Consistency earns B.C. teen title
Susan Xiao the only golfer to play junior girls championship below par
Susan Xiao travelled all the way from Surrey, B.C., to rural Cumberland thinking a Top 10 finish would make the long round-trip all worth it.
As it turned out, the trip was certainly worth it. Every single kilometre of it.
By the time she made the clubhouse turn Friday, with nine of 72 holes still to play, the ultra-composed 15-year-old already had a pretty good idea she was about to become both the Canadian junior and juvenile champion in the 63rd annual Canadian Junior Girls Golf Championship at an often-trying Camelot Golf and Country Club.
The only thing that slowed Xiao down was the sound of a horn ordering players from the course with the approach of a storm, and that was just as she and her playing partners approached the 18th tee.
Thirty minutes of a frustrating weather delay and a 10-foot putt for quick par four on the 18th later, Xiao was queen of both age groups in Canadian golf and had an automatic exemption to the 2018 Canadian Amateur Women’s Golf Championship at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver, which will be an easy daily commute compared to Cumberland.
Xiao’s final round at 3-under left her 5-under for the tournament and with a five-stroke margin of victory as the only player to play the tournament under par.
London’s Ellie Szeryk and Mary Parsons, of Delta, B.C., tied for second at even-par 288, with Parsons and Richmond Hill’s Tiana Cruz the only other golfers to play the final round under par.
The champion was a model of consistency, with rounds of 70-7371-69, and put the win away almost matter-of-factly with a string of birdies on holes 11, 12 and 13.
How consistent is consecutive rounds of 2-under, 1-over, 1-under and 3-under?
Xiao rarely showed any emotion until it came time to make a champion’s speech and endure interviews afterwards.
The speech and interviews could’ve happened quickly enough.
The only frustrating part of her day was the delay.
“I was like, can’t we just finish,” said Xiao, who heard the horn as she was pushing her cart away from No. 17 to the 18th tee. “But words can’t describe how happy I am.
“I never thought of winning this tournament this year. I would have been happy with a Top 10 finish.
“But I thought about the start of the back nine I had it. I knew I had a good lead and I just stuck with my own game.”
Xiao’s own game is never trying to do the impossible. She keeps things simple and keeps things clean.
Her scorecard proves that, with a round of four birdies against just the one bogey.
“Down the fairway and onto the green,” said playing partner Szeryk, who started the day a stroke behind the winner. “That’s how she does it.”