Winnipeggers vie for Players Cup spot

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This article was published 12/08/2019 (2551 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Players Cup Monday qualifier is a prime example of how difficult it is to make it in the world of professional golf.

Thirty golfers from across North America were in Winnipeg Monday at Glendale Golf & Country Club fighting for one of the final eight spots in this week’s Players Cup — a Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event that happens to be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

The majority of Monday’s field are chasing the dream of being a regular on the Mackenzie Tour. They travel from tournament to tournament, playing in Monday qualifiers and hoping they can put up a score that will give them a reason to stick around town and unpack more than one golf shirt.

It’s a lifestyle 20-year-old Winnipegger Sam Diamond, who was one of five Manitobans playing in the Players Cup qualifier, has chosen and adores. Diamond opted to skip school to officially turn pro last November. This week is Diamond’s sixth Mackenzie Tour Monday qualifier, as he’s hopped in his car and headed out west for events in Victoria, Kelowna, Lethbridge, Edmonton and Calgary this year.

“Generally, I’ll get there four days in advance, play a couple practice rounds, get used to my surroundings and everything and try to get comfortable,” said Diamond, who shot a 6-over-par 78 on Monday to miss the cut.

“You know, sometimes you’ll get on a course and you might not like it, but you have to make it work for that week. And it’s definitely a mental grind. I put 140,000 kilometres on my car in a year and a half now, just driving back and forth to tournaments all over North America. So, it’s a long, long time in the car and by yourself. It’s definitely a mental grind, for sure, but I love it.”

Diamond hasn’t nailed down one of the final spots in any of the six Monday qualifiers he’s played in this year. He came close at the Edmonton Championship on July 29, missing by two strokes. But the former St. Paul’s Crusader isn’t getting discouraged. He knows it’s all part of the process. Diamond plans to head to Portugal in October to try his hand at qualifying for the European Tour.

“It’s everything I want to do. I’m happy I pulled the trigger this winter on turning pro,” said Diamond, whose older sister Hannah also aspires to play professionally. “I’m happy without going to school and I feel like my game’s there. It just needs one more level to get there and it’s so close. I’m feeling more confident than ever. Despite not getting the results I want right now, I just know it’s going to happen at some point and it’s just a matter of time for me.”

Bret Thompson, 25, was the lone Winnipeg golfer to grab a qualifying spot on Monday. He will join the field of 156 players at Southwood Golf & Country Club when the real deal tees off on Thursday. It’s the second year in a row Thompson, who golfed at Simon Fraser University from 2012-16, has earned a spot to the Players Cup at the Monday qualifier. Thompson, the Manitoba golfer of the year in 2014, said he’s had some family stuff keeping him away from the course this summer; he hasn’t played more than 10 times in the past two months. Thompson didn’t love his performance Monday as he finished at even par, but it was enough to make it after finishing in a three-way tie for sixth place.

“I haven’t played well when I have played, so I had no real expectations,” Thompson said. “But it was just so close there. I hit some really bad shots, but then I was pretty happy with how I followed those up.”

With such little room for error, Thompson said it’s the mental side of these Monday qualifiers that makes them so difficult.

“There’s a lot of good golfers, but it’s just the scene,” Thompson said.

“Anyone can go shoot whatever score, like a 66 or a 67, when they play for fun. But it’s more when you’re in a tournament mode and you’re playing with all these other guys trying to make a living, it becomes a whole different ball game.”

University of Manitoba Bisons golfer Anthony Leicht was one shot away from forcing a playoff as his score of 1-over-par 73 put him in a tie for ninth place. Fellow Bisons golfer Bobby McNair from Roseisle was tied with Diamond for 22nd place.

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“It’s a lot of fun. It’s cool as it has a pro feel to it,” said the 24-year-old McNair, who’s heading into his fifth and final season with the Bisons. “It’s different than a college event. The greens are faster than anything I’ve ever played on. So, it’s a lot of fun to play in it and be in the mix.”

Winnipegger Kevin Giesbrecht finished in a tie for 18th after shooting 4-over-par 76.

Tanner Kesterson, a native of Plano, Texas, dominated the day as he finished atop the leaderboard with an impressive 7-under 65. Dalen Yamauchi of Glendale, Ariz., was in second with a 4-under 68. Austin James of Bath, Ont., was the other Canadian in the top eight. He fired a 1-under 71.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.