Greater Vancouver Open

Last updated
Air Canada Championship
Tournament information
Location Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Established1958
Course(s)Northview Golf & Country Club
(Ridge Course)
Par71
Length7,065 yards (6,460 m) [1]
Tour PGA Tour
Format Stroke play
Prize fund US$3,500,000
Month playedAugust/September
Final year2002
Tournament record score
Aggregate265 Mark Calcavecchia (1997)
265 Brandel Chamblee (1998)
265 Joel Edwards (2001)
To par−19 as above
Final champion
Flag of the United States.svg Gene Sauers
Location map
Canada relief map 2.svg
Icona golf.svg
Northview G&CC
Location in Canada
Canada British Columbia relief location map.jpg
Icona golf.svg
Northview G&CC
Location in British Columbia

The Greater Vancouver Open was a professional golf tournament in Canada on the PGA Tour, held in southwestern British Columbia from 1996 to 2002. It was played after the majors in late summer, at the Northview Golf & Country Club in Surrey, a suburb southeast of Vancouver.

Contents

History

For its first three years, it was an alternate event in late August, concurrent with the NEC World Series of Golf at Firestone in Akron, Ohio. In 1999, the new Reno-Tahoe Open became the alternate event for the WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone. The Vancouver tournament was promoted to a regular tour event and scheduled a week later, as the Greater Milwaukee Open moved up to July. Renamed the "Air Canada Championship," sponsored by the country's leading airline, it was coupled with the Canadian Open for consecutive tournaments north of the U.S. border in early September.

Mike Weir won that year for the first of his eight tour wins; he became the first Canadian to win a PGA Tour event on home soil in 45 years. [2] [3]

The purses grew substantially during the run of the event, from $1 million to $3.5 million in six years. It was replaced on the schedule in 2003 by the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts, near Boston.

This was not the first time the PGA Tour included a stop in British Columbia on their schedule. Dow Finsterwald won the unofficial 1955 British Columbia Open Invitational, and Jim Ferree was victorious at the 1958 Vancouver Open Invitational. [4]

Winners

YearWinnerScoreTo parMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-upPurse
(US$)		Winner's
share ($)		Ref.
Air Canada Championship
2002 Flag of the United States.svg Gene Sauers 269−151 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Steve Lowery 3,500,000630,000 [1]
2001 Flag of the United States.svg Joel Edwards 265−197 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Steve Lowery 3,400,000612,000 [5]
2000 Flag of South Africa.svg Rory Sabbatini 268−161 stroke Flag of New Zealand.svg Grant Waite 3,000,000540,000 [6] [7]
1999 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Mike Weir 266−182 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Fred Funk 2,500,000450,000 [2] [3]
Greater Vancouver Open
1998 Flag of the United States.svg Brandel Chamblee 265−193 strokes Flag of the United States.svg Payne Stewart 2,000,000360,000 [8]
1997 Flag of the United States.svg Mark Calcavecchia 265−191 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Andrew Magee 1,500,000270,000 [9]
1996 Flag of the United States.svg Guy Boros 272−121 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Emlyn Aubrey
Flag of the United States.svg Lee Janzen
Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Smith 		1,000,000180,000 [10]
1959–1995: No tournament
Vancouver Open Invitational
1958 Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Jim Ferree 270−181 stroke Flag of the United States (1912-1959).svg Billy Casper 42,0006,400

References

  1. 1 2 "Golf: PGA Tour at Surrey, British Columbia". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. September 2, 2002. p. 6E.
  2. 1 2 "Oh Canada! Weir wins". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. wire services. September 6, 1999. p. C2.
  3. 1 2 "Eagle lifts Weir to Air Canada title". Toledo Blade. Ohio. wire services. September 6, 1999. p. 32.
  4. ↑ "Air Canada Championships 2001-Event Preview". Archived from the original on 2014-07-19. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  5. ↑ "Golf: PGA Tour". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. September 3, 2001. p. 4E.
  6. ↑ "PGA". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 4, 2000. p. C2.
  7. ↑ "Air Canada Championship". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. September 4, 2000. p. C7.
  8. ↑ "Greater Vancouver Open". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. August 31, 1998. p. C7.
  9. ↑ "Golf: Greater Vancouver Open". Wilmington Morning Star. North Carolina. August 25, 1997. p. 8B.
  10. ↑ "Golf: Greater Vancouver Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. August 26, 1996. p. 6B.

49°07′30″N122°45′54″W / 49.125°N 122.765°W / 49.125; -122.765

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