Canadian Tour Roundup

In Winnipeg over the weekend, DeLaet, who now resides in Boise, Idaho, shot a two under par 69 to capture the Canadian Tour Players Cup by one stroke over Americans Byron Smith, Lucas Lee and Ryan Horn to finish the week at eight under par 276 for his second Tour title of the season and at the top of the Order of Merit money list with $78,500 after his $32,000 pay day. (Photo: CanTour)
 
Joining Delaet in he field will be Mauricio Molina, City of Surrey champion Mike Grob, Andres Gonzales, Hugo Leon and Rafael Gomez who earned exemptions via their standing on the Canadian Tour’s Order of Merit. Canadians Stuart Anderson and Wes Heffernan were also granted exemptions. Although invited, Byron Smith and Jim Rutledge decided to forego their exemptions to play the Nationwide Tour’s Cox Classic.
 

Other members and alumni in the field include Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Chris Baryla, Matt Bettencourt, Michael Bradley, Wil Collins, Glen Day, Bryan DeCorso, Chris DiMarco, Ken Duke, Nathan Green, Scott Gutschewski, Todd Hamilton, Tim Herron, Kent Jones, Troy Kelly, Ian Leggatt, Spencer Levin, Peter Lonard, John Mallinger, Steve Marino, Scott McCarron, Bryce Molder, Joe Ogilvie, Pat Perez, Tim Petrovic, D.A. Points, Rick Price, Jeff Quinney, defending Canadian Open champion Chez Reavie, Dustin Risdon, Kevin Stadler, Peter Tomasulo, Jimmy Walker, Mike Weir, Jay Williamson and Dean Wilson. (Photo: Stephan Ames, Nick Taylor, USGA)

Also entered in the Canadian Open this week are Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, BC and Matt Hill of Bright's Grove, ON, tanked by the R&A as the No. 1 and No. 2 amateur playeers in the world.
 
Buoyed by strong international finishes against hefty competition in North America and elsewhere, DeLaet’s confidence is sky high that he can hold his own against the best the game has to offer.
 
Grob was a PGA TOUR regular earlier this decade so he is on familiar turf. At 45, he is playing some of the best golf of his life and his steady game will suit the fairways and greens of Glen Abbey.
 
John Mallinger lost a playoff at the US Bank Championship in Milwaukee on Sunday. He’s been knocking on victory’s door for more than two years now and a win seems imminent.
 
Spencer Levin closed with a 63 at Milwaukee to finish T-7 - his best ever TOUR finish.  With top-15's in his last two starts, the Canadian Tour's 2007 International Rookie of the Year is climbing the money list.
 
Matt Bettencourt comes into the event with two top tens in his last five starts – including a T-5 at the Memorial Tournament where he led on Sunday.
 
An admittedly streaky player who missed the cut at Milwaukee, Bettencourt comes into the Canadian Open as the TOUR’s ironman with 22 tournaments already under his belt.
 
Calgary's Risdon has made a quick impression on the Nationwide circuit in this his rookie campaign. In his last four starts, he has three top-12 finishes and has climbed to 25th on the money list.
 
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The Canadian Tour’s Fall Qualifying School is scheduled for Hidden Lake Golf Club in Burlington, Ont., from Sept. 9 -12, 2009. The new course is a 6,743 yard par-71 layout situated 30 minutes west of Toronto and is hosting the Fall Q-School for the first time.
 
“Dan Halldorson was approached about this course because one thing the Tour was looking at was close proximity to St. Catharines where the Tour Championship is,” said George Tidd, CPGA Executive Professional and part owner of Hidden Lake.
 
“We’ve had the Monday Qualifying for the Canadian Open at least three times and a dozen or more regional qualifiers and the lowest recorded score was 66. The fairways are pretty narrow normally but and we’re also going to grow the rough and double-roll the greens. This is a target-style golf course and it will be a good test for the pros.”
 
Steeped in history, the Fall Q-School has seen PGA TOUR winners Dave Barr, Stephen Ames, Ian Leggatt, Kirk Triplett, Tim Petrovic and Billy Ray Brown earn their cards at the Fall Q-School.
 
In more recent times, the school has graduated Jon Mills, David Hearn, Graham DeLaet and Wes Heffernan to the Canadian Tour and beyond.
 
Alex Coe earned his card two years ago and parlayed that into a victory at the Jane Rogers Championship in August of last year.
 
"I’ve played a lot of mini-tour events and they don’t compare to the Canadian Tour in terms of quality and depth of field, course conditions and atmosphere. Here in North America, you have the PGA TOUR, Nationwide Tour and the Canadian Tour,” said Coe.
 
2008 Tour Championship winner Tom Stankowski said about the Canadian Tour, “Other tours don’t teach you the mental preparation that you learn here on the Canadian Tour.
 
“With the mini-tours you may travel an hour from home at most and that doesn’t teach you how to be away for a week or more at a time. They (mini-tours) really don’t develop you.”
 
Successful applicants won’t have long to wait before testing their game against the best Canadian Tour players. Depending on spots available, they'll head to Mexico to compete in two late September events and then have the opportunity to compete throughout Latin America to begin the 2010 season with expected stops in Columbia, Peru, Argentina, Chile and Costa Rica in November and December of 2009.