When the 114th B.C. Amateur Golf Championship began its four-day run in Qualicum Beach this morning, the short list of favourites included a who’s who of top junior, collegiate, mid-amateur and senior golfers.
Parksville’s Ben Schow is not on that list, but he’s looking forward to his first championship after qualifying for a spot in a one-day, 18-hole supplemental qualifier at Pheasant Glen Golf Resort Sunday.
“I just started playing two years ago,” said Schow, 27, who works at Morningstar Golf Club and trains there with John Randle’s Golf Academy. “To go out and show what I’ve got is mind-blowing. My biggest challenge will be to keep my head on straight.”
Schow shot a 4-over-par 76 in Sunday’s qualifier to earn one of the 26 final spots available in the 156-player field for this week’s championship at Pheasant Glen. Greggory Palmer of Port Alberni, who trains at Pheasant Glen, also qualified with a 2-over-par 74.
Schow never played junior or college golf, and counted probably a dozen rounds to his name when he chucked a job as an audio engineer to move to Las Vegas in late summer of 2014. There, he trained at Butch Harmon’s Golf Academy under coach Shawn Callahan.
An Alberta native, Schow relocated to Vancouver Island early this year when the low Canadian dollar made his stay in the U.S. untenable.
“I needed a place I could play year-round, and a coach who was up to the calibre of coach I had before,” he said.
His biggest previous competition was the Zone 6 qualifier for the B.C. Am, held in May at Pheasant Glen. That was won by Kyler Bourgeault of Qualicum Beach, a product of the Pheasant Glen junior academy. Pheasant Glen club champion Brian De Biasio also qualified for the B.C. Am while joining Bourgeault on the Zone 6 squad for this week’s zone competition.
Schow, meanwhile, fell short, which made Sunday’s successful supplemental qualifier especially sweet.
“My ultimate goal is to play in the Canadian Amateur,” Schow said. “It’s a lofty goal, but you want to set your goals high.”
Among his competition this week will be four-time Canadian Amateur champion Doug Roxburgh of Vancouver, who will be playing in his 50th straight B.C. Amateur — and bidding for his 14th win.
Gord Melissa, Pheasant Glen manager and club pro, said Roxburgh and De Biasio are among the top senior contenders in a field made up largely of younger golfers.
“I think you’ll see a couple of the top juniors will be around at the end,” said Melissa, citing freshly minted B.C. Junior Boys champion Tristan Mandur of Mill Bay and A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam. The two battled head-to-head down the stretch of last week’s junior championship at Mandur’s home club.
“There will probably be a couple of dark horses I don’t know very well, in that first- or second-year university age group,” he added.
Other players with ties to Pheasant Glen competing on “home” turf this week include Matt Haddad and juniors Aidan Goodfellow, Jake Lane and Spencer Rhodes.
This will be the first B.C. Amateur Championship held at Pheasant Glen, which opened in 2005 and which has hosted women’s and junior championships, as well as last year’s Golf Canada Future Links Pacific tourney.
“This is the number one tournament we could have here,” said Melissa. “It’s got the biggest and strongest field. It’s a feather in our cap.”
The tournament will continue each day through Friday’s final round, and spectators are welcome. Pheasant Glen is located at 1025 Qualicum Rd.
To follow live tournament scoring, click here.
