It wasn’t exactly the most competitive set of BC championship qualifiers, but the Yukon will still have good representation down south this summer.
Only one golfer attended the BCGA Provincial Qualifier at Mountain View Golf Club last weekend, down from four last year. However, the lone golfer was Whitehorse’s Phil Mullin, who won the chance to represent the Yukon last year as well.
If Mullin attends the BC Amateur Championship (he’s not sure he can) it will be his fifth time going and third time in three years.
“It’s a costly trip,” said Mullin. “There’s the trip cost and the loss of wages. Last year, I went down there and didn’t play very well, so I told myself I didn’t want to do that again unless I could compete.”
In 2009, Mullin came five strokes short of making the cut in the supplemental qualifier in BC. Over the weekend he shot a 77 and 80 with a bit of an inconsistent game, having made some changes to his swing over the winter.
“When I’m on, it’s really good,” said Mullin. “But, at the same time, bad habits tend to creep in throughout the round.
“I’ve shown some flashes of really good golf so, hopefully, that can become the norm.”
It was a similar story for the juniors. Only Whitehorse’s Trever Harris, 14, decided to make a run at it.
“It’s going to be different. There’s a lot of competition down there,” said Harris, who shot an 85 and 90.
“Today’s round was awful. I kind of blew up on a hole and took a 10, that blew my game up and I played awful after that.”
It will be a first time representing the Yukon as a junior for Harris, who finished second in the junior division at the Yukon Golf Championships last year.
With the Yukon allowed to send as many golfers to the BC Senior Men’s Championships as it wants, until there’s no more room, that division wasn’t super competitive either. However, the Yukon will have the largest contingent in years attending the senior open with Tom Amson, Vic Istchenko and Ken Taylor all signing on.
“This is probably the best turnout we’ve had for the seniors,” said Mountain View club pro Jeff Wiggins. “It’ll be nice to get some representation out there for the Yukon.”
The BC Junior Boys Championship will take place at Rossland-Trail Golf Club July 5-8, followed by the BC Amateur Championship the next weekend at the Dunes at Kamloops.
The BC Senior Men’s Championship will happen August 9-11 at the Squamish Valley Golf Club.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com