FUTURE LOOKING GREEN FOR TEEN GOLFER FROM VICTORIA
Sihota, 13, motivated by grandfather to finish fifth in B.C. Amateur Championship
Jeevan Sihota’s quest to make history at the B.C. Amateur Championship will have to wait another year.
Still, the 13-year-old from Victoria, who is enjoying a terrific junior season, once again put the local golf scene on notice for a future brimming with potential.
Sihota was in contention to begin the final round of the 115th B.C. Amateur Championship. Had he won this week at Morgan Creek Golf Course in Surrey, Sihota would have become the youngest champion in the history of the tournament — one year after fellow Victoria golfer Nolan Thoroughgood set the record at age 15.
Let this sink in for a bit: Sihota will enter Grade 8 this fall. He began Friday’s final round at sevenunder par for the tournament, three shots behind Bellingham’s Jacob Koppenberg for the lead. Both featured in the final group with Victoria’s Jake Duvall.
Not only did three shots separate Sihota and Koppenberg on the leaderboard when they began their round but so, too, did about 17 years in age.
For the opening 10 holes, Sihota hung tough. He knocked on the door a few times, but ultimately couldn’t get his early birdie tries to drop. A double-bogey on the 11th hole dropped him to five-under par, but he recovered nicely with back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to get back to sevenunder par and a tie for fifth.
He also had a front-row seat to a battle for the lead between Duvall and Koppenberg on the back nine that went right down to the wire.
Duvall missed a short putt to win on the 72nd hole, but regrouped to make a tricky birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Koppenberg and capture the championship.
Sihota, who will play in the Canadian Junior Boys Championship beginning July 31 at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, Ont., started playing golf at age four. His father, Jas, wanted his son to give baseball a try but he just never took to that sport. One trip to the driving range, however, and Sihota’s golfing career took off.
He’s been a winner this year on the Golf Canada Future Links circuit, capturing the Pacific Championship in Chilliwack in May, and finishing third at the Future Links Ontario Championship two weeks later.
Already loaded with talent — and with age on his side — there is still room to grow into his easygoing, seemingly flawless swing. There may be another growth spurt or two over the next few years, and Sihota hasn’t yet started hitting the gym. But for someone of his age, he never seemed intimidated by the circumstances at Morgan Creek.
Picking a target and hitting the ball almost always without any practice swings, he was usually able to drive the ball with ease close behind or alongside his older playing partners. He showed deft touch from the fairways and around the greens.
“He’s had a dreamlike year,” said Jas, who was also his son’s caddy this week. “I really wanted him to play baseball (when he was younger) but at the end of the day, he wasn’t passionate about it.
“He’s like, ‘No, this is what I want.’ He had his club. He had his ball. Hey, he gets to just play.”
Sihota looked every bit the part of a player who will go places in this game. His father confirmed he has had inquiries from universities, but the family doesn’t want to rush him into making any decisions about his potential postsecondary career.
Attending an NCAA Division I university golf program is the more realistic option for his future, said Sihota. The dream, he admitted, is to make the PGA Tour. But all in good time.
“He’s got his whole life ahead of him,” said Jas. “I think it’s just important we let him have fun with the game and enjoy it.”
Family support became a motivating factor for Sihota this week.
He admitted following Thursday’s round that he wanted to shoot a low round for his grandfather, Puran, who was in attendance despite recent health issues.
“My family is all very supportive,” said Sihota.
The first round didn’t start out so well for Sihota, who was threeover par midway through the first day. He was able to immediately turn his fortunes around, making five straight birdies and six birdies in total on the back nine Tuesday to push himself back in the right direction for the remainder of the week.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Sihota. “If he wasn’t here this week, that first day I would’ve blown up. I was playing so bad on the front nine. But he kept me in it. He’s been keeping me in it the whole time, just encouraging me.”