Benson Overtakes Heffernan To Win Canadian Assistants’ Championship
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2023-09-27
By Gord Montgomery, Senior Writer, Inside Golf
SPRUCE GROVE, Alberta — Missed it by thaaaat much! That could well have been the utterance of both Murray McCourt and Wes Heffernan at the end of the 2023 PGA of Canada Assistants’ Championship at The Ranch Golf & Country Club.
For McCourt, the executive professional at the host venue, his miss was on the winning score. In his guesstimate to Inside Golf prior to the event starting, he suggested a score of -10 over the 54-hole event should be enough to hoist the trophy. Yohann Benson, from Quebec, carded a superb minus-12 in his win. To achieve that, he fired sterling back-to-back rounds of 65 over the final 36 holes after opening the event with an even-par 71. For his win, Benson pocketed top money of $10,000.
As for Heffernan, the PGA of Alberta champ from the Dynamic Motion Golf Performance Centre, he saw his two-day lead disappear on the final day as he carded a 1-under 70. That left him at -11, one shot off the lead. On both days, the affable Calgary golfer held a one-shot lead as he opened 66-66, but he couldn’t match those numbers on the final day as Benson rocketed up the leaderboard. For his solo second-place finish, Heffernan collected $6,500.
Another Albertan moved up the leaderboard on the final day. Calgary’s Mitch Fox from the Speargrass GC carded a pair of eagles to end up in the tourney in a tie for fifth place overall and grab a cheque for $2,500. Nicholas Vendermey from the Windermere G&CC in Edmonton placed in a tie for 13th, earning just over $862. Rounding out the Albertans in the top 20 was David MacComb from the Royal Mayfair Golf Club who placed in a tie for 19th and earned $575.00.