Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament No. 2
|
Pos. |
Name | Scores |
|
T1 |
Max Gilbert (Canada) | 32-35—67 (-5) |
|
T1 |
Olin Browne, Jr. (U.S.) | 34-33—67 (-5) |
|
T1 |
Ian Davis (U.S.) | 31-36—67 (-5) |
|
T1 |
a-William Register (U.S.) | 33-34—67 (-5) |
|
T1 |
Justin Doeden (U.S.) | 34-33—67 (-5) |
|
T1 |
a-Cole Miller (U.S.) | 35-37—67 (-5) |
|
T7 |
Jordan Gumberg (U.S.) | 32-37—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
Raoul Menard (Canada) | 34-35—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
Kyle Driscoll (U.S.) | 35-34—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
a-Dawson Armstrong (U.S.) | 32-37—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
Randall Herriott (U.S.) | 36-33—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
Austen Truslow (U.S.) | 35-34—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
Dillon Board (U.S.) | 33-36—69 (-3) |
|
T7 |
Zachary Jaworski (U.S.) | 35-34—69 (-3) |
Six share lead after first round of Mackenzie Tour Qualifying Tournament
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida—By his own admission, Canadian Max Gilbert did not have a good 2017 season. He even stopped playing golf for a month that he says gave him a new outlook on his game. “I was not having fun anymore. Now I’m starting to enjoy myself,” he said. With good reason. Gilbert shot a 5-under 67 Tuesday, joining Americans Justin Doeden, Olin Browne, Jr., Ian Davis, and amateurs William Register and Cole Miller. Those six hold a share of the lead after 18 holes of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Qualifying Tournament No. 2 at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley Course. A group of eight players are two strokes back, including Lipscomb University senior Dawson Armstrong.
Gilbert was in the second group that teed off in the morning, and he faced ideal scoring conditions and took advantage, making five front-nine birdies against his lone bogey of the day—at No. 3. Gilbert finished with a birdie on the par-5 16th. Doeden and Miller’s 5-underscores may have been the most impressive of the day, though. Both players made their tours around the course in the afternoon when the wind picked up. Doeden was bogey-free, while Miller would have had the outright lead had he made his two-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, a putt that slid by. “I’m still kicking myself about that one,” he said.
Of the first-day leaders, Register, a senior at the University of North Carolina who is preparing for the upcoming NCAA Regionals, joined Doeden with a bogey-free round, making his birdies on Nos. 1, 4, 8, 15 and 17. Browne had perhaps the wildest scorecard of the bunch, with nine birdies to go with four bogeys. Four of Browne’s birdies came in succession, starting at No. 14.
Key Information
- At the 2013 Tour Championship Canada, Max Gilbert won the event, shooting scores of 69-67-66-66 to edge Trevor Murphy
- Max Gilbert has 48 career Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada starts. After recording six top-10s during his first four seasons, he only made three of 11 cuts in 2017, with his best finish a 64th-place outing at the GolfBC Championship. Browne has played 33 previous Mackenzie Tour tournaments, a pair of ties for fourth at the 2014 PC Financial Open and the Bayview Place Island Savings Open his best performances.
- Ian Davis has a penchant for doing well in these types of events. Playing in his first Mackenzie Tour Qualifying Tournament, Davis, a former Oklahoma State Cowboy, opened with a 67 to take a share of the first-round lead. Davis can look back on his 2017 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Qualifying Tournament win in Colombia and his tie for second at the 2015 Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, as inspiration.
- Joey Lane made a hole in one on No. 5 Tuesday at Dye’s Valley Course. He hit his knock-down 9-iron from 135 yards 15 feet past the hole and then watched it spin back into the cup. It was Lane’s second competitive hole, the first coming at the 2016 UNCG Grandover Collegiate in Greensboro, North Carolina, while he was playing for Virginia Tech. Lane shot at 2-under 70 in a day that saw him make the ace, three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey. He is tied for 15th through 18 holes.
- Besides Max Gilbert, 12 other Canadians are playing this week. The Canadians in the field are Raoul Menard (3-under), amateur Jimmy Jones (2-under), Eric Banks (1-under), Austin James (1-under), Branson Ferrier (1-under), Cooper Brown (1-under) Joseph D’Alfonso (1-over), Matt Hill (4-over), Patricio Salem (5-over), Andrew Jensen (5-over) and Vincent Blanchette (6-over), Samer Kalia (6-over).
- William Register is no stranger to Dye’s Valley Course. The left-hander has played for his University of North Carolina team in each of the last four Sea Best Invitationals, a tournament hosted by Jacksonville University. The Tar Heels won the team title in Register’s freshman year, and last month Register and his teammates were back for another Sea Best Invitational. Register opened with a 7-under 65 and finished at 12-under for the 54-hole tournament, tied for first with Liberty’s Ervin Chang and Lipscomb’s Eric Ansett. In the sudden-death playoff, Chang prevailed.
- There are 17 amateurs in this week’s field, led by William Register and Cole Miller, at 5-under and tied for the lead. Six shot under-par rounds with three at even-par.
Did You Know Justin Doeden
was an NAIA All-American at Cardinal Stritch University before transferring to the University of Minnesota for his final two college seasons, ending in 2017?
Quotable
“This morning was good. There was no wind at all and the weather was perfect. The greens are unbelievable, and the course is in great shape. It’s a fun course to play.” –Max Gilbert
“It’s definitely a great start today. It’s exactly the start I wanted to get off to.” –Cole Miller
“This is my first time here. We drove down, my dad and a friend. It took 16 hours from Pennsylvania. There was definitely a ray of sunshine at the end of the trip.” –Cole Miller
“I felt very comfortable playing here. I like this course a lot.” –William Register
“With this Tour starting after (NCAA) nationals, my plan is to turn pro right after that.” –William Register
“I probably had 10 putts for birdie of 12 feet or less. I made five of them.” –William Register
Tournament Fast Fact
This is the second of five qualifying tournaments that will complete the roster of players for the 2018 Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada. The Tour has already hosted its first qualifying tournament, in Santee, California. The next two Qualifying Tournaments will be in the Phoenix metro area of Litchfield Park, Arizona (April 3-6) and Lakeland, Florida (April 24-27). The final qualifier will be in Courtenay, British Columbia, May 1-4. The regular season begins May 31-June 3 at the Freedom 55 Financial Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.
How the Qualifying Tournament Works
There are 132 players competing this week, all hoping to earn Mackenzie Tour membership for the 2018 season. Below is a breakdown of the status available this week and at each of the five Qualifying Tournaments:
| Finish Position | Status |
| Winner | Exempt for the 2018 season |
| 2nd through 5th (no ties) | Fully exempt for the first eight tournaments and subject to the second re-shuffle |
| 6th through 16th (no ties) | Fully exempt for the first four tournaments and subject to the first reshuffle |
| 17th through 40th (plus ties) | Conditionally exempt |
