Borsa earns berth in Players Cup

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This article was published 13/07/2010 (5851 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HE played like he belonged on Monday and now Carman assistant pro Scott Borsa will tee it up in this week’s $300,000 Canadian Tour event at Pine Ridge.

Borsa shot one-under-par 71 in Monday’s Players Cup qualifying round at Glendale Golf and Country Club, then snatched the first of two berths available in a four-man playoff.

“My game has felt good,” said Borsa, who turned pro last fall after a runner-up finish to Garth Collings in the Manitoba Amateur. “Today? A lot of fairways and a lot of greens.”

He birdied the second playoff hole, Glendale’s par-4 11th, from about 15 feet to claim the first playoff ticket to Pine Ridge.

That ticket isn’t cheap. Borsa plunked down $225 to enter the qualifier and another $325 will be required for the tournament entry proper.

“It’s something about wanting to see where my game stands against the boys out on the tour,” said Borsa, who will be playing his second Canadian Tour event. “It is a bit of an entry fee but it usually falls right around my birthday (Friday), so some birthday money can help pay for it.”

Borsa joins his boss, Carman head pro Dean North, as one of eight Manitobans in this week’s event.

“I’m working with Dean, and he is the cream of the crop, so I have to get out there and show the members that I can stand up and play well, too,” Borsa smiled.

Australian Michael Moore topped Monday’s 30-man qualifying field, firing a three-under 69.

With the Tour’s first conditional (non-exempt) card, this will be his third tournament of the season. He missed the cut last week in Saskatoon.

“I hit it good there, just didn’t putt well,” Moore said.

Monday, he got off to a fine start with three birdies in the first six holes.

“Then a couple of blemishes, nice little three-whack on 10 and hit it in the water at 12, a bad drive and overcooked a hard draw,” he said. “But I played really solid for the last stretch.”

Moore said this Monday qualifying business is usually straightforward.

“You usually know three- or four-under will get you through and you know you’re good enough to make at least five birdies,” he said. “It’s just a matter of staying there and waiting for your good little stretch to come.”

He also said the Canadian Tour is a good place to be during the Australian winter.

“It’s a good little stepping stone,” Moore said. “Back home right now it’s pretty quiet, some pro-ams and stuff that are pretty much one-day events. So you come over here and play a few four-rounders. At the end of the day, that’s where the money is…. it’s good to be over here for the four-round experience.”

Arizona’s Brandon Askew was second in Monday’s qualifier with a round of 70, while the final entry from the four-man playoff went to Calgary’s Jordan Irwin.

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This week’s Players Cup field will be expanded by at least two players due to performances at last week’s Dakota Dunes Casino Open near Saskatoon.

The winner, Will Wilcox of the U.S., becomes an instant Tour member and earns a spot at Pine Ridge.

The Dakota Dunes runner-up, American Brady Stockton, also gets a Players Cup berth because of his top-10 finish.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca