VICTORIA – PGA TOUR Canada action continues with the second stop of the 2014 tour in Victoria this week. PGA TOUR Canada’s second season continues at Uplands Golf Club
The 2014 season continues this week at the 31st Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist, which was PGA TOUR Canada’s inaugural event in 2013. Uplands Golf Club, where tight fairways and fast greens produced the highest winning score to par on PGA TOUR Canada last season, will once again test the field. Past champions of the event include PGA TOUR players Steve Stricker (1990), Brandt Jobe (1993), Jason Bohn (1999), Ken Duke (2000), David Hearn (2004), Spencer Levin (2007), recent Web.com Tour winner Byron Smith (2009) and Canadian legends Dave Barr (1981) and Bob Panasik (1986).
U.S. Open Qualifiers
The following PGA TOUR Canada members successfully made their way into the U.S. Open next week in Pinehurst, North Carolina and will play this week at Uplands:
Clayton Rask (Elk River, Minnesota)
Zac Blair (Ogden, Utah)
Locals in the field
Vancouver Island natives make up a small but strong contingent of the field this week, led by 2012 runner-up and Victoria native Cory Renfrew as well as 2013 Order of Merit runner-up Riley Wheeldon, who hails from Comox, a three-hour drive north on Vancouver Island. Wheeldon finished third here last year. Other Victoria natives in the field include two-time Canadian mid-amateur champion Kevin Carrigan, Uplands Club Champion Brock Olson, Olympic View Golf Club head professional Kevin Maxwell and former University of Victoria golf team member Mitch Evanecz, all of whom are playing on sponsor exemptions.
Race for The Five underway
The top five players on the 2014 PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit will earn status on the Web.com Tour, making each shot and every dollar important in terms of who will graduate to the Web.com Tour in 2015. With all 50 cards to the PGA TOUR now coming from the Web.com Tour, it’s possible for players to move on from PGA TOUR Canada to the PGA TOUR in just over one year’s time.
Golf Canada National Amateur Team Exemptions
At each regular PGA TOUR Canada event, two sponsor exemptions will be awarded to current or former members of Golf Canada’s National Amateur Team. Alumni of the team to have played on PGA TOUR Canada include Graham DeLaet, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor. Below are the players teeing it up this week:
Mitch Evanecz, Red Deer, Alberta
Mitch Sutton, London, Ontario
Other Sponsor Exemptions:
Kevin Carrigan, Victoria, BC
Kevin Maxwell, Victoria, BC
Jon Mills, Oshawa, ON
Brock Olson, Victoria, BC
Curtis Yonke, Overland Park, KS
Todd Pence, Cheney, WA
Monday Qualifiers
Below are this successful entrants from Open Qualifying, which took place at Gorge Vale Golf Club (bold denotes Canadian, * = PGA TOUR Canada member)
1. Stephen Carney* (Tulsa, OK) – 66
T-2. Joshua Wooding* (Purcellville, VA) – 67
T-2. Evan Harmeling* (Andover, MA) – 67
T-4. Andrew Vijarro (Bend, OR) – 69
T-4. Kyle Morris* (Worthington, OH) – 69
T-4. Stuart Anderson* (Strathmore, AB) – 69
T-4. Ben Weir (Mesa, AZ) – 69
T-4. Brant Peaper* (Tequesta, FL) – 69
T-4. T.J. Bordeaux* (Tacoma, WA) – 69
T-4. Kevin Stinson* (Mission, BC) – 69
Player Notes
- Peterborough, Ontario’s Ted Brown, who earned exempt status on PGA TOUR Canada this year at the British Columbia Qualifying Tournament, makes his first start and is coming off a win on the eGolf Tour last week
- NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica winners in the field: Julian Etulain (2014 Lexus Panama Classic, 2013 Lexus Peru Open), Alan Wagner (2012 Roberto de Vicenzo Invitational Copa NEC), Michael Buttacavoli (2013 Dominican Republic Open), Ty Capps (2014 Roberto de Vicenzo Invitational Copa NEC)
- Victoria native Cory Renfrew has finished in the top-10 in each of his two starts here, including a tie for second in 2012 and a tie for eighth last year
- Past champions in the field: Stephen Gangluff (2013), Brock Mackenzie (2010)
- Stuart Anderson, who has non-playing Veteran Member status on PGA TOUR Canada, is making his first start of the season after getting through Open Qualifying
Miscellaneous Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by Times Colonist Notes
32 Canadians are playing this week
Uplands plays host to the tournament for the 13th time and seventh straight since 2008
The last Canadian to win the tournament is Craig Taylor in 2005
