Matt Palsenbarg Captures Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistants’ Championship

Matt Palsenbarg Captures Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistants’ Championship

Quebec City, QC (September 23, 2009) - After torrential rain, wind and foggy conditions, the sun broke through on the 18th green to shine for just one moment on 28-year-old Matt Palsenbarg of Northview Golf and Country Club, BC as he made par on the final hole to win the 2009 Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistants’ Championship presented by Simmlands Insurance.

Palsenbarg carded rounds of 70-67-69 for a 10-under par 206 total to capture his first National title. He made two eagles, three birdies and two bogeys en route to his 69 today, finishing the last seven holes at even par.

“The last seven holes were such a grind to just save par,” stated Palsenbarg who is currently coaching the BC provincial golf team. “I just took advantage of the weather today, I love playing in the rain, because everyone else hates it. Since I am a long hitter, the rain actually helps me hit the ball an accurate length, and makes the shorter hitters hit it short of where they need to be.”

Palsenbarg is one of country’s longest hitters, driving it 330 yards on average. He won the Western Canada division in the World Long Drive Competition in 2003 and used this ability to his advantage this week. He ended up at 12-under-par on the par five’s throughout the three rounds and drove the 13th hole par-four for a three-feet putt yesterday.

“When I got here I realized that this course played to my liking. Today I was trying to play aggressive, but get the ball in the hole. The last few days have been interesting, I eagled two holes today and two in my previous rounds, I had two three-putts and a lost ball today and only birdied one par-three in my three rounds, lost six balls in total and hit it in the hazard 11 times,” stated Palsenbarg who won the 2007 BC PGA Assistants’ Championship.

Palsenbarg rarely plays competitive golf, as he is currently teaching and coaching elite juniors the majority of his time for the BC provincial team and at Northview Golf and Country Club in Cloverdale, BC. When asked if he would contemplate going on tour, he said, “I can’t picture myself as a tour player or even trying to make it on tour. I am a homebody and that kind of lifestyle is not what I enjoy, but I plan on playing a few Gateway Tour events potentially in the winter.”

“I honestly didn’t expect to come here to win this week as I haven’t been playing much competitively this year, but I would definitely consider this the biggest title of my career and am so happy that I was able to make it this year, although I am going to be a busy guy answering emails as I am running a high performance junior clinic starting Friday and am teaching tomorrow,” stated Palsenbarg who has played in this National event only twice before.

When asked what he will do with the $9000 prize cheque he said that it had already been spent in credit card debt and mortgage payments, but said he is sure that he will buy his wife something extra special.

The Alberta Zone captured the the InterZone team competition, after competing against each zone across the country. Going into the final round with a two shot lead over Ontario, the Alberta team (Belbin-68,67, Black-68,71, Kureluk-68,70, James-67,68) arrived victorious with a final score of 408 over the Ontario team (Groves-67,72, Levesque-70,66, Maunder-69,72, Smith-69,69) with a total score of 412, and Quebec (Dumouchel -67,70, Houle-76,72, Morin-75,71, Tremblay-75,70) at 428. The score is determined by the calculation of the best three scores in each four man team. The purse for the InterZone competition is $5000, with $500 going to each player on the winning team, $400 to each player on the second place team, and $350 going to each player on the third place team.

The total purse for the championship is $60,000 with the champion receiving a $9,000 first place cheque.

Golf de la Faune, a links’ style course, is set in an astonishing natural environment. With eight water hazards, 45 sand traps, and oversized greens, the course will be pose a difficult challenge to the top Assistant professionals across the country.

About the Canadian PGA:

Established in 1911, the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association is a non-profit association comprised of approximately 3,500 golf professionals across the country with a mandate to promote and advance the game of golf, serving the needs of both its membership and the golf public through professional and junior golf development programs and high-calibre competitive events. The National Office is located in Acton, Ontario with nine Zone Offices across the country. For more information, visit www.cpga.com

For more information contact:

Erica Duffy
Communications Coordinator
Canadian PGA
erica@cpga.com
800.782.5764 (x234)

Brad Moyer
Manager of Tournaments
Canadian PGA
brad@cpga.com
800.782.5764 (x227)