberley BC Is Intrigued By The PGA TOUR's Hint At Having Some 'Make-up' Events For Players Who Have Been Affected By The Shutdown. James Allenby Of Langley And Riley Wheeldon Of Comox Are Also Interested - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

This year was supposed to be a golfing adventure of sorts for Jared du Toit, the former B.C. Junior Boys champion who has exempt status on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica circuit.

But instead of visiting and playing in exotic locales like Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, du Toit has been playing all of his golf in the East Kootenays near his Kimberley home. He returned home from his winter base in Arizona in late March and has tried to keep his game in shape, which wasn’t easy at first with snow still on the ground.

Join in Virtual Women's Golf Day - Digital Celebration, June 3rd!

Women's Golf Day, with events around the globe is planned for September 1st.

Meanwhile, here is the statement put out from Women's Golf Day with respect to the one day delay from June 2nd to the 3rd on the Virtual Celebration:

We have decided to pause our social media activity today. Join us JUNE 3rd in honouring the people that we work with in the 50+ countries where Women’s Golf Day takes place and we kindly ask you to post and share WGD content tomorrow as we unite to Support, Engage and Empower women and men around the world. #wgdUNITES

This engaging virtual experience will be hosted on the WGD website http://www.womensgolfday.com and will include ways to engage through social media, videos, content and an online charity auction.

Links to all of the WGD action can be found below.

The following is a release from viaSport

viaSport is pleased to release the Return to Sport Guidelines. 

We are all eager for sport to return to B.C. and bring our communities together. These guidelines will help sport organizations across British Columbia develop their own plans for a safe return to sport.

Due to the COVID - 19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health's safety regulations around travel and ViaSport's mandate that no competitive sport be played at this time, B.C. Golf has decided to not go ahead with the 2020 B.C. Junior Championship.

The Junior Championship was scheduled to be played at NK'MIP Canyon Desert Golf Course from June 30th to July  3rd. The B.C. Boys Junior was first played in 1946 and the B,C, Junior Girls had it's inaugural event in 1952.

Last year was the first year that the boys and girls played at the same venue, and we were looking forward to continuing that format this year. Both championships have a long list of very deserving champions, some of whom have gone on to great success, including winning on the PGA and LPGA Tours. This will be the first time for both events that they will not be contested. B.C. Golf looks forward to bringing these championships back in 2021.

This is not an easy decision to make and B.C. Golf would like to thank NK'MIP Canyon Desert Golf Course who were excited to hold this championship. No decisions have been made on other Championships for the 2020 season at this time.

Four weeks notice will be given for each event as to whether it will go ahead or not.

Due to the COVID - 19 pandemic, the Ministry of Health's safety regulations around travel and ViaSport's mandate that no competitive sport be played at this time, B.C. Golf has decided to not go ahead with the 2020 B.C. Women's Amateur Championship.

Written by Golf Canada

The World Handicap System stipulates every player is responsible for returning all acceptable scores into one’s scoring record from rounds played on courses observing their active season, which is part of the golf season when courses have acceptable playing conditions.

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of authorized provincial golf associations to declare active and inactive periods, and it is the responsibility of the area club and golfers to observe these dates for posting purposes.

Each year, provincial associations analyze numerous factors to determine their active seasons. This ensures consistency of when scores would be posted by the majority of golfers to help keep Handicap Indexes accurate.

L-R: Golf Canada National Team Coaches - Robert Ratcliffe, Derek Ingram & Jennifer Greggain - (K2 image by Pavel Novak/ Everest kalapatthar.jpg)

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Junior golfers in British Columbia aren’t just doing their school work on-line these days. They’ve also been firing up their laptops the past month for a series of golf webinars.

With tournament play and group instruction on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, British Columbia Golf organized a series of 10 webinars aimed at elite junior golfers not only here in B.C. but across the country.

“In-person instruction has been tough, so we are doing everything we can to help them out,” says Doug Hastie, manager of field operations/tournament director with British Columbia Golf.

Courtesy Allied Golf Association - BC (AGA-BC)

Today is a day to celebrate one more step in our road to recovery in British Columbia as food service establishments are now permitted to resume operations with the following rules and proper COVID-19 protection protocols in place!

WorkSafeBC has also released protocols for retail and office operations that are applicable to the British Columbia Golf Industry and please note the new requirement for a COVID-19 Safety Plan and existing requirements for an Exposure Control Plan.

Lastly, this has all been added to our AGA-BC's COVID-19 Protection - Best Practices for the Responsible Operation of BC Golf Courses manual.

2020 BC Junior Golf Education Summit - Not JUST For Juniors

Join us for this April and May, as Golf, Fitness, Nutrition and Mental Performance professionals share their expertise with all BC Junior Golfers for the first BC Junior Golf Education Summit via online webinars.

Although these webinar programs were initially intended for the junior golf demographic, a number of adults have registered and found the sessions to be of great value as well.

Please feel free to REGISTER for an event and also be aware that even if you cannot attend the live webinar sessions, if you have registered, they will be made available to you to view later. 

The 2020 Summit brings together leaders in junior golf development to discuss the pillars of performance along the competitive pathway, centered around this year's theme of “Resilience and Adaptability.”

The 2020 BC Junior Golf Education Summit is an amazing opportunity for competitive juniors of all ages and ability to come together to learn from some of the best coaches in Canada on how to succeed along the path to becoming the best possible golfer you can be. There has never been an online event that has brought together such a qualified group of presenters who are truly passionate about golf. 

Click here to Register   All Webinars are free of charge!

Via Press Release

Federal Way, Wash. – Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria, B.C. will be the host site of the 2021 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship. The venerable club had been set to host the 2020 championship this July, but when this year’s event was canceled due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, the club’s board of directors, management, professional staff and committee readily agreed to carry over as the host venue for next year.

The 54th Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, with the host association being British Columbia Golf, will be held July 19-23, 2021. This will be the second time Royal Colwood will have hosted the championship, with it previously being held there in 2008.

Due to the COVID - 19 pandemic and the Ministry of Health's safety regulations, B.C. Golf has determined that it would not be in the best interests of our staff, volunteers or players to hold the B.C. Senior Women's Championship. The Senior Women's was scheduled to be played at Talking Rock in Chase from June 9th to 11th.

The B.C. Women's Senior started in 1975 and has a long list of very deserving champions, this will be the first time since then that it has not been contested. We look forward to bringing this championship back in 2021.

This is not an easy decision to make and we thank Talking Rock Golf Resort who were excited to hold this championship. We have not made any decisions on our other Championships for the 2020 season at this time, and will give at least 4 weeks of notice for each event as to whether it goes ahead or not. We all hope to get back on the golf course as soon as it is safe to do so. 

*This article was last updated on May 4, 2020.

Courtesy Golf Canada

Our partners at the Provincial Golf Associations are working incredibly hard to understand the impact of COVID-19 on golf in each province.

They will continue to seek clarity from municipal and provincial government and health authorities to help our member clubs and golfers navigate through this crisis.

Below are summaries and links for each respective provincial golf association.