Ziemer's B.C. Golf Notes: Hadwin and Taylor in Bay Hill field; Sloan ties for 22nd in Puerto Rico; Chamblee’s GVO memories
Abbotsford's PGA TOUR Duo Of Nick Taylor & Adam Hadwin (inset) And Merritt, BC's Roger Sloan - Courtesy VGT/BC Golf File Photo
By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf
BAY HILL BECKONS: The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., is this week’ stop on the PGA TOUR. After a week off, the Abbotsford duo of Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor are both in the field. In three previous appearances at Bay Hill, Hadwin has finished no worse than tied for 36th. Hadwin’s best finish came in 2017 when he was solo sixth. That was just a week after his win at the Valspar Championship. Taylor has made the cut in two of three previous appearances at Bay Hill. His best finish came in 2015 when he tied for 35th. Taylor enters the week 105th on the FedEx Cup points list, while Hadwin is 120th.
BIRDIE BINGE: Merritt’s Roger Sloan tied for 22nd at the Puerto Rico Open, an alternate field event that was held opposite the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession in Bradenton, Fla.
Sloan closed with four straight birdies and shot a four-under 68 Sunday to finish the tourney at 10-under par. That was nine shots behind winner Branden Grace. Sloan earned $28,950 and moved up four spots to 127th on the FedEx Cup points list. Sloan is well down the alternate list and does not figure to draw into this week’s tournament at Bay Hill.
GVO AND TRIPLE O’s: Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee had some fun on Twitter reminiscing about his lone PGA TOUR win, which of course occurred at Northview Golf Club’s Ridge Course in Surrey.
It all started when NBC Sports posted this question on its Twitter feed: “What’s the greatest sports moment you got to see in person?” Justin Leonard responded by tweeting “1999 Ryder Cup.” That’s where Leonard, now a Golf Channel colleague of Chamblee’s, sunk that huge Cup-clinching putt on the 17th green at Brookline Country Club.
That Leonard tweet prompted this response from Chamblee: “You must’ve not been at the 1998 Greater Vancouver Open then.” Northview head pro Greg Pool then tweeted a picture celebrating Chamblee’s win that still stands on the Northview grounds, saying, “we continue to celebrate your win @NorthviewGolfCC.”
That got this classic response from Chamblee: “And I continue to dream of White Spot Hamburgers :)”
OPEN SEASON: The calendar has turned to March and that means the official scoring season has begun in British Columbia. The ‘active season’ for posting scores in B.C. is March 1 through Nov. 15.
However, it is up to individual golf courses to decide when they will be open for the posting of scores. As each course differs in playability, courses may choose to open for posting of scores later than March 1 or may choose to close their course for posting for a period during the active season.
CHIP SHOTS: Brad Kennell is the new head professional at Salmon Arm Golf Club. . .Doug Petrie is the new head pro at Seven Hills Golf & Country Club in Port Hardy. . .Carnoustie Golf Course in Port Coquitlam has tentatively scheduled March 12 for its reopening after its annual winter closure.