BC Golf News and Canadians On Tour

THIS WEEK:

Reigning 2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir from Bright’s Cove, ON, a three-time PGA TOUR winner this season and the only player with any hope of winning golf’s Grand Slam,

Ian Leggatt, a PGA TOUR winner in 2002 from Cambridge, ON and

Chris Baryla, the BC Junior champion in 2000 and currently a University of Texas-El Paso amateur from Vernon, BC, who beat the odds and qualified from among more than 7,800 other entrants, these gentlemen are Canada’s representatives in the US Open.

Meantime . . .

While the course was soaked, spectators were drenched and play had to be postponed for a day nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of Annika Sorenstam winning a major golf title -- the McDonald’s LPGA Championship -- Sunday, June 8 in a one-hole playoff against Grace Park. This was Sorrenstam’s fifth Major, her third in the past three seasons and her 45th LPGA victory, her second in as many weeks. And adding this McDonald’s Championship to her two U.S. Open titles (1995-96) and two Nabisco Championships (2001-02) Sorenstam has only to add the Weetabix Women’s British Open to her resume to become the just the fourth woman to complete a career grand slam. Ironically, Sorenstam was the winner of the BMO Canadian Women’s Open in 2001, just one year after the Canadian du Maurier Classic ceased to be regarded as the LPGA’S fourth major of the season.

Soresnstam had only played three holes Saturday when she lost her tournament lead and the rain made the DuPont Country Club course in Wilmington, Delaware unplayable. But Sunday, playing her 34th hole of the day and the 18th hole for the third time, the irrepressible Swede birdied from 2-feet for her major and a cheque for $240,000. Sorenstam (70-64-72-72—278) and Park (69-72-70-67—278) both finished regulation tied at 6-under par. "Winning is what it's all about," said Sorenstam. "I wanted it so badly. Nothing was going to stop me."

Lorie Kane of Charlotetown, PEI finished T34 at (72-75-70-73—290) 6-over and was awarded $10,367. Dawn Coe-Jones was (74-74-76-73—297) 13 over par and T56 for $4,374. Defending Canadian Women’s Open champ Meg Mallon T27 at 4-over. A.J. Eathorne, Gail Graham and Nancy Harvey missed making the cut.

Sorenstam and Park are among a strong international field of LPGA players headed for Vancouver July 7 to play in the BMO Canadian Women’s Open at Pt. Grey G&CC.

He left it rather late, never-the-less, Johnny Jacobs managed to sink birdies at 15 and 16 just in time to pull away from Bobby Wadkins and defending champion Fuzzy Zoeller and win the Senior PGA Championship by two strokes in Newtown Square, PA. Jacobs finished at 4-under par 276 and received $360,000 for his first Major senior victory. It was not a great event for Kelowna’s Dave Barr who lost a third round battle with the rain and wind and finished up T57th at (70-71-80-74—295) 15 over and collected only $4,100.

Rory Sabbatini’s PGA TOUR career really didn’t really take off until he won the 2000 Air Canada Championship in Surrey, BC. On Monday, June 9 Sabbitini’s career caught a new updraft in Potomac, MD when he sank a 60-foot eagle enroute to a four-stroke, rain delayed victory in the FBR Capital Classic. The only player to shoot all four rounds in the 60’s (68-66-68-68--270), the South African shot-maker’s second PGA TOUR victory was worth $810,000 and moved him from 67th to 16th place in the 2003 money-winning race with $1,2989,600.
Glen Hnatiuk of Selkirk, MB T25 (68-70-70-74—282) at 2-under which was worth $36,750 and boosts his season total to $221,861 (122nd)

With a barrage of five birdies over his final six holes Andre Stolz managed to steal the LaSalle Bank Open Championship by two shots in a come-from-behind victory over Tommy Tolles and D.A. Points by posting a (70-65-68-68—271) 17-under par score worth $90,000. Putting on come-back of his own David Morland IV of North Bay scored birdies at 13, 14, 17 and 18 to move past a large group of players and finished (69-71-70-69—279) 9-under and 13th which earned him $10,500 and retains his third place position on the money list at $163,622. Rob McMillan, Thunder Bay ON lost ground his final round and at (70-762-69-75—286) 2-under finished T46 and collected $1.771.

There may be another Annika Sorenstam on the horizon. This time, however, her name is Katharine Hull and she hails from Australia and so far she’s been unbeatable on the LPGA’s developmental Futures Tour. On June 1, just four days after deciding to play as a professional, Hull won her first victory in a playoff. Now just a week later Hull has scored a one shot victory over Canada’s Isabelle Beisiegel to win the Lima Memorial Hospital Futures Classic (66-66-73—205) at 11-under par. In two tournaments Hull has won $18,200 and vaulted into seventh on the money list. "I’d love to win again but I can’t expect for this to happen every week," she said. "I just have to make sure that I do my best."
Beisiegel, a native Quebecer now living in Oklahoma, closed strongly but too late at (66-71-69—206) 10-under to earn $6,000 and is the Tour’s fifth leading money winner with $19,391. Jan Dowling, Bradford, ON T50 (75-72-=73—220) at 4-over par and won $222.

It took 158 tournaments but 31-year-old Greg Owen of England finally captured his first win on the European Tour International Schedule with a 14-under par three- shot victory in the Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters at the Marriot Forest of Arden, finishing ahead of Christian Cevaer and Ian Poulter.

Katsuyoshi Tomoria captured the JCB Classic Sendai by two shots at Omotezao Kokusai GC in Miyagi to earn 100,000,000 yen for his first win of the season.

At the Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa June 3 Marie-Josee Rouleau of Brossard, PQ claimed a spot in the Canadian Women’s Open next month at Pt. Grey in Vancouver by winning the second event on the BMO Canadian Women’s Tour after posting a solid (73-75—148) 4-over par two shot win worth $5,000. Heather Lee of Edmonton was alone in second. Rouleau, a former LPGA TOUR member, leads the Order of Merit list followed by Louise Zylstra, Toronto who won the first Canadian Tour event in BC. That leaves amateur Ecom-Ji Park of Vancouver in third place and a leading contender to gain one of 5 remaining exemptions. Next stop on the Tour before the Open July 10-13 will be a visit to Wolf Creek Golf Resort at Ponoka, AB June 23-24.

With his second BMO Future Links win of the season and the third of his brief career, 18-year-old Patrik Ericson of Langley, BC appears well on his way to a record-making season. Ericson posted a 1-under par (70-75—215) 5-shot victory over Winnipeg’s Michael Keast at Saskatoon’s Riverside Country Club June 4 to claim the Future Links Prairie championship. He’s already won the Pacific title and there are four tournaments remaining in the Future Links series. Other winners at Riverside were Stacey Bieber, Winnipeg, Junior Girls; Dallas Mengel, Waltrous, SK, Bantam Boys; Jessica Wallace, Langley, BC, Bantam Girls.

The $200,000 Northern Ontario Open June 26-29 at the Sault Ste. Marie Golf Club will be the next event on Canadian Tour. Aside from the Q-School a few weeks ago at the Dunes in Kamloops the Canadian Tour has been idle since Derek Gillespie of Oshawa Ontario won the Corona Ixtapa Classic in Mexico in May. The Northern Ontario Open is the first of five tournaments in Canada, which will be showcased on the Golf Channel. Gillespie is also the leading Canadian Tour money winner with $32,760 Cdn.

Canada’s Rick Gibson and the Asian Tour will be back in action at the end of this month with the $400,000 SK Telecom Open scheduled for the Baekahmvista Country Club in Korea. A native of Victoria, BC, Gibson is a former Canadian and two-time Philippine PGA Champion and an Asian Tour Order of Merit winner. Gibson is currently 6th on the 2003 money-winning list with $73,245 USD.

Golfers and golf fans in Northern BC this season are going to be treated to something that’s long over due. In case you have not seen the BC Golf Association’s 2003 schedule there’s a decidedly northern flavor to where the events are being staged and that has a number of the of the BCGA directors and northern zone officials excited at the prospects of seeing some fresh names and faces participating in the provincial finals. This week’s Mid Amateur is a good example, being played at picturesque Storey Creek Golf Club in Campbell River. The Buick BC Junior is being played at the lush Dawson Creek GC beginning July 8 and long-hitting James Lepp will be defending his Clarica BC Amateur title at challenging Lake Point Golf & Country Club in Fort St. John July 14-17. Although Lepp recently suggested he wasn’t playing that well right now, when you see this young man unleash a 300-yard drive down the middle of a fairway with little or no preparation you can’t help think those who will get to see him play next month could be watching our next Canadian Amateur Champion. And keeping with the northern theme, the Buick Senior Championship August 11-13 will be played at Glacier Greens Golf Club in friendly Comox.

BC SPORTS HALL OF FAME & MUSEUM
In recognition of their excellence and contribution to sport in BC 20 individuals and a pioneering lacrosse team from 1908 were inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum June 5, at the 35th annual ‘Banquet of Champions’, including one of the biggest boosters of the game of golf in British Columbia, Ernie Brown, in the Builders category. Now in his late 80’s, Mr. Brown is best described as an ambassador of BC golf for having spent over 70 years of his life as a caddie, a player, head professional, instructor, club-maker, course designer, tournament organizer, rules official, scorekeeper, consultant and the developer of a handicapping system still used by the BCGA. Ernie Brown won the 1972-73 BC Senior’s championships and is an honorary director of the BC PGA.

ON THE FIRST TEE: . . . . details for the upcoming 37th annual Pacific Coast Amateur Golf championship were announced June 9. It’ll be played at Capilano G & CC August 5-8. This is only the second time it has been staged in Canada. In 1993 Todd Demsey defeated an elite Pacific Rim international field at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy G & CC. The roots to this tournament go back to 1901 when it was played for 11 years primarily in California but after 1911 the event ceased to exist because of other competition. Then in 1967, to help showcase western US amateur golfers, the event was reborn at Seattle Golf Club and today, including the BCGA, there are 18 member Pacific Rim golf associations that comprise the Pacific Coast Golf Association. In 36 years a Canadian has yet to win this prestigious tournament and there have only been three multiple winners: Mike Davis, OR, 1969-70, Mark Pfeil, CA, 1972 & 74 and Billy Mayfair, AR, 1987-88.. The 2002 defending champion is Brock Mackenzie, Yakima, WA who won at San Diego CC . . . . this week’s BC Public Links tournament scheduled for Glen Meadows Golf & CC in Sidney had to be cancelled due to lack of entries . . . . however, that was not the case for the BCGA Mid-Amateur taking place this week (June 9-11) at Storey Creek GC in Campbell River . . . . nor at Big Sky Golf Club in Pemberton where the PNGA’s Pacific Northwest Senior Men’s Championship (June 10-12) started with a field of 192 entries.