Ziemer’s B.C. Golf Notes: Roxburgh Looks for B.C. Senior Win No. 5; Taylor Clinches Exempt Status for 2019-20 Season; Ashley Zibrik Appointed Head Professional and Director of Golf at Shaughnessy

Doug Roxburgh

By BRAD ZIEMER, British Columbia Golf

Doug Roxburgh will be seeking his fifth B.C. Senior Men’s Championship at Vernon Golf Club. The 67-year-old Roxburgh won last year’s championship by 10 shots at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton and will be looking for his third straight Senior Men’s title.

The 13-time B.C. Amateur champion served notice earlier this month at Big Sky that his game is in solid shape. Roxburgh finished the 117th playing of the B.C. Amateur at Big Sky with a one-over 73 on a course that was set up at about 6,900 yards for the final round. And Roxburgh said that round could have been much better. “I played well,” he said. “I had good looks at birdie on the last three holes and didn’t make any of them.”

Vernon Golf Club, of course, won’t be playing nearly that long this week for the field of 156 players aged 55 and older.  Roxburgh, who is also defending champion in the Super Senior category for players aged 65 and older that will be contested this week, will be heading to Scotland after the B.C. Senior. He is in the field for the R&A Senior Amateur, which goes July 31-Aug. 2 at North Berwick Golf Club.

LUCKY NO. 7

Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor made his seventh straight cut and had his second-best finish of the season at the Barbasol Championship in Kentucky. Taylor closed with a six-under 66 to finish tied for 15th at 18-under par. Taylor moved up four spots in the FedEx Cup points standings to 110th. With just two regular-season events remaining, Taylor has clinched a spot inside the top 125 and will remain fully exempt for the 2019-2020 PGA TOUR season. The Barbasol was won by Jim Herman of Palm City, Fla., who made only his fourth cut of the year and had Richmond’s Mike Darby on his bag as caddie. Darby had previously caddied for wins with Taylor and D.A. Points.

OPEN SEASON

Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin was the only Canadian to make the cut at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Hadwin closed with a two-over 73 and tied for 57th with a 72-hole score of four-over par.

NEW SHAUGHNESSY PRO

Congratulations to Ashley Zibrik, who has been named Head Professional and Director of Golf at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club. Zibrik had been serving those roles on an interim basis since former head pro Alan Palmer left the club in the spring. Zibrik is just the eighth head professional and director of golf -- and first female -- in Shaughnessy’s 108-year history.

WHEELS UP

Riley Wheeldon of Comox tied for 16th at the HFX Pro-Am in Halifax on the PGA Tour Canada-Mackenzie Tour circuit. The former B.C. Junior Boys champion closed with a five-under 67 to finish at 15-under par for the week. That was nine shots behind winner Lorens Chans of Hawaii. Wheeldon moved up to 34th spot on the Mackenzie Tour money list. Kimberley’s Jared du Toit, another past B.C. Junior Boys champ, fired a seven-under 65 and finished tied for 31st in Halifax. Burnaby’s Mike Belle tied for 54th at eight-under. The Mackenzie Tour takes the week off and resumes its schedule Aug. 1-4 in Edmonton at the 1932byBateman Open.

MORSE CUP TEAM

Chris Crisologo of RichmondHenry Lee of Coquitlam and Jeevan Sihota of Victoria will represent British Columbia in the Morse Cup competition at the 53rd Pacific Coast Amateur Championship, which goes Tuesday through Friday at The Championship Course at the University of New Mexico. Sihota was the lone Canadian to make it to match play at last week’s U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Sihota lost his first-round match 5&4 to Kelly Chin of Great Falls, Va.

B.C. GOES FOR 3-PEAT

Angel Lin of SurreyAlisha Lau of Richmond and Coquitlam’s Euna Hanwill represent B.C. in the inter-provincial team competition at this week’s Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Red Deer Golf & Country Club in Alberta. B.C. will be seeking its third straight team title at the Women’s Amateur.

SEMI RUNS

Mary Parsons of Delta and Susan Xiao of Langley made nice runs at last week’s PNGA Women’s Amateur Championship at Arrowhead Golf Club in Molalla, Ore. Parsons and Xiao were both eliminated in the semi-finals. Eventual champion Rino Sasaki of Tokyo beat Xiao one-up, while Parsons fell two-down to Jacqueline Bendrick of Mercer Island, Wash.

CO-WINNERS

Phil Jonas of Hazelmere and Jared Siminoff of Point Grey both fired one-under 70s and shared first-place honours at a G&G Tour event at Whistler Golf ClubDoug Morgan of Richmond Country Club finished one shot back in third place. Finlay Young of The Harvest Golf Club in Kelowna fired a three-under 68 at Shadow Ridge Golf Club to win an Interior Tour event by one shot over Dave Munn of Shuswap National.