Vancouver Golf Tour - 2009 Chilliwack Open

Marketplace IGA - VANCOUVER GOLF TOUR

2009 CHILLIWACK OPEN
Chilliwack Golf & Country Club
July 18,19TH

PARRY PACKS A PUNCH AT CHILLIWACK OPEN

On a blistering hot and windy weekend, Seymour Creek Professional Bryn Parry showed all 208 participants of the 2009 CHILLIWACK OPEN that he is a force to be reckoned with. Despite starting Sunday’s final round 2 shots back of 21-year old rookie sensation Adam Hadwin, by the 4th hole Parry had taken command of this 51st Annual event starting on fire, birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle. Parry not only closed the gap, but surged ahead to -8 for the tournament and now lead by 5 shots after 4 holes after Hadwin hooked his drive out-of-bounds on #2 to take a triple bogey 7 on the hole.

This event however was certainly not over as the rookie Hadwin charged right back into the tournament with six birdies from holes 4 through 11 to get back level with Parry at -8 for the tournament after Parry’s charge slowed down momentarily with a bogey on #8 and pars thru the 11th. A bit of loose play from both players on the 12th hole put the leaders back at -7 for the tournament before the veteran Parry dropped it up one gear when he birdied the 14th par 3 for a 2-shot lead after Hadwin bogeyed. Parry gave Hadwin a couple of chances to narrow his lead with approach shots that flew over the green on #16 and left on #17. The pivotal moment in the tournament turned out to be a battle of the short game as Parry’s two up and downs on #16 and 17 were just too much for Hadwin to handle, missing an 8 footer of his own on 16 for birdie and then 3-putting from 50 feet on the 17th.

Parry closed the event in style, drawing a mid-iron around the oak tree on 18 from 165 yards out to 20 feet and nailing his birdie putt to go 9-under par, putting an exclamation point on his second win this year on the Vancouver Golf Tour schedule. Parry’s win and cheque for $2,000 vaults him to the top of the CLEVELAND GOLF/ SRIXON CANADA Order of Merit (OOM) with $7,337.50. Hadwin’s second place showing vaulted him up the VGT OOM from 5th to 3rd and $5,675.00 after playing only 4 events on the VGT schedule. Hadwin’s four results have included two 2nd place finishes and a win at the Ledgeview Open two weeks ago. Hazelmere’s Phil Jonas struggled on day two shooting 74 and missed cutting a cheque by one shot. After 11 events, Jonas sits in 2nd place on the CLEVELAND GOLF/SRIXON CANADA Order of Merit with $6,028.66.

In the Amateur side of the tournament, 23-year old Kevin Stinson of Ledgeview took home low honours with scores of 70,74 to win by two shots over Chilliwack’s own Mike Broadfoot. Stinson had mixed emotions after his second round - happy to win his second Amateur title this year, but also disappointed he didn’t finish stronger and take on the top Professionals in the field, ultimately one of his main goals. Stinson was quoted as saying he ‘Learned a lot from some of the top Professionals he played with in this event and noted that they rarely made any ‘unforced errors’ during their play’. Stinson will look to win the ‘Triple Crown’ next weekend as he is registered for VGT’s next event – The 2009 Golden Ear’s Open at Pitt Meadows Golf Club.