Darren Zary golf column: Tan wins Central Am, Saskatoon Open next

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Silvester Tan is a golfer worth keeping an eye on.

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On Monday, Tan fired a tournament course-record 64 — a career-best — with eight birdies, 10 pars and no bogeys — to capture the 2024 Central Amateur at the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club.

“I hit the ball well, obviously, and then, just, finally, I saw some putts go in,” offered Tan, who, earlier this spring, finished off a five-year stint of playing NCAA Division One golf at Drake University in Iowa.

The 23-year-old Tan finished the three-day tournament at 4-under with a three-round score of 212 (74-74-64). He was five strokes better than runner-up Greg Swenson at 217 (76-70-71).

Swenson, who finished at 1-over for the tournament, had a two-shot lead going into the final round.

Chris Schneider, Andrew Zaba and Sai Kaja finished in a three-way tie for third at 6-over 222.

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By winning, Tan earns a spot into the Canadian Men’s Amateur to be held jointly at SGCC and Riverside Country Club in early August.

“I’m very happy — I was trying to find a spot at one of these tournaments,” said Tan. “And I’m very happy I picked it up at the first one that I played in here (SGCC).”

The two remaining SGCC exemptions will be awarded through the SGCC club championship July 20-21.

“All week, I hit the ball pretty well,” said Tan. “The big difference was that putts went in today, so I was very happy.”

Tan grew up in the city of Perth in Western Australia. His previous best score was 66.

“It was a good feeling today,” said Tan, who has been spending the summer (although it hasn’t been much of one thus far, as it turns out, as cold, windy and wet as it has been) playing out of the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club.

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He’s here visiting his mom and dad in Saskatoon. He plans to spend most of the summer in the city before heading back to Australia.

Warren Proctor won the Central Am’s senior men’s division, while Tommy Norgaard won the regular men’s division as it was a clean sweep of all three divisions for SGCC members.

“It was well run and organized and definitely some good players in the field,” said Tan, who should be one of the contenders at the upcoming Saskatchewan Amateur at the Royal Regina Golf Club. “It was just a lot of fun.”

Saskatoon Open this weekend

Tan should also be one of the favourites at the upcoming Saskatoon Open this coming weekend at Riverside and Holiday Park.

The tournament, featuring a mix of professionals and amateurs, is capped off at 48 golfers with 18 pros and 30 amateurs. It runs Saturday and Sunday with tee time at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Riverside and  9 a.m. Sunday at Holiday Park.

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The tournament is entering its 26th year.

“A little background in history, there were about six or seven of us in my living room back in 1998, I think,” recalled tournament organizer Rick Hillestad. “We met and thought, you know, the Saskatoon Amateur had been dropped by the wayside. We resurrected it, mostly my friends from the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club — I was there from around 1978 to 1992 and then moved to Riverside. Tom Kroeker, Mike Whiteside, Riaz Alvi, Brad Hogan and Tim Koehn and myself.

“This is year 26 and it’s just, in the last three years, that Scott Allan and I organized the tournament and made it an Open. It’s been most successful as an Open than it was as a two or three-day Amateur. The field is 48 golfers because that’s the cap to be able to host it at Riverside. Last year was 60 but we had grand-fathered us.”

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Formerly the Scotia Wealth Management Open, the Saskatoon Open is now being presented and sponsored by SaskGolfer and Concorde Group of Companies.

“We wouldn’t be able to host it (without them),” noted Hillestad, who recently won the super senior championship at the Auto Clearing Senior Men’s Championship at Moon Lake. “This year, we’ve bumped up our prize pool. We pay the top 10 out of 48 golfers and it’s going to be cash — $7,000 for the top 10. The most we can do for an amateur — and we’re the first tournament in Saskatchewan to do this — was $1,200 cash three years ago.”

Among the pros, Hillestad lists former PGA Tour player and European Senior Tour member Phil Jonas, who placed second last year, as a top contender along with Ty Campbell and Kevin Dietz, who was third last year.

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On the amateur side, he lists Silvester Tan, Scott McKay, Kyle Wiebe and Justin Wood as top contenders. Tan is coming off a win at the Central Am. Wiebe was third in Nipawin. Wood was second in the 2021 Canadian Mid-Amateur.

“Woody’s always a factor,” noted Hillestad, who adds that the Mickelson National Invitational in Calgary — which attracts both pros and amateurs, as well, is running at the same time and “taking some of our top field.”

“For example, at Dean Prosky’s tournament — the ScotiaWealth Management Northeast Open in Nipawin at Evergreen — Chase Pochylko won that. Alex Swinnerton was second. Tommy Danielson was fourth and Carter Bell was seventh. All four of those young guys play out of Riverside and I believe they are all at the Mickelson tournament. I think Roman Timmerman is there as well.”

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Sask. junior golf championship

Golf Saskatchewan’s provincial junior boys and girls championship runs this week in Yorkton.

The Saskatchewan Amateur men’s and women’s golf championships, along with the Mid-Am, are slated for July 9-11 at Royal Regina.

dzary@postmedia.com

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