By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Kimberley’s Jared du Toit and Chris Crisologo of Richmond both played their way into PGA Tour Canada’s season-ending Fortinet Cup Championship and Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald recorded his ninth hole-in-one. 

Those were the British Columbia highlights of the $200,000 GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf & Country Club in Kelowna. Du Toit tied for 18th at 14-under par and Crisologo tied for 45th at nine-under.

Those finishes were enough to keep them inside the top 60 on the points list, which also makes them fully exempt for the 2023 PGA Tour Canada season.

The Fortinet Cup Championship goes Sept. 15-18 in Kitchener, Ont. Du Toit enters that tournament 42nd on the points list. Crisologo is 48th. 

Macdonald had the shot of the GolfBC Championship when he aced the par 3 13th hole at Gallagher’s in Sunday’s final round. It was Macdonald’s ninth ace and third in competition. It came with his wife Carly on the bag as his caddie. 

A PGA Tour Canada media staffer happened to be on site when Macdonald dunked his eight-iron from 188 yards and captured some wonderful photos, including one with a look of pure joy on Carly’s face. “She kept her mouth open for like 20 seconds,” Macdonald said with a laugh. “It was so funny.”

Macdonald, who just lost his status on the Korn Ferry Tour, finished tied for 18th at 14-under par. He now heads to the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school next week in Texas. Du Toit also dunked a shot in the final round. He eagled the par 4 second at Gallagher’s when he holed a gap wedge from 130 yards.

Macdonald and Crisologo are playing the first stage of the Korn Ferry Tour school later this month, while du Toit is heading overseas to play the DK World Tour (formerly European Tour) Q-school. He will be competing at a first-stage site on the northwest coast of France in early October.

Du Toit acknowledged that cost is a factor. The Korn Ferry Tour Q-school costs $6,500 US, while the DK World Tour is 2,000 British pounds (or about $3,000 Cdn).

GOOD-WIN: The GolfBC Championship was won by 22-year-old Texan Noah Goodwin, who staged an epic final round battle with Scott Stevens of Chattanooga, Tenn. Goodwin won it on the 72nd hole when he sunk a five-foot birdie putt to finish at 23-under par, one shot better than Stevens, who won the season-opening PGA Tour Canada event at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria. 

Goodwin is the first multiple winner this season. He won the Sotheby’s International Realty Canada Ontario Open in late July. He earned $36,000 for his GolfBC Championship win and is now third on the points list. “It was an absolute dogfight out there between me and Scott,” Goodwin said. “I know we were both loving every second of it.”

CUP WINNERS: The PGA of Canada team of Kevin Stinson of Cheam Mountain in Chilliwack, Pierre-Alexandre Bedard of Royal Quebec Golf Club, Branson Ferrier of Vespra Hills Golf Club and Gordon Burns of Newmarket, Ont., won the inaugural Four Nations Cup at Kyalami Country Club in Johannesburg, South Africa. Canada finished on top with 20 points. Australia was second with 16 points, followed by South Africa with 14 points and New Zealand with 10 points. It was a Ryder Cup style competition featuring singles and fourball matches. 

BACK TO KORN FERRY: Merritt’s Roger Sloan will spend 2023 playing the Korn Ferry Tour. Sloan made the cut at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship, the last of three KFT Finals events, but he withdrew after three rounds. He needed a finish of solo eighth or better to claim one of the 25 PGA TOUR cards that were up for grabs. Sloan finished the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season ranked 160th on the FedEx Cup points list, so will not have any status for the 2022-23 PGA TOUR season.

CHASING ITALY: The Canadian team of A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont., and Johnny Travale of Hamilton finished 18th at the World Amateur Team Championships in France. Canada completed the team competition at nine-under par, 22 shots behind the winning team from Italy. Ewart had the best score among the Canadians. He tied for 40th in the individual competition at two-under par. Tobias Jonsson of Sweden won the individual title with a score of 17-under.

NORTHVIEW WINNER: Steven Lecuyer of the Seymour Creek Golf Centre in North Vancouver won the Vancouver Golf Tour’s Lafarge Open at Northview Golf Club in Surrey. Lecuyer finished the 36-hole event at seven-under par, two shots better than Kaleb Gorbahn of Marine Drive and Fraserview’s Ilirian Zalli. Lecuyer took home $2,400 for the win. Zalli and Gorbahn each made $1,400.

CLOSE SECOND: Vancouver’s Michelle Liu finished second at the Buick Shanshan Feng AJGA Girls Invitational at the Streamsong Resort’s Black Course in Bowling Green, Fla. Liu, the 2020 B.C. Women’s Amateur champion, finished the 54-hole event at 12-under par, one shot behind winner Elizabeth Rudisill of Charlotte, N.C. B.C. Junior Girls champion Luna Lu of Burnaby tied for 12th at three-under. Vanessa Zhang of Vancouver tied for 29th at three-over and Martina Yu of Coquitlam tied for 44th at seven-over.

CHIP SHOT: B.C. Senior Men’s champion Sandy Harper of Nanaimo and 2020 champion Norm Bradley of Kelowna are among a large contingent of British Columbians playing in this week’s Canadian Senior Men’s Championship at Red Deer Golf & Country Club in Alberta.