James Lepp Wins the Canadian Tour's
2007 Greater Vancouver Charity Classic
*** Congratulations James ***
This time Lepp can cash the cheque!
by Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, June 25, 2007
The thunder rolled Sunday at Hazelmere Golf Course and afterwards so did James
Lepp.
Finally displaying some of the magic that was so often prevalent during an
amazing amateur career, Lepp won his first event as a pro with some brilliant
play on the back nine.
The 23-year-old Abbotsford native birdied three straight holes shortly after an
electrical storm had delayed play and won the $100,000 Greater Vancouver
Charity Classic by four shots.
James Lepp's final round was watched by a good sized gallery that included what
he called his 'posse'.
This time, he gets to cash the cheque. Lepp won this event in 2003 at
Swan-e-set Bay as an amateur.
He shot a four-under 68 Sunday to finish at 14-under par. Lepp made $16,000
Sunday. Four years ago, when the purse was $150,000, he passed up $24,000, so
he's not quite even.
Lepp did not sink the tournament's final putt until about 8:45 p.m. Heavy rain
pushed back tee times by more than three hours and then at about 6:10 p.m. play
was suspended for 35 minutes as a thunder storm rolled through the area.
Lepp was on the ninth hole when play was suspended. He came out and made a nice
save for par and then rattled off three straight birdies on the 11th, 12th and
13th holes to take control of the tournament.
"I hit a lot of good shots coming in," he said. "I always feel good late in the
day for some reason."
Lepp literally seemed to be throwing darts at the pins on Hazelmere's
rain-softened greens on the back nine.
"My wedges this week were great," he said. "I had so many kick-in birdies, I
was just stuffing them in there and reading putts really well. My putter didn't
feel good, but I always seemed to get it on line."
The win turns around a season that had not been going especially well for Lepp.
He missed his first three cuts this year and was dissatisfied with this play.
Lepp started the day tied with American Matt Bettencourt, but grabbed the lead
with a birdie on Hazelmere's tough opening hole. Bettencourt double-bogeyed the
hole.
"That birdie was big," Lepp said. "It was a nice [30-foot] putt."
Lepp was pressured early in his round by Calgary's Scott McNeil and Eugene
Smith of New Jersey. The tournament basically ended on the par 4 14th hole when
Lepp made a miracle par after driving his ball under a tree. He had to take un
unplayable lie.
"That par on 14 was big," Lepp said. "I know if you hit it near that tree it's
like hitting it in a jungle and you have to take an unplayable. I said 'I'm
still going to make par,' though, and I made par. That was pretty big. I had a
three-shot lead and then I could kind of not coast home, but play smarter
shots, not get too aggressive."
Lepp's final round was watched by a good-sized gallery that included what he
called his "posse" -- a large group of family and friends.
"This feels good because it's just been a long time since I've been in
contention and played well," Lepp said. "I don't think the significance of
winning a pro event means much more than winning an amateur event. It's just
finally getting a good pro event under the belt. Hopefully it will spawn more
good tournaments."
McNeil, a big-hitter from Calgary, bogeyed his last two holes to fall into a
tie for fourth place with Bettencourt and fellow American John Ellis.
and from the Canadian Tour's Web site, www.cantour.com
SOUTH SURREY, BC___ James Lepp waited four long years to step back into the
Canadian Tour winner’s circle.
He wasn’t about to sweat a few extra hours.
Lepp, the 23-year-old former amateur prodigy from Abbotsford, BC, endured a
marathon final round at the Greater Vancouver Charity Classic Sunday and held
on for his second career win on the Canadian Tour. A final-round 4-under 68
left Lepp with a 14-under 274 total after four treks around a challenging
Hazelmere GC, good enough for a four-shot win over Americans Anthony Rodriguez
(70) and Eugene Smith (69).
Scott McNeil of Calgary (72) finished in a tie for fourth with overnight
co-leader Matt Bettencourt (73) and John Ellis (71).
Heavy rain pounding the Lower Mainland caused a three-hour delay Sunday,
meaning Lepp and Bettencourt, the final pairing of the afternoon, did not hit
their first shots until just after 4:00 pm PDT. Two hours into the round,
another thunderstorm caused a 35-minute suspension, meaning Lepp put the
finishing touches on the triumph just as darkness was setting over Hazelmere GC.
Early Sunday, it appeared as though the Canadian Tour might be faced with its
first 54-hole event since the 2004 Montreal Open. But Mother Nature wasn’t
quite as ornery later in the day and Tour officials were able to get the round
in, although another extended suspension likely would have washed out the round.
“That first delay didn’t bother me at all—just stayed at home, ordered some
pizza and watched some TV,” he said. “The second delay was so short it wasn’t
even worth worrying about.”
Lepp seems to like playing just a few kilometres up the road from his
Abbotsford home. Four years after winning the Greater Vancouver Classic as an
amateur, Lepp collected his first championship payday as a professional and now
joins Winnipeg’s Rob McMillan as the only players to win Tour events as both an
amateur and professional.
“I’m a pretty happy camper right now,” Lepp added. “I hit a lot of good shots
coming in. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in contention and played well.
Hopefully this will spawn some more good tournaments.”
In between his Tour wins, Lepp also enjoyed a standout career at the University
of Washington, capped off when he became the first Canadian to win the NCAA
National Championship in 2005.
Lepp carried a rather large chip on his shoulder into Sunday’s final round,
less than a day after bogeying three of his final four holes to loosen his grip
on what seemed to be a comfortable hold on top spot. Bettencourt put himself
behind the eight ball early with a double bogey on the first hole while Lepp
made birdie out of the gate. McNeil began to put the heat on and at one point
pulled even but Lepp, playing in the group behind, birdied the 11th and 12th
and didn’t look back. Another birdie on 13 and a crucial par save on 14 pretty
well ended thoughts of a playoff, probably allowing Tour officials to exhale.
On this day, there would be no late round collapse.
“That (Saturday finish) crept into my head a little late in the day,” he said
with a laugh. “I thought ‘there is no way I am going through that gong show
again’. “
In a week where four of the top five money leaders missed the cut, the $16,000
winner’s cheque also lifted Lepp into eighth spot on the Rolex Order of Merit,
joining compatriots Wes Heffernan and Derek Gillespie as Canadians in the top
eight. The triumph vaulted Lepp into top spot in the Canadian bracket of the
Canadian Bursary standings, a $50,000 fund that will benefit ten players—five
Canadian and five international—based on top-ten showings during the 2007
summer-long cross-Canada run.
The Canadian Tour now moves into Alberta for a pair of stops beginning with
this week’s ATB Financial Classic, the first visit to Calgary since 2000.
