Teen Thoroughgood will tee it up against pros
At 16 years of age, Nolan Thoroughgood became the youngest player to ever win the B.C. Men’s Amateur Golf Championship last summer.
The junior member at Royal Colwood is now set to become the youngest ever to compete in the long history of the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by the Times Colonist and likely, although unofficially, the entire Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
Thoroughgood has already clinched the junior exemption for that local PGA Tour Canada stop at Uplands Golf Club, set for June 8-11.
His 1-under par 69 on a cool, rainy Sunday at Cowichan Golf Club secured the berth. With Just two events remaining in the qualifying Bayview Place Vikes Performance Tour series (where the top finisher earns the one exemption), Thoroughgood’s 275 points over his six events is an insurmountable lead.
“I’m pretty excited. I don’t have huge expectations, but I’m pretty confident in myself. I don’t think I’ll be too nervous playing in it,” he said of the local PGA Tour Canada stop.
“This was definitely the goal. When I heard the Vikes tour had this exemption I was pretty pumped about it. So I set my sights on definitely trying to get the spot.”
Thoroughgood has won the Cowichan, Royal Colwood, Bear Mountain, Cedar Hill and Gorge Vale Golf Course events on the junior portion of the Vikes Tour, failing to win the only other event, which was the first one at Cordova Bay.
“I’m pretty happy about my game and now that it gets dark at around 8:30, I should be able play a lot more,” said the Grade 11 student at Royal Bay Secondary. “My game is in pretty good shape.”
Thoroughgood, who doesn’t turn 17 until August, credits his success to the work he puts in with coach Mac MacLeod of Royal Colwood.
“I’ve watched this event before,” he said of the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open. “It’s local and it’s an unreal quality of golf, which is always cool to see.”
Now he gets to play in the event with his dad Garth caddying for him.
“He fills that role mostly because he comes cheap and by that I mean I don’t pay him anything,” Thoroughgood said with a chuckle. “Now I’ll be able to say I’ve played an official PGA Tour Canada event.”
For now, Thoroughgood will focus on his next competition, a CN Future Links junior tournament on May 12 in Chilliwack. He will not be competing in this weekend’s Island Open, set for the Gorge Vale and Uplands courses.
Thoroughgood sits first on the Bayview Place Vikes Junior Tour order of merit with his 275 points, ahead of Michael Wu of Cordova Bay with 183 and Nolan Brown of Uplands with 171. Other winners at the Cowichan junior event on Sunday included Akari Hayashi of Uplands, whose 72 topped the girl’s division.