By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Par is not your friend at the 120th B.C. Amateur Championship at Christina Lake Golf Club. Birdies are what’s needed to contend for the title. Lots of them.

Heading into the final round, six players are already double-digits under par. Everyone is chasing Victoria’s Jackson Rothwell, who is well positioned to win what would be his second B.C. Amateur.

After opening the tournament with a pair of 67s, Rothwell knew he could not be complacent. So the 21-year-old went even lower in the third round, shooting a six-under 66. As good as that round was, it only extended Rothwell’s lead by one shot as most of the other contenders were also lighting it up.

Rothwell enters the final round at 16-under, three shots clear of Mike Valk of Medicine Hat, Alta., and Langley’s Caleb Davies. Rothwell liked everything about his round except the finish. “My last two holes were pretty disappointing,” he said. “I missed an eight-foot putt for birdie on 17 and three-putted from 25 feet for bogey on 18.”

Before that little wobble, Rothwell had played splendidly. He opened the day draining a 25-foot putt for birdie on the first hole. His round included four other birdies and an eagle — his third of the week — on the par 4 14th. “They had the tees up on 14 to make it a drivable par 4,” Rothwell said. “My drive was just short and I chipped it in from about 15 feet.”

Rothwell is making a big change in his collegiate golfing life. After two years at Babson College, a private NCAA Division III business school, Rothwell is transferring to the University of San Francisco this fall. He won the 2019 B.C. Amateur title at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton and would love to win it a second time before embarking on his new life in NCAA Division I golf. “It would be great to win again,” he said.

“Obviously it would be nice to show my new coach that I can play well and win. That would be great. But mainly I would just love to win again because this is a great event.” His two closest pursuers also shot 66s in the third round. Davies, a 17-year-old who plays out of Newlands in Langley, bogeyed the 18th hole. “Drove it into the trees,” Davies said. “But it was a great day. I made a lot of putts, so I can’t be mad about that one mistake.”

Davies’ round included seven birdies and an eagle on the par 5 fourth hole. “I hit my drive down the left side and I had 215 in,” said Davies, who is heading into Grade 12 at Langley Fine Arts School. “I was between a hybrid and 4-iron. I hit the 4-iron as hard as I could and I made about a 10-footer for eagle.”

Like many in the field, Davies has been feasting on the par 5s at Christina Lake. “The par 5s are definitely gettable out here,” he said. “I played the par 5s five-under today. That is really what got me to the finish line.” Valk, a member of the University of B.C. golf team, had eight birdies and two bogeys en route to his 66. He won the 2020 Alberta Men’s Amateur and is looking to add a B.C. title.

“I would love nothing more than that,” he said. “I am thinking about turning pro next year, so I figured I might as well play as many amateur events as I could and the directors here were nice enough to give me an exemption.”

Delta’s Jace Minni, who recently won the Washington State Men’s Amateur, is tied for fourth at 11-under with Michael Crisologo of Richmond. Vancouver’s Tony Li is sixth at 10-under par. North Vancouver’s Hudson LaFayette equalled the competitive course record with a seven-under 65 that left him tied for 10th at eight-under.

Thirteen-time winner Doug Roxburgh fired a five-under 67 to better his age by three. Roxburgh enters the final round tied for 15th at five-under.

A 36-hole Zone competition held concurrently with the B.C. Amateur was won by the Zone 4 team of Jace Minni of Delta, John Morrow of Delta, Hudson Lafayette of North Vancouver and Nathan Szpakowicz of Vancouver. Their score of nine-under par was two shots better than the Zone 2 team of Jeffrey Barkun of Kelowna, Kyle Mayner of Kelowna, Justin Towill of Kelowna and Cory Hilditch of Penticton. 

Click HERE for complete scoring and HERE for final round tee times.