- British Columbia Golf photo
Charlie Hughes capped off a memorable week
with a thrilling playoff victory over Adam
Svensson to take home the Bostock Cup as the
111th BC Amateur champion at the Copper Point
Golf Club in Invermere, British Columbia.
Coming into today's final round, the 21-year-old
Langley resident and recent University of
Washington Husky graduate, sat one stroke back
of Victoria's Kevin Carrigan. After starting his
round with an early birdie on the second hole,
Hughes would bookend back-to-back birdies on
holes five and six with bogeys on holes four and
seven to make the turn at one-under-par.
Hughes would make make another birdie on the
par 5 12th hole on the par 70, 6807 yard Copper
Point Golf Club to get his round to two under.
"I birdied my 12th hole to get it to two under for
the day and I knew I was in really good shape,"
said Hughes.
"And then things kinda got ugly."
Hughes walked onto the 14th tee with the
knowledge that he had amassed a lead just he
wasn't sure how much. He would make bogeys on
holes 14 and 15, bringing a mounting Svensson
back into the mix after a Carrigan falter on holes
10 and 11 seemingly dropped him out of
contention and made it a two player race.
"I had three holes left [starting 16] and was one
or two shots ahead and Svensson was making
birdies ahead of me," claimed Hughes.
"I made a bad bogey on 17 then made a 12 foot
downhill slider on 18 to get into the playoff. I
didn't know if I was going to get into the playoff or
not so that was a big relief when I walked up the
hill [and made it]."
Hughes would post a final round even par 70, -12
total for the Championship (68-69-65-70-272).
Svensson, a Team Canada Development Squad
member from Surrey, had been working his way
up the leader board all day. He made the turn in
three-under-par and would finish birdie-birdie on
holes 17 and 18 to post 65 on the day and -12
overall (71-68-69-65-272).
As the excitement was unfolding, Carrigan was
unfortunately faltering in his bid for the trophy. A
bogey on 10 and a triple bogey on 11 dropped
him as far down the board as eight-under. He
would finish in class however with a birdie on hole
15 and a 15 foot eagle putt on his final hole in
front of a swath of spectators overlooking the
18th green.
Both Svensson and Hughes, sitting tied at -12
after regulation play, would head to the 18th hole
to begin the sudden death playoff hole. Svensson,
hitting first with a driver that would end up in a
perfect position, put the pressure on Hughes.
Asked what was going through his head on the
first hole after seeing Svensson's drive, Hughes
talked about his confidence and a little
gamesmanship.
"He picked up his tee right away and kind of did
the leg kick so I thought I would do the same. I
hit a 3-wood because I was't driving the ball too
well but then I hit a great 3-iron onto the green
and a really good 2 putt from long range."
Both players made tap-in birdies after long range
two putts and would head to the par 4, 369 yard
downhill 17th hole with the Bostock Trophy on the
line.
After Svensson hit a towering draw that landed in
the green side bunker, Hughes wanted to follow
suit but was stopped by his player-turned-caddy
and incoming University of Washington Husky
freshman Kevin Kwon of Maple Ridge. Kwon had
finished play for the day and was hanging around
to watch the excitement unfold.
"I didnt have a caddy all week and Kevin offered
for the playoff," mentioned Hughes.
"Adam was in pretty good shape in the bunker
and I really wanted to hit driver and turn things
around. Kevin made the right call. I guess I gotta
thank him maybe more than anyone. I hit a great
3-wood there, an okay pitch and buried a 20
footer."
Hughes, with the help of Kwon, hit his birdie putt
directly in the heart of the hole and putt the
pressure on Svensson with his third consecutive
birdie dating back to regulation play.
Svensson pitched out of the bunker to 15 feet and
left himself with a putt to keep the playoff going
and try to win his second BC Amateur title.
Unfortunately for Svensson, he would miss his
putt on the short side, allowing Hughes to breath
a sigh of relief as Amateur champion.
Asked how it felt to join the likes of Doug
Roxburgh on the Bostock Trophy, Hughes realized
how impressive the history of this Championship
is in respect to golf in British Columbia.
"There are a lot of great champions on this trophy
and I have kind of snuck my name on one piece
there, one slot, so it feels good."
Finishing in solo third at -11 (70-62-69-72-273)
thanks to great play throughout the week was
Carrigan. He will now join Hughes and Svensson
on Team BC heading to the 2013 Canadian Men's
Amateur Championship at the Royal Colwood Golf
Club and Gorge Vale Golf Club in Victoria on
August 6-9.
Asked what the golfing world should expect
heading to Victoria, Hughes was confident in the
teams' potential on home turf.
"We really want to take it to those Ontario boys. I
think the Willingdon Cup trophy [Interprovincial
competition] should stay here."
Finishing in fourth all alone was Kwon at -7 (66-
70-72-69-277) and tied for fifth at -6 was Truro,
Nova Scotia's Eric Banks (67-71-73-67-278) and
West Vancouver's Kevin Spooner (67-69-67-75-
278).
Defending champion Riley Fleming of Airdrie,
Alberta struggled on his final round but finished a
respectable T14 over at one-over-par 285 (70-
69-72-74).
British Columbia Golf would like to thank the
Columbia Valley Golf Trail, Copper Point Golf Club
and The Springs at Radium for their support of
amateur golf in British Columbia.