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Golf’s future showcased on Mackenzie Tour

The GolfBC Championship in Kelowna next week will feature many of the game’s up-and-coming players
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One hundred and fifty-six players will chase $175,000 in prize money at next week’s GolfBC Championship in Kelowna. Douglas Farrow/Contributed

In January of this year, Adam Hadwin became just the eighth player in PGA Tour history to shoot a round of 59.

Weeks later, the 29-year-old from Abbotsford won his first PGA Tour title at the Valspar Championship.

Hadwin is yet another on the growing list of Mackenzie Tour grads now making a name for himself on the world’s most competitive professional circuit.

Golf fans in Kelowna will get a firsthand look at some of the game’s potential future stars next week during the 2017 GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon.

Along with Hadwin, fellow Canadians and current PGA Tour players Graham DeLaet, David Hearn and Nick Taylor all cut their teeth on PGA Tour Canada’s Mackenzie Tour.

“It’s a chance for people in Kelowna to catch these guys on their way up,” said GolfBC Championship director Hugh Vassos. “They can meet the stars of the future and be able to look back one day and say ‘I saw him play.’”

The inaugural GolfBC Championship winner in 2016, Dan McCarthy, won four events last season on the Mackenzie Tour and has since stepped up to the Web.com Tour.

The final field for next week’s tournament, June 15 to 18, will feature 156 players.

A qualifying round, with 150 players competing, will be held next Monday at the Okanagan Golf Club’s Bear Course.

The total prize purse for the GolfBC Championship is $175,000, with $31,500 going to the champion.

For tournament, ticket and parking information, visit golfbcchampionship.com

du Toit earns exemption

Kimberley’s Jared du Toit, formerly Canada’s top-ranked amateur golfer, has been granted an exemption to play in next week’s GolfBC Championship.

du Toit, who captured the imagination of Canadian golf fans with his surprise ninth-place showing at last year’s RBC Canadian Open, recently made the decision to turn pro.

The 21-year-old du Toit is coming off his first NCAA victory and final season with the Arizona State University men’s golf program.

“Jared is definitely a player on his way up to the Web.com Tour and ultimately the PGA Tour,” said Golf BC Championship director Hugh Vassos. “Okanagan golf fans are in for something special as they watch this young player participate in only his second tournament since turning professional.”

Also earning an exemption last month was Canadian Jamie Sadlowski, the former World Long Drive champ who made his PGA Tour debut last month at the Dean and DeLuca Invitational.