UXBRIDGE, ON— The Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) will have another strong entry in the 2015 combined event in Lima, Peru: The Manuel Prado Cup (Team) and Carlos Raffo A. Cup (Individual), April 6-11. This year, Ontario will be represented by Dave Bunker, playing in this event for the seventh time, and Rob Cowan, who will make his fifth appearance.
Bunker, 49, who ranked second in the GAO’s Mid-Am Order of Merit standings, for 2014, resides in Woodbridge and is a member at the Brampton Golf Club. Last season was a particularly good one for Bunker as he captured the Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship, along with the Investors Group Mid-Amateur Championship. Bunker already sports a long list of provincial championships including: the 2008 Amateur; 2003 and 2010 Match Play; 2007 and 2010 Mid-Amateur; 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012 Mid-Master; and 2009 and 2010 Public Player. His best finish in Peru was in 2007 when he finished second in the individual competition and in 2010 when his team finished seventh.
“It’s always a great opportunity to represent the province and Peru is an awesome place to start the competitive season,” said Bunker. “I’m feeling really positive. I’ve had a good winter, spending a lot of time on my golf fitness. I’ve worked a bit with my coach on a couple of swing mechanic modifications as well. I was in Florida for a vacation two weeks ago and the golf results were showing.”
As for Cowan, 50, he ranked third this past season in the Mid-Am Order of Merit standings and earned an invitation after the top ranked Mid-Am, Garrett Rank, was unable to commit due to his schedule as an NHL referee. However, this will not be a new experience for Cowan, the Wellesley resident and Westmount Golf and Country Club member, is also a veteran of the event. Cowan brings even more experience to the team as they tackle the Lima Golf Club. Cowan is coming off a strong season of his own in which he captured the Ontario Champion of Champions title. That was his second Champion of Champions title (2010) but he is also a former Ontario Mid-Masters Champion (2008) and Match Play Champion (2002).
“Having Rob as my partner again makes the trip very comfortable,” added Bunker. “We’ve traveled and played together so many times, it’s almost like a well rehearsed routine. Rob is a great player and we’ve had a lot of success as teammates, so both of us are really looking forward to next week.”
The event, sanctioned by the Peruvian Golf Federation, is hosted by the Lima Golf Club and has been running since 1988. The tournament is open to players with three or less handicaps and draws amateur golfers from all across the Americas and Europe. The players will have two practice rounds (April 6-7) before the first of the four rounds begin on April 8.
The team competition takes the two members scores over the four days and the lowest aggregate is the winner. For the individual competition, the lowest score after 72 holes is declared the winner.
For more information on the event and round by round results see: www.limagolfclub.org.pe.