You could call it a case of Dustin being Dustin. The Strathmore native who has virtually been on a winning tear since last year continued his dominant play into today’s final round of the 2017 Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP Alberta Open Championship.
Risdon shot a final round 69 to win by one shot over Calgary’s James Love. Professional, Ryan Werre, of Redcliff finished tied for third and five-time champion, Wes Heffernan, of Calgary finished at even par in a tie for seventh.
In his victory speech, Risdon said “I always wanted to win this one and now I’ve got my hands on it.” Risdon has been a top player since his junior days, winning the Alberta and Canadian Junior Championships, along with three Canadian Tour wins (Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada). He now enjoys the game more than ever as he has found teaching the game to be both rewarding and a benefit for his own competitive mindset. Risdon will put the first-place cheque of $5,000.00 towards expenses for the rest of his competitive 2017 schedule, which now includes his exemption into the ATB Financial Classic on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada.
Evan Holmes, of the Glencoe G&CC, had a one-shot lead in the championship after five holes before making a 10 on the par five, sixth hole when his drive hung up in the trees and was forced to head back to the tee and struggled to get it home.
Low Amateur honours went to Brendan MacDougall of the Glencoe G&CC. The 19-year-old Team Alberta High Performance Squad member made a clutch 5-foot par putt on the eighteenth hole to go bogey-free in the final round. When asked about his accomplishment, MacDougall said “I think it’s awesome. It just really shows that all the work I’ve put in, over the last few years, is really coming together. It shows that I can compete with just about anyone in Alberta.”
