WEST Vancouver's Kevin Spooner represented his home course well as the low Canadian finisher at the Pacific Coast Amateur held last week at Capilano Golf and Country Club but it was Californian Tyler Raber who stole the show and the trophy.
Raber led wire-to-wire in the 47th edition of the prestigious tournament, building off his scorching 63 in the opening round to compile a four-round total of eight-under-par 272. The resident of El Macero, Calif., shot a final round of two-over 72 on Friday - his only round over par - to hold off Cory McElyea of Santa Cruz, Calif., who finished second at five-under. With the win Raber's name was etched onto the Ed Updegraff trophy next to those of distinguished former champions such as James Lepp, the Abbotsford native who set the tournament scoring record the last time the event was held at Capilano (2003), as well as PGA Tour winners Billy Mayfair (1987 and '88) and Ben Crane (1998).
"Its pretty cool. There are a lot of good names on there," Raber said in a B.C. Golf release. "It feels pretty good to be able to put my name on the same trophy as a lot of those guys."
Raber had to remind himself to stay cool after his hot start put him three shots ahead of the field after the first round - his 63 was one off the competitive course record.
"It is kind of hard to stay in the moment and remember that there is a lot of golf to play and you never know what's going to happen or who might catch you," said the former University of California Davis
golf team member. "Thankfully I just kept doing my thing and trying to play the best golf I could and it all worked out."
Raber raved about the historic West Vancouver course that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.
"The course was awesome, I had a lot of fun up here," he said. "I heard a lot of good things about Capilano before I came up here this week and it definitely did not disappoint."
Eric Sugimoto of San Diego and Jonathan Sanders of Chatsworth made it a California sweep of the podium as their identical scores of four-under left them tied for third.
Spooner, a Capilano member, shot one-under 279 for the tournament to finish alone in eighth place. The former University of Washington Husky holds the unofficial course record at Capilano, a ridiculous 58 shot during a men's night.
Other highlights of the final round included hole-in-ones on the uphill, 175-yard par-3 ninth from both Brian Jung of Oregon and Thomas Lim of California. Taylor Montgomery of Nevada also amused patrons with an amazing par on the 18th hole. Henderson's third shot came from the second floor of an outdoor patio where he chipped over the balcony railing - and around a busy lunch crowd - to land on the fringe where he then made a nifty up-and-down for par.
The Pacific Coast Amateur was first held in 1901 and became a yearly fixture in 1967. It now features players from the 16 members of the Pacific Coast Golf Association, including the British Columbia and Alberta Golf Associations. The 2014 edition of the tournament will be held at Pine Canyon Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz.
