Prodigy Michelle Liu, the youngest player ever to qualify for the Canadian Open at age 12 last year, continued her sharp climb by winning the sa国际传媒 women鈥檚 amateur championship Thursday.
The real champion, however, might have been the host Campbell River Golf and Country Club.
鈥淭he reaction was that the players loved the course. It鈥檚 not the longest course but the greens are pure bent grass and challenging,鈥� said head pro Kyle Stoudt.
鈥淸sa国际传媒 Golf] approached us about two months ago, when many sports were cancelled, and we accepted the challenge to stage this tournament.鈥�
It was the fourth live, organized sporting event on the Island as sport continues its return after the shutdown in March. The first was the Sidney Velo Club鈥檚 cycling individual time-trial races, which began in July and conclude on Tuesday, in an event that has featured future Olympians and pros since 1980. The next two organized events were the sa国际传媒 Life Series pro golf tournaments on Bear Mountain this month, a consolation for the cancelled 2020 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒 season.
The fifth event will be the sa国际传媒 200 on Sept 6 at Western Speedway as Western sa国际传媒鈥檚 oldest auto-racing track 鈥� which produced respective Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500 drivers Billy Foster and Roy Smith and has featured the likes of Tom Sneva, Janet Guthrie and Bobby Allison 鈥� will continue an unbroken tradition of having racing every year since its opening in 1954.
But while Western Speedway has been around since Sinatra was crooning, the Campbell River Golf and Country Club is the brash new kid on the Island sporting block since its opening in 2017.
鈥淚t was previously Sequoia Springs and has been completely redesigned over 18 holes and is locally owned with a new vision for the game of golf in our city,鈥� said Stoudt, a native of Campbell River and 15-year pro, with previous stints at Storey Creek in his hometown, Big Sky in Pemberton and Tower Ranch in Kelowna.
Phase 1 additions include a new state-of-the-art driving range with a Top Tracer system and a 2,400 square-foot retail, locker room and club storage building. Future phases envision a 97-room hotel, spa, pool, restaurant and convention centre.
It was all fine by new provincial women鈥檚 amateur champion Liu of Vancouver. She joined Tristan Mandur of Mill Bay, the NCAA Pac-12 University of Utah Utes performer, who won the 118th sa国际传媒 men鈥檚 amateur last month in Kelowna.
Liu shot a six-under 204 over 54 holes on the Campbell River Club鈥檚 verdant and gently rolling fairways, and fast and firm greens, which was seven strokes clear of runner-up Lauren Kim of Surrey. Rebecca Kim of Victoria Club was tied for eighth.
The sa国际传媒 women鈥檚 mid-amateur and senior championships were held concurrently with the provincial amateur. Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay celebrated her first year in senior competition in convincing fashion by capturing the provincial title by a crushing 12 strokes with a six-over 216. Nonie Marler of Marine Drive won the sa国际传媒 women鈥檚 mid-amateur at 220, ahead of runner-up Christina Proteau of Port Alberni (231).
With sa国际传媒 announcing Phase 3 this week of the return to sport, re-openings will increase. The Zack Downey Memorial sa国际传媒 Premier Baseball League tournament will be held at Layritz Park from Sept. 18 to 21. The Island Cup pre-season sa国际传媒 Hockey League tournament will begin Oct. 2.
Even though Langford lost its bid to host the abbreviated 2020 Canadian Premier League pro soccer season, Pacific FC is at least playing somewhere, as action in the CPL tournament has been lively and engaging in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
