Ziemer’s B.C. Golf Notes: Parsons Earns Bronze Medal at Pan-Am Games; Hadwin Moves on, Taylor and Sloan Eliminated from PGA TOUR Playoffs; Crisologo, Mandur Tee It Up at U.S. Amateur
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- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2019-08-15
By BRAD ZIEMER, British Columbia Golf
Delta’s Mary Parsons won a medal and came close to earning a second one at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. Parsons, Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., Joey Savoie of La Prairie, Que., and Austin Connelly of Lake Doucette, N.S., combined to win the bronze medal in the mixed team event.
The Canadians finished with a team score of 552, just three shots behind the silver medalists from Paraguay. The United States took the gold medal with a team score of 544. “I think all four of us grinded out every shot to kind of get to where we are,” Parsons said. “We knew coming down the stretch we had to keep pushing because it wasn’t going to be over until it’s over.”
Parsons finished fifth in the individual women’s 72-hole competition at two-over par. She was five shots behind the bronze medalist. Parsons led the competition after firing a three-under 68 in the first round. She followed with rounds of 73, 75 and 70. Parsons, the 2018 B.C. Women’s Amateur champion, is about to begin her junior year at Indiana University.
HADWIN MOVES ON
The FedEx Cup playoffs will continue for Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin, but the PGA TOUR season has ended for fellow British Columbians Roger Sloan and Nick Taylor. Only the top 70 players on the FedEx Cup points list after the final round of the Northern Trust tourney in New Jersey advanced to the BMW Championship in Chicago.
Hadwin, who tied for 43rd at the Northern Trust, fell five spots to No. 51 on the points list. He will need a big finish at the BMW to climb inside the top 30 and qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.
Sloan made the cut at the Northern Trust and finished tied for 64th. He fell two spots on the points list to No. 93. Taylor missed the cut and fell three spots to No. 120. One other Canadian, Ontario’s Corey Conners, advanced to the BMW. Conners tied for 21st at the Norther Trust and heads to the BMW Championship 27th on the points list.
AMATEUR HOUR
Richmond’s Chris Crisologo and Tristan Mandur of North Cowichan are among 10 Canadians who have spots in the U.S. Amateur Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. The field of 312 players will be cut to the low 64 players after the second round of stroke play. Match plays begins with the 36-hole championship match on Pinehurst’s famed No. 2 course. Next year’s U.S. Amateur is being held at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
Crisologo and Mandur both made the cut at the Canadian Amateur Championship in Hammond Plains, N.S. Crisologo tied for 15th at five-over par, while Mandur tied for 64th at 18-over. Norwegian-born William Buhl of Fairhope, Alabama, beat the field by eight shots with a winning score of nine-under par. Coquitlam’s A.J. Ewart cracked the top 20, finishing tied for 19th at six-over par. Henry Lee of Coquitlam tied for 21st at seven-over, while Nolan Thoroughgood of Victoria tied for 23rd at eight-over.
TOP 20 FINISHES
Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald and James Allenby of Langley both tied for 18th at the Mackenzie Tour’s ATB Financial Classic in Calgary. Allenby and Macdonald both finished at 10-under par. That was eight shots behind winner Hayden Buckley of Tupelo, Miss., who beat Sam Fidone of Lufkin, Tex., on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Riley Wheeldon of Comox tied for 30th at eight-under, West Vancouver’s Dave Rose tied for 46th at four-under and Kimberley’s Jared du Toit tied for 60th at even-par. The Mackenzie Tour visits Winnipeg for the Players Cup.
TEAM B.C.
B.C. Junior Boys champion Brycen Ko of Richmond, Michael Crisologo of Richmond and Victoria’s Jackson Rothwell will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Junior & Juvenile Boys Championship at Covered Bridge Golf & Country Club in Hartland, N.B.
Christopher Vandette of Beaconsfield, Que. won both the Junior and Juvenile — for competitors aged 16 and younger — championships last year. Vandette will be back to defend his Junior title.
The Canadian Junior Boys Championship was last held in New Brunswick in 2006, when Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor won the title.
SENIOR No. 6
Victoria’s Jim Rutledge hung on to win his sixth PGA Seniors Championship of Canada. Rutledge began the final round with a three-shot lead but settled for a one-shot victory over Danny King of Aurora, Ont. “I’m sure glad we ran out of holes out there this afternoon,” Rutledge joked after his final round one-under 70. “Going into the back nine I hit some wayward shots, some miscues off the tee and the next thing you know I only end up winning by one shot.”
Rutledge, who finished the 54-hole event at 12-under par, is now two victories short of matching the late Moe Norman’s record of eight PGA Seniors Championship of Canada titles. Surrey’s Phil Jonas finished fifth at five-under par.
CHIP SHOTS
New champions will be crowned at the B.C. Juvenile Boys and Girls Championships at The Meadows at Pemberton. The 54-hole competition for players aged 16 and under. . .Kelowna’s Samantha Richdale tied for 35th at a Symetra Tour event in Milwaukee.