Cao peaks as Canada Life Series hits the Valley
No number three wood? No problem for Yi Cao.
“I still have 13 perfectly good clubs in my bag,” said the pro out of Beach Grove, who lost the club face on his three wood.
Those other clubs were plenty good enough to carry Cao to a share of the first-round lead Monday at 4-under 67 in the Canada Life Series golf tournament on the Bear Mountain Valley course.
“It was nothing special, just a good, solid round,” said the Tsawwassen resident.
“All the top guys played pretty well.”
They included former SFU golf team captain Scott Kerr, who was tied for first with Cao at 67. Andrew Harrison and Michael Blair were tied at 3-under 68 in third place. Amateur Nolan Thoroughgood, the NCAA Pac-12 performer with the Oregon State Beavers who won the Royal Colwood club championship over the weekend, was in a five-way tie for fifth place at 2-under.
The Canada Life series is a consolation for those Canadian pro golfers who missed out on the 2020 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour season after it was cancelled due to COVID-19. That included the DCBank Victoria Open, which has been a Tour fixture since 1981 and has featured future PGA Tour players from Steve Stricker to Tony Finau.
Cao has played the latter three times at Uplands. He had this year’s PGA Tour China, on which he has full status, also cancelled due to COVID-19.
“It’s tough to be a pro golfer right now,” said the native of Beijing, who came to Canada at 16, and graduated from McNair Secondary in Richmond.
The two Canada Life Series tournaments on the Bear are 54-hole events. The first was on the Mountain course last week. This week’s tournament, from Monday to Wednesday, is on the Valley course. A different approach and game-management outlook is being required in going from mountain to valley.
“The greens are softer and slower on the Valley course than they were on the Mountain course,” said Cao, who turns 30 next month.
“The greens last week were rock solid. These ones are a lot wwmore fair, and a lot more playable, and give you better chances at birdie putts.”
Former UBC Thunderbirds player Evan Holmes of Calgary led wire-to-wire over three rounds to win at 8-under on the mountain course last week, holding off former Washington State Cougars Pac-12 player Zach Anderson of Nanaimo by two strokes. Cao tied for third on the Mountain circuit.
Both Bear Mountain tournaments feature purses of $50,000 and both filled up fast with lengthy waiting lists. Holmes pocketed $9,000 for his win last week and an additional $2,750 bonus for recording the tournament low round. The latter perk is provided for every Canada Life tournament by current and former Canadian PGA Tour players Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Mackenzie Hughes, Roger Sloan, Michael Gligic, Graham DeLaet, Stephen Ames, David Hearn, Mike Weir and Ian Leggatt to help out the next generation.
The Canada Life Series concludes Sept. 2-4 and Sept. 9-11 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley. The series champion over the four tournaments will earn a berth into the 2021 RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s in Toronto.
Cao said he plans to contest all four Canada Life series tournaments to hopefully gain that cherished berth in the 2021 Canadian Open.
Spectators are not allowed for the two Bear Mountain tournaments. There are also no caddies and only a bare number of volunteers allowed on the Bear.
The Canada Life tournaments have been put together by the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, which is the launching pad to the Korn Ferry Tour, which in turn is the entry portal to the PGA Tour. The Mackenzie Tour’s alumni includes 41 PGA Tour players and 232 Korn Ferry Tour players produced since 2013.
These are the first pro tournaments on Bear Mountain since the mountain course hosted PGA Tour Champions’ events in 2016 and 2017. The $2.5-million Pacific Links tournaments featured former stars and current seniors such as Colin Montgomerie, John Daly, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Scott McCarron, Jerry Kelly and Lee Janzen.