All of tour’s big names teeing it up at Pine Ridge

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This article was published 09/07/2010 (5942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

PUT the money on the table and watch

the Canadian Tour professionals make

their travel plans to Winnipeg.

Add in an involuntary shrinking of

the Tour’s schedule and a winner’s

ticket to the RBC Canadian Open and

you’ve got a stellar field for next week’s

Players Cup at Pine Ridge Golf Club.

This year’s purse rises to $300,000,

up from $200,000, and the winner earns

a cheque for $48,000. He also earns a

spot in the PGA Tour field a week later

at St. George’s Golf and Country Club

in Toronto.

"No disrespect to Pine Ridge because

it’s a fantastic golf course and they do

a great job but on the Canadian Tour if

you’re playing for $300,000 and a spot

in the Canadian Open, you could play

it in a parking lot and guys would show

up," said Players Cup executive chairman

Rob McMillan during Thursday’s

media day.

"It’s that big a deal."

Forty of the top 42 money-winners

this season are entered in the seventh

official event of the year — and the season’s

second-highest purse — including

money-list leader Brock Mackenzie of

the U.S.

Also entered is long-hitting Jim Rutledge

of Victoria, B.C., a longtime Canadian

Tour member who’s now a conditional

member of the Champions Tour.

He hasn’t played in Winnipeg since

1996.

"It fit perfectly with my schedule,

so I’m coming back to play Pine Ridge

again," Rutledge said via phone Thursday

night, not long after he demolished

the field by 10 shots at the Canadian

PGA Seniors Championship near Toronto.

He shot 17-under, including a 62

on Wednesday. "Plus I always try to

support the Canadian Tour."

Rutledge didn’t get into the Senior

British Open in a couple of weeks, so he

didn’t want to take a long break from

competition.

"I’ve been playing real well was looking

around to see where I could keep

playing and it was a good option to go to

Winnipeg," he said.

Ecstatic

Hearing Thursday that Rutledge was

entered, Canadian Tour regular and

board member Adam Speirs of Winnipeg

was ecstatic.

"Just awesome," Speirs said from Saskatoon,

where he shot even-par on the

first day of that tournament. "Jim is a

total class act, a gentleman and a great

player who’s played the PGA Tour."

One player missing from the Players

Cup will be defending champion Graham

DeLaet of Saskatchewan, who’s

now a full-time member of the PGA

Tour.

Among the locals entered are Tour

members Adam Speirs, Matt Johnston,

Ryan Horn and Tyler Mancini. Tournament

executive director Nicole Mc-

Millan said Thursday that Dean North

of Carman, host pro Shane Dick, former

two-time Manitoba Amateur champion

Jordan Krantz, now a touring pro, and

Niakwa amateur Scott Markham have

also been given exemptions.

Next week will also include a few special

events at Pine Ridge.

Monday features a morning appearance

by the Stanley Cup and the player

who won it, Jonathan Toews. The Boston

Pizza Jonathan Toews Fore Kids

Golf Classic takes place right after

an open-mike range session at 9 a.m.

with Toews and Boston Pizza founder

and chairman Jim Treliving, a star of

CBC’s Dragon’s Den.

Tuesday features the pro-ams and on

Wednesday, the Investors Group Home

on the Range Clinic in support of Kid-

Sport takes place.

All week, the Players Cup will have a

new hospitality feature, the Sleeman’s

19th hole, set up near the par-3 16th

green. Saturday, amateurs will compete

in a par-3 Sleeman’s Shootout for

big prizes after the conclusion of thirdround

play.

The 72-hole event concludes a week

from Sunday, when the winner’s exemption

to the Canadian Open plus the Open

exemptions that go to the top five players

on the Canadian Tour’s money list

are determined.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca

Players Cup

. What: The Canadian Tour’s

seventh event of 2010

. When: Next Thursday to Sunday

. Where: Pine Ridge Golf Club

. Prize Money: increased to

$300,000

. Winner Gets: $48,000 and an

exemption to the Canadian Open.

. Tickets: Four-day pass $30,

daily pass $10, available at Pine

Ridge, at the gate during the

tournament and at any Red River

CO-OP