Patient Play Earns Scutt Victory At Royal Colwood

Olympic View PGA Of BC Instructor Gordy Scutt Wins The PGA of BC Championship For The Second Time - Image Courtesy PGA of BC

Gordy Scutt Shoots Two-under In Final Round To Win The 2016 TaylorMade & adidas Golf PGA of BC Championship At Royal Colwood Golf Club In Victoria

By Jeff Sutherland

Gordy Scutt, who teaches at the nearby Olympic View GC, started the day at one-over. He was among twenty players who were within three shots of first round leader Luke Bogdan of Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford who had opened with a one-under 69.

Scutt, who won the Championship when it was held at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in 2014, got off to a good start for day two at the 103 year-old AV Macan designed course.

"I kind of played well from the get-go and made a birdie on number one. Yesterday I had a lot of trouble hitting a lot of fairways; today I found a lot of fairways and was able to get it close. It makes it score-able and that's a huge difference."

Scutt took the outright lead after a 15-foot uphill birdie on #16 to go one-under and then followed that with a near tap-in on #17 to then lead by two. Even though he has won multiple events on the Vancouver Island Pro Tour this year where he currently leads their Order of Merit, he credits an uptick in his putting for his most recent successes. 

"Yeah I felt pretty good coming in and have been playing pretty well all year but I've been struggling a bit with my putting. I've been working on a few things... Now I'm making a few more of those 10 to 15 footers that are the round changers that turn a 71 or 72 into a few under because those are falling."

Two other players behind him would get to one-under and one behind... Luke Bogdan and Hazelmere Golf & Tennis Club's Phil Jonas. Bogdan would remain in contention to the final tee but his even-par final round would leave him a shot short.

After round one, he did comment that he felt that some of the layout's similarities with his home course helped, "Royal Colwood is a beautiful golf course. I think it fits my eye because I play out of Ledgeview, so I think I'm used to these very sloped and fast greens."

The 54 year-old Jonas who posted a first round even-par 70 matched Scutt's birdie on #16 but then was only able to par the last two holes narrowly missing a 45-footer on the last. Jonas who will be teeing it up in the qualifier to play at the PGA TOUR Champions event at Bear Mountain next month felt quite positive about his play.

"I played pretty well; I shot two-unde,r three birdies, one bogey. I played conservatively... only missed one green on the back and I think I only missed that one green on the front as well so it was solid, you know, but it was still one too many."

Phil is cautiously optimistic about his chances in the Pacific Links Championship at Bear Mountain Resort. "I feel good but at (the age of) 54 you don't know what's going to happen in three weeks time but hopefully I'm able to play well."

Both Scutt and Jonas commented on the challenges that Royal Colwood posed, in particular noting the demanding pin positions, said Scutt, "It's funny when we played our practice round I thought (the winning score) would be a little lower, but with some of the tough pins and the slopes I knew then that even would be a pretty good score."

Those 'tough pins' were actually the same ones used during the last time the Club hosted a major Championship. Host PGA of Canada Executive Professional Jason Giesbrecht explains, "The pins were a mix of those used over the four rounds during the 2013 Canadian Amateur, which the Club hosted as part of its 100th anniversary celebrations."

                                           Image Credit Jeff Sutherland / INSIDE GOLF

Phil Jonas Reacts As His Potential Playoff-Forcing Birdie Putt Slips Past The Hole On #18

Giesbrecht also initially thought that the scores during round two might be a little lower, "While it was breezy on Monday (round one), today looked like someone would be able to go out and shoot 66 or 65, but then a little wind came up."

PGA of BC members who competed were uniformly impressed with the course that they ranked top-five in the province in the last 'Top Tracks' award from 2012. Phil Jonas, who has played on a number of professional tours including most recently the European Senior Tour, was especially complimentary.

"This is a really good course. There is no rough to speak of and it still holds its own. There are not many birdie holes out there. Like the back nine today. I made eight pars and a birdie and I felt like I was working really hard. The greens are perfect. The old courses with greens like this are great. It's the way it should be. This is one of the best courses in BC and the members should be proud of it."

For his win, Scutt takes home the Winner's Cheque of $6,000. The runners-up each take home $3,725.

The PGA of BC Women's Championship trophy was also contended for this week. Awarded to the low female competitor in the field, Leila Harman of Meadow Gardens Golf Club shot 80-75 to claim the trophy for the fourth time, having won before in 2011, 2010, and 2003.

CLICK HERE to see final scores.

For a slideshow of the tournament see below: