Graham DeLaet Blog - World Cup European Qualifier

Stuart Anderson (left) and Graham DeLaet (right) of Canada at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup European Qualifier at the Estonian Golf and Country Club

Hello from Estonia,

This past week I played in the World Cup European Qualifier in Estonia. The top 3 teams qualify for the World Cup in China at the end of November. Last year Wes Heffernan and I qualified in Poland and represented Canada in China. This year, I partnered with fellow Canadian and Canadian Tour player Stuart Anderson. The format for the event was 2 rounds of fourball (bestball) and 2 rounds of foursomes (alternate shot). We shot rounds of 65, 69, 63, 72 (-19) and won the event by 2 strokes. We needed to be in the top 3 to qualify, but it was a nice bonus to win the event outright.

We played really well all week, and worked nicely together as a team. Stuart played brilliant on Saturday and quite honestly carried us through that round. The final round we were fortunate to have a 9 stroke cushion on 4th and played quite passively all day. We are really excited to be heading to China. It's a very proud feeling to represent Canada at such a big event.

Before I left for Estonia, I had to look on a map to even see where it was. It is actually a great country. Like most European countries it is surrounded by tonnes of history. I went to a museum the first day I got there. It was a display of medievel torture methods and the apparatuses they used for the tortures. It was crazy! The city that we were in is called Tallinn. It is the capital with a population of approximately 400,000. A short walk from our hotel was "old town Tallinnn" which was very European with narrow roads and very old architecture. There were many restaurants and pubs. The rest of the city was very progressive with business and more modern buildings. It is a country I would have never thought I would ever visit, but would go back to in a heartbeat.

I am now on my way to Scotland for the Dunhill Links. The tournament is played at St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and Kingsbarns. I am really excited to play the old course and take in all the history that surrounds St. Andrews. It will be my first time over there. The Dunhill Links is a pro-am event. The majority of the amateurs are celebrities, so there is a chance I will play with someone pretty cool. I know Bill Murray, Samuel L. Jackson, etc will be there. You can follow the event at www.europeantour.com. The tournament is also shown on The Golf Channel. There is also a short article on the European Tour website about our win in Estonia if you are interested.

For all you college football fans out there, you probably noticed that Boise State jumped to #5 in the polls. Go Broncos!!!

All the best,
Graham

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