By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

South Delta’s Jace Minni is having himself quite the summer. A couple weeks ago, Minni shot a nine-under 63 at Kings Links in Delta and followed that up with a five-under 66 at his home course, Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen, to win the Vancouver City Amateur by five shots.

This past week, Minni followed that up by winning the Washington State Amateur Championship at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland, Wash.

The 20-year-old Minni, who just finished his sophomore year at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., would like nothing more than to make it a hat trick of sorts by winning the B.C. Amateur Championship, which goes July 12-15 at Christina Lake Golf Course.

“That would be amazing,” Minni said. “That is the goal. My head is pretty loaded right now and hopefully I can calm it down. I am just going to go out and try and shoot four rounds under par and play well.”

Minni closed with a four-under 68 at the Washington State Amateur and won by one shot over Max Herendeen of Bellevue, Wash. The two played together in the final round and both holed shots for eagle on the second hole.

“I had 124 yards into the second hole and I holed it,” Minni said. “I hadn’t holed a shot in a tournament probably since I was 15, so I was going nuts. And he was going, ‘nice shot, way to go.’ And then 30 seconds later he makes it right on top of me from 110 yards. It was wild.”

Minni, whose dad, Scott, is a four-time PGA of BC champion and noted instructor, is hoping a strong summer will set him up for a big junior year at Gonzaga. “My junior year is big for me,” he said. “I really want to make an impact. The past two years I have really been easing my way into the lineup and recording maybe a top-40 finish. This year, I am really excited to try and make something special happen.”

Minni, a past B.C. Juvenile Boys champion, has played only one round at Christina Lake and that was several years ago. He plans to head there early to get in two practice rounds before the tournament starts.

NICE TOUCH: Dave George, the longtime general manager of Nk’mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver, provided a nice touch for two competitors who set course records at last week’s B.C. Junior Girls Championship. 

Langley’s Amy Lee opened the tournament with a course record four-under 69 in the first round. That record lasted all of 24 hours as Richmond’s Tina Jiang shot a six-under 67 in the second round. George had beautiful plaques made up recognizing their accomplishments and presented them to Lee and Jiang during the event’s closing ceremonies.

TOP 25: Surrey’s Adam Svensson tied for 24th at the John Deere Classic in Silvas, Ill. Svensson closed with an even-par 71 to finish the tournament at 11-under par. That was 10 shots behind winner J.T. Poston. Svensson earned $57,865 and moved up two spots to 98th on the FedEx Cup points list. 

The Abbotsford duo of Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin both missed the cut. Taylor now stands 114th on the points list, while Hadwin is 47th. Merritt’s Roger Sloan withdrew after shooting an 81 in the first round. He dropped to 176th on the points list. Sloan and Svensson are both in the field for this week’s Barbasol Championship in Nicholasville, Ky.

Taylor has headed across the pond and will play in the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, Scotland.

POOL TIME: Entries are now being accepted for the Vancouver Resource Society’s annual British Open pool. The 150th Open Championship goes July 14-17 at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. Pool entries are $25 each or five for $100. The top 100 entries earn cash prizes.

First place receives $7,000. Pool proceeds help the VRS provide accessible housing for persons with disabilities, seniors and families. Entries are available at vrsgolfpool.org.

LIFE OF RILEY: Riley Wheeldon of Comox tied for 34th at the Prince Edward Island Open on PGA Tour Canada. Wheeldon carded a final round of two-under 70 to finish the event at eight-under par, 11 shots behind winner Brian Carlson of Madison, Ct. The next PGA Tour Canada event is the Osprey Valley Open in Caledon, Ont., which goes July 21-24.

CHIP SHOTS: Richmond’s Christine Wong and Burnaby’s Euna Han both tied for 15th at the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada in Bromont, Que. . .Finlay Young of GolfTEC Kelowna shot a two-under 69 to win an Interior PGA Tour event at Okanagan Golf Club’s Quail course. . .Peter Kenneford of Creston Golf Club shot a two-under 70 to win a Kootenay Pro Tour event at St. Eugene Golf Resort.