Langley Thomas Hay fired a 6-under 66 on Thursday at Point Grey Golf and Country Club to take the first round lead at the PC Financial Open, the opening event of the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s 2015 season.
The 25-year-old Vancouver-area native, who earned conditional status at the British Columbia Qualifying Tournament two weeks ago, cruised to a bogey-free round to lead by one over Bryn Parry, Nyasha Mauchaza and Jay Myers after 18 holes.
“It was pretty stress-free. I didn’t have too many long par putts out there,” said Hay, a Drury University graduate. “I think the longest par putt I had was about three feet, and out here some three-footers can be pretty tough, so all around it was pretty solid.”
Hay’s solid start marked the continuation of success for British Columbians at the season-opening event, which saw local favourites Eugene Wong and Brad Clapp finish in a tie for second in 2014.
“It’s kind of cool that there’s an event out this way in Vancouver now. It’s such a great city and it’s awesome that there’s an event out here now for us. For me to sleep in my own bed is kind of a nice treat to start the year,” said Hay.
Parry, a former Web.com Tour member who works primarily as an instructor in the Vancouver area, is playing on a sponsor’s exemption this week and made the most of it on Thursday, carding six birdies and a bogey for a 67.
“I’ve worked really hard at it to get as prepared as I could,” said the 43-year old, noting the differences between his time as a full-time Tour player and his current role, teaching at the Bryn Parry Academy at Seymour Creek. “I’ve got to get home and take my kids to golf practice. I didn’t used to think about that. This used to be all-encompassing and now it’s just one of the things you do during the day.”
NUMBERS YOU NEED TO KNOW
6: Bogey-free rounds: Thomas Hay (66), Jay Myers (67), Wade Binfield (68), Chris Williams (69), Toni Hakula (70), John Catlin (71).
10: Canadians inside the top-25 through one round.
62: Wade Binfield’s score in the Official Pro-Am on Tuesday. Binfield opened with a 4-under 68 on Thursday.
QUOTABLES:
“Considering it’s the first round of the year back on the tour and I’m playing in my hometown event on my home course, and I felt a little added pressure, to shoot 2-under I’m pretty happy with that. It’s been since Q-School that I’ve felt like that, so it felt good to get the year started and I’m looking forward to the rest of the week.” – Vancouver native Ryan Williams, who plays out of Point Grey Golf and Country Club, on the pressure of playing a hometown event.
“I just wanted to start playing really good golf again. Really good golf takes care of a lot of things, and I can’t be thinking about trying to be number one on the Order of Merit. If I can just think about playing good golf and having some good finishes and playing consistently, then I can go from there and hopefully have a good year.” – Dundas, Ontario’s
Mackenzie Hughes on returning to the Mackenzie Tour after being fully exempt on the
Web.com Tour last year following his Order of Merit win in Canada in 2013.
“I hit a couple of loose shots out there but was able to hit it to where I could kind of punch out and get it somewhere I could make the next putt. This is my first time to Canada, so it’s so far, so good right?” – Zimbabwe’s Nyasha Mauchaza on his solid opening round of 67.
