Nation’s Best set to Compete for the  2010 Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistant’s Championship

Nation’s Best set to Compete for the 2010 Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistant’s Championship

ACTON, ON (September 24, 2010) – Another stellar field is set to compete for a National Championship as 106 Canadian PGA Professionals will tee it up at the 2010 Titleist & FootJoy Canadian PGA Assistant’s Championship presented by Simmlands Insurance Service.  Play gets underway on Tuesday, September 27th at the prestigious Gorge Vale Golf Club in beautiful Victoria, BC.
Visit www.cpga.com starting Monday to watch Canadian PGA TV interviews with some of the players followed by nine hole scoring and full field results all week.

2009 Champion Matt Palsenbarg of Surrey, BC will be much closer to home this year as he attempts to defend his title at Gorge Vale. Last year in Quebec City Palsenbarg came from behind in the final round and he was the last man standing after watching all of the leaders stumble on the way home. While he hasn’t played a full schedule of tournament golf in 2010, his victory in this year’s PGA of BC Assistant’s Championship is proof that he’s ready to defend.
“ I’m pumped to play in my National Championship again and it will be fun trying to defend the title,” said Palsenbarg, who also works as a Provincial Junior Golf Coach with Golf BC. “Gorge Vale is a great tournament course that will crown a deserving champion.”
One of the early favorites each and every year is BC native Bryn Parry of Seymour Creek Golf Centre in North Vancouver.  The two-time champion (1999 & 2005) is always a player to watch having finished tied for 3rd in 2006, 10th in 2008 and runner-up in 2009.  For those wondering what happened in 2007, well that was the year Parry qualified for the Nationwide Tour. Parry just put the finishing touches on another great season on the Vancouver Golf Tour culminating with the top spot on the VGT’s Order of Merit, an accolade that awards Parry with another trip to PGA Tour Qualifying School this winter.
Jamie Kureluk might be the player that enjoyed the biggest fan fare this summer of anyone in the field.  The Assistant Professional at Cottonwood Golf & Country Club in Calgary, AB fired the round heard around the golfing world when he magically shot an 11-under par 25 on the back nine during the second round of the Alberta Open. The round is now considered to be the lowest nine hole score ever recorded in professional golf. Kureluk’s feat was featured on The Golf Channel and he had to schedule interviews with everyone from the Canadian PGA Radio Show to the Wall Street Journal.
Dave Levesque from the Braeben Golf Academy in Mississauga, ON has quietly put together one of the best season’s of any Canadian PGA Professional in the country. Levesque effectively won three major championships in two different Canadian PGA Zones this summer. In a two month stretch, Levesque took home top honours in a team event and an individual event in the Quebec PGA Zone and then returned home to win the Ontario PGA Assistant’s Championship. Levesque was the runner-up in this event in 2009, narrowly missing a putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff with Palsenbarg.

“We are very excited to host our Canadian PGA Assistant’s Championship at such a fantastic golf course and in such a beautiful city,” stated Glenn Cundari, President of the Canadian PGA. “The field for this National Championship is arguably the most talented group we have and they deserve an event like this to showcase their skills.”

This year there are five past champions vying once again for the National title. Palsenbarg, Philip Jonas of Surrey, BC (2006, 2004), Parry (2005, 1999), Edd Boudreau of Victoria, BC (2003) and Mac McLeod of Victoria, BC (2002),
Activities begin on Monday, September 27th with the Gorge Vale Assistant’s Championship Pro-Am and practice rounds. On Tuesday, September 28th the three day 54-hole stroke play championship will begin with the field cut to 60 plus ties after the first 36 holes.

There will be 36-hole InterZone competition compiled of four players on each team representing their Canadian PGA zone is contested over the first two rounds. The team score is calculated from the best three out of four scores accumulated over the first two rounds.

Gorge Vale Golf Club is no stranger to hosting major events having recently hosted the 2009 Canadian Men’s Senior Amateur Championship and Canadian Tour events on a rotating basis.

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

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:
Adam LeBrun
Tournament Director
Canadian PGA
adam@cpga.com

Jeff Dykeman
Director of Business Development & Brand
Canadian PGA
jeff@cpga.com
647.400.4460