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Chasing the dream
Brian Hughes and Charlie Winegardener following the qualifying round at Trillium Wood Golf Club.
Last Monday, more than 100 golfers took to the fairways at Trillium Woods Golf Club north of Belleville in an attempt to qualify for this week’s PGA Tour Canada tournament. The qualifiers will head east to the Loyalist Golf and Country Club in Bath, the ninth stop on the Mackenzie Tour- PGA Canada Tour.
Just to give you some idea of what these players are up against, should they qualify for the tournament, they must play very well in the first couple of rounds to move on; otherwise, they would miss the cut. They then need to score well all season long in order to qualify for the Order of Merit, the top positions on the tour. This will earn a position on the Web.com Tour next season. From there, golfers continue to climb the ladder to earn a place on the PGA schedule. One of the golfers on Monday described it this way: “We are all chasing the dream.”
There are a dozen events on the PGA Canada Tour this year. For the most part, golfers begin the season on the west coast, and play eastward. The 11th event is in Nova Scotia, the 12th is in London, Ontario. Last week, they played at the Hylands Golf Club in Ottawa.
Sam Ryder from Longwood, Florida, bested Taylor Pendrith from Richmond Hill in a playoff to win the “National Capital Open to Support our Troops.”
Both players carded a 66 on the final round, and finished at 20 under par. Pedrith moved to seventh place on the Order of Merit with his second playoff loss of the season. J. J. Spaun leads the list, and Ryder moved into second place. Drew Weaver is third, followed by the top Canadians, Kevin Spooner and Alvin Choi.
They will be players to watch this week in Bath. Another fellow to keep an eye on is Charlie Winegardener, one of the early starters at Trillium. He played in favourable conditions. There was a slight breeze, and a light shower. Winegardener told me he was not happy with his game before the round. “I sent videos to my swing coach for assessment. He told me to stand closer, and to sit lower, to flex my knees a little more.” Winegardener used his driver twice on the round, and shot a 64.
One of the owners of the course, Steve Mc- Curdy, was most impressed: “His score bettered the course record by a stroke,” he told me. I spoke with him as many players were moving on to the back nine. “Because of the west wind now picking up, I don’t expect the scores to be any better.” I was told that the top 10 players qualified for the Loyalist stop.
Brian Hughes hails from Raleigh, North Carolina, and played the round with Winegardener. His score of 66 should qualify him as well. “We both sunk our chips on the 16th,” he told me. “That certainly helped.” McCurdy added that they were fine golfers. “But a little luck doesn’t hurt either!”
Most of the golfers teeing up this week are from the United States. But it is truly an international field, with Europeans, Australians, and others from around the world. Belleville’s Matthew Code played in the qualifier, and is expected to start at Loyalist.
You can also watch these golfers in early September at the Wildfire Golf Club near Peterborough. That runs from September 3-6. You will not experience the massive crowds you see on television at PGA events. You are encouraged to go out to the courses, and walk the rounds in a very relaxed atmosphere.
Hope to see you at either tournament. In the meantime, hit ‘em straight.
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