Rodriguez, Leon off to Latino America tourney
Next stop for Mexico’s Jose de Jesus Rodriguez, following the end of the Canadian Tour later this summer, is the Tour de Los Americas, also known as the PGA Tour Latino America.
Chile’s Hugo Leon will also be there.
“I’m planning on making my way down,” said Leon, always a fan favourite at the Dakota Dunes Casino Open.
“I know where it is and I know I’ll be there. I’ll leave the details to later. I’m trying to get my game sharp and play good golf.”
Leon, who finished tied for 12th with a 69 Sunday, has watched his affection for Dakota grow over the five years he has played here.
“I certainly love the course and I love being here,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve made tons of friends and I feel like being at home away from home. This is my favourite event of the tour. Coming here year to year, getting together with my friends, I’ve been playing with the same people and staying at the same place.”
Also heading to the PGA Tour Latino America are Argentina’s Sebastian Saavedra, Paulo Pinto, Mauricio Molina, Chile’s Nicholas Geyger and Benjamin Alvarado, Mexico’s Oscar Fraustro, plus Americans Cody Slover, Vince Covello and Santiago Russi, all of them Canadian Tour members or former Canadian Tour members.
There are mixed feelings about the PGA Tour’s future elimination of its Q-school after this year, says Creighton Honeck of Texas.
“Player-wise, guys who don’t have status, I don’t think they’re too happy about it (change away from Q-school),” said the big Texan, adding that the PGA and its fans will miss out on some potential great stories.
“You look at a guy like John Huh. The guy just gets his card. He didn’t play in the States much, yet wins on the PGA Tour, just like that. What’s going to happen is it’s going to eliminate stuff like that from happening.
“But, hey, we’ve got one more shot at it (PGA Q-school) this year. We’re just going to tear it up and get on the PGA Tour right away.
“This will be the last one in the normal way before they do the switchover.”
By far the youngest caddy out there Friday was Boyd Summerhays’ son, Boyd Jr.
Only 9, Boyd Jr. carried the clubs for his dad, a former PGA Tour member for three years from 2004-2006 and Nationwide Tour member in 2007.
Boyd Sr., 33, had made the cut in all three Canadian Tour events leading up to this week’s Dakota Dunes Casino Open, but he missed the cut this week with a 73-71.
Adam Hadwin, who has gone on to make the PGA’s Web.com Tour, missed the cut a year ago at the Dakota Dunes Casino Open. He was hoping that he had learned something from that experience going into this year’s event.
“You just have to try and stay patient, especially when the wind starts to blow a little bit,” he said of Dakota. “You just have to keep the ball in front of you, out of the high grass and then make some putts. Last year, I played with (Mexico’s) Jose (Rodriguez) and his short game is so good and I learnt a lot from that.
“I think I’m a different player than I was last year, much more mature. The game’s matured and I’m that much better.”
Hadwin, who was born in Saskatchewan but raised in B.C., finished with a 5-under 67 Sunday and 11-under for the tournament, good enough for 15th place.
Reigning champion Joe Panzeri, who earned Canadian Tour international rookie of the year honours last year thanks to a win at Dakota, qualified for the weekend thanks to a 5-under 67 Friday following a disappointing 72 Thursday.
Coming into this year’s tournament, there hadn’t been many players playing better than the 26-year old Idaho native Panzeri, who was T-10 in Fort McMurray last week and T-3 in Edmonton, where he shot a course record 62 in the second round.
He did not get off to a great start Thursday, however, at Dakota.
“I remember putting a lot better last year,” Panzeri said after an opening-round 72 with one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars.
“I was very consistent, but it was not what I was looking for.”
Panzeri shot a 1-over 73 Sunday to finish 6-under.
Arizona’s Kyle Kallan, who was one of a handful of players to shoot a 7-under 65 Friday, is in his second season on the Canadian Tour.
The biggest thing from last year to this year is comfort, he says.
“It was new to me last year, travelling a lot,” said Kallan, who had a 72 Sunday to finish the tournament at 7-under. “This year, being at the same stops we’ve been at and learning how to travel, learning how to book my stuff, that means everything.
“If you can get all that situated, then golf can kind of fall in line.”
For a rookie, what happens off the course can be just as stressful as what happens on.
“Doing all that stuff on your own and getting that situated is tough — tougher than the golf itself,” Kallan said. “Once you get on the golf course, that’s when you’re free and you do what we do, enjoy it and have a good time.
“Getting all that done is good.”