Tour’s big guns barrelling into Ridge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2009 (6236 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANOTHER elite serving of Canadian Tour talent is about to descend on Winnipeg.

The $200,000 Players Cup begins Thursday at Pine Ridge Golf Club with 31 tournament winners and the last three Canadian money-list champions in the field.

And besides cash, there’s also lots more at stake.

The Players Cup winner earns a personal invite to the $5-million RBC Canadian Open next week at Glen Abbey and when the dust settles at Pine Ridge, the top five players on the Tour’s money list also get spots in the national Open.

Nine of the top 10 money-winners on this year’s Tour will be at Pine Ridge, including the winners of all five 2009 Canadian events to date — Byron Smith (Victoria), Mike Grob (Surrey), Graham DeLaet (Calgary), James Hahn (Edmonton) and Andres Gonzales (Saskatoon).

Gonzales shot 63 Sunday to win the Saskatchewan Open by a single shot over Scott Gibson and Hugo Leon, who are also entered here.

Nine of the top 10 and 26 of the top 30 money-winners have committed to the Players Cup as of Sunday night.

The past money-list champions include John Ellis (2008), Smith (2007) and Stephen Gangluff (2006), who’s making his first Canadian start of 2009.

The field also includes the last four winners of the Manitoba event — defending champ Wes Heffernan of Calgary, Mike Mezei (2007), Josh Habig (2006) and Lee Williamson (2005).

The Manitoba contingent at the tournament will be at least nine strong, including Tour members Adam Speirs, Matt Johnson, Ryan Horn — who all made the cut in Saskatchewan — adopted Ontarian Jordan Krantz and Rob McMillan, a three-time Canadian Tour champ.

Receiving local exemptions are host pro Shane Dick, 2008 Manitoba player of the year Derek Ingram, defending amateur champ Brad Kirton and top amateur Garth Collings.

Today at Pine Ridge, 19 players will attempt to grab one of four spots available in the Monday qualifying round.

Last week’s heavy rains haven’t harmed Pine Ridge in the least. A Sunday inspection of the 6,620-yard course revealed dry conditions and smooth, fast greens. Given the cruel winter that ravaged many area courses, not to mention a cold spring, Pine Ridge has rallied impressively in recent weeks.

The Tour’s deputy executive director Dan Halldorson said on the weekend that he expects the set-up for the Players Cup to be traditional, which is another way of saying that a demanding test on the sloped greens is the best defence for a course that is short by any tour’s standards.

“We’d like the greens firmer and faster,” Halldorson said.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

When: Thursday to Sunday

Where: Pine Ridge Golf Club, Garven Road

Purse: $200,000

Winner: earns $32,000 and berth in RBC Canadian Open the next week

Who: The Canadian Tour, 9 of top 10 and 26 of top 30 2009 money-winners are entered.

Defending champION: Wes Heffernan