Six golfers putted their way to Las Vegas at Surrey’s Eaglequest Coyote Creek golf course over the weekend.
A regional stroke-play qualifier saw amateur players compete for entry at the MSOP (Major Series of Putting) championships, to be held in the Nevada city in mid-October, with $125,000USD in cash prizes on the line.
The MSOP event is billed as “the world’s largest putting tournament in history.”
On Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 14-15), a putting course at Coyote Creek hosted the Vancouver-area regional finals.
On Day One, “people were pumped up and the greens were running fast,” according to a post on the MSOP Vancouver Golf League’s Facebook page.
Troy Litowsky of Langley won Saturday’s event, shooting -5 in the 18-hole putting final.
North Delta’s Michael Oleson took second place with a score of -4, and Sandy Jaswal (of Burnaby) and Cory Napora tied for third, shooting -3.
“We had a playoff to decide who would win the third and final spot to Vegas, and Sandy won the playoff after nine holes of tense, sudden-death competition.”
On Sunday, three more putters punched their tickets to Vegas, including first-place finisher Cory Napora – who lost in the third-place playoff Saturday – along with Jose Teixeira (in second place) and Darcy Dewsbury (third).
Six other Vancouver-area players qualified for entry at the Vegas tournament at previous MSOP events held earlier this year.
“Running in multiple markets across North America, the MSOP Tour gives anyone an opportunity to play their way to Vegas,” explains a post at msop.com.