Raoul Menard thought he needed a change of scenery so he chose his native land instead of PGA Tour Latinoamerica.
That paid off this week for the resident of Ange-Gardien, Que., who recorded a nifty 5-under 67 in Monday qualifying at Uplands Golf Club for this week’s Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada stop, the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by the Times Colonist.
After failing to Monday qualify at the opening tour event — the Freedom 55 Financial Open at Point Grey in Vancouver — he turned his attention to Victoria, where the 25-year-old was one of 10 players to earn a spot in the big tournament, which begins Thursday.
“I’m very happy. It was a good score. I knew my game was there,” said Menard, who has conditional status on tour, but it’s not strong enough to get him in the field so, like a lot of other players, he has to take the Monday qualifying route.
He was 1-under 71 last week in Vancouver and didn’t qualify for the Point Grey event.
“I’m going to try and make the most of it this week. That’s the goal,” said Menard, who was on the Island for the 2013 Canadian Amateur and also finished second at age 18 at the Canadian Junior in Richmond.
“Latinoamerica was a great experience. This year, I figured I might as well play in my own country, where the courses are more suited to me. I learned a lot over there,” he explained. “It was my first year and a half as a pro and now I have a little more baggage, I guess, and I know how to prepare better. I’m just trying to put good work in, and four good rounds in this week.”
Like Menard, who was a Quebec junior and amateur champion and spent a year on the national development team, Chad McCann also has conditional status on tour, but had to take the circuitous route on Monday.
McCann’s 4-under 68 left him in a group of three tied for second, which included Jesse Smith of Dover, New Hampshire, and Justin Martinson of Avondale, Pennsylvania. His might have been the most interesting story, forced to play without his 3-wood.
“It’s actually funny. My game plan was to hit a lot of them. My driver has been a little iffy, but I was out on the driving range and, for some reason, I’m hitting the 3-wood terribly. I told myself I’d figure it out on the course. I get to the first tee, look at it and the face is caved in,” said McCann, who recently turned 21.
“So the game plan I came up with, I had to totally ditch. It was either guns blazing with the driver or lay back with my 3-iron. I mixed it up and it worked. It’s weird,” he said of playing minus the usually sure club. “I played good without it. Maybe I should just take it out of the bag.”
The Wilmington, North Carolina, native played one semester of college at Coastal Georgia in the NAIA, but decided to turn pro. He, too, missed last Monday’s qualifying with a poor 77, but he found the magic this week.
“It was good. I kind of struggled coming down the back nine. I got off to a good start with birdies at holes Nos. 2, 3, 7, 8 and 9.”
A three-putt bogey from just 15 feet on No. 10 took some steam out of him and his drive found fescue on the 17th, which led to another blown shot. He got it back with a birdie on No. 18.
“Whatever happens, I’m happy with the way I played,” he said.
John Jonas of Jacksonville, Florida, turned in a 69 to finish fifth and there were nine players tied at 2-under 70, including UVic amateur Lawren Rowe. The nine played off for the final five spots and Brad Moules (McCracken, Australia), Matthew Dubrowski (Bergenfield, New Jersey), Andrew Funk (Edmonton), Andrew Ledger (Toronto) and Dale Smith (Coronado, California) all survived. Rowe, Blake Carter (Bassett, Virginia), Matthew Pinizzotto (Salinas, California) and Kyle Souza (Sonoma, California) missed out.
