There was a familiar name atop the leaderboard on the latest stop on the Bayview Place Vikes Performance Tour amateur division.
Royal Colwood’s Keaton Gudz captured his fourth title of the season and has a firm grip on the available exemption to compete in Canada’s Bayview Place Card-–tronics Open presented by Times Colonist, part of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour, next month at Uplands Golf Club.
Gudz turned in a 4-under 66 on Tuesday at the Qualicum Beach Memorial stop, four shots better than runner-up Mike Belleau of Olympic View. Royal Colwood clubmates Daniel Fractzak and Dylan Bell were another two shots back.
Gudz continues to lead the order of merit on the amateur side.
On the professional side, Darren Day Jr. captured the title at Qualicum Beach with an even-par 70.
One shot back were local professional Travis Busch, who tied with Terrance Drader for second at 71.
Isaac Weintraub and Ben Griffin rounded out the top five with scores of 73. They’re in a battle atop the order of merit in their quest for the pro exemption to the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by Times Colonist.
The Bayview Place Vikes Performance Tour continues for the amateurs next Tuesday at Bear Mountain and the Zone 5 Amateur on May 27-28, which is worth a double order of merit points. The pros, meanwhile, will tee it up this weekend at the 54th annual Cedar Hill Open and on Tuesday at Bear Mountain.
Jim Rutledge will be among the pros competing Saturday and Sunday at Cedar Hill in the 36-hole event for pros and amateurs. Also in the pro field are Griffin, Gordy Scutt, Paul Devenport, Kevin Maxwel and Jeff Palmer.
Last year’s overall champion, Brent Wilson, will be in the amateur field, along with 2016 Cedar Hill club champion Scott Davis and past Cedar Hill Open champions Kevin Carrigan and Jarred Callbeck.
“The Cedar Hill Open always attracts a full field and players come back year after year to play here,” said Paul Mooney, Cedar Hill Golf Club captain. “Even though the course is a par 67, it’s a mistake to underestimate the challenge. It demands accuracy off the tee and, if you don’t have a good short game, you won’t score well.
“The club is proud to be able to showcase this jewel of Saanich,” Mooney said. “After one of the wettest winters on record, the greens crew has worked extremely hard to get the course ready for this weekend. The greens are in excellent shape, as good as they’ve ever been.”
Fans are encouraged to attend, with tee times slated between 7-9 a.m. and noon-2 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
mannicchiarico@timescolonist.com
Twitter/tc_vicsportso
