Tee 2 Green with Barry Sharpe - - June 30/09

At the age of 56, Surrey, BC's Norm Jarvis narrowly missed qualifying for the USGA Senior Open championship Monday at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. Now into his 35th season as a club professional and PGA Touring veteran In Canada, the U.S. and Asia, Jarvis finished (37-36) 2-over par and tied for fourth in a field of 76 seniors looking for two openings. Jarvis missed drawing into the tournament by four shots.

Bellview, Wa. Amateur Tom Brandes, a member of Rainier Golf and Country Club in Seattle, led the field with 3-under 68 while Blaine, Wa. teaching pro Jeff Coston from Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club, carded a 69. Brandes and Coston will join 154 others at the U.S. Senior Open when it tees off July 27 – August 2 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.

Tied for 14th at (40-35) 4-over par was Ray Stewart of Abbotsford, BC while another shot back at (39-37) 76 was Tsawwassen, BC's Daryl Stubbs.

Marine Drive GC Head Professional Tim Tait of Vancouver shot (41-38) 79 over Bellingham's  6,561-yard, par 71 layout.

This is one of 42 sites in the U.S. where anyone who is 50 or older and has a USGA Handicap Index of 3.4 or lower (or be a professional) can earn one of 75 non-exempt spots in the 156-player field. This year the USGA accepted 2,718 entries.

Editor's Note:
It was on November 23, 2004 when Norm Jarvis first qualified for the Champions PGA Tour and BC Golf News captured the excitement Norm and his son, Matthew experienced shortly after leaving the course at Q-School in Florida. It was also the first audio on demand broadcast presented by BC Golf News in our inaugural year of daily news on the internet.

AUDIO INTERVIEW WITH NORM JARVIS - CHAMPIONS TOUR

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In Sectional Qualifying at Gold Mountain's Olympic Course in Bremerton, WA, for the U.S. Junior Boys Amateur, British Columbia's Yung Gu (Justin) Shin fired a 141 and Charlie Hughes carded 143 to win the only two spots open in their field.

In Spokane, WA, Zach Wanderscheid of Goldendale, WA won the one spot open by a single stroke; at Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, N.J. Canada's Brandon Ng qualified; in Auburn Hills, MI, Yosuke Asaji came all he way from Japan and took medalist honours. Six shots behind and also qualifying were Canadians Anthony Dadamo and Zachary Kempa who tied for second at 145; in Union, Kentucky, Stephane Dubois of Quebec shot 146 to capture one of thee spots open.

At Laurel Golf Club in Missoula, Montana,16-year-old Brian Jung of Coquitlam (73-74-147) tied for second at 3-over and then had to win a in a one-hole playoff just to earn first alternate status. However, let's not forget that John Daly was once a ninth alternate in 1991, the year he Joined the PGA TOUR, got a last minute call to play in the PGA Championship and won it. The  rest, as they say, is history.

Here is the latest list of Canadian girls who have qualified:  Michelle Lee, Brittany Marchand, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Augusta James, Eleyse Archambault, Vivian Tsui and Soobin kim.

Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., will host the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior Championships July 20-25.

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Brigham Young University junior Brady Johnson, from Mill Bay, B.C., named to the Academic All-Mountain West Conference team for the spring semester sports, has also been honored by the Golf Coaches Association of America by being named to the PING West Region team. He finished the season by qualifying for an individual spot at the NCAA West Regional and scoring 13-over-par at the NCAA Championships.

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After winning medalist honours at the NCAA championship, one of the perks for National Amateur Team member Matt Hill of Bright's Grove, ON, will be joining Mike Weir this week in the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

In his junior year at North Carolina State, Hill won seven of eight NCAA tournaments, including the NCAA individual title and was also awarded the Jack Nicklaus Trophy, given annually since 1988 to the best college players in NCAA Division I, II and III.

Other top tour pros set to take on Congressional include: defending tournament champion Anthony Kim; recently crowned U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover; former 2-time RBC Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk; 2008 U.S. Amateur champion Danny Lee and the tournament host himself.

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Proving his love for being a Canadian citizen is not just for tax purposes, Calgary's most famous golfer, Stephan Ames, has elected to sit out this week's PGA TOUR event and, instead, celebrate Canada Day in Windermere, BC putting on a golf clinic at the Eagle Ranch golf course. After a corn roast will come the fireworks, launched from the Fairmont Hot Springs Lodge at dusk.