Brothers Stir Up Some Magic to Take Pro-Pro Event
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2019-09-16
By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf
CALGARY, Alberta — There’s nothing like a little brotherly chemistry. And of course, a hot putter.
The Vendermey boys, Nick and Spencer, put that equation to work at Calgary’s Priddis Greens G&CC on the Raven course, to top some big names and walk away with the big money at this year’s PGA of Alberta Pro-Pro Best Ball tournament Presented by Allstate Canada.
Spencer, from the Edmonton Petroleum G&CC said that having played countless rounds of golf with his brother during their lifetime put them in a comfortable position even before the one-day, 18-hole event began.
“I couldn’t even count,” he said about the number of times he’s teed it up alongside his brother. “I don’t think we’ve ever played a team event without each other.”
Nick, from the Windermere G&CC in Edmonton, said a pre-game chat on the way south helped put them in the right frame of mind and a number to chase.
“We were talking that we wanted to get to eight or nine under, and as we were playing I think we were only three or four under through nine holes. Then we made a run of six birdies in a row which got us to nine-under. Then we birdied the last hole to get to 10,” and that, as it turned out, was enough to walk away with the win by two strokes and the top prize money of $3,050.
“We were thinking if we played well we could place third or fourth, given the other teams there like (Dustin) Risdon, and Wes (Heffernan), and Riley (Fleming),” which shows that sometimes realistic expectations can be rewarded through outstanding effort.
Of taking down those big names in this province’s professional golf mixture, Spencer said, “You try not to think about that, and just go out and play your own game.”
On this day, it was largely Spencer’s short game, and in particular his putting, that was the magic potion for stirring up the win. He went on that putting rampage over the final few holes, propelling the brothers to the one-shot win over a team led by one of the big names in Alberta golf circles, Wes Heffernan.
“Actually, I made nine (birdies) by myself, and Nick made one, on the one hole there that I bogeyed,” Spencer explained. “I think I made eight or nine putts in a row on the back nine. They weren’t bombs or anything,” but they found the bottom of the cup on a constant basis and that’s a key ingredient to what’s needed to win in this sort of tournament.
Having never seen the Raven course at Priddis before, Nick said of the end result, “I don’t think we were expecting that much. We’d heard good things about Priddis so we decided to just take a day and go up there,” which proved to be well worth while.
The Ladies Division in the event was captured by the team of Rhonda Carter from Canyon Meadows G&CC and Kim Valleau from the Winston GC, both located in Calgary.
About the Writer
Gord Montgomery is a member in good standing of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada. He is now in his 10th year of writing for Inside Golf. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He’s also on Twitter at @gordinsidegolf and on Instagram at gordinsidegolf2.