By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Winning seldom seems to come easy, something Jackson Rothwell can certainly attest to after capturing his second B.C. Amateur Championship title.

The 21-year-old from Victoria began the final round at Christina Lake Golf Club with a three-shot lead courtesy of a pair of 67s and a 66. The way Rothwell had played the first three rounds, it seemed unlikely he was going to be caught.

Except he was. And it didn’t take long. By the time Rothwell got to the fifth tee, that three-shot lead was history and he was instead down by two shots to Langley’s Caleb Davies.

It was a wake-up call of sorts for Rothwell, who bounced back nicely after double-bogeying the third hole and bogeying the fourth. He played two-under par the rest of the way and then beat Tony Li of Vancouver on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

There was nothing easy about the day.

“It was a bit frustrating,” Rothwell said of his early struggles. “A little bit of extra stress, but it went my way in the end, so I can’t complain. Tony played great to keep pushing me. I am glad to have the win. I would have liked to have had it in cleaner fashion, I think, but no complaints.”

Rothwell’s win comes three years after he captured the 2019 B.C. Amateur title at Big Sky Golf Club. He is the first multiple winner of the B.C Amateur since Abbotsford’s James Lepp won four straight titles starting in 2002.

“It’s amazing,” Rothwell said. “In recent years it hasn’t been done, so I am happy to have that second win. They were two very different experiences, that’s for sure. It’s an honour.”

Li and Rothwell both finished the 72-hole tournament at 15-under par, two strokes clear of Davies. The playoff ended on the first extra hole — the par 4 18th at Christina Lake. Li, who had closed with a clutch five-under 67, hit his approach shot — a six-iron into the wind from 185 yards — left and out of bounds. He went on to make a double-bogey.

“I had an uphill lie just right of the bunker and it just came out left and the wind kind of took it,” said Li, a 20-year-old who plays out of Marine Drive Golf Club. “Obviously, I didn’t expect it, but it is what it is.”

Once Rothwell saw Li hit his second shot OB, he played the rest of the hole cautiously. He missed a 12-footer for par and tapped in for bogey and the win, a victory that should impress his new coach at the University of San Francisco. Rothwell is transferring to the northern California NCAA Division I school after spending the past two years at Babson College, a private business (Division III) school in suburban Boston.

Li, who is heading into his second year at Emory University in Atlanta, said he will take plenty of positives from the week.

“I am really proud of what I did,” Li said. “Going into the week I was just looking for some progress. I am really proud of the way I hit the ball today and putted. To get into a playoff with Jackson, who is an awesome player, was amazing. It was a great week.”

Like he did in 2019 at Big Sky, Rothwell had his dad Alex walking alongside him as his caddie. “We like this event,” Rothwell said with a laugh.

Rothwell, Li and Davies, a 17-year-old who plays out of Newlands, will represent British Columbia in the Willingdon Cup competition at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, which will be played Aug. 1-4 at Point Grey Golf & Country Club in Vancouver and Seymour Golf & Country Club in North Vancouver.

Davies, who birdied three of his first four holes to take the lead, closed with an even-par 72 and finished at 13-under par.

Michael Crisologo of Richmond was alone in fourth place at 11-under par after closing with an even-par 72. Gavyn Knight of Parksville and James Kim of Vancouver tied for fifth at nine-under.

Thirteen-time winner Doug Roxburgh, who at age 70 fired a five-under 67 in the third round, closed with a one-under 71 and tied for 11th at six-under. It was Roxburgh’s best finish at a B.C. Amateur since he tied for sixth in 2012.

Delta’s John Morrow set a course record with a final round of eight-under 64. The 22-year-old Morrow, who is a member of the University of Victoria golf team, finished the week tied for 13th at five-under par.

Morrow chipped in for birdie on the first hole to start his record-setting round and rolled in a 30-foot putt for eagle on the par 5 fourth hole. His round, which included seven birdies, an eagle and one bogey, came after three rounds he wasn’t particularly happy with.

“It’s funny, because I was not too thrilled with my first round (a 71), my second round was even worse (74) and my mindset going into the third round was extremely bad. I ended up shooting another mediocre 74. But today I just really tried to play for fun and be confident and be happy with whatever happened. It worked out really well.”

A two-man better-ball competition was held this week. The team of Cooper Humphreys of Vernon and Gavyn Knight of Parksville won with a score of 35-under. That was one shot better than the runner-up team of Michael Crisologo of Richmond and Ryan Stolys of Burnaby.

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.

For complete final scoring click HERE.