Hot start to golf season has Canada’s Megan Osland eyeing Epson Tour

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This article was published 22/02/2023 (1320 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s all been coming together for Megan Osland this winter.

Osland fired a 6-under 66 in the third round of Sunday’s Cactus Tour event for a one-shot victory. It’s the third win the native of Kelowna, B.C., has earned on the mini-tour this winter, and she feels she’s reaping the rewards of her hard work.

“I think it validates all the work that I’ve been doing in the off-season,” she said in an phone interview from Scottsdale, Ariz. “All my training is paying off.

“I’ve been working with my swing coach, my putting coach, and my mental coach. Everything’s coming together with all three of those.”

Osland said that she’s just made small adjustments in every facet of her game.

“Nothing major in any, in any category, just tweaking little things and just improving kind of the consistency of each area,” said Osland.

Those changes paid off in a three-stroke victory at the Sun City Country Club on Nov. 2, a seven-shot win at Riverview Golf Club on Jan. 15, and then Sunday’s win at Willow Creek Golf Club.

All three of those events were in Sun City, Ariz., but the Cactus Tour will shift to Beaumont, Calif., for its next two tournaments.

Osland plans to play in both as they could be a stepping stone from the developmental Cactus Tour to the second-tier Epson Tour. That circuit serves as a direct feeder to the LPGA Tour, the highest level of women’s professional golf.

“The carrot for that is the you get points for both of those tournaments and the overall point winner at the end of the two tournaments gets an exemption into an Epson Tour event,” said Osland, who played in five Epson Tour events in 2022 and was a regular on the second-tier circuit 2016-2019.

“Getting back on the Epson Tour full time is the biggest thing that I need to do. Then from there, obviously, the goal is to get an LPGA Tour card, whether that’s through Epson or Q-school at the end of the season.”

Osland’s hot start to the season puts her in a strong position to quickly meet her goals, as long as she continues to produce results.

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“You’ve just got to play, well make some money, and then they’ve got a reshuffle in May,” said Osland, referring to the LPGA and Epson Tour’s annual recategorization. “Basically you can get reshuffled into having full status again, if you’ve made enough money.

“That’s the route that would be ideal if I can just get a couple starts early in the season.”

The Epson Tour kicks off its season next week with the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic at the Country Club of Winter Haven in Winter Haven, Fla. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., won the event in 2015 and Samantha Richdale, also from Kelowna, took the title the next year for back-to-back Canadian wins.

PGA TOUR — Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is the highest ranked Canadian at this week’s Honda Open. Svensson is currently 10th in the FedEx Cup standings. He’ll be joined by Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., in the field on The Champion course at PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2023.