The RCGA is currently holding a conference call to announce 15 Canadians who have been given exemptions into the Canadian Open. Some of those names are familiar — David Morland, Ian Leggatt, Jon Mills, David Hearn — and some of those are new pros, like Richard Scott and Andrew Parr.
Interestingly, one invite has been held back to determine what happens following this week’s Canadian Tour event. Several Canadians are on the bubble there, including Derek Gillespie.
Of course there were two names that one might have expected to see, but didn’t turn up: Richard Lee, the teen who shot 64 on Monday to qualify for the John Deere, and Victor Ciesielski, who I would have expected to appear given his performance last year in Hamilton.
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Andrew Parr said he received his exemption into the John Deere this week simply by writing a letter to the tournament chair. Hard to imagine it was this easy, and Parr’s comments seem to reflect this:
“Hard to tell why I got the exemption,” he said. “But there were a lot of people near the John Deere who wanted to give me a shot.”
I smell a connection to someone there — and nothing wrong with that.
How can it be that Victor Ciesielski was not offered an invite? They are using his name in their radio ads trying to sell tickets! He should demand some sort of restitution if he’s not allowed to play.