SUNDRE – Golfers from St. Albert and Airdrie are among five Albertans advancing to the RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifer in Ontario next month after finishing in the top five at a regional event held Wednesday in Sundre.
There were 54 golfers from Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the United States who set out to brave the cold, wet weather on May 21 at the Sundre Golf Club to compete in the regional qualifier for the final qualifier. One withdrew and four others didn't finish.
As a result of the field consisting of less than 120 players, only the top 10 per cent of players earned exemptions into the RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifier, set to be contested on Sunday, June 1 at The Pulpit Club in Caledon, Ont.
St. Albert’s Tyler Saunders captured first place with a score of 67, five under par.
He got the day’s first eagle at the par-5 seventh hole and back-to-back birdies on holes 11 and 12. Despite dropping a pair of shots after bogeys at the 15th and 16th hole, Saunders made a birdie putt on the par-3 17th to finish his round of 67.
“I wasn’t expecting to hit it as well considering the conditions, but it felt really good to hit a lot of really good shots like I did today and make the putts,” Saunders told Canada Golf, admitting to the challenges of playing in rain and enduring temperatures that at points, felt like two degrees during his round.
“Just to have a shot at getting into an event like that is pretty special. It’s pretty cool just to be able to go to Ontario in a couple weeks and be able to try and get my name in the field,” he added.
Medicine Hat’s Mike Valk placed second with a score of 68, four-under par. He had six birdies on the front nine leading the field but bogeys at holes seven and 16 kept him out of the top spot.
Phelan Shaw of Calgary carded a two-under round of 70 to finish in third place despite picking up a trio of bogeys.
Jared Code, also of Calgary, had birdies on holes 15 and 16 to get to two-under par. A bogey on the 17th dropped him to one-under par, however, his round of 71 served to be enough to earn fourth place.
Chase Strang of Airdrie also tied for fourth with one-under par for a score of 71.
During the June 1 RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifier, four spots will be available to move on to the 2025 PGA Canadian Open, which takes place June 4-8 at Osprey Valley in Toronto.
Temperatures in Sundre for the May 21 regional qualifer were in the 5 C-range for much of the morning with a northwest wind of between 17 and 19 kilometres per hour (km/h) gusting to 27 and 31 km/h while many players were teeing off.
The miserable conditions during the one-day event seemed to have separated the men from the boys, with the Alberta contenders proving to be more acclimatized to take on the cold than some who travelled from warmer climates.
“It seems like it was all Alberta guys that qualified,” said Scott Shouldice, head golf pro at the Sundre Golf Club.
“Some people could handle the conditions and some couldn’t,” said Shouldice.
“There were a few people that quit and walked off the course,” he told the Albertan.
“A lot of these events, they seem to be kind of early in the season in May, and I guess that just happens in May in Alberta,” he said with a chuckle.
But aside from the wet, bone-chilling cold, everything turned out really well, he said, adding there was a large spread.
“There were some really good scores, and then there were some really bad scores,” he said. “But there was some really impressive golf from the top players.”
Narrowly missing a chance to qualify was Dane Thorogood, who lives in Calgary but owns the Sundre Golf Club.
“He actually did pretty well,” said Shouldice.
“He only missed it by two shots.”
Thorogood was in a three-way tie for eighth place alongside David Hilsenteger from Calgary and Will Holan from Edmonton with a final score of 73.
The Sundre Golf Club’s next big event will be Alberta Golf men’s mid-amateur championship in July.
