Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Crisologo, Macdonald fall short at Q-school; Taylor, Hadwin and Svensson head to Houston; UBC women retain No. 1 ranking; Osland wins on Cactus Tour

BC's Chris Crisologo - Image Courtesy Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The final stage of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school is as much a test of players’ nerves as their golf games, a place where one mistake can make the difference between a passing and failing grade.

Richmond’s Chris Crisologo learned that the hard way at the recently completed Q-school in Savannah, Ga. Crisologo missed finishing inside the top 40 and ties and earning guaranteed starts on the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour by six shots.

While that may make it sound like Crisologo wasn’t particularly close, the 26-year-old Simon Fraser University graduate will look back at one hole of the 72 he played as being the difference.

It happened in the second round, seemingly out of the blue. Crisologo had made the turn four-under on his round and had moved inside the top five on the leaderboard. But on the tee of the par 4 13th hole at the Marshwood course at The Landings Golf and Athletic Club, everything changed.

Crisologo hit four straight tee shots out of bounds and went on to make a 13. It’s not hard to do the math. He was nine-over on that hole and missed finishing inside the top 40 and ties by six shots. He makes a triple-bogey on that hole and he’s in.

Instead, Crisologo, who tied for 101st place at three-over par, has conditional status and will be hard-pressed to draw into any Korn Ferry Tour events in 2023. The other British Columbian in the field, Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald, did not fare any better. Macdonald birdied his first two holes of qualifying school, but struggled with his game the rest of the way. He finished tied for 126th at seven-over par in the 147-man field and his conditional status will be worse than Crisologo’s.

Crisologo handled his disaster on that par 4 13th hole with considerable class and birdied two of his closing holes that day to somehow salvage a three-over 74. He was tied for 66th heading into the final two days, but was unable to find the form he had been displaying for the first 30 holes of Q-school. He closed with two rounds of one-over 72.

Crisologo graciously did an interview with PGATOUR.com after the second round to discuss his 13 and said he was feeling good about his swing as he stepped up to the tee. But he hooked his driver out of bounds left and then proceeded to hit two 3-irons and a 4-iron OB before finally putting his fifth attempt in play to sit 9 in the fairway.

“Honestly, still in shock at what happened,” Crisologo said following his second round. “Played pretty well out there. They moved the tee box up on us on No. 13 and ended up making a 13 on No. 13. Numbers add up.

“The wind was blowing pretty hard to the right. I normally hit draws. With the tee box up, I decided to take driver out and see where it would get me. Ended up hooking that one out of bounds. Then we took 3-iron twice and ended up going through the fairway and bouncing out of bounds. Then I took a 4-iron (and) bounced out of bounds as well. Then finally got the fifth one in play.

“Stuff like that happens. If you can move forward from it, it’ll be a lot easier. I played pretty well all day. Just the one blip on the scorecard.”

Crisologo does have full status on the 2023 PGA Tour Canada circuit and will likely try to Monday qualify his way into some Korn Ferry Tour events. Macdonald, a Korn Ferry Tour regular the past three years, will also likely attempt to play his way into events next year.

ON TO HOUSTON: Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin closed with a two-under 69 and tied for 32nd at 12-under par at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba in Mexico. Hadwin, who finished 11 shots behind winner Russell Henley, earned $45,783. Fellow Abbotsford native Nick Taylor fired a final-round 67 to finish tied for 53rd at eight-under par. Taylor took home $19,489.

Hadwin, Taylor and Surrey’s Adam Svensson, who missed the cut in Mexico, are all playing in this week’s Houston Open. Houston is the second to last stop on the fall portion of the PGA TOUR schedule.
Taylor heads into the Houston event 37th on the FedEx Cup points list. Hadwin currently stands 60th, while Svensson is 90th.

TOP-RANKED TEAM: They were No. 1 and still are. The UBC Thunderbirds women’s golf team retained its No. 1 ranking in the latest NAIA coaches poll. The Thunderbirds collected 467 points in the poll, 16 more than second-place Oklahoma City. The UBC men, ranked 13th in the NAIA, close out their fall schedule this week at the Arizona Christian Fall Invite in Glendale, Ariz.

CACTUS CLUTCH: Kelowna’s Megan Osland held off a Canadian rival to win a Cactus Tour event at Sun City Country Club in Arizona. Osland fired rounds of 70, 69 and 69 to finish the event at eight-under par. That was three shots better than LPGA Tour veteran Alena Sharp of Hamilton. Osland earned $2,000 for the win.

SEE YOU IN THE SPRING: Most Metro Vancouver area golf courses remain open for the winter, but two have closed for the season. The last day of play for the season at Port Coquitlam’s Carnoustie Golf Course, which shuts down every winter, was Oct. 30. Bald Eagle in Point Roberts closed on Nov. 1 and said in a news release it anticipates remaining closed for three to four months.

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Richmond’s Tina Jiang was named Maple Leaf Junior Tour player of the year (aged 15-19). Jiang, who has committed to join the UBC Thunderbirds next fall, finished third at the B.C. Junior Girls Championship at Nk’Mip Canyon Golf Course. She won two MJT titles this year and had a scoring average of 72.50. Eileen Park of Red Deer was the MJT U-15 player of the year. The 13-year-old Park won three MJT titles this year and had a scoring average of 73.50.

CHIP SHOTS: Brodie Carle has returned to Predator Ridge to become the Vernon resort’s director of golf. Carle, a former director of instruction at Predator Ridge, had recently served as director of golf at Two Eagles Golf Course in West Kelowna. . .Tanvir Kahlon of Meadow Gardens won a Vancouver Golf Tour winter tour event at Mayfair Lakes in Richmond. Kahlon shot a three-under 69 to edge Ilirian Zalli of Vancouver and Eugene Wong of North Vancouver by one shot. Kahlon earned $500 for the win. . .Langley’s Khan Lee, a former B.C. Juvenile Boys champion, is playing in this week’s PGA Tour Latinoamerica qualifying school in Ocala, Fla.