By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It would be difficult to find another course in the province that has played host to more British Columbia Golf championship events the past two decades than Christina Lake Golf Club.

B.C. Juvenile and Junior championships, B.C. Senior Men’s and Women’s championships, the B.C. Mid-Amateur and B.C. Women’s Amateur have all been contested on the scenic layout. Now, Christina Lake is getting its biggest event as it prepares to play host to the 120th B.C. Amateur Championship, which goes July 12-15.

“This is the last one we haven’t held,” says Kevin Maffioli, the longtime general manager and director of golf at Christina Lake. “We have hosted a lot of events in the last 20 years, but this is obviously a big feather in our cap to be able to hold the B.C. Amateur.”

Maffioli says the club is always proud to answer the call when asked to play host to a British Columbia Golf Championship. “It gets your name out in the golfing circles in British Columbia and supporting British Columbia Golf is awesome,” he says.

“It’s very important because it’s your grassroots organization, it is the association for golf in B.C. and you need to support that avenue to grow the game and keep the game strong. So for us, it is enormously important to work with British Columbia Golf and any time they ask us to host something, to absolutely say yes.”

B.C. Amateur competitors will play a course that has two very distinct nines. The front nine was built in 1962 and features small, raised greens that have some slope. “The greens are smaller and they don’t look like they are very tricky, but they are,” says Maffioli.

“They are very subtle with the breaks. You miss the green by six inches and you can end up 30 feet away because of the raised greens. It can be hard to get up and down on them. But if you can get it on the green you are going to have a birdie chance because the greens aren’t massive on the front nine.”

The back nine — actually the last 10 holes — were designed by Les Furber and opened in 1986. Those holes are more tree-lined and tighter, placing an emphasis on keeping the ball in play off the tee.
“The front nine is all about iron play and the back nine is all about making sure you are in play,” Maffiioli says. “It’s like two different courses. Usually, the new side plays two shots easier than the front side.”

Doug Roxburgh, the 13-time winner who will be making his 55th appearance at the B.C. Amateur, won the 2014 B.C. Senior Men’s Championship at Christina Lake. “It is a fun golf course and I think the players are really going to enjoy it,” says Roxburgh, who has made the cut in 51 of his previous 54 starts at the B.C. Amateur. “The two different nines kind of make it unique, the old nine with greens that slope back to front on almost all of them and then the back nine through the trees which is totally different.”

If Christina Lake has a signature hole, it’s probably the par 3 9th hole that can play as long as 215 yards. “There’s water on the left and a bunker on the right, so that’s a really good, key hole,” Roxburgh says. “It’s one of the best par 3s in the province.”

At 6,760 yards from the tips, Christina Lake is not overly long by championship standards, Maffioli expects scores to be low. The men’s competitive course record of seven-under 65 could be in jeopardy. “It depends how they want to set it up,” Maffioli says. “I hope someone goes low, I love to see good golf and I hope we see somebody really light up the course. I wouldn’t be surprised to see course records this week considering the players who are coming.”

Players to watch include South Delta’s Jace Minni, who recently won the Washington State Men’s Amateur and the Vancouver City Amateur. The 20-year-old Minni is heading into his junior year at Gonzaga University in Spokane. 

Other favourites include: Kelowna’s Cooper Humphreys, who last month was part of Canada’s winning team at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan; 15-year-old Vernon resident Ryan Vest, who was runner-up at the recent B.C. Junior Boys Championship at Nk’Mip Canyon Desert Golf Course in Oliver; and Kamloops resident Brent Pound, who was runner-up at this year’s B.C. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Talking Rock Golf Course in Chase.

CHIP SHOTS: The 2021 B.C. Amateur champion, Nathan McCulloch of Kingston, Ont., will not be defending his title. . .Three past champions are in the field, including Roxburgh, Victoria’s Bryan Toth (2006) and Jackson Rothwell of Victoria (2019). . .Business is booming at Christina Lake. The course boasts more than 500 members and Maffioli says it logged a total of 15,000 rounds in April, May and June.