Étienne Papineau said he didn’t dare look up at the leaderboard Sunday at Uplands Golf Club until the 16th hole. He liked what he saw when he finally trained his eyes on it.
“It was hard [not to take an earlier peek]. I saw I was leading by three strokes. It was amazing,” said the native of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., who played in the RBC Canadian Open last week.
The graduate of the NCAA Div. 1 University of West Virginia Mountaineers would stretch that to a five-stroke victory at 18-under 262 over four rounds to win the first prize of $36,000 in the $200,000 Royal Beach Victoria Open presented by the Times Colonist, the first event of the 10-tournament 2023 PGA Tour Canada season.
“I had surgery in December and you never know how you are going to bounce back from surgery,” said Papineau.
“There was lots of rehab but I stuck to the plan. The body needed time to heal but I came back strong. There were a few tears [after winning Sunday], I’m not going to lie. This was my first win on PGA Tour Canada and I am going to remember this week.”
So are his people back home in Quebec: “My family could not be here this week, but they are probably crying back home right now. I can’t wait to talk to them and celebrate with them.”
The volunteers at Uplands sang O Canada as Papineau approached the podium to accept the championship trophy. It was appropriate as his win continued a big month for Canadian golf following Nick Taylor’s victory last week to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher of Victoria in 1954.
“Nick Taylor began his pro career here at Uplands in 2011 and the next Nick Taylor will emerge from the PGA Tour Canada,” said PGA Tour Canada executive director Scott Pritchard.
“Maybe this [Papineau] is the next Nick Taylor we are seeing.”
Papineau acknowledged the rise of Canadian golf: “We are trending in the right direction and the Canadians on the PGA Tour are doing amazing things. The goal is to get even more Canadians on the PGA Tour.”
At stake in the 2023 PGA Tour Canada season are five spots into the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour, which is the gateway Tour to the PGA Tour, much like the AHL is to the NHL. The former Canadian Tour became the PGA Tour Canada in 2013 and 65 PGA Tour Canada alumni, of all nationalities, have advanced to play on the PGA Tour over the past decade with 25 PGA Tour victories between them. More than 300 PGA Tour Canada alumni have gone on to play on the Korn Ferry Tour since 2013 with more than 50 victories between them.
“Our young Canadian pro golfers see our PGA Tour players such as Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson and think ‘why can’t that be me?’ ” said Pritchard.
“And our PGA Tour players are friends with a lot of these emerging Canadian pros and asking them ‘why can’t that be you?’ On the heels of Nick Taylor, Étienne [Papineau] just proved that today. Adam [Hadwin], Nick [Taylor] and Adam Svensson started here and they go to our development camps to help the next generation. Canadian golfers are great at supporting one another.”
Also knocking on the door is Jared du Toit of Kimberley, who finished as second Canadian at Uplands on Sunday, tied for fourth at 12-under 268, following Americans Chris Korte and George Kneiser, who tied for second at 13-under 267.
“There is strength in numbers and there are going to be more Canadians making it in pro golf over the next 10-15 years,” said du Toit.
He said the next generation of Canadian golfers will be inspired by Taylor’s win in the Canadian Open last week in the same way his generation was inspired by Mike Weir’s victory in the 2003 Masters.
Top Islander at Uplands was former University of Victoria Vikes standout Lawren Rowe. The Mount Douglas Secondary graduate, who turned pro in 2019, tied for 11th at 10-under 270 on a course he knows well.
“If you can shave off a stroke here and there, who knows what can happen in your career?” said Rowe, of chasing the pro dream.
“We can all see it on the leaderboards on the PGA Tour with Canadians such as Adam [Hadwin], Corey [Conners] and Nick [Taylor] and the others. It’s nice to see Canadians playing so well in pro golf.”
It was the 40th anniversary of the Victoria Open, which in its earlier years saw future PGA Tour players go through it such as Weir, Steve Stricker, Craig Parry, Kirk Triplett and Scott McCarron to more recently Taylor, Hadwin, Conners, Hughes, Tony Finau, Paul Barjon, Doc Redman and Taylor Moore.
The Victoria Open has raised nearly $800,000 for Island charities since 2013, including $73,000 this year for the Victoria chapter of the Salvation Army.
