TAYLOR DEDICATED TO GIVING BACK
Charity pro-am event that bears his name raises cash for kids’ food and UFV scholarships
As a PGA Tour player since 2014, Nick Taylor’s schedule has kept him busy as he travels around.
Still, the city of Abbotsford where he grew up, attended high school and began to flourish as a young golfer remains a very special place.
With the sun beating down on Ledgeview Golf Club on a late-September Wednesday, Taylor fired another impressive round on his home course, shooting a three-under par 67 through 18 holes before defeating UFV Cascades golfer Daniel Campbell in a playoff to capture the inaugural Nick Taylor Charity Pro-Am title.
It’s the tournament’s significance in the community, however, that is “surreal” for Taylor. It shows that even though he’s emerged as a winner on the PGA Tour and played the game with the game’s best, his roots in the community of Abbotsford run strong.
The two-day event, which featured a dinner gala Tuesday and a sold out pro-am tournament as part of the 2017 VGT season schedule the following afternoon, raised funds for the Starfish Pack food program, Holmberg House, operated by the Abbotsford Hospice Society, and University of the Fraser Valley’s golf program.
“It’s still something to get used to, to have your own charity event. It’s just odd, I guess, in a way. It’s exciting, too. A lot of pride,” said Taylor, who partnered with the UFV golf team and Vancouver Golf Tour to stage this event.
The Starfish Pack program is a cause that resonates with Taylor and his family, including his mother, Darlene, an educator in Abbotsford, and his wife, Andie, a social worker who is also from Abbotsford.
Citing numbers from the Abbotsford School District, the program states that 400 elementary schoolchildren in the community depend on in-school meals for their “sole source” of nutrition during the day, while 300 of those students go without a nutritional meal over the course of a two-day weekend.
The Starfish Pack program fills backpacks with food for those students to take home with them over the weekend.
“We wanted to find something that was local and also meant something to us. My mom had seen the program first-hand … and it was kind of a no-brainer, to be honest,” said Taylor. “They still need a lot of help, but for us to be able to support them, hopefully for a lot of years with this tournament, will mean a lot.”
A portion of the funds raised also goes to the UFV golf program, coached by Chris Bertram. This event helps the Cascades expand their tournament schedule and ability to give scholarships, he said.
The success of the UFV program has helped in Bertram’s recruitment efforts, however, a critical factor in finding new players is scholarship dollars, and the various avenues of fundraising have, said Bertram, helped the school remain competitive with other university teams in the area, such as UBC and SFU.
The day after his charity event, Taylor was scheduled to be back on the road, heading to Arizona. The fall portion of the 2017-18 PGA Tour schedule begins next week with the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif.
Taylor wrapped up his third year on the PGA Tour with four top-10 finishes and eight top-25 finishes, making the cut in 20 of 29 events and earning more than $1.2 million. His putting, he admits, is still an element of his game that needs improving if he’s to have an even better season in 2018.
There will be plenty of opportunities to dissect his golf game at another time. This week was about being back in, and giving back to, his hometown.
“It’s easy to support the community that has supported me and still does,” said Taylor.
CHIP SHOTS
James Allenby is slated to head to European Tour Q-school next week, following a standout season on the Vancouver Golf Tour, culminating with his win last weekend at Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey.
Not only does Allenby lead the local tour’s order of merit, he has taken home more than $28,000 in total purse money. That should bode well for him as he heads back to Italy and Golf Club Bogogno, where he advanced from the first stage of Q-school a year ago.
“Hopefully he takes all of that money, gets through (Q-school) and it would be a Cinderella story,” said VGT commissioner Fraser Mulholland.
“He’s had a much better year this year. He played fairly well last year, but this has been an outstanding year. He’s taken it to a new level.”
The VGT may not provide the winning prize money the Mackenzie Tour does — or status on the Web.com Tour by virtue of being in the top five in the order of merit — but it allows many professionals to hone their game while staying in the Lower Mainland, which allows them to remain in proximity with coaches, trainers and family as they compete in tournaments at local courses.
To see a player like Allenby enjoy so much success, and then possibly carry that over into Q school, is vindication for Mulholland and this undertaking.
“To have it be James, knowing the fire is still in his belly and he’s working harder than ever — he has the ability to do that at home,” said Mulholland. “It is a great option to get confidence and build everything about his game that he needs for Q school.”
We wanted to find something that was local and also meant something to us. My mom had seen the program first-hand … and it was kind of a nobrainer.