Tee 2 Green with Barry Sharpe - June 7, 2010

Although he wasn't on hand for it, North Vancouver's Eugene Wong was named one of five Jack Nicklaus Award winners Sunday morning during the annual Memorial Tournament presentation hosted by Nicklaus. Named with Wong were Brett Munson from north Alabama, Tain Lee from Claremont McKenna, Justin Lower from Malone, and Abraham Ancer from Odessa College.

A sophomore at the University of Oregon, Wong was previously named to the PING All- America First-Team. He's a Pac-10 Co-Golfer of the Year and first team All Pac-10. He captured medalist honors twice this season at the USC Collegiate Invitational in the 64th Annual Western Intercollegiate. He also had a pair of runner-up finishes and placed third twice. He also had three other showings in the top 10 and only finished outside of the top 20 twice. Most recently, he tied for ninth at the NCAA Championships and helped the Oregon Ducks advance to the NCAA semifinals, highlighted by his stunning extra-hole triumph over Abbotsford, B.C.'s Nick Taylor, a senior at the University of Washington. (Photo: Eugene Wong - U of Oregon)

Addressing all the Award winners, Nicklaus said:
"Let me just say to these young men that every year, guys, we've had award winners from college come in here and receive their awards, and there's quite a few of them playing in this tournament here this year.

Through the years, those guys have developed, become good players, good citizens, and really carried the game of golf and carried it the right way. So congratulations to you. We wish you much luck.

I want you to go, along with that luck, play some good golf. And we'll be watching your career. Good luck to you."

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Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C. might have been satisfied with having his 89-yard shot for an eagle count as the shot of the day at the par-four third hole ln the final round of the Canadian Tour's Times Colonist Open Sunday at Uplands Golf Course, but for good measure he pulled off the exact same shot on the 16th hole from 89 yards on his way to a course-record 9-under par 61 that bumped him from T20 place to a T4 and a payday worth $11,000.

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There was quite an east/west connection for some staff members from The University of B.C. and University of Victoria during this past week's Canadian University/College Championships played out at the Kingswood golf club in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Chris Macdonald, 37, now in his 10th season as head coach of the UBC Men's and Women's Thunderbirds golf teams, was understandably proud when his girls took the Women's title for the third year in a row and seventh time in the eight year history of the event. It was a moment he got to share with his parents, relatives and other friends in the city he grew up and just down the road from the Fredericton Golf Club where he honed his own game as an eight-year-old en route to becoming an Associate Golf Professional at Vancouver's Shaugnessy Golf Club. He'll also be returning to Fredericton in August for the wedding of his sister.

Clint Hamilton, the 44-year-old Director of Athletics for the UVic Vikes, was formally the men's basketball coach and AD at the University of New Brunswick. A native of Armstrong, B.C., Hamilton was a member of the Vikes 1983-84 National Men's Basketball championship team before becoming the head coach of the UNB Varsity Reds men's basketball team at age 27. His oldest son, Jake, was born in Fredericton, first learned to play golf on the Kingswood course and this past Monday got to celebrate his 14th birthday in the city where he was born.
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The Annual General Meeting of the BC Golf House Society is scheduled for 7 PM Thursday, June 24 at the BC Golf House, 2545 Blanca Street, Vancouver. Those wishing to attend should RSVP to 604-222-4653

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Salmon Arm Secondary, with team members Cody Bell, Joey Meraw, Matthew Mihal, Kowan O'Keefe and Karson O'Keefe, won their first ever 'AAA' BC Highschool Golf Championship and with it the Fresh Egg Cup. Kwalikum Secondary in Qualicum finished second followed by Gleneagle in Coquitlam.

Held at Shuswap Lake Estates Golf & Country Club, St. Thomas More Secondary School in Burnaby claimed the 'AA' title and Kelowna's Immaculata captured the 'A' crown.

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Canadian amateur sensation Matt Hill, the defending NCAA champ[ion, elected to forgo his final year of college for a shot at professional golf and played on a sponsor's exemption in Jack Nicklaus' Memorial tournament this past week . . . and missed the cut by three shots. He wasn't alone. So did Wayburn, Saskatchewan's Graham DeLaet -- by one -- and so did the only other pro from Bright's Grove, Ont., 2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir, by seven strokes.

Weir's had a tough time this season. He'd played in 13 tournaments and made nine cuts but he's only earned $500,800 with one Top 10 finish. In his last two seasons he pocketed over five million dollars.

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Did you know that the PGA TOUR, the richest golf tour in the world -- providing million dollar first prize cheques to winners nearly every week -- is regarded as a tax-exempt membership organization of professional golfers. The mission of the PGA TOUR is to expand domestically and internationally to substantially increase player financial benefits while maintaining its commitment to the integrity of the game. Meanwhile, the RCGA, also a tax exempt organization, is going broke trying to stage the Canadian Open while at the same time trying to grow the game in Canada. That's why the RCGA rebranded it's name to Golf Canada and is pleading with golfers to pony up and become members, even if these new golfers don't play in tournaments, don't belong to clubs or have a need for a handicap.

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When the 2010 U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links tees off between June 17-20 NBC and ESPN will provide more than 30 hours of live television coverage.