Team Alberta Captures Willingdon Cup
Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:42:35
Alberta's victorious Willingdon Cup team, which consists of Michael Mezei and Ryan Vallely, of Lethbridge, Frank Van Dornick, of Camrose, and Ryan Yip, of Calgary carded a total of 419 to edge Qu�bec out of the top spot by two strokes. Team Captain Brian Neubeker said the team was nervous, but focused, heading into the final round of the Willingdon Cup.
"The boys weren't overly confident this morning, but you could see it in their faces that they were determined to come out on top. We got a good night's rest, re-evaluated our strategy, and arrived ready to win," said Neubeker.
The team's strategy focused on two holes: holes No. 3, and 11. Hole No. 3, a long par four, saw more bogies yesterday than any other hole. Hole No. 11 is a well-bunkered par five that slopes upwards on the final 150 yards and ends with a sunken green. Neubeker wanted his team to conquer what he called the course's two "key holes."
"The most challenging spot on the entire course is off No. 3 tee box. We decided that we had to get more aggressive off the tee by hitting driver instead of laying up. The hole location on the putting green was located on the bottom right corner, and laying up with the green sloping severely from right to left would make that second shot nearly impossible if you were to try and lay up," said Neubeker.
Neubeker's advice for the 11th hole was, oddly enough, to hit the ball into the rough. "The fairway slopes down towards the left, and if you hit it down the middle, your ball's going left. Landing in the rough on the right is your best shot."
Neubeker's pep talk worked. Yesterday, half the team bogeyed hole No. 3. Today, Ryan Vallely birdied the hole; the others made par. There were no birdies on the 11th hole yesterday; today, Frank Van Dornick finished the par-5 in four.
Alberta's coach couldn't be happier with his team's victory.
"I'm so proud right now. It's been a great year for us. This team has really come together as a whole instead of playing as individuals," said Neubeker.
While they may have come together as a team, each individual player boasts an impressive championship resume.
Ryan Yip won the 2002 Alberta Amateur and the 2002 Bank of Montreal Future Links Western Championship. Michael Mezei won the Canadian Junior Championship in 2000 and the 2000 Alberta Junior team trials. Ryan Vallely claimed the Bank of Montreal Future Links Western Championship title last year, as well as the AJGA Future Links at Whistler. Frank Van Dornick won the Alberta Amateur title in 1999.
A surprise early-afternoon thunderstorm took its toll on the stroke-play portion of the 98th Canadian Amateur Championship. A severe thunderstorm warning forced RCGA officials to suspend play for two hours.
Nearly the entire field was able to finish their rounds before darkness set in and play was stopped at 8:45p.m. Players who did not complete their rounds will finish tomorrow morning with a shotgun start at 8:00a.m. Match play will begin at 12:00p.m.
The current low qualifier is Lee Curry of Kemptville, ON. Curry, 23, fired a second-round 68 to give him a 2-stroke lead over Michael Mezei after the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the championship.
Second Round Results are as follows:
Lee Curry, Kemptville, ON 66-68--134
Michael Mezei, Lethbridge, AB 68-68--136
Brodie Flanders, Fawcett Hill, NB 67-70--137
Matthew Bliss, Burlington, ON 70-67--137
Craig Doell, Victoria, BC 67-71--138
Leon Carter, River Bourgeois, NS 73-66--139
Pier-Andr� Roy, Qu�bec, QC 68-71--139
Craig Taylor, Hunter River, PE 65-74--139
J.C. Deacon, Unionville, ON 70-69--139
Frank Van Dornick, Camrose, AB 69-71--140
Shawn LaFontaine, Cobourg, ON 68-72--140
Chuck Crawford, Richmond Hill, ON 70-70--140
Bill Seagris, Red Rock, ON 72-69--141
Lindsay Bernakevitch, Regina, SK 71-71--142
Dustin Pewarchuk, Victoria, BC 71-71--142
Kent Eger, Vernon, BC 78-65--143
James Lepp, Abbotsford, BC 71-72--143
Ryan Vallely, Lethbridge, AB 71-72--143
Ronald Harvey, Jr., Picadilly, NB 66-77--143
Andrew Parr, London, ON 72-71--143
Brad Pemberton, Port Hope, ON 73-70--143
Doug Roxburgh, Vancouver, BC 70-73--143
Greg Breen, Hampton, NB 71-73--144
Charlie Woo, Markham, ON 74-70--144
Christian Komsa, Lakeshore, ON 74-70--144
Billy Noon, Maple Ridge, BC 72-72--144
Jeff Crowe, Kingston, ON 73-72--145
Andrew Lovas, White Rock, BC 69-76--145
Derek MacKinnon, Digby County, NS 74-71--145
Mitch Gillis, Williams Lake, BC 71-74--145
Louis Seguin, Buckingham, QC 72-73--145
Marc-Andr� Roy, Boisbriand, QC 75-70--145
Nick Kenney, Etobicoke, ON 74-71--145
Dan Soley, Red Deer, AB 70-75--145
Nicholas Wheeler, Ingersoll, ON 72-73--145
W. David Schultz, Calgary, AB 76-69--145
Richard Swift, Randwido, AUSTRALIA 71-74--145
Darren Ritchie, Quispamsis, NB 75-70--145
Tom Henderson, Lombardy, ON 72-73--145
Jason Hill, St. John`s, NF 72-74--146
Michel Landry, Tracadie, NB 73-73--146
Kris Wasylowich, Hudson Bay, SK 75-71--146
Christopher Kucera, Pictou, NS 72-74--146
Dale Vallely, Lethbridge, AB 71-75--146
Lee French, London, ON 73-73--146
Courtney Hutzul, Edmonton, AB 75-71--146
Dan Partland, Bolton, ON 71-75--146
Anthony Warren, Charlottetown, PE 72-74--146
Jason Monteleone, Kelowna, BC 74-72--146
Dale Goehring, Calgary, AB 74-72--146
James Currie, London, ON 75-71--146
Garth Collings, Winnipeg, MB 74-73--147
Michael Keast, Winnipeg, MB 76-71--147
Brad Kirton, Winnipeg, MB 73-74--147
Robert Cowan, Waterloo, ON 74-73--147
Graham Cooke, Hudson, QC 72-76--148
Scott Loewen, Winnipeg, MB 74-74--148
Peter More, Winnipeg, MB 77-71--148
Michael Mercier, Rochester, NY 72-76--148
Marc Cousineau, Laval, QC 73-75--148
Michael Gregory, Bolton, ON 75-73--148
Scott McNeil, Calgary, AB 74-74--148
Peter Riddell, Pointe-Claire, QC 73-75--148
Jared Ladobruk, Manitoba, MB 77-71--148
Gilles Nadeau, Longueuil, QC 76-72--148
Billy Houle, Joliette, QC 77-71--148
Barrett Jarosch, Edmonton, AB 72-76--148
Rob Collins, Yarmouth, NS 74-75--149
Jaron Flynn, St. John`s, NF 73-76--149
Rick Hallberg, Weyburn, SK 74-75--149
Ryan Yip, Calgary, AB 73-76--149
Kevin Blue, Don Mills, ON 71-78--149
Lindsey Winch, Edmonton, AB 74-75--149
Mark Leon, Brampton, ON 79-70--149
Andrew Ross, Dundas, ON 74-75--149
David Lea, Waterloo, ON 75-74--149
Brian DeBiasio, Nelson, BC 73-76--149
Matt Matheson, Dartmouth, NS 71-78--149
Tom Schupp, Oakville, ON 78-71--149
Brian Benedictson, Courtenay, BC 70-79--149
Sean Donnelly, Brampton, ON 76-75--151
Daniel Swanson, Surrey, BC 71-80--151
James Love, Calgary, AB 77-74--151
Aaron Kenny, Belleville, ON 75-76--151
Alan Stewart, Grande Prairie, AB 78-73--151
Matt Kerr, North Vancouver, BC 77-74--151
Bruce Wellman, Edmundston, NB 78-73--151
Jamie Scott, Brandon, MB 74-77--151
Michael Mannion, Gibsons, BC 75-76--151
Peter Campbell, Baddeck, NS 74-78--152
Steven Davies, Beaconsfield, QC 74-78--152
Robbie K. Younker, Stratford, PE 78-74--152
Tim Donovan, Markham, ON 76-76--152
Philippe Auger-Giroux, Cap-Rouge, QC 76-76--152
Steve Hansen, Perth-Andover, NB 74-78--152
Lucas Bristow, Calgary, AB 77-75--152
Christian Lizotte, Riviere-Du-Loup, QC 77-75--152
Jim Born, Lethbridge, AB 77-75--152
Mark Vanderbeek, Kitchener, ON 78-74--152
Kreg MacPhee, Penhold, AB 80-72--152
Nick Watson, Fredericton, NB 79-74--153
Eric Levesque, Rimouski, QC 74-79--153
Cameron Loveless, Victoria, BC 76-77--153
Lee Fairbairn, Nipawin, SK 77-77--154
Shane Grinton, Stanhope, PE 78-76--154
Andrew Hall, Charlottetown, PE 82-72--154
Kevin Bryce, Mississauga, ON 81-73--154
Daniel Brown, Creston, BC 79-75--154
Charles Taylor, St. Lambert, QC 80-74--154
Jai Hawker, Calgary, AB 79-75--154
Michel Curadeau, Deauville, QC 73-81--154
Craig Revell, Kingston, ON 84-71--155
Jirka Danek, Orleans, ON 78-77--155
Serge Bastien, Rimouski, QC 81-74--155
Terry O`Brien, Barrie, ON 75-80--155
David Wodar, Burlington, ON 78-77--155
Liam Mulhall, Winnipeg, MB 79-77--156
Cameron Porter, 100 Mile House, BC 77-79--156
Breandan Finch, London, ON 77-79--156
Greg McAuley, Cloverdale, BC 79-78--157
Marc Cayouette, Saint-Quentin, NB 78-79--157
Barry Caland, Thunder Bay, ON 79-79--158
Greg Jones, Moncton, NB 76-82--158
Simon Camirand, Victoriaville, QC 81-77--158
Eddie Bearns, Paradise, NF 81-78--159
Robert Allan, Dartmouth, NS 80-79--159
David Love, Mississauga, ON 83-76--159
Don Gowan, Victoria, BC 78-82--160
Justin Sherriff, London, ON 77-85--162
Graeme Carlson, Grand Forks, BC 79-83--162
Paul Rose, St. John`s, NF 79-89--168
-------------------Rounds to be completed August 15, 2002-------------------------
Peter Keilty, Dover, NH
Darren White, Munster, ON
Francis Tanguay, Ste-Therese, QC
Matthew Ion Young, Burlington, ON
Peter Malo, Beaconsfield, QC
Dillard Pruitt, Greenville, SC
Tim Hasenack, Barrie, ON
Eric Couture, Boisbriand, QC
Dane Thorogood, Calgary, AB
St�phane Pellerin, Trois-Rivieres, QC
Ryan Swelin, Sundre, AB
Robbie Greenwell, Georgetown, ON
David MacFarlane, St. Basile, NB
Dave Bunker, Woodbridge, ON
Thomas Skinner, Red Deer, AB
Ron Pearson, Kitchener, ON
Pierre H. Fortin, Gatineau, QC
John Simpson, Oshawa, ON
Pierre-Etienne Langevin, Quebec City, QC
Tom Geoghegan, Vancouver, BC
Jeffery Gunn, Nepean, ON
Graham Bell, Sarnia, ON
Matthew Palsenbarg, Surrey, BC
Jim Kenesky, Hamilton, ON
Stephen Fritsch, Manotick, ON
Kent Glugosh, Brampton, ON
Blayne Streeper, Ft Nelson, BC
Kurt Kowaluk, Lively, ON
Tim Yorke, Kensington, PE
David Schultz, St. Joseph, MI
Luke Scrymgeour, Calgary, AB
Peter Tomasulo, Long Beach, CA
Steve Brodie, London, ON
Willingdon Cup Final Round Results are as follows:
1- Alberta Mezei, Michael 68 68
Vallely, Ryan 71 72
Van Dornick, Frank 69 71
Yip, Ryan 73 76
208 211 419
2- Quebec Cooke, Graham 72 76
Curry, Lee 66 68
Davies, Steven 74 78
Roy, Pier-Andr� 68 71
206 215 421
3- B.C. Eger, Kent 78 65
Lepp, James 71 72
Lovas, Andrew 69 76
Swanson, Daniel 71 80
211 213 424
4- New Brunswick Breen, Greg 71 73
Flanders, Brodie 67 70
Landry, Michel 73 73
Watson, Nick 79 74
211 216 427
5- Nova Scotia Campbell, Peter 74 78
Carter, Leon 73 66
Collins, Rob 74 75
MacKinnon, Derek 74 71
221 212 433
6- Ontario Crowe, Jeff 73 72
Donnelly, Sean 76 75
Revell, Craig 84 71
Woo, Charlie 74 70
223 213 436
7- Saskatchewan Bernakevitch, Lindsay 71 71
Fairbairn, Lee 77 77
Hallberg, Rick 74 75
Wasylowich, Kris 75 71
220 217 437
8- Manitoba Collings, Garth 74 73
Keast, Michael 76 71
Loewen, Scott 74 74
More, Peter 77 71
224 215 439
9- P.E.I. Grinton, Shane 78 76
Hall, Andrew 82 72
Taylor, Craig 65 74
Younker, Robbie K. 78 74
221 220 441
10- Newfoundland Bearns, Eddie 81 78
Flynn, Jaron 73 76
Hill, Jason 72 72 74
Rose, Paul 79 89
224 228 452
The championship consists of both stroke and match play. Championship play will be conducted Tuesday, August 13 - Sunday, August 18, with 18 holes of stroke play for the first two rounds. The field will then be reduced to 64 players after 36 holes. A competitor's position in the match draw will be determined by his qualifying score after 36 holes. The first round of match play will take place Thursday, August 15, with the second and third rounds scheduled for Friday, August 16. The quarter-final and semifinal matches will be held Saturday, August 17, and the 36-hole championship final on Sunday, August 18.
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