By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Her scorecard, which Lauren Kim will undoubtedly cherish for the rest of her life, shows that she made a two on Augusta National Golf Club’s par 3 16th hole.

Kim will always remember how close that two was to being a one.

“I had the crowd roaring,” the 18-year-old Surrey native said of her tee shot that landed on the slope right of the pin and then slowly rolled down toward the hole.

The spectators and Kim tried to will the ball into the hole, but it rolled over the top edge of the cup. Kim made her three-footer for birdie and went on to shoot a one-under 71 in the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

“I hit my 5-iron,” Kim said of her shot on 16. “There was a bit of a head wind and we were playing it at 165 (yards). I actually hit it a little left of where my caddie told me to aim. He said, let’s go a little right of one of the TV towers, and I decided to go right at it. When I hit it I looked at my caddie and said, is that okay?”

It was more than okay.

“We could see it was a really good shot and we watched it hit the green and we were like, 'that should be good,' and then it just slowly started to come back toward the hole and everyone was like, go in!”

That was just one of many memories for Kim, who tied for 14th at two-over par, 10 shots behind winner Lottie Woad of England. After making the 36-hole cut on the number (three-over par), Kim was the first player out in the final round of the 54-hole event. She had to play as a single, which was a new experience for her in tournament golf.

“I enjoyed it, honestly, it was a really fast round,” Kim said. “I was just able to play my own game and I am not a slow player, so that was nice. The girl I was playing with as my marker was from a local college. We would tee off together and if she didn’t feel like finishing the hole because she was in a bunker or hit a bad shot she would pick up which really helped the pace of play.

“I would say almost every shot was memorable. I was the first to hit on every single hole, off every tee box. The first tee was fun as well. I don’t think I realized how many people would be there. All the members were there and I kind of saw Annika’s (Sorenstam) face behind the tee box. It was pretty cool.”

Kim was proud to have made it to the final round. The first two rounds were played at nearby Champions Retreat Golf Club and the 72-player field was cut to the top 30 and ties after 36 holes. “Champions Retreat is a good test,” she said.

“The entire week was just overall a great experience. I got to play against some of the best players, see some old friends, make some new ones and have a good old time competing at Augusta National. Getting to play that competitive round at Augusta was quite the accomplishment.”

Kim’s one-under 71 was one of only nine sub-par rounds recorded in the final round at Augusta National. In addition to that birdie on No. 16, Kim also birdied the sixth and 17th holes at Augusta National.

School work now beckons for Kim, who is nearing the end of her freshman year at the University of Texas. She is skipping her next collegiate event to concentrate on her studies. “I have a lot of school to catch up on,” Kim said. “I just emailed one of my professors and I was like, hey, I might need an extension on my extension. I know the next few weeks are going to be really busy. I’ve got final exams coming up, too.”

OFF TO AUGUSTA: Abbotsford natives Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin skipped last week’s Valero Texas Open and have headed to Augusta, Ga., for this week’s Masters tournament. Hadwin has made the cut in two of his three previous appearances at the Masters. He tied for 36th in 2017 and tied for 24th in 2018. He missed the cut in 2020. Taylor tied for 29th in his lone Masters appearance in 2019. Surrey’s Adam Svensson did play the Texas Open and tied for 51st. Svensson finished at even-par, 19 shots behind winner Akshay Bhatia. Svensson made $21,998. Merritt’s Roger Sloan missed the cut.

SAUDI BOUND: Kimberley’s Jared du Toit tied for 52nd at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club in Savannah, Ga. Du Toit finished the tournament at one-under par, 13 shots behind winner Steven Fisk of Atlanta. Du Toit, who earned just over $4,000, now stands 71st on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and should benefit from a reshuffle that occurs later this month. He began the season with conditional status and got into the Georgia event after tying for eighth at the tour’s previous event in Chile. Du Toit also has status on the Asian Tour and is entered in that circuit’s Saudi Open in Riyadh, which goes April 17-20.

TOP FIVE FOR ZHAI: Surrey’s Bonnie Zhai, a freshman at Harvard University, finished fifth at the Dolores Black Falcon Invitational in Bowling Green, OH. It was a season-best finish for Zhai, who was competing as an individual for Harvard at the 36-hole event. Zhai, a graduate of Southridge School in Surrey, shot rounds of 72 and 73 to finish at one-over par. That was six shots behind winner Jenny Shin of Pennsylvania. Zhai will have some British Columbia company at Harvard this fall when Michelle Liu and Vanessa Zhang, both of Vancouver, join the Ivy League school.

B.C. CONTENT: There was lots of British Columbia content at Seattle University’s Redhawk Invitational, which was played last week at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash. Simon Fraser University’s men’s team tied for 13th in the 18-team event that featured a large number of NCAA Division 1 teams. The University of the Fraser Valley was 15th, the University of B.C. tied for 16th and the University of Victoria was 18th. The top British Columbia individual finishers were UBC’s Mackenzie Bickell and Eli Green of UFV, who tied for 24th at two-over par.

PLAYOFF WINNER: Former University of Victoria standout Lawren Rowe captured the first event of the Vancouver Golf Tour’s summer schedule. Rowe, now a regular on the PGA Tour Americas circuit, beat Victoria’s Jeevan Sihota in a playoff to win the Gatekeepers Systems Open at Mayfair Lakes in Richmond. Both players had finished the 36-hole event at two-under par. Rowe earned $3,500 for the win, while Sihota took home $2,300.

CHIP SHOTS: Kelowna’s Megan Osland finished seventh at the Northshore Championship, the season-opening event on the Annika Women’s All Pro Tour in Mandeville, La. . .Congratulations to Brian Kruhlak, an alumni of the University of B.C. golf team, who recently retired after spending the past 13 years as director of golf at Sudden Valley Golf Course in Bellingham. Kruhlak, an Edmonton native, had spent the previous 18 years as head pro at Avalon Golf Links in Burlington, Wash.