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Dean Claggett and Brandon Ortiz of Two Eagles Golf Course and Academy led a field of 35 teams for a two-stroke victory at the Professional Golf Association of B.C. Tournament of Champions on Monday.
Claggett, the head professional, and Ortiz, the club champion, shot a best-ball score of six-under 66 on the Okanagan Golf Club's Quail Course to edge Rob Anderson (pro) and James Casorso (club champ) of the Kelowna Golf and Country Club by two strokes.
"I think we played well as a team," said Ortiz, a graduate of the Zone 2 Junior Golf Tour and Kelowna Secondary School. "We stayed really patient out there and just didn't really make a lot of mistakes. And when we did, we really made up for it."
"More than anything, it was good teamwork," added Claggett. "When you go with a good attitude and try to have fun on the golf course, especially when you play with somebody for the first time in a competitive environment, it's a little bit difficult. But today we did a really good job of staying patient and we had fun doing it."
The championship was the first time Claggett and Ortiz had played together competitively, however their relationship dates back to 2005 when Ortiz began playing at Two Eagles.
"We've known each other for a long time, so today was relatively easy to just go out and play," said Claggett.
For their first place finish, Claggett took home the champion cheque of $1,100, while Ortiz was awarded the amateur prize of a set of Srixon Z745 irons.
The KGCC duo was awarded $900.
There was a five-way tie for third place at 3-under 69, including the Black Mountain Golf Club team of Russ Latimer and Ryan Redekopp. They earned $530, along with Bill Kelly and Terran Berger of Glacier Greens Golf Course of Comox, Matt Palsenbarg and Jae Wook Lee of Northview Golf Academy of Surrey, Simon Jones and Kevin Dereniwsky of the Kimberley Golf Club and Brian McDonald and Larry Yamaguchi of Fairview Mountain Golf Club in Oliver.
Two other Kelowna-area teams were included in the top 10. Mike Loewen and Lionel Taylor of Sunset Ranch and Miles Palahniuk and William Deck of The Harvest tied for eighth place at 2-under 70.
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