JULY 5, 2021
CHASE, BC (PGA of British Columbia) –- Black Mountain Golf Club’s Russ Latimer and Greg Forbes made it a goal to reach 7-under-par during Monday’s opening round of the G&G Golf Company & Callaway Golf PGA of BC Pro-Assistant Championship. They didn’t expect doing so would put them in first place.
Latimer rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th green at Talking Rock Golf Course to close out a 7-under 65 that now has he and Forbes leading the tournament by two strokes with one round left to play.
“We were thinking that if we could do 7-under today and 12-under tomorrow, that’s kind of what we thought would be the winning score for the tournament,” said Latimer. “But it is surprising that we’re leading by two.”
Four teams managed to post a 5-under 67 during Monday’s best-ball round to share second place behind the Black Mountain duo –- Luke McKenzie and Kyle McMurphy (Eaglequest Coquitlam), Craig Barr and Joe Schuster (Meadow Gardens Golf Club), Mike Loewen and Cody Bell (Sunset Ranch Golf & Country Club) and Rob Anderson and Jamie Stevens (Kelowna Golf & Country Club).
The Pro-Assistant Championship features PGA of BC Club Professionals (Head, Executive or Head Teaching Professionals) team up with another member Professional affiliated at the same facility to compete against their colleagues over 36 holes.
Latimer and Forbes were the only team to play bogey-free golf on Monday and didn’t have many anxious moments on course. Forbes had to make a five-foot par save on the par-3 eighth hole, but that was the only potential momentum-killer they faced all day.
“We were pretty solid,” said Forbes. “The most stressful part of the day was probably counting up the scorecard. We had easy pars, we hit it well and we’re very happy with where we’re at.”
No player with multiple Pro-Assistant victories has ever done so with different partners. Latimer has a chance to change that on Tuesday, having won the 2014 tournament at Black Mountain alongside Tyrel Griffith. The Executive Professional said the opportunity to capture a title with a new teammate speaks to the talent of the Professional staff at his facility.
“We have an amazing team at Black Mountain of good players who don’t need a lot of practice time,” said Latimer. “We don’t have a range up there, we just like to go and hit the ball around and shoot good scores and challenge each other. We all want to be the best player at Black Mountain and there’s good competition (between us), so we just feed off that.
“I could have brought Shane Pugliese, Tyrel Griffith or Jeff Wills and had a solid team all around, but obviously Greg Forbes is the guy.”
Anderson, a 2010 champion with Ryan Matiushyk, has come close to winning with Stevens on multiple occasions but come up just short each time. The duo lost in a playoff during the 2012 Pro-Assistant held at Talking Rock and were runners-up again two years ago at Copper Point Golf Club.
“This is a fun place to be and a great golf course,” Anderson said of their strong track record at Talking Rock. “We like the layout and know each other’s games, so it works out well for us usually.”
Stevens added that “a couple of putts” were the difference between sitting two back and being tied for the lead heading into Tuesday’s scramble-format round.
“We get plenty of looks and typically have balls in play on most of the holes,” said Stevens.
Sunset Ranch’s Loewen and Bell have always been competitive as a team in the Pro-Assistant, finishing in the money in each of the past three editions of the tournament, but are still looking for a breakthrough victory.
“I just feel so comfortable playing with Mikey because we’re out there for fun and having a good time,” said Bell. “We’ll go out there and try to play well but at the end of the day, if we don’t play well, it doesn’t matter too much because we’re having some fun.”
The Meadow Gardens squad of Barr and Schuster were a bit more of a surprise to see among the early leaders, if only because they have few Pro-Assistant starts between them. This is Schuster’s first PGA of BC championship tournament and Barr said it’s been nearly 20 years since he last played the event, but he and Neil Roberts were in contention while representing Pitt Meadows Golf Club back then as well.
“It was kind of the same thing – it was completely out of the blue and we made a few bucks,” said Barr. “We grinded hard today but it was fun.”
Eaglequest Coquitlam’s McKenzie and McMurphy are making their first Pro-Assistant appearance as a team since 2017 but regained their chemistry quickly. The twosome turned at even-par on Monday but made five birdies on the inward nine to join the logjam at 5-under. They’ll be in Tuesday’s final group alongside Latimer and Forbes at 11:00 a.m.
“It would be an honour (to win), having been a PGA member for so many years,” said McKenzie. “To do it with a colleague and a buddy of mine would definitely be a highlight of both our careers.”
Several more teams will still be in the hunt during the final round scramble, including two squads led by past PGA of BC Championship winners sitting at 4-under. Lindsay Bernakevitch and Mark Bicknell (Victoria Golf Club) had their 68 matched by Brad Clapp and Andrew McDonald (Ledgeview Golf Club), and both teams could be a factor come Tuesday afternoon.
There’s another group of strong teams at 3-under, including defending champions Brian McDonald and Rob Tadey (Fairview Mountain Golf Club), 2018 winners James Presnail and Mark Kitts (Shadow Ridge Golf Club) and the Northview Golf & Country Club twosome of Greg Pool and Theo Tanski.
CLICK HERE to view complete Round 1 scoring and the final-round draw.
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Based in Langley, BC, G&G Golf Company is a leading wholesale supplier to the Canadian golf and corporate promotional industries. Since Gord German founded the business in 1991, it has continued to evolve and to this day remains proudly family-owned, with daily operations being carried out by Brad and Jessica German. G&G offers over 20 top-quality brands, two national sales forces and a best-in-class customer-service team to support over 1,500 active accounts across Canada, the USA and Australia. In its 30th year of business, G&G continues to share its collaborative formula for success with its current and prospective customers, suppliers, and employees alike. Welcome to the Family. Learn more at www.gandg.ca.
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Eric MacKenzie
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eric@pgabc.org
C: (778) 995-3331