Uplands Golf Club assistant pro Ben Griffin recorded a 4-under-par 67 to edge Eric Wang of the Victoria Academy of Golf by a stroke to capture the latest stop on the Bayview Place Vikes Performance Tour on Monday at the Bear Mountain Valley course.
After suffering a bogey on the par-4 17th hole, Griffin rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 18th to claim the top spot and take over the Order of Merit on the professional side of the tour. Griffin, with 89 points, has a slim one-point advantage on Isaac Weintraub of Gorge Vale in the standings, with Wang seven back.
The top spot will earn an exemption for the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour sa国际传媒鈥檚 Bayview Place Cardtronics Open presented by the sa国际传媒, slated for June 8-11 at Uplands.
Weintraub finished tied for third with Robert Greenwell at Bear Mountain, both recording 1-under 70s.
Keaton Gudz continued his fine form on the amateur side, finishing tied for first with a 1-under 70 with Royal Colwood clubmate Dylan Bell.
Brent Wilson of Gorge Vale was third at 1-over 72, followed by Tristan Mandur of Arbutus Ridge at 73. Kevin Carrigan, Mac Keats and Daniel Fratczak finished tied for fifth with 3-over 74s.
Gudz, with first-place finishes in all three events, leads the amateur Order of Merit with 117.5 points, ahead of Carrigan (also of Royal Colwood) at 72.34 with Mike Griffin of Uplands third at 53.33 points, just ahead of Mike Belleau of Olympic View with 53 and Wilson with 51.
Meanwhile, Nolan Thoroughgood fired a 1-over 73 on Saturday at Gorge Vale to widen his commanding lead for the junior exemption spot. His 235-point total has Thoroughgood 鈥� last year鈥檚 surprising sa国际传媒 Men鈥檚 Amateur champ out of Royal Colwood 鈥� well ahead of Michael Wu of Cordova Bay with 162 points. Nolan Brown of Uplands is third with 146 points.
The junior Order of Merit leader will also earn an exemption to the Bayview Place Cardtronics Open.
The next stop on the Bayview Place Vikes Tour performance division will be April 29-30 at the Island Open at Gorge Vale and Uplands.
