A fourth local golfer has been added to the Staal Foundation Open field.
Evan DeGrazia will make his second appearance at the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event -- he missed the cut last year -- teeing off Thursday morning at 9 a.m. alongside Canadians J.J. Regan and Zack Kempa.
DeGrazia will be joined by fellow Thunder Bay golfers Robbie Untinen, Jeff Hunter and Walter Keating Jr., all making repeat appearances at the second-year event.
Keating Jr. and Untinen are paired together for the opening two rounds, teeing off at 1:50 p.m. on Thursday from the 10th tee, along with South Korean Yi Kuen Chang.
Hunter, who will play with former NHLer Marc Savard, goes at 2 p.m. from the first tee. Their threesome will be filled out by Canadian Justin Shin.
NHL hall of famer Grant Fuhr drew a 9 a.m. opening-day tee-off, and will go from the 10th tee. Fuhr was paired with American Kyle Scanlon and Canadian Andrew Rasmussen.
Other golfers of note include U.S. Amateur runner-up Corey Connors, who will head out in the final threesome on the 10th hole at 2 p.m., joined by fellow Canadian Mitchell Sutton and American Eric Atsma.
Bubba Dickerson, the 2001 U.S. Amateur champion, starts his first round on Thursday from the first hope at 1:30 p.m., playing with Swede Krister Eriksson and American Matthew Pinizzotto.
Quebec's Maxime Gilbert, who broke the Strathcona Golf Course course record on Monday, firing an 11-under 61 to take top spot in qualifying, is playing with 2008 U.S. Junior Amateur champion Cameron Peck and Canadian Sean Harlingten. They'll go from the first tee in the penultimate group of the day, ahead of Hunter and Savard.
The top five Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada money leaders this season are all in this week's field. Leader Drew Weaver tees off at 1:40 p.m. on No. 10; fellow American J.J. Spaun goes at 12:50 p.m., also on 10. Abin Choi, the top Canadian money winner with more than $37,000 in total prize money this year, start on No. 10 at 7:30 a.m., while fellow Canuck Kevin Pooner goes 10 minutes later from No. 1. Last week's winner, Cheng-Tsung Pan, the fifth-leading money winner, starts at No. 10 at 8 a.m.
They'll be vying for three spots in next week's RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey. The top three on the 2015 Order of Merit at the conclusion of play on Sunday will garner berths in the PGA event.
Order of Merit leaders:
1. Drew Weaver - $44,450
2. J.J. Spaun - $38,763
3. Albin Choi - $37,857
4. Kevin Spooner - $36,575
5. C.T. Pan - $32,729
Defending Staal Foundation Open champion Wes Homan is not in the field this week. Instead he'll be playing in the PGA Tour's Barbasol Championship in Alabama, his fourth start on the PGA Tour this season. He's made one cut and more than $13,000. He's also made six starts on the Web.com Tour, missig all six cuts, and three on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
There are a total of 35 Canadians in the field this week.
A complete list of tee times for Thursday and Friday can be found here.
