By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A record-setting round helped Victoria Liu play her way into the CPKC Women’s Open and the 20-year-old is more than a little excited about teeing it up in her first LPGA Tour event an her home course.

“I play out of Shaughnessy so it’s very exciting,” Liu said after winning the Glencoe Invitational in Calgary. “I was really hoping to get to play in that tournament and so I’m happy I have earned a spot.”

Liu, who just finished her second year at Princeton University in New Jersey, opened the Glencoe with a course record eight-under 64 that she called the round of her life.

“It was my career low,” she said. “Everything was going right that day. I had two chip-ins and I was lasering the flag with my shots. Everything was going down the middle and close to the hole. And then my putting was great, too. I didn’t realize I had shot a 64 until after the round.”

She finished the 54-hole event at seven-under par, tied with Toronto’s Michelle Xing. Liu won the subsequent sudden-death playoff on the first extra hole.

Liu has had an excellent first two years at Princeton. She won twice in her first year and added three more victories this past year. She will work hard the next two months preparing for the CPKC Women’s Open, which goes Aug. 24-27. She hopes she can use her intimate knowledge of Shaughnessy to her advantage.

“It could be an advantage or it could get into my head in that I know the course so well that maybe I should play well,” Liu said. “I am just glad to be playing with the pros. It will be my first pro event.”

Several other B.C. players performed well at the Glencoe. Vancouver’s Leah John and Lauren Kim of Surrey tied for third at six-under. Surrey’s Angela Arora tied for sixth at one-under par. Richmond’s Christine Wong finished 14th overall at six-over par, but won the pro division and earned $15,000.

On the men’s side, two-time B.C. Amateur champion Jackson Rothwell of Victoria tied for third at even par, four shots behind winner William Holan of Edmonton.

O'CANADA: A Quebecer won and a number of British Columbians had positive starts to their PGA Tour Canada seasons at the Royal Beach Victoria Open at Uplands Golf Club. Étienne Papineau of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., closed with a six-under 64 and won by five shots with a 72-hole score of 18-under par. Jared du Toit of Kimberley tied for fourth at 12-under after shooting a five-under 65 in Sunday’s final round.

Lawren Rowe of Victoria tied for 11th at 10-under. Other British Columbians who made the cut included Jeevan Sihota of Victoria and A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, who both tied for 37th at three-under, and Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald and Henry Lee of Coquitlam who both tied for 56th at even-par. PGA Tour Canada heads to northern Saskatchewan this week for the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open in Waskesui Lake.

OPEN SEASON: They made the cut, but Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin and Adam Svensson of Surrey didn’t have great weekends at the U.S. Open Championship. Hadwin, who closed with a four-over 74, finished 59th at 11-over par. Svensson, who shot a 76 on Sunday, finished tied for 60th at 12-over. Svensson will play in this week’s Travellers Championship in Cromwell, Ct. Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan of Merritt both missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

AMATEUR HOUR: A new champion will be crowned at this week’s B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship at Arbutus Ridge Golf Course in Cobble Hill. Vancouver’s Leah John, who has won the last two B.C. Women’s Amateurs, is not defending her titles this week. Players to watch include former B.C. Junior Girls champion Jennifer Gu of West Vancouver, Vancouver’s Angela Zhang, junior players Chelsea Truong of Victoria and Ha Young Chang of Surrey, and Nanoose Bay’s Shelley Stouffer, who has already won the B.C. Mid-Amateur, Mid-Master and Senior championships this spring.

STINSON SHARP: Mission’s Kevin Stinson stormed from behind to win the PGA Championship of Canada at Bigwin Island Golf Club in Ontario. Stinson trailed David Li Sheman by four shots heading into the final round of the rain-shortened event, but recorded six birdies and an eagle in his final round to tie Sheman at 11-under.

The Cheam Mountain teaching pro had to drain a 30-foot putt on the first extra hole to extend the playoff and then won it on the second extra hole with a two-putt par. The win was worth $11,000 to Stinson, who last year won the PGA of Canada Assistants Championship. “I’ve told myself a lot of times that I’ve come second too many times, so to get the win at the Assistants last year was amazing, and this is even cooler,” Stinson said. “A couple of wins is very nice.”

HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPS: St. Georges’s School of Vancouver won the B.C. High School Triple A Championships played earlier this month at Fairwinds Golf Course in Nanoose Bay. The Saints finished the event 12 shots ahead of Lord Byng of Vancouver and Bateman of Abbotsford. The individual winners were Elaine Liu of Lord Byng and Mack Sanderson of Ballenas.

Kwalikum of Qualicum Beach won the Double A tourney played at Arbutus Ridge Golf Club by seven shots over second-place Shawnigan Lake. Grace Yao and Justin Bjornson were the individual winners. Southridge School in Surrey won the Single A championship played at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum by 13 shots over Aberdeen Hall of Kelowna. Bonnie Zhai of Southridge and Tim Hatchey of Osoyoos took the individual titles.

WORLD CUP: There will be plenty of British Columbia content at this week’s Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan. Vancouver’s Michelle Liu and Yeji Kwon of Port Coquitlam are on Canada’s three-member girls team, which is being coached by Simon Fraser assistant Kattereya Kennedy. Kelowna’s Cooper Humphreys and Alex Zhang of Richmond are part of Canada’s four-member boys’ team.

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: Burnaby’s Luna Lu has qualified to play in this summer’s U.S. Junior Girls Championship. Lu, the reigning B.C. Junior Girls champion, shot an even-par 72 at a qualifier at the Oregon Golf Association Golf Course in Woodburn to earn one of four spots into the U.S. Junior Girls Championship, which goes July 17-22 at Colorado Springs, Colo.

NEW ADDITIONS: UBC coach Chris Macdonald has added two recruits to his men’s squad for the upcoming 2023-24 season. North Vancouver’s Manu Gandhi and Grady Chuback of Winnipeg have both signed letters of intent. Gandhi finished in the top 10 of last summer’s B.C. Amateur Championship, while Chuback was runner-up at last year’s Manitoba Junior Boys Championship.