2010 CGA Match Play champ Gunner Wiebe claims title at National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship; 2 former DU golfers tie for 11th in Ladies European Tour event
By Gary Baines – 11/15/2020
A decade ago, Gunner Wiebe recorded the defining victory of his extensive amateur career in Colorado, prevailing in the 110th CGA Match Play Championship at CommonGround Golf Course, which is owned and operated by the golf association.
Wiebe, who lived in Colorado for all of his pre-college days, on Sunday notched arguably the most prestigious win of his pro career by coming out on top out of a 132-person field at the National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The 31-year-old Kent Denver graduate, who now lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif., became the third person with significant Colorado ties to win the national PGA Assistants championship, joining Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Bill Loeffler (1992) and current Colorado resident Kyle Voska (2008).
“I’m super relieved,” Wiebe told PGA.com. “That’s the biggest thing I feel. I’m just relieved it’s over. I was running out of gas. I couldn’t be more excited. It’s the biggest tournament I can play in anymore. To be able to win is super special.”
Wiebe, winner of the last two Southern California Assistant PGA Professional Championships, led after rounds 2 and 3 in Port St. Lucie and took a three-stroke lead into Sunday. And an even-par 72 gave him a two-stroke victory at PGA Golf Club. The PGA Assistant pro at Bel-Air Country Club earned $12,000 for the win, which landed him a spot in the national PGA Professional Championship, set for April 25-28 in Port St. Lucie.
Wiebe — son of Colorado Golf Hall of Famer Mark Wiebe, winner of two PGA Tour events and five tournaments on PGA Tour Champions — didn’t relinquish his lead on Sunday, chalking up two birdies and two bogeys.
“I told my dad after yesterday’s 69 that I was disappointed and should’ve shot better,” Wiebe said. “The only advice he gave me was to keep doing the same thing. It was nothing groundbreaking. He could tell that I was having fun. It’s always more fun when you’re in the hunt. He could hear that I was enjoying myself this week and that’s what we talked about.
“Golf’s supposed to be fun. Even when it’s hard, it’s supposed to be fun. The more I enjoy myself, the better I shoot. It’s a great reminder to enjoy being on the golf course for five hours. It’s a wonderful thing.”
Also recording a top-10 finish on Sunday was former University of Colorado golfer Justin Bardgett. The University of Illinois men’s golf assistant coach tied for eighth despite going bogey-double bogey over his final two holes. He shot 76 to check in at 286.
The lone Colorado resident to make the 36-hole cut, Ryan Wroblewski of Cherry Hills Country Club, finished 53rd at 298.
Here are the scores for all the Colorado players who competed in Port St. Lucie, along with Wiebe and Bardgett:
1. Former CGA Player of the Year Gunner Wiebe 70-67-69-72–278
8. Former CU golfer Justin Bardgett 70-69-71-76–286
53. Ryan Wroblewski of Cherry Hills CC 75-73-78-72—298
Missed 36-Hole Cut
90. Geoff Keffer of Lakewood CC 77-76–153
96. Caine Fitzgerald of Parker 80-74–154
102. Ben Lanting of Highlands Ranch 83-72–155
For all the scores from Florida, CLICK HERE.
Elsewhere on the national/international stage for players with strong Colorado connections:
— Two former University of Denver golfers — Ellie Givens and Tonje Daffinrud — each posted one of the best Ladies European Tour performances of her career on Sunday by tying for 11th place in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Both players finished at 3-under-par 285, seven strokes behind champion Emily Kristine Pedersen. They earned 16,312 euros each.
Givens, an Englishwoman, went 72-69-72-72 after making birdie on her final two holes, while Daffinrud, a Norwegian, carded scores of 69-72-71-73.
The Saudi finish tied for the second-best of Givens’ career, with only the 2013 Turkish Airlines Ladies Open (sixth place) being better.
As for Daffinrud, she recorded her best LET showing since June of 2019, when she placed a career-best fourth in the Ladies European Thailand Championship.
Givens has posted two top-15 finishes in her last three LET starts.
For all the scores from Saudi Arabia, CLICK HERE.