Well, it was fun while it lasted.
The Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship is no longer, dropped from the PGA Tour Champions schedule as the official list of 2018 events came out Wednesday with the tournament dropped for next season.
Rumoured to be heading to Asia, the Pacific Links event was instead totally dropped from the schedule.
“I think they were lucky to have it this [past] year, honestly,” said Jim Rutledge, the local veteran who has played on the tour and finished tied for 65th at this year’s Bear Mountain event. “You could tell that by no TV this year, and the prize money dropped by about $700,000 as well.
“It’s too bad because I think people enjoyed it, not only the players, but the city,” said Rutledge. “Victoria doesn’t have a lot of golf events, honestly, other than the Canadian tour. It’s nice to bring something else to town, especially players the people have seen all their lives on TV.”
Ecoasis, which owns and operates the Bear Mountain property, opted not to comment and there was also no response from Pacific Links.
As for Rutledge, the 58-year-old is in the Las Vegas area preparing for the first stage of PGA Tour Champions Qualifying School in hopes of earning his card for the 2018 season. The event will be held in Primm, Nevada, with the final stage at the end of the month at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona.
“I’m trying to get some practice in down here because it’s been hard at home,” said Rutledge, who earned $2,265 US for his finish at Bear Mountain this year, an event he received a sponsors’ exemption to compete in. “The weather at home helped us for quite a while, but then it turned sour on us in the last week so it was time to head out and get some practice.
“I hope to have a good week here and move on. It’s one step at a time. I’ll try and get through this one and I have had good success at Scottsdale, so I’m hopeful to get there and try to repeat on that.”
