Pacific Colombia Win for Adam Hadwin

Pacific Rubiales President José Francisco Arata, tournament champion Adam Hadwin, 

& Helm Group Insurance Division President Mark Crisp.

Despite a slow start that had his six-stroke overnight lead cut to only three, Canada’s Adam Hadwin was able to keep control on his way to a comfortable win at the Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm this Sunday in Bogota’s Club Campestre Guymaral Course No. 1.

Hadwin shot 3-under par 69 in the final round to stretch his lead back to six by the end of the day. He finished the Tour de las Americas – Canadian Tour co-sanctioned tournament at 25-under par 263, with all four rounds in the 60’s.

The distant second spot was shared by Chile’s Benjamín Alvarado, 65, and Argentina’s Tomás Argonz, who put some pressure early but slowed down to a 69. This was Alvarado’s third consecutive top 2 this TLA season, following his win at the Chile Open three weeks ago and his second place finish last Sunday in Barranquilla.

Seven strokes behind the winner, the fourth spot was tied by the USA’s Trey Denton, who followed yesterday’s 61 with a 68, and Colombia’s Jesús Rivas, who posted a 69 to finish as the best local player in the event. The lowest score of the day belonged to Peru’s Patricio Salem, one of several up-and-coming rookies making their TLA debut this season. The 23-year old from Lima carded a terrific 8-under par 64 to finish the week in a tie for the fourteenth spot.

“This win is huge! I got my first one back in November and now this one. I think I just need take this momentum into the following weeks and just keep playing well,” said the talented 23-year old from British Colombia, winner of the Canadian Tour’s Desert Dunes Classic last season.

After bogeying the first and paring the following five holes, Hadwin’s lead had suddenly been cut to three by Argonz, who got off to a strong start of four birdies on the front nine. The Canadian birdied 7 and 8 to get his confidence back and reached the tenth tee still ahead by three. Following a birdie on 10 and a bogey on 11, Hadwin cruised to victory by taking advantage of the two par-fives – 12 and 17 – still left on the back nine.

“The front nine was a bit of a grain for me. Tomás (Argonz) was hitting it well and it was only a matter of time before he started making his putts, so I needed to step up. I got a couple of late birdies on the front and then played really solid golf on the back, making the birdies when I needed to on the par-fives,” added the recipient of a US $23,400 winner’s check for his strong effort following two missed-cuts over the previous two weeks on TLA events also staged in Colombia.

Although the competitors were allowed to lift, clean and replace for the fourth straight day, the golf course played a lot more difficult today. With the conditions improving day after day, the greens got a lot more firm on Sunday, preventing another array of low scores as the one had on Saturday.

This was the Tour de las Americas fourth and final event of a terrific month of March that awarded a total of US $500,000 dollars in prize money and Official World Golf Ranking points for the first time ever. The 2011 TLA season will resume in May with the TLA Televisa Players Championship in Acapulco, Mexico and the Peru Open in Lima, Peru.

Results

Adam Hadwin Leads by Four in Bogota

Adam Hadwin

With the Club Campestre Guaymaral Course No. 1 playing soft, the competitors of the Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm went out on the attack on Saturday to produce an array of low scores and fantastic shots few times seen in one same day.

Canada’s Adam Hadwin, entering the day in a tie for the lead with Colombia’s José Manuel Garrido, took advantage of his position to fire a stunning 10-under par 62 and escape from the rest of the field. Leading the Tour de las Americas – Canadian Tour co-sanctioned event at 22-under par 194, he has taken a six-shot lead going into the final round.

The distant solo second belongs to Argentina’s Tomás Argonz, who carded a 65. Trailing the leader by seven the third spot is shared by Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos, 64, the USA’s Vince Covello, 67, and Colombian’s Jesús Rivas, 67, and Garrido, who was unable to keep the pace that gave him a share of the lead for the first two days with a 69.

Surprisingly, the 62 posted by the outright leader wasn’t the lowest score of the day. Making the cut right on the line yesterday, U.S. player Trey Denton enjoyed a dream round of nine birdies and one eagle for an 11-under par 61. It allowed him to move into a tie for the seventh spot, eight strokes behind Hadwin.

In a day of great shot after great shot, Argentina’s Francisco Ojeda claimed the shot of the day by holing his second at the par-five No. 10 for an unusual albatross. His fortunate 219-yard 6-iron into the hole was only the third albatross in ten years of Tour de las Americas’ golf. His countryman Miguel Rodríguez was the last TLA player to make a two on a par-five almost six years ago at the 2005 Brazil Classic.

“I don’t think any lead is safe on this course,” said Hadwin following the events of the day. “I shot 62, Trey (Denton) shot 61 today, so any guy at 13 or 14 under can shoot 61 tomorrow and if I shoot 2-under I lose. I need to keep the foot on the pedal and keep making birdies and no mistakes. If I give shots back and let other players come in, they’ll take advantage. They’ll catch up and beat me.”

The lowest Canadian last year at the RBC Canadian Open and winner of the Canadian Tour’s 2010 Desert Dunes Classic, Hadwin enjoyed a brilliant day of eight birdies (holes 1, 4, 5, 7, 12, 15, 16 and 17) and one eagle on 10. “I’ve been playing so well so far and today it just got even better. I continued to hit the ball as well as I did over the first two days and rolled in a couple of extra putts. It’s really indescribable; it was kind of the proverbial zone that people talk about. I kind of got into that today and I was really hoping to make my last putt, but I settled for a 62.”

Adding more great shots to this day, Mexico’s César Coello made a hole-in-one at the 178-yard par-three No. 8 with his 7-iron. Weather wise, this overcast day provided the best conditions so far this week. Players were allowed to lift, clean and replace for the third straight day.

Sunday's final round is scheduled to begin with players starting from both the first and tenth tees at 8:40 a.m. local time. The threesome featuring the leader will start at 10:30 a.m.

Leaderboard

Hadwin and Garrido Lead Pacific Colombia

José Manuel Garrido 

José Manuel Garrido carded a bogey on eighteenth, preventing the Colombian from grabbing the outright lead halfway through the Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm today.

Garrido shot 67 in the second round and is now joined at the top by Canada’s Adam Hadwin, who shot 66 for the second straight day. The co-leaders of the US $130,000 event co-sanctioned by the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour have an aggregate score of 12-under par 132.

Trailing the leading duo by two strokes, there’s a three-way tie featuring the USA’s Vince Covello, 65, Argentina’s Juan Pablo Abbate, 66, and Colombia’s Jesús Rivas, 67. All three of them played the Club Campestre Guaymaral Course No. 1 in the morning.

Another stroke further back Venezuela’s Diego Larrazabal, 66, and Alfredo Adrián, 66, are joined by Argentina’s Tomás Argonz, 67, César Monasterio, 67, and Maxi Godoy, 69, in a five-way tie for the sixth spot.

For the second consecutive day the weather played in the tournament’s favor. It was mostly overcast, with sporadic light rains throughout the day. With the golf course still wet, the low scores kept coming at a fast pace that raised the cut line to 3-under par 141. A total of 68 competitors advanced into the weekend after another round of lift, clean and replace.

“I stayed very patient and got rewarded right at the end,” said TLA member Garrido, who following a birdie at the first and an eagle at the tenth reached the fifteenth tee trailing the clubhouse leader Hadwin by two strokes. A hot string of three consecutive birdies between 15 and 17 moved the 32-year old Colombian ahead. 

His one-stroke lead was surprisingly gone at the last, a 458-yard par-four guarded by a lake on the left where he ended up missing a five-footer for par. “That was my first bogey of the tournament. I did my best trying to avoid it, but it happened. Anyway, it turned out to be a good day for me,” added the winner of the TLA’s 2010 Sport Francés Open.

After missing the cut the last two weeks, Hadwin finally found his rhythm in Bogota. “It was just a good solid round. I hit the ball so well today that I felt I could have been three or four shots lower with the amount of putts for birdie I had,” commented the player from the Canadian Tour, where he won the Desert Dunes Classic and finished second in the Order of Merit last season.

Hadwin went bogey-free today, making birdies on 2, 6, 7 and 17, plus an eagle on 12. “There’s five par-fives on this course and you need to take advantage of them. It’s a shorter golf course and you always have irons into par-fives. I was able to make eagle on 12 today, but I had eagle putts on 4, 7, 12 and 17.”

Joining Garrido for the lead at the start of the day, Argentina’s Nelson Ledesma was unable to produce and posted an even-par 72 that slowed him down into a tie for the eighteen spot. Among those tied with him is Colombia’s Jesús Amaya, who followed yesterday’s 74 with an amazing 9-under par 63 this morning. 

Amaya’s best-of-the-week featured seven birdies and one eagle that vaulted him from a tie for the 100th spot.

Leader board

Garrido and Ledesma Share Bogota Lead

José Manuel Garrido 

José Manuel Garrido of Colombia and Argentina’s Nelson Ledesma went bogey-free this morning on their way to a strong opening day performance of 7-under par 65 and a two-way tie for the lead of the Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm.

Although it didn’t rain and the conditions were good to start the event co-sanctioned by the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour, the Club Campestre Guaymaral’s Course No. 1 played soft and open to low scores because of the heavy rains of the past few days. The competitors of the US $130,000 event were allowed to lift, clean and replace their ball on the fairways.

Only a step behind the co-leaders, the second place at 66 is shared by Argentina’s Maxi Godoy, Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos, Canada’s Adam Hadwin and Chile’s Hugo León. Another stroke further behind, there’s a tie for the seventh spot featuring Colombia’s Manuel Merizalde and Jesús Rivas, Argentina’s Manuel Relancio, Venezuela’s Wolmer Murillo and the USA’s Peter Laws. A grand total of 78 players finished the day with scores under par.

No. 4 on the TLA Order of Merit last season, Garrido is definitely enjoying his best days as a professional player. He started the day off the tenth tee and shot 33 on the back nine with birdies on 11, 12 and 17. After paring the first three holes on the front nine, he charged by going birdie-par-birdie-birdie-birdie between holes 4 and 8 for a 32.

“It was one of those rounds in which I only missed one or two greens. I kept the ball on the fairway all day, never got in trouble and had many birdie chances,” said the 32-year old from the Club Campestre de Cali.

Garrido missed last week’s event in Barranquilla to go back home and work on his putting, a decision that proved right today. “In Medellin (two weeks ago) I had a chance to win, but my putter failed me. I thought it was better to go back to Cali, see my teacher and work on it. I made a few changes on my putting, including the grip and the risk was worth it today. I don’t really expect to win because I’m in the middle of an adjustment, but if I play well and win that would be great,” he added.

Starting the day with a birdie on the first hole, Ledesma also birdied holes 7, 8, 10 and 15 to get to 5-under for the day. Then he went on to take advantage of the par-five 17, where he hit a 225-yard 6-iron second shot within twelve feet and sank the eagle putt to catch Garrido.

“It was a really nice day. I played the putter very well and struck the ball great, especially on my second shots. It was a flawless round,” commented the 20-year old, named 2010 TLA Rookie of the Year after claiming three fourth-place finishes and missing only one cut in eleven starts last year.

Following his dramatic win last Sunday in Barranquilla, Cody Slover of the U.S. couldn’t keep his pace and carded an erratic 4-over par 76. It proved costly, as he fell way behind into a tie for the 

Leader board

Pacific Colombia Tour Championship

Club Campestre Guaymaral

The Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm, to be co-sanctioned by the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour starting tomorrow at Bogota’s Club Campestre Guaymaral, wraps up a fantastic month in the history of Colombian professional golf events.

This exciting venture has featured the Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open, the III Copa Antioquia and the two events starting the Pacific Colombia Tour presented by Helm last week in Barranquilla and this week in Bogota.

These tournaments have involved the Nationwide Tour, the European Challenge Tour, the Canadian Tour and the Tour de las Americas, paying over a million dollars in prize money and confirming Colombia as a leading tournament host and organizer in South America.

“These events are showing the world a different country, a country captivating all these Tours and their players, as well as the audiences watching on The Golf Channel. They have learned through these events that Colombia is a place you can visit and have a wonderful time,” said Sport Link Director Germán Calle, the man behind this explosion of international golf in this nation.

Over the last few weeks it has been quite obvious that this is a tremendous national effort in order to promote a country every golfer and traveler should visit. “It’s very important for us to have foreign investors see all this international exposure golf is giving to Colombia. Many doors will open because of this,” added Calle.

This week’s Pacific Colombia Tour Championship presented by Helm, the second in a series of five events opening a new local Tour, is a great way to finish the month. The tournament will provide US $130,000 dollars in prize money, with a check for US $23,400 going to the champion.

The Club Campestre Guaymaral’s Course No. 1, a 7,051-yard par-72 located north of Bogota, will mean new adjustments. Most of the competitors are coming from Barranquilla, where last week’s tournament offered extremely windy conditions at sea level.

“It is a big adjustment from last week. Having played in such harsh conditions our golf swing underwent several changes,” said Jamaica’s John Bloomfield, a member of both the TLA and the Canadian Tour. “The biggest change is trying to refocus and get used to hitting the ball at our target, versus 45 yards left or right of our target to deal with the wind.”

Also in play is the fact that the city of Bogota is at an altitude of over 8,000 feet, which allows the ball to fly about ten percent further than usual because of the thin air. “You suddenly hit a shot up high and your ball flies a lot more than you expect it to, or you make a three-quarter swing expecting it to fly ten percent further and it doesn’t. It’s something we have to deal with. Every week is obviously different and provides new challenges,” commented Chile’s Benjamín Alvarado, the hottest player on both Tours following a win at the Chile Open three weeks ago and a runner-up finish in Barranquilla last Sunday.

The rain, which forced this event to be postponed last December, seems to have been falling for months and it could influence the tournament as well. “It’s obviously wet, but it’s a great golf course. Although we will depend on the weather, I believe this is a tournament to go well under par,” added the experienced Argentine Sebastián Fernández, winner of two TLA events last season.

The 150-player field from sixteen nations starting this tournament will also feature several other notables such as Argentina’s Alan Wagner, Rafael Gómez and Luciano Dodda, Colombia’s José Manuel Garrido, Julián Colmenares, Oscar Álvarez and Jesús Amaya, the USA’s Vince Covello and Cody Slover and Canada’s Adam Hadwin.

Cody Slover Wins Barranquilla Open

Cody Slover (USA) Photo Juan A. Parada

Cody Slover of United States sank a twenty-footer for eagle at the 72nd hole for a thrilling victory at the Pacific Colombia Tour presented by Helm Barranquilla Open on  Sunday.

A round 71 secured a winning aggregate of 1-under par 287 and a one-stroke lead over Chile’s Benjamín Alvarado, 70. The US $100,000-dollar event was co-sanctioned by the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour at the extremely windy Country Club de Barranquilla. 

“This win is kind of validating you know, because of all the stuff I have been working on over the past few years and all the trials I’ve gone through to get to here. It’s finally paying off and I can see it now, so it’s nice,” said the Canadian Tour’s Slover after claiming his first career win in four and a half years as a professional.

Outright leader by one stroke at the start of the day, Slover’s path to the title got off to a rocky start. After paring the first two holes, he went bogey, double-bogey, bogey between the third and the fifth to slip behind.

“Instead of just making and error and moving on I kept making it worse and worse. Fortunately, I made some birdies coming in, got through it and then the eagle was nice to cap it off there on 18,” added the 26-year old from California.

He carded three birdies, one bogey and the clinching eagle at the last to turn things around. His efforts in Barranquilla’s severe wind were rewarded with a check for US $18,000 that got him to the top of the Canadian Tour’s Order of Merit – which started its 2011 season here this week. Slover’s win was also the first by a Canadian Tour member in an event co-sanctioned with the Tour de las Americas. 

Following an impressive wire-to-wire win at the Chile Open that started the TLA season three weeks ago, Chile’s Benjamín Alvarado had this one slip away from him right at the end. The 25-year old emerged as the solo leader after making four birdies and one bogey on the front nine. However, a bogey on 17 and a missed fifteen footer for eagle on 18 proved costly. 

Trailing the winner by four strokes the solo third belonged to Mexico’s Oscar Serna, who closed the day with an even-par 72. Another stroke behind the fourth spot was shared by the leading Colombian Julián Colmenares, 75, Mexico’s Alex Quiroz, 73, and Argentina’s César Monasterio, 72, and Julián Etulain, 75.

The Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour are now headed to Colombia’s capital city of Bogota to co-sanction the Tour Championship Pacific Colombia Tour presented by Helm. The US $130,000-dollar event is scheduled to begin Thursday at the Club Campestre Guaymaral.

TLA Barranquilla Result

Godoy Shares Lead in Barranquilla

Argentina’s Maxi Godoy and Alan Wagner join the USA’s Cody Slover in a three-way tie for the lead after the opening day of the Pacific Colombia Tour presented by Helm Barranquilla Open. They posted rounds of 4-under par 68 for an impressive start in the event co-sanctioned by the Tour de las Americas and the Canadian Tour.

Slover set the pace early in the day by carding seven birdies and three bogeys, while the Argentine duo matched his score late in the afternoon. Godoy reached the top with three birdies, an eagled and only one bogey and Wagner with six birdies and two bogeys. The co-leading trio is only one stroke ahead of Argentina’s Sebastián Fernández and Colombia’s Rafael Romero. 

Despite the difficult conditions provided by the Country Club de Barranquilla’s 6,825-yard par-72, where the severe winds coming from the Caribbean Sea were a factor all day, a total of sixteen players were able to break par. Another eight finished at even-par 72.

“I struck the ball pretty straight and the wind wasn’t really a factor for me. I believe I could have done better if I hadn’t missed a few putts. Anyway, I’m very satisfied with this outcome on a difficult day as this one,” said Godoy, a 22-year old from Buenos Aires starting his international career on the Tour de las Americas after four years as a pro.

Following a slow start of two bogeys and one birdie on the first five holes, Wagner found his rhythm by making five birdies on the remaining thirteen. He chipped-in for birdie from thirty yards at the par-three No 8 and closed with birdies on the last two holes.

“I stayed patient and things turned my way. I struck the ball very well and made some good putts. I feel really fortunate about shooting 68 on a day like this,” said the 21-year old, winner of the TLA – European Challenge Tour co-sanctioned Club Colombia Masters two years ago.

Slover enjoyed a strong birdie-birdie finish as well to secure his 68. “I just didn’t get in trouble and kept it in play all day. I hit a lot of fairways and greens. I also made a few putts and that was what kept my round going,” commented the 26-year old from California.

A Canadian Tour member during his four seasons as a pro, Slover made things look easy early in the day. “I wasn’t that easy. I hit some good shots, so I made it seem a little easier, less stressful.”

In the duo sharing the fourth spot, the experienced Sebastián Fernández of Argentina is definitely a favorite this week. His 69, matched late in the day by local veteran Rafael Romero, featured four birdies and only one bogey.

“Because of the severe wind, the key here is to remain patient. You must be patient, playing one shot at a time and trying to do your best”, said the four-time TLA champion, twice a winner last season for a third place finish on the TLA Order of Merit.

The US $100,000 tournament organized by Sport Link continues Friday, with the top sixty and ties advancing to the final two rounds.

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