Burlington ON - The Southern Ontario Open presented by Pure Organic Foods was contested on July 22 to July 25 at Clublink's Hidden Lake Golf Club (New Course). Players in the field were extremely impressed by the golf course conditions, with green speeds consistently running 11 to 11.5 each round. One player stated "Bring the Grandstands, fans and grow the rough another inch and you can easily have the Canadian Open here this week." With the RBC Canadian Open being contested down the road at Glen Abbey Golf Club and the near magical run by Brantford ON native David Hearn it reminds us of a time over 10 years ago in 2004. Hearn made some history by being the only player in Canada to win at three professional levels before securing his 2005 PGA Tour Card. That summer he won a Great Lakes Tour Platinum event at Hidden Lake in which he followed it up with a win at the Times Colonist Open (MacKenzie Tour). A few weeks later he played in the Alberta Classic (Web.com Tour) and won by a stroke. Finally he secured his PGA Tour Card later in December, by draining a 60 foot putt to Qualify on the number. Ten years later the road to the PGA Tour is not as easy and players now have to spend time on each Tour to secure their spot at the highest level. Chris Ross, a native of Dundas Ontario and member of the MacKenzie Tour, has played the Southern Ontario Open the past three seasons. With the Mackenzie Tour taking a week off for the RBC Canadian Open, it offered an opportunity for Ross to come home and compete at Hidden Lake Golf Club. With other competitive options available during the same time period, Ross made the decision to be close to family and compete for the first prize that will ultimately assist in sending him to the Web.com Tour Qualifying School in the Fall...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Burlington ON – The Southern Ontario Open has been a highly exciting tournament over it's first three years. In 2012, Eric Ross made a hole in one on the par 3 ninth hole that ultimately lead to him becoming the Inaugural Champion in event history. Michael Gligic and Derek Gillespie went head to head on the back 9 in the final round of 2013 before Gillespie took home the title. Last year Domenic Bozelli fired a final round 63 on Hidden Lake Golf Club's New Course to become the third different Champion in three years. 2015 should bring similar results as two local players now share the lead through 36 holes. Brian Cvetkovic (Burlington ON) and Christopher Ross (Dundas ON) both fired a pair of 3 under par 68’s to sit atop the leaderboard at 6 under par.... FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Burlington ON - The fourth edition of the Southern Ontario Open presented by Pure Organic Foods, Ontario's only OPEN golf championship, will be contested Wednesday July 22 through to Saturday July 25, 2015. The 72 hole event will be hosted by Hidden Lake Golf Club in Burlington ON. This will also be the fourth consecutive year the club will open it's doors to this prestigious event. The competition will feature top amateurs, professionals and PGA of Canada members from around the province. The inaugural year for the Open was in 2012 when it was conducted by Hi5golf who now operates the Golf Channel Am Tour Canada. In 2013, the Great Lakes Tour took over the event and has now grown into a wonderful tradition for local professional and amateur golfers in the province. Past champions include Eric Ross (2012), Derek Gillespie (2013) and Domenic Bozelli (2014). "It's a lot of work but we love doing it." said Tournament Director and Great Lakes Tour President David Brisson. "This event was started with passion four years ago with the vision to grow golf in Ontario. We plan to keep that vision alive for years to come." Though the field is small due to conflicting events for both PGA of Canada members and Touring Professionals, it will still be a highly competitive event with many players travelling from afar. Notable players include Camiko Smith from Bermuda, Jake Scott from Mooresville North Carolina and Christopher Ross from Dundas ON who currently plays on the MacKenzie Tour. He will be playing the first two rounds alongside younger brother Nicholas. Local favourites in the field will include:
Tee Times will begin at 7am on Wednesday. Pairings for Round One and Round Two are posted HERE For live scoring during the week you can view HERE |