By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

His first qualifying school was everything Justin Towill thought it might be, a nerve-wracking, emotional roller-coaster that left him physically and mentally drained.

It was the longest four days of Towill’s golfing life and it wasn’t quite over when the Kelowna native holed his final putt at Crown Isle Golf Resort in Courtenay. Towill now had to watch the leaderboard and wait.

The 23-year-old had finished the 72-hole test at seven-under par and stood solo 10th. The top nine players earned exempt status for the North American swing of the PGA Tour Americas circuit.

At best, he was hoping for a playoff. Turns out, he got something better than that. “I was watching the leaderboard pretty intently,” Towill said.

“I thought when I was on the course I had to get to eight-under. When I walked off the course I was in solo 10th and there were two or three guys who were one or two ahead of me still on the course. Honestly, I was just hoping for a playoff, but I guess one of the guys kind of stumbled down the stretch and I ended up solo ninth.”

It was a dream ending for the UBC-Okanagan graduate who won last fall’s Canada West Championship. “It’s unbelievable, it’s awesome,” Towill said. “Only being a pro for six months and just graduating university — my graduation ceremony was eight days ago — it is kind of amazing how quickly this has all happened. I am excited to get out there and try to compete with some really good players.”

The North American swing of the new PGA Tour Americas circuit begins with The Beachlands Victoria Open, which goes June 20-23 at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria. “Having more clarity on my summer and where I am going to get some starts is really nice, especially with this kind of competition in PGA Tour Americas events,” he said. “It’s going to be awesome.”

Towill experienced lots of those Q-school butterflies during the four days of competition at Crown Isle. “I think I am most proud of how there were a couple of moments out there, where a couple of years ago when I wasn’t as mentally strong, I would have stumbled more and not battled as hard. Obviously, in a 72-hole tournament with that much on the line you are going to have stretches that aren’t necessarily great and I think I did a good job of hanging in there and staying patient through them. Not making it worse than it had to be.”

The 22-year-old Towill was the leader of the UBC-Okangan golf team before graduating this past December and turning pro. UBC-Okanagan coach Clay Stothers was delighted to see Towill get through Q-school. “The whole team was going nuts following it on-line,” Stothers said. “Everyone was kind of losing their mind, so it was a pretty cool moment for us, for sure.

“Justin was our team leader. It’s hard not to get emotional talking about it. He came through our high school golf program that (fellow Kelowna-area pro) Conner Kozak and I taught, so we’ve known him since he was 15 or 16. He’s a dream leader, he was unbelievable as a teammate. Anything you needed from him, he’d do anything for the program. He was the perfect teammate, he was amazing for me to coach.”

CONDITIONAL STATUS: Jake Lane (T21) of Charlie Lake, B.C. and Victoria’s Jeevan Sihota (T25) both earned conditional status at the Crown Isle Q-school. Unfortunately, they are not likely to earn any starts with those numbers. Sihota, however, does have a sponsor’s exemption into this week’s The Beachlands Victoria Open.

GLENCOE WINNERS: Surrey’s Lauren Kim and Vancouver’s Ilirian Zalli were winners at the Glencoe Invitational in Calgary. Kim won the women’s division with an impressive 10-under par total in the 54-hole event. Kim, the reigning Canadian Women’s Amateur champion who is heading into her sophomore year at the University of Texas, beat Vancouver’s Anna Huang by two shots. Their finishes at the Glencoe earned Kim and Huang exemptions into the LPGA Tour’s CPKC Women’s Open, which goes July 25-28 at Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary.

It will be Kim’s second straight appearance at the tournament, which was played last year at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver. “I always love the challenge of trying to qualify to get into an LPGA Tour event and being able to play in it again is very fun,” Kim said. It’s our home event and getting to represent Canada and play in front of my home country and all the fans, it’s really exciting and fun.” Zalli won the men’s pro division at the Glencoe, defeating Calgary’s Brendan MacDougall in a playoff. Both players had finished the event at eight-under par.The win was worth $15,000 to Zalli, a former B.C. Junior Boys and Vancouver Open champion. Richmond’s Chris Crisologo tied for third at three-under par.

Two UBC Thunderbirds finished in the top five in the men’s amateur category at the Glencoe. Richmond’s Mackenzie Bickell was solo second at even-par, one shot behind winner Jacob Chicoyne of Calgary. West Vancouver’s Manu Gandhi was fourth at three-over. Delta’s Russell Howlett, a former UBC Thunderbird who now plays for Cal State Fullerton, was third at one-over par. Delta’s Mary Parsons was fourth in the women’s pro division at one-over par, six shots behind winner Josee Doyon of Saint-Georges, Que. Parsons earned $3,500.

OLYMPIC HEARTBREAK: The U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina turned into an Olympic heartbreaker for Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin. Corey Conners’ tie for ninth finish moved him one spot ahead of Hadwin in the Official World Golf Rankings and Conners will join Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor as Canada’s two male players at the Summer Games in Paris. Taylor and Hadwin both missed the cut at the U.S. Open. Surrey’s Adam Svennson tied for 56th at 12-over par and made $45,197. Taylor, Hadwin and Svensson are all in the field for this week’s Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Ct.

CHIP SHOTS: Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald, who is currently fourth on the PGA Tour Americas points list, is missing this week’s The Beachlands Victoria Open to attend his brother’s wedding. . .JP Kahlert’s fine play at the Canadian University/College Championship for the UBC Thunderbirds has earned the Maple Ridge native an invitation to play in this summer’s World University Championships in Kuortane-Seinajoki, Finland in late August. . .Kimberley’s Jared du Toit tied for 68th at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open.