The covid pandemic has been good for the golf industry, but tougher for organizations attempting to mount tournaments, due to safety protocols and the high demand experienced by golf courses. Nevertheless, Zone 4 is able to announce champions in Junior, Amateur and Mid-Amateur categories.
First to the Junior Championship, held June 12 at University Golf Club. Playing from the back tees at 6,423 yards, Niklas Jaakola of Seymour Golf and Country Club shot 67 for the victory. Joining him on the Zone 4 team headed to BCGolf’s provincial championship, to be held at Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville, are Hudson Lafayatte, also a member at Seymour, and Lee Hyunjun, both of whom shot 69. Our congratulations to Jaakola and his teammates, including the 20-plus qualifiers from Zone 4 who will compete for the provincial championship.
At the Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championship mounted one week later at Kings Links By The Sea, Taylor Durham of Marine Drive Golf Club carded 70 to take the crown. He will be joined on the Zone 4 team at Storey Creek Golf Club by Bill Hole of Point Grey Golf and Country Club, Aidan Shumer of University Golf Club and Jace Minni of Beach Grove Golf and Country Club. Durham also becomes the Zone 4 Mid-Amateur champion. Congratulations, all.
The strong field of 92 encompassed many of Metro Vancouver’s top players, so perhaps the most surprising result was that of Lucy Lin, who played the 6,594-yard course in 75 to tie for 24th. Lin is 11 years old.
A perennial winner of national junior girls championships, Lin stunned her playing partners with her chipping and short game, says Zone 4 Director Bill McDonald, who chaired the event. “She was shorter off the tee, as you would expect of someone so young,” he says, “but she more than made up for it around the greens.”
McDonald believes it is the first time a female has competed in a Zone 4 championship, but there are no restrictions preventing it. “And she plays off a plus-2 handicap,” he says, “so she easily qualified from that perspective.”
Both McDonald and Zone 4 Junior Chair Greg Moody were grateful to be able to mount these events in such a challenging year. “This wouldn’t have happened without the enduring relationship we have with Kings Links,” says McDonald. Moody adds, “University Golf Club came through for us at a time when they could have filled their tee sheets and more. We all look forward to next year, when, with luck, things will have returned to something closer to normal.”
- Jim Sutherland