The 26-year-old member at Royal Colwood is part of the 12-person team representing sa国际传媒 at the 8th annual Pacific Northwest Golf Association Cup beginning Thursday at Crane Creek Country Club in Boise, Idaho.
The Ryder Cup-like team event includes three-time defending champion Oregon, along with the Idaho, Washington state and sa国际传媒 golf associations.
It鈥檚 Carrigan鈥檚 second straight appearance at the event, having gone 2-1 last year at Gorge Vale.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to it. I had an absolute blast last year,鈥� said Carrigan. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool to play that sort of competition. We don鈥檛 get a lot of opportunities to play match play in Victoria, or sa国际传媒 for that matter. It鈥檚 really cool competing at a provincial or state level, so I鈥檓 thrilled.
鈥淲e have to go down there expecting to win. If you don鈥檛, you鈥檙e not playing the right sport,鈥� Carrigan added before departing today for practice rounds prior to playing 36 holes on Thursday and a final 18 on Friday.
The good news is the one and only time sa国际传媒 has won this event was in 2009 at this same Crane Creek Country Club.
Even better news is Carrigan is off to a good start this season, coming off a victory with teammate David Rose of West Vancouver at the 2013 Peru Invitational Manuel Prado Team Cup in Lima, Peru.
鈥淚t was icing on the cake to win the team championship,鈥� said Carrigan, who also led the individual race until the last few holes. 鈥淎 couple of errant tee shots and Bob鈥檚 your uncle. I gave up four shots on two holes and lost it. That鈥檚 golf.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 hitting it particularly well there all week, just making a lot of putts and scoring well. There鈥檚 still a lot of work to be done to get my game to where it needs to be.
鈥淩ight now, I鈥檓 chalking it up to my ability to score. I don鈥檛 feel like I鈥檓 playing exceptionally good golf, but when I turn my score in at the end of the day it looks pretty tasty. I鈥檓 not making a lot of big mistakes.鈥�
But the highlight of the season will be his chance to play in the PGA鈥檚 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey.
鈥淭he highlight of my life. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 an understatement saying that. We just have to stay out of jail till then, and stay alive,鈥� he said jokingly.
鈥淭he cool thing is, there are professional golfers out there who will never get to play on the PGA Tour. I will admit I got in the most cheeky way you can ever get in, that鈥檚 by winning the Canadian Mid-Amateur. But, that being said, I still won it and I鈥檓 still going so everyone else can take a hike,鈥� he laughed.
But this week it鈥檚 the PNGA Cup where he鈥檒l be joined by Island golfers Craig Doell of Victoria and Greg Koster of Courtenay in the Master-40 division; Sandy Harper of Nanaimo in the senior men鈥檚 group; Christina Proteau of Port Alberni and Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay in the women鈥檚 mid-amateur category and Victoria鈥檚 Alison Murdoch in senior women鈥檚 play.
鈥淚t sort of lets you go out there and free wheel a bit,鈥� Carrigan said of the team event that features four-ball and foursome matches on Day 1 and singles matches Day 2. 鈥淚f you miss a shot, it doesn鈥檛 matter, you lose the hole and you鈥檙e right back in the tournament.鈥�
Carrigan is also hoping to get an exemption into the sa国际传媒 Island Savings Open on the PGA Tour sa国际传媒 tour set for June 3-9 at Uplands Golf Club.
