Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Twenty years later, Motomochi back at Shaughnessy; Five B.C. women head to LPGA Tour Q-school; Crisologo top-10s in Manitoba; Taylor’s season ends with another big payday
BC's Jonnie Motomochi Caddied For Yu Liu In The CPKC Women's Open - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
Back in 2003, Delta’s Jonnie Motomochi made headlines when at age 12 he became the youngest player to compete in the Canadian Amateur Championship, which was held that year at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club.
Motomochi was back at Shaughnessy last week, but this time he wasn’t playing. Motomochi caddied for China’s Yu Liu at the CPKC Women’s Open. “A kid that I coach, his dad knows her dad, they used to practise at the same course in Beijing,” said Motomochi, who coaches at Morgan Creek Golf Club in Surrey.
“Her caddie got Covid so they gave me a call Monday night. “It was a great experience. She’s a really good player, so it’s been fun. I didn’t say much, I didn’t do much.”
They made the cut at Shaughnessy. Liu, who entered the week 44th on the LPGA’s Race to the CME Globe points list, didn’t have a great final round. She closed with a six-over 78 and tied for 56th at seven-over for the week.
“She bombs it, she hits it really good,” Motomochi said. “It was fun to be a part of. I thought about that Canadian Amateur when I got here on Tuesday.”
Motomochi has some previous experience caddying on the LPGA Tour. He caddied for Langley’s Jessica Wallace one year at the Canadian Women’s Open and spent one summer caddying for Welsh pro Becky Morgan.
BACK TO SCHOOL: Five British Columbians are in the field for this week’s Stage 1 of the LPGA Tour qualifying school being played at three courses in Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells in the southern California desert. Leah John of Vancouver, Tiffany Kong of Vancouver, Belinda Lin of Surrey, Megan Osland of Kelowna and Mary Parsons of Delta are all part of the 320-player field. The top 95 and ties will advance to Stage 2 of Q-school, which goes Oct. 17-20 in Venice, Fla. The final stage of Q -chool will be played Nov. 30-Dec. 5 in Mobile, Ala.
INSURANCE POLICY: Parsons turned pro late last year after graduating from Indiana University and recovering from wrist surgery. She and Osland both played well this summer on the Women’s All Pro Tour in the southern United States. Parsons was the low female pro and finished sixth overall at the Vancouver Golf Tour’s recent Vancouver Open tourney played on the three City of Vancouver courses. “I played in the Vancouver Open just to try and get myself back into a competitive mindset,” Parsons said.
BC Golf File Photo
Mary Parsons Was The Low Female Pro At The VGT's Vancouver Open Earlier This Month
“My last tournament was the first week of August. After some time off like that I feel kind of slow, so it was good to get some rounds under my belt and see some putts drop and get some confidence going heading into this event.” Parsons left Indiana with a nice piece of insurance tucked into her back pocket. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and completed all of her pre-med requirements at Indiana. “The plan right now is to give myself a few years with my golf,” Parsons said. “We’ll see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, then I move on to my next profession.”
THAT”S A WRAP: Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor ended his season with a 25th-place finish at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. The event had a whopping $57.9 million purse, with winner Viktor Hovland taking home a whopping $18 million for his win. Taylor’s share of the money was $550,000.
TOP-10 FINISH: Richmond’s Chris Crisologo tied for eighth at the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open on the PGA Tour Canada circuit. Crisologo finished the Winnipeg event at 14-under par, seven shots behind winner Hayden Springer of Trophy Park, Tex. He jumped 59 spots to 73rd on the tour’s Fortinet Cup points list. Crisologo has one more regular-season event — this week’s CRMC Championship in Brainerd, Minn. — to move into the top 60 and qualify for the season-ending Fortinet Cup Championship. That event goes Sept. 7-10 in Calgary. Kimberley’s Jared du Toit, who tied for 13th in Winnipeg, now sits 28th on the points list and has locked up a spot in Calgary.
PLAYOFF DEBUT: Merritt’s Roger Sloan tied for 70th at the Albertsons Boise Open, the first of four playoff events on the Korn Ferry Tour. Sloan dropped two spots and now sits 35th on the points list. The top 30 at the end of the playoffs get their 2024 PGA TOUR cards. The second playoff event goes Sept 14-17 in College Grove, Tex.
TITLE DEFENCE: Nanoose Bay’s Shelly Stouffer will defend her title at this week’s Canadian Senior Women’s Championship at Mill River Golf Club in Woodstock, PEI. Stouffer, Sandra Turbide of Maple Ridge and Jackie Little of Procter will represent B.C. in the inter-provincial team competition at the event. Stouffer played in last week’s U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore., where she missed the cut by three shots.
AMATEUR HOUR: Vancouver’s Andy Robb tied for 19th and was the top British Columbian at the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship played at Algonquin Golf Course in St. Andrews, N.B.
Robb finished the 72-hole event at three-over par. That was 13 shots behind winner Joseph Deraney of Belden, Miss. Deraney also won the Mid-master championship for players aged 40 and older. Gary Pike of Victoria tied for 11th.