Greater Vancouver Open

(Redirected from Air Canada Championship)

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.

Air Canada Championship
Tournament information
LocationSurrey, British Columbia, Canada
Established1958
Course(s)Northview Golf & Country Club
(Ridge Course)
Par71
Length7,065 yards (6,460 m)[1]
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$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
United States Gene Sauers
Location map
Northview G&CC is located in Canada
Northview G&CC
Northview G&CC
Location in Canada
Northview G&CC is located in British Columbia
Northview G&CC
Northview G&CC
Location in British Columbia

History

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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

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Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up Purse
(US$)
Winner's
share ($)
Ref.
Air Canada Championship
2002   Gene Sauers 269 −15 1 stroke   Steve Lowery 3,500,000 630,000 [1]
2001   Joel Edwards 265 −19 7 strokes   Steve Lowery 3,400,000 612,000 [5]
2000   Rory Sabbatini 268 −16 1 stroke   Grant Waite 3,000,000 540,000 [6][7]
1999   Mike Weir 266 −18 2 strokes   Fred Funk 2,500,000 450,000 [2][3]
Greater Vancouver Open
1998   Brandel Chamblee 265 −19 3 strokes   Payne Stewart 2,000,000 360,000 [8]
1997   Mark Calcavecchia 265 −19 1 stroke   Andrew Magee 1,500,000 270,000 [9]
1996   Guy Boros 272 −12 1 stroke   Emlyn Aubrey
  Lee Janzen
  Taylor Smith
1,000,000 180,000 [10]
1959–1995: No tournament
Vancouver Open Invitational
1958   Jim Ferree 270 −18 1 stroke   Billy Casper 42,000 6,400

References

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  1. ^ a b "Golf: PGA Tour at Surrey, British Columbia". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). September 2, 2002. p. 6E.
  2. ^ a b "Oh Canada! Weir wins". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). wire services. September 6, 1999. p. C2.
  3. ^ a b "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.
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49°07′30″N 122°45′54″W / 49.125°N 122.765°W / 49.125; -122.765