THUNDER BAY -- Grant Fuhr has his spot in the Staal Foundation Open locked up.
Thunder Bay’s Evan DeGrazia will have to work a little harder to secure a third consecutive entry at the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada event.
Fuhr, the NHL hall-of-famer, will make a second appearance at the tournament, given a sponsor’s exemption, one of six made available to the organizing committee.
The 21-year-old DeGrazia, set to enter his fourth year at South Carolina’s Newberry College, is hoping to earn a spot through a local qualifier on June 11 at Fort William Country Club or by taking top spot in July’s Keg District Open, contested at Fort William and Whitewater Golf Club, home of the Staal Foundation Open.
Barring that he could land one of 10 Monday qualifier spots on July 11, the week of the tournament, or hope organizers see fit to bring him back for a third attempt using one of their remaining three sponsor’s exemptions.
DeGrazia, who last year fired a one-under 71 on Day 2 to miss the cut by just four strokes, finishing at one-over 145, said his golfing goal for the summer is to claim victory on June 11, and if not, to win the District Open to secure his Staal Foundation Open berth.
Having spots available to local players is important, said DeGrazia, ranked 1,774th on the Official World Golf Ranking chart.
“Just knowing in the back of your mind that you have a reasonable chance of qualifying, compared to just going out there and trying to Monday qualify with all the best touring players that don’t have full status just gives you a better chance of getting into the event,” DeGrazia said.
That was the idea behind two exemptions going to the Thunder Bay District Golf Association, said newly elected president Hank Wilke.
“It gives them some excitement for a lot of our local player, the serious ones, to practice and to work on their game. It’s quite the thrill to play in this event and the competition there for them is superb,” Wilke said.
Both local qualifiers are open to TBDGA members.
Tournament director Scott Smith said the more locals in the field, the better.
Organizers are also trying to grow the game in Thunder Bay, he said.
“I think offering young people the opportunity to play at that level, I think there are young kids watching and saying ‘I want to do that,’” Smith said.
“And part of our mandate of the exemptions is to attract more people to the event. And I think when you have locals playing it brings out a lot of family and friends, people who want to see these local players do well.”
Smith also announced the first round of sports stars who will take part in July 11 celebrity pro-am event. In addition to Fuhr, Thunder Bay curler Krista McCarville, a finalist at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts, and ex-NHLers Dave Poulin and Trevor Kidd will also take part.
