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| (President Brian Hebb & Tour Director Andrew Dearborn present 2005 Captains Open winners check to Eric Egloff) |
BREWSTER, Mass., (September 5, 2006) – Eric Egloff of Sandy Spring, Md., begins defense of his title at the New England Pro Golf Tour’s Captains Open on Wednesday at Captains Golf Course’s Starboard Course.
Egloff, who is hoping to extend his streak to four straight years with a title on the New England Pro Golf Tour, shot a course-record 65 in last year’s final round to post a five-stroke victory and his third career Tour win.
“It always feels different coming back to a place where you won the year before,’’ said Egloff, the Tour’s second-leading money winner in 2006 with four top-10 finishes in seven events. “As soon as you walk on the course, those great memories return. Hopefully, I can keep it going this week.’’
The three-day, 54-hole tournament in Brewster, Mass., runs Wednesday through Friday and is the eighth stop on the 2006 schedule for the New England Pro Golf Tour – the premier developmental golf tour in the country. A field of 128 players, including seven Cape Cod residents, will compete for a Tour record $113,400 purse with $17,225 awarded to the winner.
One of the original stops on the New England Pro Golf Tour, the Captains Open has been played each year since the Tour began in 2001. In 2002, The Tour conducted two events at Captains Golf Course – one on the Starboard Course and one on the Port Course.
In order to defend, Egloff must find a way to hold off Geoffrey Sisk, who has put together a record-setting campaign. Sisk has won a single-season record four events and has already established a new single-season Tour mark for winnings with $76,939. The 41-year-old resident of Marshfield, Mass., is coming off a two-hole playoff loss at the Red Tail Open.
“I’m not thinking about any of those things,’’ said Sisk, the Tour’s all-time victory leader with 13. “I’m just thinking about the next event, and I know I have a few things to work on.’’
In addition, seven Cape Cod residents are entered in the field: Corey Brigham (Yarmouth), Adam Brill (Oak Bluffs), Michael Carbone (Brewster), Jim Hallet (South Yarmouth), Ken Lewis (South Dennis), Brent Wanner (Orleans) and Mark O’Brien, the Director of Operations at Captains Golf Course.
Wanner, the former Wake Forest All-American, is playing in his first event on the New England Pro Golf Tour, while Carbone played in last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship on the PGA Tour.
For Egloff, the good memories at Captains extend beyond simply golf shots and the golf course. During his seven-birdie, no-bogey final round, his girlfriend, Laurie Gagnon, saw him play for the first time.
“She’s back,’’ he said, “and hopefully she’s my good-luck charm again.’’
Following the Captains Open, the Tour is off for a week before heading to Montreal September 19-21 for the first Bonjour Quebec at I’lle de Montreal’s South Course.