Stephen Gangluff may have taken last year’s victory at the Times Colonist Island Savings Open slightly for granted and he’s looking to make amends this PGA Tour Canada season.
The 38-year-old native of Marysville, Ohio — who now calls Carlsbad, Calif., home — will be in the field to defend his title at the newly named Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by the Times Colonist at Uplands Golf Club, starting Thursday.
After last year’s win — the inaugural victory on the newly established PGA Tour Canada circuit — Gangluff did not record another top-25 finish, admittedly struggling from that point.
“It was a tough year. I did not play well at all the rest of the year,” Gangluff said over the phone from California before venturing north for the start of the 2014 season. “I think I had one other event where I was in contention and I think I shot 80 on the third day to take me out of it. I just didn’t play well.
“I got off to that good start in Victoria so I had good things on my mind, but just never played well again. I played decent, but never got anything out of my game, finishing too low to really do anything,” said Gangluff, whose golf career has fluctuated from playing on the Canadian, Web.com and PGA Tours. “It hurt me, obviously, that I never even got to the final stage [of Web.com Tour qualifying last year].
“Now, I’m just rebuilding and hopefully I can get the same opportunity to do well the first two weeks this year, then I’ll know what to do this year, instead of thinking you have it in the bag a little bit. Once you win, you think, ‘Well, I’ll be all right the rest of the year.’
“It didn’t work that way. I didn’t play well and my game has not been great the last two years. But I feel like my game is better now than it was last year leading into Victoria, so that’s good for me.”
Gangluff’s second straight 4-under par 66 on championship Sunday last year left him at 11-under 269 for the tournament at Uplands, two shots better than fellow American Tyler Aldridge. Comox’s Riley Wheeldon was third, another two shots back.
“Real good memories,” Gangluff said of last year’s triumph. “It was obviously great to win the first ever PGA Tour Canada event. That was fun and I’m looking forward to getting back there. I love that golf course and I can’t wait to get back.
“Obviously, the win was the best memory, but just the way it all happened — the situation I was in, getting back to the Canadian tour, I had to go through Q [qualifying] school and not knowing what was going to happen. Just getting it done was remarkable. I played very well and the whole week was a blur, until the end.”
He finished 11th on the tour’s Order of Merit in 2013 — which he won way back in 2006 — missing out on 10th by just $459.
A huge break of nearly a full month in between Victoria and the next event, due to the postponement of the ATB Financial Classic in Calgary, had its effect on Gangluff and many others.
“Golf is one of those things where when you win one week, you want to play the next week and stay on a high. I had too much downtime and things didn’t go my way,” Gangluff said of the fickle sport. “It’s such an up and down game. You could win one week then … just like last year. I won one week and didn’t play well the rest of the year.”
He had an opportunity to play both the Byron Nelson tournament and the RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour in 2013 and missed the cut at both. Gangluff is no stranger to the PGA, having played 27 tournaments in 2002, another 23 in 2012 and 60 in total.
He’s also spent plenty of time on the Web.com Tour and wants desperately to get back to that next level.
“I’ve been out there before. I know what it takes. But, like I said, I hadn’t been playing well. One week I’m great, the next I’m terrible,” he said. “I’m trying to get that consistency back in my game where it’s good every week, where I can get into contention like I was five or six years ago.”
And 2014 will be a bigger test for Gangluff.
“I’m going to the first two events and that will basically determine my season. The finances — it costs a lot to travel,” he said. “I couldn’t find sponsors so far this year. I will play the first two events and hopefully they go well and I’ll go from there.”
He isn’t about to give up though. Far from it.
“My goal is to win the money list and get back out there on the Web.com [Tour] because I know I can play. I would love nothing more than to win one of these first two events.
“I think if I play my game, like I did last year, I think I can win it again,” he said of the Bayview Place Island Savings Open presented by the Times Colonist.
“That’s what I want. I would love to get one win in the first two events.”
