Christopher Vandette crowned on the 2nd playoff hole
Montréal, June 29, 2021 – Christopher Vandette (Kanawaki) was crowned champion of the 2021 edition of the Alexander of Tunis which concluded this Tuesday at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club. The Beaconsfield athlete defeated the host club member, Yaorui Xu, on the second playoff hole to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Fifth going into the second round of this Men's Provincial Tour event presented in collaboration with belairdirect, Vandette had a great day, shooting three under par (68).
Successful birdies on the 16th and 18th holes allowed him to take the lead at -4 (138) with only one group left to go on the final green. Yaorui Xu, however, sank his putt for birdie to force a playoff.
The two young men then met on the 15th hole, where they both made par (3). A few minutes later, Vandette finally got his win by making par once again on the same hole, while Xu closed with a bogey.
This is the second Triple Crown victory for Christopher Vandette who, in 2017, became the youngest provincial amateur champion at the 100th edition of the event. He was then 15 years old.
Leading at -5 (66) after the first round, Brendan Kuffner shot a 74 (+3) on Tuesday to finish in fourth place at -2 (140). The Royal Ottawa Golf Club member shared the overall lead for most of the second round with William Duquette (Laval-sur-le-Lac), who finished third at -3 (139) overall.
Considered the most prestigious of all amateur tournaments played in the Ottawa area, the "Tunis" saw 120 participants tee off on Monday. The top 70 and ties then competed in the second and final round of the event. Unfortunately, the 2020 champion, Thomas Westfall (Camelot) could not avoid the cut and finished at +10 (81).
In its history, many names were written more than once on the coveted Alexander of Tunis trophy. Graham Cooke who was crowned 4 times comes to mind with the likes of Robbie Jackson of Royal Montreal who stands out of the crowd with his 4 consecutive titles won from 1973 to 1976.
Since the tournament's inception in 1950, no participant has won all three legs of the Triple Crown in a single year. Only ten players have managed to win two of the three events, some more than once.
The Golf Québec team now looks forward to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Duke of Kent, which will be held at Royal Québec on July 5 and 6. The winner of the Triple Crown will be announced on July 22 at the conclusion of the four-round Men's Provincial Amateur Championship to be held at the Summerlea Golf and Country Club over four consecutive days.
The top 14 on the Triple Crown Order of Merit will then be invited to the Canadian Men's Amateur Championship to be held at the Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor, Ontario, from August 2-5, 2021.
In the event of a tie for spots in the national competition, the players will be determined by a sudden-death playoff following the conclusion of the final round of the Men's Provincial Amateur Championship.
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About Golf Québec – Initiate passions, build dreams
Founded in 1920, Golf Québec is the provincial sport federation whose mission is to increase participation in golf and develop excellence. Some of Golf Québec’s core services include the Golf in Schools Program, First Tee as well as Get Linked initiatives, the Introduction Tour, Junior Golf Development Centres (JGDC), Rules of Golf, World Handicap System, course rating services, Golf Fore the Cure, as well as the Québec Golf Hall of Fame. In addition, Golf Québec conducts regional and provincial championships to bring the local golf enthusiasts to surpass themselves and eventually reach the upper spheres of professional tours. For more information, please visit https://www.golfquebec.org/en/.
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Sources:
Jean-Pierre Beaulieu, Executive Director
514 252-3345, ext. 1 – golfquebec@golfquebec.org
François Roy, Assistant Executive Director
Philanthropy, sponsorships, and communications
514 252-3345, ext. 2; cellular 514 349-4653 – froy@golfquebec.org
Olivier Turcotte, Coordinator, Marketing and Partnerships
514 252-3345, ext. 9 – oturcotte@golfquebec.org