Lecuyer clinches Cardtronics exemption

Stephen Lecuyer just dodged a huge bullet.

The Edmonton native, who has called Victoria home for the past year and works on the grounds crew at Bear Mountain, fired an impressive 6-under-66 late Saturday afternoon at Gorge Vale Golf Club.

Lecuyer defeated two-time world long-drive champion Jamie Sadlowski, of St. Paul, Alta., by three shots to earn the last available sponsors’ exemption for this week’s Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by the Times Colonist on Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.

With two spots remaining, Bayview Place owner Ken Mariash decided to present one exemption to Uplands Golf Club assistant Ben Griffin. The other was made available in Saturday’s six-man shootout, which also included Lawren Rowe, Eric Wang, Darren Day Jr. and Rob Greenwell.

That means Lecuyer now dodges Monday qualifying, in which 136 players are competing for 10 more spots.

“I did not want to come here on Monday,” admitted Lecuyer, a former Mackenzie Tour player who failed to keep his card. “I got the call about this and I couldn’t be happier that I turned it into something. Ken is a great guy for doing this, especially for the locals. Everyone here was Canadian, too, which was nice.”

Lecuyer, 28, worked a shift at Bear Mountain on Saturday, arrived an hour before his tee time and made five straight birdies to close out the front nine. He finished with seven birdies on the day and one bogey.

“I made some great putts today,” said Lecuyer, whose uncle, Doug Lecuyer, is a longtime Alberta pro.