2008 ECCO Spring
Championship – Hazelmere Golf Course
Friday, May 23rd
Hazelmere Golf Course
6627 yards, Par 72
$8,000 Professional Purse
2008 ECCO Spring Championship in Review Tournament
Review:
“Daniel’s
Patience Pays off at Hazelmere”
In this the 6th and final Spring Series Event on
the 2008 MarketPlace Vancouver Golf Tour
schedule, a well travelled Canadian Tour Member
Matt Daniel felt right at home on a familiar and
well manicured Hazelmere Golf Course. Having
played several rounds on the now famous course
for hosting CAN TOUR’S Greater Vancouver Charity
Classic, Daniel finished with full guns ablaze,
birdying 6 of his final 7 holes to record a
five-under par round of 67 and a two shot
victory over Calgary’s Todd Halpen.
Daniel had just recently returned from a trip
down to Mexico on the Canadian Tour and will
stay at home to gear up for the Can Tour’s next
series of tournaments scheduled for Vancouver
and Victoria. ‘This was just what I needed and
had planned on trying to do’ stated Daniel after
the round. Winning at the local level to gain
some confidence was what this Canadian Tour
veteran was talking about and his win at the
VGT ECCO Championship did just that.
Daniel’s victory at the ECCO Spring
Championship re-inforced in his mind that he
can win again, something he has done before on
the Canadian Tour (winning the 2002 Telus
Edmonton Open). ‘This was a great win for me
today – something I knew I could do….and I went
out and did it’. ‘It will be great to carry this
confidence forward to the Times Colonist Open
and Greater Vancouver Charity Classic in a
couple of weeks time’.
Halpen made his first appearance in a VGT event
at the ECCO Championship. It seems like
he went to all lengths to play in the ECCO
Championship to also gain some experience that
he plans on carrying ahead to the 2008 Can Tour
Qualifying School at Swan-e-set Bay Resort
starting on June 2nd. Halpen will return home to
Calgary for a couple of days and will return to
attempt to gain status on the CAN Tour for 2008.
At the conclusion of play in the Amateur (0-5)
Division, another newcomer to the VGT, Ryan
Blackburn of Evans, Georgia travelled afar to
tee-it-up. With his strong round of even par 72,
Blackburn played his way into the winner’s
circle, and collected himself a pair of ECCO
Golf Shoes ($250 value) as well as a $100
Gift Certificate to Perfect Lies. In the
6-10 Amateur Division, Mayfair Lakes member
Kevin He scored a solid round of 79 and also
collected a pair of ECCO Golf Shoes worth
$250.
Congratulations to all winners at the 2008
ECCO Golf Spring Championship, VGT’s 2nd
Annual Spring Championship. At the conclusion of
the ECCO Spring Championship, Dan Swanson
of Guilford Golf Club took home a $500 bonus for
leading the VGT Spring Order of Merit with
$4,058.33, some $1,500 over his next challengers
Kendal Yonemoto and Bryn Parry, both of Seymour
Creek Golf Center. His lead will carry forward
to the remainder of the year where VGT’s overall
OOM winner will have his PGA Tour Qualifying
School entry paid for courtesy of the tour.
Our thanks go out to Todd Davidson and Steve
Graham of ECCO GOLF for coming onboard as
VGT’s Spring Championship Title Sponsor and to
Surrey Now for their Presenting
Sponsorship role. We must also thank
Hazelmere Golf Course and all of their staff
for making their golf course a tremendous venue
for us to host our Spring Championship this
year. The golf course conditions keep getting
better and better every year. So good in fact,
that it has been getting fantastic reviews from
both its members and some of the top
Professionals that visit it each year on the
Canadian Tour stop – The Greater Charity
Vancouver Classic which kicks off in 3 weeks
time on June 15th.
Finally, thanks to our trusty Rules Official Jim
Gibson for staying on top of all the slow play
and to all our trusty volunteers for their hard
work the night before and day of the event –
Thanks Bryan, Bill, Joe, Holly, George & Heidi!
PROFESSIONAL WINNERS -
$8000 Purse
Based on 40 Pros
Pos
Player
Score
Earnings
1st
Matt Daniel (Canadian
Tour)
67
$1500
2nd
Todd Halpen (Calgary)
69
$1050
3rd
Shingo Akizuki (Mayfair
Lakes)
70
$750
4th
Jeremy Paradis (Langley)
70
$750
5th
Bryn Parry (Seymour
Creek)
72
$400
6th
Doug Morgan (The
Redwoods)
72
$400
7th
James Harper (McCleery
GC)
72
$400
8th
Daryl Stubbs (King’s
Links)
72
$400
9th
Blake Mithrush (Sechelt G
& CC)
72
$400
10th
Mark Kitts (Morningstar
Golf Club)
72
$400
11th
John Shin (Canadian Tour)
72
$400
12th
Jay Balloch (Sunshine
Woods GC)
72
$400
13th
Travis Jordan (Salmon
Arm)
73
$187.50
14th
Justin Day (PGA of BC)
73
$187.50
15th
Norm Jarvis (Surrey, BC)
73
$187.50
16th
Scott Shepherd (High
Knoll Golf)
73
$187.50
VGT Spring Order of Merit Winner - Dan
Swanson - Wins $500 Bonus
