2018

Fanning to get another taste of Tour life at RBC Canadian Open

AUG 25 - Action at the Canadian Men's Mid-Amateur Championship from Wascana Country Club in Regina, Saskatchewan

By: Adam Stanley

To catch up with Todd Fanning is not unlike anyone else who may work in a non-descript office building. Your conversation gets interrupted by a group of people looking to use the meeting room for a conference call, and when asked how often he gets to play golf, the answer (“I don’t”) comes with a hearty chuckle.

But Fanning, who is a sales manager for a large equipment leasing company in Winnipeg, isn’t just that.

For years he chased a professional golf dream, playing on the Web.com Tour and making a few appearances at the RBC Canadian Open before rescinding his professional playing privileges and returning to regular job and a regular life.

That is, until last summer.

Fanning shot a 2-under-par 69 at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Wascana Country Club to nip three-time champion Garrett Rank and 54-hole leader Steven Diack in a four-hole playoff a year ago this August.

He didn’t plan on playing a championship schedule in 2017, but when it was announced The Wascana would play host, he signed up to play the Manitoba Mid-Amateur to try to qualify (which he ended up winning), since his father lives in Regina and he had played Wascana a lot in his golfing life.

With the win at the Canadian Mid-Amateur, Fanning will make his fifth appearance at the RBC Canadian Open this summer when it returns to Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

“I’m just going to be the guy in the middle of the range and they’re going to say, ‘well who’s that?’ says Fanning. “It’s going to be quite funny.”

Self-deprecating humour aside, Fanning truly earned his spot in the RBC Canadian Open. He held off one of the furriest charges in the Canadian Mid-Amateur’s history, as Rank, who started the day eight shots back of Diack’s lead, shot a 5-under-par 66 to jump into a tie for the lead.

“It was the best nine holes of golf I’d ever seen,” Fanning says of Rank’s final nine holes, where she shot a 31.

“I just executed down the stretch. I almost won it in regulation. I had an eagle putt from the back fringe and thought it was going in, and I looked foolish when it didn’t. But out of the hundreds of people watching with 45 minutes to go, I don’t think anyone would have thought, other than my wife, that I would have won that tournament.”

But as per usual with golf, the most unpredictable of games, it was indeed Fanning who came out on top. He made a par on the fourth playoff hole, and when the 25-year-old Diack made a bogey, the championship was his.

He unleashed a Tiger Woods-esque fist pump and a little dance (“I don’t know what happened there… it was very bizarre,” he recalls with a laugh) and the accomplishment finally set in.

“I realized what happened. I was turning 50 and I get to play Glen Abbey again. All those thoughts raced through my mind,” he says.

Fanning says one of his good friends arrived in Regina from Winnipeg to watch the final round, and will have “quite a few” people out with him at Glen Abbey later this summer to celebrate his success.

At work, he says, it made for a great story. People would come up to him to say they watched the live-stream of the playoff (Golf Canada’s social media team played it out on Twitter, via Periscope) and his colleagues said he looked calm.

“I said it was because I have a great job and get to work with (them) so that was just fun for me,” says Fanning, laughing.

Before the RBC Canadian Open Fanning will return to defend his title at the Manitoba Mid-Amateur in early July, and says he will also play this year’s Canadian Mid-Amateur at Victoria Golf Club in August.

But he says what he’s most looking forward to this summer is another shot at Glen Abbey.

Fanning had the morning draw on Thursday in 1998, the last time he played there (he played the RBC Canadian Open at Royal Montreal in 2001 and at Angus Glen in 2002), and he managed to get off to a great start. He says he told his caddie he was having fun, but his caddie wasn’t.

“’Not yet, not until we got to the top of the leaderboard,’” Fanning recalls what his caddie told him.

Fanning hit a 6-iron into the par-3 7th and knocked in the birdie putt, so he got to 4-under par on his round and got to the top of the leaderboard in the morning. He went on to miss the cut, however, and will be thinking about that when he goes back.

But the fact that he gets to go back at all is the most exciting thing of all.

Fanning says there’s nothing on his radar to come to Oakville prior to July to get in a practice round, but he will arrive on site a little earlier than most to ‘cram for the exam,’ he says.

When he played Glen Abbey in the late-90s the golf course setup was different, but there’s nothing that will catch him off guard, as he watches the tournament on television and sees what the current course looks like. He admits he’ll be behind in his preparation, but is looking forward to watch should be a fun week.

“I have a full-time job so I don’t expect to go out there and contend and be in the last group on Sunday, but to me it’s all about family,” he says, as his 17-year-old son will be his caddie for the week. “My whole family is coming. My children never got a chance to see me compete as a professional, and now I have three of them and they’re all going to be there. It’s going to be a really fun time for them.”

2018

Mauchaza advances to RBC Canadian Open from Ontario Regional Qualifier

ACTON, Ont. – There was nothing but beautiful blue skies at Blue Springs Golf Club as 144 players competed in hopes of earning a direct exemption into the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. from July 23-29.

“In my preparation, I just tried my best to get the shots I needed,” said Mauchaza, greenside at the 18th  hole. “Reflecting on the positives and the negatives, I’m just really delighted with the way I played.”

Mauchaza, who began the day on the 10th hole, opened with a 4-under 32 on the back-nine. The 30-year-old finished the round with three birdies in a row across his final six holes to secure his victory atop the leaderboard.

Defending champion and Team Canada alumnus Matt Hill of Sarnia, Ont., finished two strokes behind the lead at 4 under par. He is joined by fellow Team Canada graduate Chris Hemmerich of Guelph, Ont., who closed the 18-hole stroke play event at 2 under par.

Hill, Hemmerich and 24 other competitors, excluding the low medallist,advanced to the RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifier taking place on July 23rd at Heron Point Golf Links in Ancaster, Ont.

The first RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, B.C., saw Matt Matheson shoot a 5-under-par 65 to earn medallist honours and advance to the final qualifying event.

A third regional qualifier will take place on June 18th at Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Qué.

Full results can be found here.

2018

Matheson wins medallist honours at RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier in B.C.

RBC Canadian Open Qualifier - BC

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Matt Matheson of West Vancouver, B.C., shot 5-under par 65 on Tuesday to earn medallist honours at Ledgeview Golf Club, host of the first of three RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifying events.

Matheson started off strong with birdies on holes 5, 9, 10 and 12 before capping off the round with the day’s only eagle, coming on the par-5 18th.

“I wasn’t hitting it particularly well but it was about minimizing mistakes,” said Matheson, a 24-year-old amateur. “I feel like I did a really good job of that today.”

Matheson was one of seven golfers to advance on Tuesday, earning a spot to compete in the final Qualifying event on July 23 at Heron Points Golf Links in Alberton, Ont.

Khan Lee, of Langley, B.C., fired 3-under par 67 to finish runner-up behind Matheson.

Anton Frondelius of Concord, N.C., finished one stroke behind Lee at 2 under par, while Devin Carrey recorded a 1-under-par 69.

Rounding out the seven to advance were a trio of golfers at even par. Nigel Sinnott from Chilliwack, B.C., Kevin Stinson from Mission, B.C., and Keith Martin from Kelowna, B.C., all recorded rounds of 70 to punch their tickets to the final stage.

In total, there are three regional qualifying events, each consisting of 18 holes of stroke play. Provided that there are 100 or more players in the field, the low qualifier receives an exemption directly into the 2018 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Otherwise, the top 15 percent of finishers at each qualifier become eligible to compete at the final qualifying event.

A minimum of four players from the 18-hole stroke play Final Qualifier at Heron Point will gain entry into the RBC Canadian Open field.

There are two more regional qualifying events before the final qualifier:

May 17 – Blue Springs Golf Club in Acton, Ont.

June 18 – Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Que.

Click here for full scoring.

Additional information regarding Tuesday’s RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier at Ledgeview, can be found here.