The 2008 Golden Ear's Open came down to a dramatic conclusion for the
second straight year. It took the 36th and final hole for
Dan Swanson of Guilford Golf Club to finish off all 215
competitors at this year's Championship to finish -8 and a one shot win over
Nationwide Tour player Bryn Parry.
At the start of the final round, twelve players in the field were within 4 shots
of the leaders Kyle German (Point Roberts Golf & CC) and Matt Palsenbarg
(Northview). With the Pitt Meadows Golf Club in perfect condition and ripe for
the scoring, This tournament could have gone anyone's way. In fact, it was young
South African amateur Brent Kirsten who got all the spectators excited on day
one with his run for the course record of 64 (-8). Needing only one more birdie
on day one with four holes to go to break the Pitt Meadows course record (held
by Bryn Parry), the Wayland Baptist University-Texas student stumbled on his way
in but needless to say, impressed many onlookers with his fine play and eventual
first round score of 68.
On day two, Kirsten continued his fine play. Paired in the second last group
with Canadian Tour player Andrew Smeeth and PGA professionals James Harper and
Mark Strong, Kirsten held his own, shooting 71 and winning the Amateur side of
the Golden Ears Open with an impressive two-day total of 139 (-5). Kirsten has
been staying in Vancouver for the summer with University team-mate Kevin
Stinson, who finished in t7th place in the amateur division with scores of 72,
76. VGT Amateur Han Baek fired the lowest second round of the tournament with a
69, resulting in a 2nd place finish overall in the Amateur division.
With about half the 2nd round field in for the day, the Pitt Meadows skies
opened up and within 10 minutes, players were called off the golf course as play
was suspended until further notice. With greens completely saturated from the
amount of water that fell from the sky, players wondered if this round would be
continued. However, 45 minutes later thanks to a much improved irrigation system
this year and the Pitt Meadows course was ready for play and all contestants
were called back to the course to resume play.
Starting round two, Swanson found himself one shot off the lead after his
opening round of 67 (-5). His fine play continued right from the get-go as he
birdied holes 1 and 2 and eagled #4 on his way to a front nine score of -3 and
now -8 for the tournament. In the meantime, Parry started off equally as hot,
birdying holes 3,4,5 and 8, only to be offset slightly with a double-bogey on
hole #6 for an opening nine score of -2 and one shot back of Swanson at -7.
German, co-leader after day one had a slower start to the day with 7 straight
pars, only to be de-railed by a triple-bogey 7 on hole #8. German would rally on
the back nine to take a share of t4th place overall in the tournament. Matt
Palsenbarg of Northview Golf & CC also opened his final round slowly with 2
birds and 2 bogeys, leaving him at -6 at the turn and 2 shots off the pace, also
finishing in a tie for 4th place overall after 36 holes.
The final nine holes told a similar story, as Swanson held his position at -8
through 14 holes while Palsenbarg and Parry both came within one shot after 11
holes, only to both bogey #12 and allow the gap to widen again to 2 shots.
Swanson looked like he had wrapped this tournament up with another birdie on #15
to go to -9 for the tournament and a 3 shot margin over Parry and James Harper
after Palsenbarg made a bogey on #14. However, after miss-firing his iron shot
into the 17th green, Swanson exploded from the sand to 15 feet and 3-putted his
way to a double bogey. Parry made yet again another par after and it was now a
one shot tournament heading down the 18th.
Both Parry and Swanson fired their tee-shots down the left center of the
fairway, leaving themselves only long irons into the par 5. After Swanson's
approach hopped within feet of the green, the pressure now rested on Parry to
give himself a chance for eagle and a possible playoff. Parry stood up to the
challenge putting his approach on the green to 25 feet. His eagle putt had
enough on it to find the hole, but slightly under-read, missed low and he would
tap in for his birdie, finishing at -7 for the event. Swanson's 23 footer from
the fringe needed to traverse up the slope with perfect speed, otherwise it
could have run 4-5 feet by. True to the test, Swanson was perfect with his pace,
leaving his eagle putt only 6 inches from the hole and a tap-in for the title.
This was Swanson's fourth victory in the 2008 Vancouver Golf Tour schedule, and
his first ever Golden Ear's Open title, which earned him $2,200 for his play.
His victory vaults him closer to the 2008 VGT Order of Merit Leader Bryn Parry
who won $1,500 for his second place finish. After 11 events, Parry leads Swanson
by only $500 with his year-to date earnings totalling $9,511 and Swanson with
$9,008. Canadian Tour veteran Andrew Smeeth sits in 3rd place in the VGT Order
of Merit with $6,446.00.
In the Amateur side of the tournament, both Scott Thomson and Don Varcoe of Pitt
Meadows GC prevailed as winners of Low Gross in their own flights, (6-11) and
(12+) respectively. Low net awards were given to Brett Stewart (Overall), Ben
Sanderson (0-5), Pasquale Martino (6-11) and Gary Ogilvie (12+).
This is the second consecutive year the Vancouver Golf Tour has been affiliated
with the Golden Ears Open. As Commissioner of VGT, I would like to take this
time to congratulate all members of the Golden Ears Open Committee for putting
on such a great event again this year. The continued efforts of all committee
members cannot go un-thanked as the amount of hours put into this event are un-imagineable:
SCORING: Frank Hoadley, Steve and Barb Chapman, Dick Rohead, Dawn Lantela,
Bob MacDonald and all scorekeepers. VOLUNTEER ORGANIZER: Bruce Eburne - included dozens of volunteers who
hole-spotted and started the players on the 1st and 10th tee and. SUPERINTENDANT: Congratulations to Dave Zeiler and his greens crew for
their extended efforts to get the golf course in fantastic shape once again! FOOD AND BEVERAGE: To Julian Wolfstan and all the f&b staff for the
excellent service and tremendous meals throughout the event. Well done Chef
Richard. PRO-SHOP: To Neil Roberts, Head Professional of Pitt Meadows and all of
his staff for orchestrating a fabulous amateur prize table and professional
purse this year. Great work! REGISTRATION: From the main office (Colleen Bowles) to the volunteers at
the registration table, thanks for taking care of all the players from the
moment they arrive! SPONSORS: Last and certainly not least, thanks must go out to the many
supporting sponsors of the 2008 GOLDEN EARS OPEN and to the four Major Sponsors
who without their support, wouldn't allow for this event to be such a success:
2008 MAJOR SPONSORS:
Meyer Norris Penny
Mardon & Garrison Insurance Brokers
Eastgate Auto Body
Mail-O-Matic
We are looking forward to our continued relationship with the GOLDEN EARS
OPEN in the years to come. A full picture gallery of the event can be found
on the website very soon. Full Details of all scores can be found on VGT’s Live
Scoring at the following link:
http://www.vancouvergolftour.com/2008/live_scoring.htm . A summary of all
pro and amateur (gross and net) results can be found on the Pitt Meadows Golf
Club website by following this link:
http://www.pittmeadowsgolf.com/index.cfm?id=211 . Thanks again to all
players for attending this year’s event!!
