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CANADIANS ON TOUR
A comprehensive weekly summary of news from professional golf tours and prominent amateur tournaments around the world with special attention to Canadian results |
July 13, 2003
Two members of the LPGA’s Hall of Fame go head-to-head today in the final round of the 2003 BMO Canadian Women’s Open at Point Grey Golf & Country Club in Vancouver, BC.
Julie Inkster, the 1984 Canadian champion, is tied at (68-72-67—207) 9–under par with Beth Daniel (left) (69-69-69—207). Inkster, who will trying for her 29th LPGA title, and Daniel, who already has 32 LPGA victories, share something else in common. Both players won events in their rookie years on Tour, Daniel in 1979 and Inskster in 1984. Two shots back and alone in third place is Kim Saiki while Se Ri Pak, Donna Andrews, Grace Park, Heather Bowie and Janie Moodie share fourth place at 4-under 212.
Leading player among the four Canadians to make the cut is Lake Cowichan’s Dawn Coe-Jones, tied for 29th at (74-73-71—218) 2-over par with defending champion Meg Mallon. Isabelle Beisiegel of St. Hilaire, Que is T28th at (71-71-77—219) 3-over, 18-year-old Vancouver Amateur Eom-Ji Park is (76-70-74—220) 4-over and Penticton, BC’s A.J. Eathorne is (73-75-76—224) 8-over par. Canadians who missed the cut were amateur Lisa Meldrum, Marie-Josee Rouleau, Lorie Kane, Angel Buzminski, Liz Earley, Nancy Harvey, Jennifer Wyatt, Heather Lee, Louise Zylstra and Gail Graham.
On hand Saturday was legendary Canadian and BC Hall of Fame member, Stan Leonard, the eight-time Canadian PGA Champion, three-time PGA TOUR winner and holder of more than 50 Canadian and world amateur and professional titles. Enjoying the humour of friend and Vancouver Province sports columnist Kent Gilchrest, Leonard is 89 and deceptively spry. It was at this same Point Grey course in 1949 that ‘Stan The Man’ won his second of five BC Open titles and was in the field when Pat Fletcher captured the Canadian Open at Point Grey in 1954, the last Canadian to win our National Men’s Open. For many years before going on tour, Leonard ran the pro shop at nearby Marine Drive G&CC. His last pro tournament was in 1982 at the Senior’s Legends of Golf Best-Ball event in Austin, Texas.
Here’s a special tribute presented by the LPGA recognizing Canada’s contribution to the Tour.
Kenny Perry’s third round 4-under par 66 has put him in the lead heading into today’s final of the Greater Milwaukee Open, one stroke ahead of six other players.
Calgary resident Steven Ames, Ian Leggat, Cambmridge, ON and Richard Zokol, White Rock, BC were cut. Zokol was on a rollar coaster for his second round, scoring seven birdies and five pars mixed in with five bogeys and a double bogey for a round of even par.
Tom Watson, Craig Stadler and Mike McCullough will be hoping to break out of the log jam their presently in atop the leaderboard at the Ford Senior Players Championship at 11-under par. Kelowna, BC’s Dave Barr is 13 shots off the pace at (74-72-72—218) two over.
If he can stay focused and continue performing the way he has through the first three rounds of the MTS Classic in Winnipeg, Jon Mills of Oshawa (right) may be on his way today to winning his first professional golf championship. Mills is (67-65-72—204) 9-under par through 54 holes and one shot in front of Winnipeg’s own Rob McMillland.
Joe Ogilvie, the Nationwide Tour’s leading money winner, has put himself in a good position to pad his bank account, holding a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the Reese’s Cup Classic at the Hershey Golf Club Dave Morland IV, North Bay, ON missed the cut by a stroke, Derek Gillespie, Oshawa, ON missed by four shots, Jim Rutledge, Victoria, BC by five and Windsor, ON’s Ahmed Bateman by 10.
It took a three way playoff and a birdie on the eighth extra hole at Dawson Creek Country Club for Ryan Lidkea of Delta to be crowned the 2003 Buick BC Junior Men’s Champion (July 11). A 17-year-old senior from South Delta High, Lidkea finished the regulation 72 holes at (65-68-70-67—270) 18-under-par, tied with Colby Lindsay of Abbotsford (68-67-66-69) and Peter Ahn of Victoria (67-74-65-64). In the three-way playoff, Ahn dropped out with a bogey on the third extra hole and Lidkea two-putted the short par-four eighth from the front fringe to win it. He had kept the playoff alive by holing an eight-footer for birdie on top of Lindsday's 20-footer for a deuce. Lidkea played the last 15 regulation holes in seven-under after driving out of bounds on No. 3 and making a 20-footer to avoid a triple-bogey eight. The three players broke the tournament record of 272 established last year by James Lepp, who will be defending his B.C. Amateur title July 14-17 at Lake Point GC in Fort St. John. In a second playoff, James Allenby of Langley birdied the first extra hole to beat Parksville lefthander Chris Schofield for the fourth and last place on B.C.'s team at the Canadian Junior championships in Calgary next month. Richard Lee, the 12-year-old golf prodigy from Richmond who shot an amazing course record 10-under par in the third round, finished the tournament T14th at (71-74-62-71—278) 10-under par. Lee is in San Diego July 14-18 competing in the World Junior before playing in the U.S. Kids tournament in Virginia and the RCGA’s 65th Canadian Junior at Country Hills in Calgary August 4-8.
With special thanks to Arv Olson, BCGA
It’s not often that a golf tournament concludes with two winners but that was the case July 2 when the host club, Nicklaus North Golf Course and a team from St. Eugene Mission Golf Club finished tied for first in the annual BC PGA CLUBCAR Pro-Executive Championship. For the first time since this event was inaugurated 13 years ago, where a professional teams up with three executive members from his club, a double winner was declared. The Nicklaus North GC team of pro Chris Hood and members Andrew Smart, Jeff MacLean and Greg Clarence wound up tied at 15 under par 127 with St. Eugene Mission’s team of Pro Shawn Paduano and members Don Shindle, Graeme Douglas and Roger Planiden. From among the 31 golf clubs represented the Fairwinds Golf & Country Club team of pro Ward Stouffer and executive members Alistair McLean, Jim Olsen and Jim Dafoe finished at second at 14 under par.
Meantime, Kyle German of University Golf Club, John Robertson of Crown Isle Resort and Scott Rodgers, Teaching Professional at the Vancouver Golf Club have qualified to join American Express BC PGA Champion Dean Claggett of Quesnel Golf Club as the BC PGA’s representatives in the Canadian Tour’s Greater Vancouver Classic July 31-August 3 at the Swan-e-set Bay Resort.
