Three Shot Lead for Dustin Risdon at PGA Assistants' Championship
It’s been nearly 20 years since Dustin Risdon has won a national championship, but he’ll have a chance to end the drought Thursday at the PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf.
Risdon’s two-day total of 10-under-par 134 (67-67) is three shots clear of his nearest chasers—Sonny Michaud of Club de Golf La Tempête and two-time PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada winner Bryn Parry, both of whom are at 7-under.
“Tonight I’ll definitely be thinking about what it would mean to win a national championship again,” Risdon said. “This is a national championship and I haven’t been a national champion since I was 16, so that’d be pretty great.”
Risdon captured the 1997 Canadian Junior Boys Championship at Admiral’s Green Golf Club in St. Johns, besting a field that included David Hearn (who finished second). He’s only one of nine golfers—Jim Rutledge, Jeff Makahon, Rob McMillan, Jesse Collinson, Dustin Risdon, Gord Scutt, Rafael Lee, Mitch Sutton and Charles-Éric Bélanger—have won both the Juvenile and Junior titles in the same year.
Risdon credits his simple game plan of hitting fairways and greens as a catalyst for success this week at The Golf Club at Lora Bay in Thornbury, Ont.
“I just made a game plan in the practice round and I’m just sticking to it,” he said. “You’ve got to keep it out of the bunkers—the fairway and greenside ones—because they’ll give you trouble.”
Nestled in the Blue Mountains of Thornbury, Ont., The Golf Club at Lora Bay is a dramatic course design dictated by the dynamic forested shoreline of the brilliant Georgian Bay. Lora Bay, which is celebrating its’ 10th anniversary, was co-designed by former world No. 1 Tom Lehman and Tom McBroom and features some of the most unique greens the country.
In PGA of Alberta Zone events this year, Risdon has been pretty much untouchable, winning seven of eight events. The 35-year-old from the National Golf Academy Dome in Calgary is a three-time winner on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada and has four top-10 finishes on the Web.com to his name as well. However, he feels his game might be better now than it ever has been.
“My caddie says my swing looks better now than it did when I was doing the Nationwide Tour thing,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s maybe because I’m coaching now and learning about the golf swing more and fixing stuff on the fly.”
Risdon, along with Alberta teammates Mike Belbin, Wes Heffernan and Kasey Timms dominated the InterZone competition, winning by a remarkable 15-shots over Team Ontario.
B.C.’s John Shin and Thomas Keddy of Oslerbrook Golf Club are T4 at 6-under, while two-time PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada winner Brian McCann and Ottawa’s Dave McDonald are 4-under, T6. Alberta teammates Belbin and Heffernan are T8 at 3-under, while Michael Gonko, Nick Kenney, last year’s PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada winner Brad Kerfoot and Douglas Morgan round out the top 10 at 2-under-par. In total, 16 players are at even-par or better for the championship.
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Admittance to the PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during championship play.
To follow the PGA Assistants' Championship of Canada presented Callaway Golf online throughout tournament week, visit pgaofcanada.com