British Columbia Golf Big Winner At 49th Sport BC Athlete Of The Year Awards

Jordan Lu And Naomi Ko Were Both Winners At The 49th Sport BC Athlete Of The Year Awards

by Alfie Lau, Inside Golf

British Columbia Golf had many reasons to be happy at the 49th Athlete of the Year Awards held on March 12 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

Both Naomi Ko and Jordan Lu were victorious in their categories, being named Female Junior Athlete and Male High School Athlete respectively.

Golfing legend Doug Roxburgh was a runner-up in the Master Athlete of the Year category while Pat Irwin of Ladysmith received the 2015 Sport BC President’s Award from British Columbia Golf President David Atkinson for his work with junior golf at Mount Brenton Golf Course.

What made the night particularly memorable for all the honourees was having family and friends present for their moment of glory.

Ko had her parents, Adriana and Tony, and younger brother Ethan, also an accomplished golfer, by her side, while Lu had longtime coach Todd Kuspira with him. Roxburgh had wife Lorna by his side while Irwin had son Michael to celebrate with.

Judges were impressed with the quality of British Columbia Golf’s nominations and Ko and Lu were rewarded with the prizes in their respective categories.

Master Of Ceremonies Scott Russell Of CBC Entertained The 500 Guests Who Came To Celebrate The Best Of British Columbia Sport - Image Credit Bryan Outram

Russell said British Columbia has a lot to be proud of, having just hosted a very successful Canada Winter Games in Prince George and mere months away from hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup at BC Place, including the Final.

Looking ahead to next year, Vancouver will host the Americas Masters Game in August 2016, one of the largest participatory events to come to the region.

Guests also remembered Denise Coutts, past Sport BC Chair and Athlete of the Year Organizing Committee, who passed away in the past year.

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