Familiar faces look to make an impact in Québec

BROMONT, Québec—A new host site in a familiar province welcomes players as PGA TOUR Canada moves east for this week’s Québec Open powered by Videotron Business, the fourth event in this year’s 10-tournament schedule. Located an hour south of Montreal, Golf Château Bromont will host 156 players from 12 countries, including 31 Canadians and 11 born in the host province of Québec.

“It’s pretty cool to start somewhere I’ve played a lot of junior golf.” said 18-year old Jean-Philippe Parr of Saint-Célestin, Québec, who will be making his PGA TOUR Canada debut this week as an amateur. “Having a lot of my friends here this week just adds to the excitement and I’m very excited to see where my game stacks up.”

Parr is just weeks removed from graduating high school and will continue his already impressive amateur career at the University of Tennessee this fall, joining fellow Golf Québec and Golf Canada team member Laurent Desmarchais, who is also in the field this week as a sponsor’s exemption.

“I’ve grown up on this golf course. It’s home for me.” added 22-year old Desmarchais, who holds the course record 62 at the host Golf Château Bromont. “Getting to play with friends and having an opportunity for family to watch me play for the first time in years makes this week very special for me.”

A familiar course for the Québec-born players poses a brand-new challenge for the PGA TOUR University graduates, who will get another chance to prove their pedigrees and make their presence known in a new province. Of the recent PGA TOUR U grads who have competed on PGA TOUR Canada through the first three tournaments, four rank among the top 10—John Pak (2), Connor Howe (5), Sam Choi (6) and Chase Sienkiewicz (10).

Pak, a 2021 graduate from Florida State University, finished as the top-ranked PGA TOUR University player in its inaugural class of 2021, earning full status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2022. This year, Pak is currently tied for second in the Fortinet Cup standings with 500 points after winning the second event of the season, the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Brandt.

Howe, of Ogden, Utah, is No. 5 on the Fortinet Cup points list. The Georgia Tech graduate has two top-10 finishes —a tie for second at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open presented by Brandt and a tie for ninth at the ATB Classic.

Choi, of Malibu, California, is No. 6 in the Fortinet Cup race. The Pepperdine University and University of New Mexico graduate has had three top-five showings—tying for fourth at the first two events of the season, while finishing in a tie for fifth at the ATB Classic two weeks ago.

Sienkiewicz, of Sacramento, California, is No. 10 in the Fortinet Cup standings. The University of Arizona graduate tied for eighth at the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist and tied for fifth at the ATB Classic.

Each believes the high level of competition in college helped prepare them to make a smooth transition into professional golf.

“You’re seeing it here, the Korn Ferry Tour, even the PGA TOUR with a lot of the guys. It just shows how good the young golfers have gotten and how competitive college golf is. It’s prepared us really well to come out here, and I think we’re not afraid of anyone. We want to go out and compete with the best,” Howe said.

“Just looking at the PGA TOUR University, there are a lot of opportunities,” Choi elaborated. “Guys like Adrian Dumont de Chassart (University of Illinois) has won on the Korn Ferry Tour already, and I believe that I’ll be there soon. Just mentally getting prepared.”

Sienkiewicz added, “College golf is brutal. You see guys like Ludvig (Aberg of Texas Tech) and Sam (Bennett of Texas A&M) tearing up golf courses now. Having the confidence that I can play at those guys’ level when I’m playing well, it’s very promising.”

Tommy Kuhl of Morton, Illinois, who played at the University of Illinois alongside Dumont de Chassart, is No. 32 on the Fortinet Cup points list and was given an exemption to play in the PGA TOUR’s John Deere Classic last week. He shot 70-71 in his PGA TOUR debut, missing the cut.

This week will also mark the PGA TOUR Canada professional debut for Travis Vick of Houston, who played at the University of Texas. He was No. 12 on this season’s PGA TOUR University points list and helped lead the Longhorns to the 2022 NCAA National Championship. Vick, a three-time All-American, was taught by 1983 PGA Championship winner Hal Sutton and finished as the low amateur at the 2022 U.S. Open.

Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, from the University of Arkansas, qualified for PGA TOUR Canada through PGA TOUR University but is remaining an amateur so he can compete in next week’s Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. He will turn professional afterward.

The first three PGA TOUR Canada events have yielded three different winners— Québec’s own Étienne Papineau of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu; Pak of Scotch Plains, New Jersey; and Davis Lamb of Bethesda, Maryland. Papineau has made the cut in all three tournaments and holds a slim 42-point lead in the Fortinet Cup standings. All three are in this week’s field.

The Fortinet Cup offers a $100,000 player bonus pool, with $25,000 going to the winner. The top finisher gains membership to the full 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, while the second through fifth-place finishers earn conditional status.

Key Information

In addition to Parr and Demarchais, they are joined by fellow Quebecors in Brandon Lacasse and Dom Lalonde, both of Chateauguay, as well as Marc-Olivier Plasse from Mercier, will make their second-consecutive appearances at the Quebec Open powered by Videotron Business. Others added to the field are veterans Yohann Benson and Marc Hurtubise.

Québec native, Joey Savoie returns to PGA TOUR Canada for his second event of the season. Savoie missed the cut at the Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by Times Colonist in mid-June before traveling to Mexico to round out his PGA TOUR Latinoamérica season, tying for 11th at the Bupa Tour Championship in Tulum and finishing 41st on the Totalplay Cup points list. This is his third time he has competed in the at PGA TOUR Canada event in the province of Quebec. His best finish in his home province came last year where he finished tied for 13th at 9-under par.

Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju is the top returner from last year’s event. He finished sixth at the Québec Open in 2022. Yellamaraju missed the cut in the first two events on PGA TOUR Canada this summer but bounced back to finish fourth at the ATB Classic in Edmonton, where he closed with a 66 under difficult playing conditions. The left-hander is 14th on the Fortinet Cup list.

Ryan Gerard of Raleigh, North Carolina, won the 2022 Québec Open, holding on to defeat hard-charging Thomas Walsh by one shot. Gerard went on to finish fifth in the Fortinet Cup standings. He is now playing the PGA TOUR and came in fourth at The Honda Classic and has two top-25 finishes this season, thus far, most recently recording a 12-under at the John Deere Classic to tie for 26th.

The Québec Open began in 1909. Current PGA TOUR Canada member Jake Scott won the event in 2018 - although it wasn't yet a part of the PGA TOUR Canada schedule - with a birdie on the first playoff hole. He is, however, in the field this week and will no doubt be looking for a repeat. Other notable past winners of the Québec Open include Canadian’s Dave Barr (three times), Dan Halldorson and Charlie Murray, who won the first event and went on to win the title nine times.

The scenic Golf Château Bromont plays through a valley with an ever-present view of Mont Brome. Howard Watson and Graham Cooke designed the course. Watson worked with the legendary Stanley Thompson and Robert Trent Jones. Watson designed more than 150 courses throughout the world, with 67 of those in Québec. Cooke, after apprenticing with Watson, formed his own company and has designed and built more than 100 golf courses. Cooke was an accomplished amateur with numerous victories.

Quotable

“I want to finish the season in Canada well. I think I have the tools to compete for a tournament title, and I would love to win one of the last seven. That’s my goal.” – Joey Savoie

“Last season was a good season. I didn’t have full status when the season started, so to keep my card for this year was pretty important. I had a couple of missteps to start the season, but when it happens it happens. You don’t always play as well as you want.” – Sudarshan Yellamaraju

“I’ve never been in a position in a tournament like that to win. I’d say I proved to myself that I can make the shots I need to.” – Davis Lamb, following his victory at the ATB Classic

Tournament Rundown

Dates: July 13-16, 2023

Tournament Name: Québec Open powered by Videotron Business

Social Media: Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: @PGATOURCanada @OmniumduQuebec

Hashtags: #FortinetCup

Host Course: Golf Château Bromont

Par/Yardage: 70 (35-35), 6,812

Field: 156 players from 12 countries and territories

Countries: Argentina (1), Australia (3), Canada (31), England (2), France (1), Germany (1), Hong Kong (1), Japan (1), Korea (2), Mexico (3), Switzerland (1), United States (111).

Fortinet Cup Points: Winner earns 500

Purse: (Canadian) $200,000, with the winner earning $36,00

Cut: Top-60 professionals, and ties, after 36 holes plus any amateurs inside the top-60

Presenting Sponsor: Videotron offers a multitude of products and services—mobile, internet, television and helix—that are part of the fabric of daily life and connects more than 130,000 companies in Québec. Videotron Business and its Fibrenoire subsidiary are committed to using technology to deliver the best experience to businesses and their customers, today and tomorrow.

Benefiting Charity: Proceeds for this week’s Québec Open powered by Videotron Business will benefit Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation, First Tee – Quebec and Le But Foundation (Sports Rousseau).

Open Qualifying: Due to adverse weather and course conditions, officials canceled the Québec Open powered by Videotron Business open qualifier. The tournament reverted to the alternate list for the remaining eight available playing spots.

PGA TOUR Americas: Following the completion of the 2023 PGA TOUR Canada season, the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and PGA TOUR Canada will merge into a singular Tour to form PGA TOUR Americas, which will begin play in February 2024. PGA TOUR Americas will consist of 16 events contested across Latin America, Canada and the United States, from February through September. The top-10 finishers on the season-long points list will earn Korn Ferry Tour membership for the following season.

Fortinet Cup: The season-long points chase mirrors the competitive structure of the points-based competitions on the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. Through the sponsorship, the Fortinet Cup offers a $100,000 player bonus pool—with $25,000 to the winner—to the top Fortinet Cup points-winners. The top Fortinet Cup points-earner gains membership to the full 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season, while the second-through-fifth finishers earn conditional 2024 membership. All top-five finishers are also exempt into the final stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament, and those finishing sixth through 25th are exempt into the second stage. In addition, the Fortinet Cup winner will also receive an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 2023 Fortinet Championship in California. Finally, the top-60 players on the points list will earn membership on the 2024 PGA TOUR Americas through the Latin American swing.