Golfers from all over Vancouver Island tee off this Saturday morning for the annual Long Beach Open Golf Tournament.
A total of 72 players will participate in the two-day sporting event that showcases the Pacific Rim’s nine hole championship course. The format of the tournament follows stroke play, where the individual keeps a running total of strokes taken at each hole. The one taking the fewest strokes overall is the winner. Entrants play 18 holes each day for a total of 36 holes to crown a winner.
Champions will be named in a net division (score minus the player’s handicap) as well as a gross division (actual number of strokes played).
“It’s going to be a very strong field. There are a couple of +3 guys entered, Wyatt Brook and Mark Valliere. We’ve never had a ‘plus player’, which means he gives the golf course three strokes. That means he’s better than every golf course he plays,” said Long Beach Golf Course GM Cory Brent.
“There are four, zero handicaps playing in the tournament. Tyler Van Anroy, he’s a previous champion, he’s coming back to play,” Brent adds.
With windy summer conditions, Long Beach can be one of the toughest tracks on the Island, notes Brent.
“The course is in really good condition. We’ve had some rain,” said the GM. “Head grounds keeper Matthew Murphy has helped keep the course in really good shape.”
Saturday evening features the main dinner catered by CaddyShacked and on Sunday, the tournament winners will get first choice on the $5,000 prize table with goodies ranging from golf and camping gear to electronics.
“There is opportunity to not only win prizes, but to win money as well with skins,” said Brent. “If you score a birdie on a hole and nobody else does, you win money.”
Last month, on July 13, Long Beach Golf Course hosted the Pacific Sands Scramble golf tournament. The annual fundraising event garnered about $5,000 for the Coastal Animal Rescue and Education (CARE) Network.
nora.omalley@westerlynews.ca
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