The Greater Vancouver Open was a professional golf tournament in Canada on the PGA Tour, held in southwestern British Columbia from 1996 to 2002. It was played after the majors in late summer, at the Northview Golf & Country Club in Surrey, a suburb southeast of Vancouver.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Surrey, British Columbia, Canada |
| Established | 1958 |
| Course(s) | Northview Golf & Country Club (Ridge Course) |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 7,065 yards (6,460 m)[1] |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | US$3,500,000 |
| Month played | August/September |
| Final year | 2002 |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 265 Mark Calcavecchia (1997) 265 Brandel Chamblee (1998) 265 Joel Edwards (2001) |
| To par | −19 as above |
| Final champion | |
 Gene Sauers | |
| Location map | |
  Northview G&CC Location in Canada  Northview G&CC Location in British Columbia | |
History
editFor its first three years, it was an alternate event in late August, concurrent with the NEC World Series of Golf at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. In 1999, the new Reno-Tahoe Open became the alternate event for the WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone. The Vancouver tournament was promoted to a regular tour event and scheduled a week later, as the Greater Milwaukee Open moved up to July. Renamed the "Air Canada Championship," sponsored by the country's leading airline, it was coupled with the Canadian Open for consecutive tournaments north of the U.S. border in early September.
Mike Weir won that year for the first of his eight tour wins; he became the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event on home soil in 45 years.[2][3]
The purses grew substantially during the run of the event, from $1 million to $3.5 million in six years. It was replaced on the schedule in 2003 by the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts, near Boston.
This was not the first time the PGA Tour included a stop in British Columbia on their schedule. Dow Finsterwald won the unofficial 1955 British Columbia Open Invitational, and Jim Ferree was victorious at the 1958 Vancouver Open Invitational.[4]
Winners
edit| Year | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory |
Runner(s)-up | Purse (US$) |
Winner's share ($) |
Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada Championship | |||||||||
| 2002 | Gene Sauers |
269 | −15 | 1 stroke | Steve Lowery |
3,500,000 | 630,000 | [1] | |
| 2001 | Joel Edwards |
265 | −19 | 7 strokes | Steve Lowery |
3,400,000 | 612,000 | [5] | |
| 2000 |  Rory Sabbatini |
268 | −16 | 1 stroke |  Grant Waite |
3,000,000 | 540,000 | [6][7] | |
| 1999 |  Mike Weir |
266 | −18 | 2 strokes | Fred Funk |
2,500,000 | 450,000 | [2][3] | |
| Greater Vancouver Open | |||||||||
| 1998 | Brandel Chamblee |
265 | −19 | 3 strokes | Payne Stewart |
2,000,000 | 360,000 | [8] | |
| 1997 | Mark Calcavecchia |
265 | −19 | 1 stroke | Andrew Magee |
1,500,000 | 270,000 | [9] | |
| 1996 | Guy Boros |
272 | −12 | 1 stroke | Emlyn Aubrey Lee Janzen Taylor Smith |
1,000,000 | 180,000 | [10] | |
| 1959–1995: No tournament | |||||||||
| Vancouver Open Invitational | |||||||||
| 1958 |  Jim Ferree |
270 | −18 | 1 stroke | Billy Casper |
42,000 | 6,400 | ||
References
edit- ^ a b "Golf: PGA Tour at Surrey, British Columbia". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 2, 2002. p. 6E.
- ^ a b "Oh Canada! Weir wins". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). wire services. September 6, 1999. p. C2.
- ^ a b "Eagle lifts Weir to Air Canada title". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). wire services. September 6, 1999. p. 32.
- ^ "Air Canada Championships 2001-Event Preview". Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
- ^ "Golf: PGA Tour". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 3, 2001. p. 4E.
- ^ "PGA". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 4, 2000. p. C2.
- ^ "Air Canada Championship". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. September 4, 2000. p. C7.
- ^ "Greater Vancouver Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. August 31, 1998. p. C7.
- ^ "Golf: Greater Vancouver Open". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). August 25, 1997. p. 8B.
- ^ "Golf: Greater Vancouver Open". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). August 26, 1996. p. 6B.
External links
edit- Tournament results at GolfObserver.com - select under "Tournament Name"
- 2002 Tournament preview - at GolfToday.co.uk
- Northview Golf & Country Club