PGA Americas golfers loving Dunrobin

DUNROBIN – As Day 2 winds down on the Commissionaires Ottawa Open at Eagle Creek in Dunrobin, players are shooting low and even a torrential downpour hasn’t slowed them down a bit.

In fact, a new course record was set yesterday (July 25) on Day 1 of the four-day PGA Americas tournament.

Noah Gillard fired an 11 under 61 to take the lead after the first round. Gillard had no squares on the scorecard shooting an eagle and nine birdies to break the course record previously held by Jimmy Hervol (2024) and Jimmy Jones (2023). 

“Being up here, I’m up in Canada, I’m living my dream,” Gillard, an American who played collegiate golf at the University of Illinois from 2018 to 2020 and Indiana University in 2020-2021, said in an interview yesterday. “I could miss every cut here on out or I could make every cut, I couldn’t be more blessed to be here living out my dream no matter what happens.”

The pack managed to chase Gillard down on Day 2 today (July 26) after he shot a 76. Gillard currently lies tied for 41. With a projected cut of -6, Gillard sits at -7 after two days.

South African Barend Botha sits atop the 156-player leaderboard with a two-day total of -16 after going 63-65 after the first two days. American Trey Shriley and Chinese Taipei’s Chuan-Tail Lin are tied for second with a -14. Americans Alex Weiss and George Markham are tied for fourth at -13 and 13 players are not far behind at -11 or -10 heading in to the weekend.

While there was a bout of hard rain Thursday, sunny skies, warm weather and close to 30 degrees Celsius greeted the golfers today.

Columbian golfer Ricardo Celia spoke with West Carleton Online after wrapping up his second round of the tournament and finding himself in the thick of things tied for 11th at -10 (shooting five under both days).

“This is my first time playing here in Canada,” Celia, 32 and born in Barranquilla, Colombia, said. “It’s good. It’s a great, great tour. This place is really nice, I love the course. I’m staying at a host family 10 minutes away, they’re awesome. I’m having a great time, I’m here with my wife, I love it here. So far so good.”

Celia is located nearby in Kanata and also likes where he’s located in the tournament as well.

“I’m in a good position for the weekend and playing good,” Celia said. “It’s a great set-up, the conditions are great, I love it because you have to hit a bunch of different shots, not just bomb the driver all over the course.”

Celia only played two events on the PGA Americas tour and six events in total so far this year. He has made four of six cuts, has one international win and a third-place finish in a PGA Tour Americas event down very south, which qualified him to play up here. He has won $16,208 so far this season.

“I didn’t have status this year but placed third at the KIA Open (at Quito Tenis y Golf Club May 2 to 5), that’s why I got to play the PGA Americas and my first time in Canada,” he said.

Celia had to battle the rain Thursday, but it didn’t seem to slow home down too much.

“Yeah, I did, but it wasn’t too bad though,” he said. “It rained for about 20 minutes on and off, but it was fine. I felt the course played easier because it was wet and it was softer, but today it was a beautiful day.”

And now Celia is focusing on the weekend.

“Play golf and do the same thing I did the first two days and see what happens at the end of the week,” he said about his plan for the final two days of the event.

Tournament director Andy Rajhathy says year two of the Commissionaires Ottawa Open is going well.

“For the most part we’re hearing the players are loving the course,” Rajhathy told West Carleton Online today from the clubhouse. “It’s a great layout and the staff have done a great job inside and out of the clubhouse. We got a lot of rain Wednesday (July 24) which changed the anticipated conditions, but the staff did a great job of bringing the course back, especially today. The volunteers are hitting home runs out there and making the tournament look really good, so of course I appreciate all their hard work and we’re looking forward to the weekend.”

Rajhathy was able to witness some of Gillard’s record-breaking round.

“It’s pretty impressive,” Rajhathy said. “He was in the last group yesterday. Quite an accomplishment, bogie-free with an eagle and nine birdies. He didn’t shoot as well today, but that’s the game of golf that we all play and love. One day is great and maybe the next day isn’t.”

Scores are low so far, with a projected cut of -7, and it appears golfers are finding the sweet spots on Eagle Creek.

“If you are as skilled as these guys, you find the lines pretty quick with maybe one or two practice rounds,” Rajhathy said. “What’s interesting is we’re seeing a lot of different choices off the tee. There’s some guys hitting drivers off certain holes and others are choosing three woods of three irons. Interesting how you sort of fall in love with a certain line, or a certain angle for your approach shot and that’s what this course is. You can play a round a little different and it’s pretty neat to watch how people tackle it in different ways.”

Rajhathy says this will make for an exciting finish this weekend.

“It’s pretty similar to last year,” Rajhathy said. “The cut was -4 but it was playing as a par 71 so it’s pretty similar (it’s a par 72 this year). The winning score was -19 so I’m anticipating it will be about the same and we do love seeing a lot of birdies and a lot of eagle attempts on all the Par 5s and some of the Par 4s. It’s just great to see all the skilled golfers. These guys are so much better than anyone realizes until you come watch it. The reality is a lot of them are in the top 1,000 in the world.”

Last year it took four playoff holes to decide the inaugural Commissionaires Ottawa Open champion and while that may not happen this year, there is lots of great golf ahead.

“Playoffs are a lot of fun so that always adds a good finish to a tournament,” Rajhathy said. “Regardless, I’m sure we’ll have a worthy champion.”

Weekend tickets to the Commissionaires Ottawa Open are still available. You can save a few dollars and purchase them online here, or at Eagle Creek when you arrive. Paid parking is available on site, or you can park for free at West Carleton Secondary School where a shuttle leaves to the course every five to 10 minutes.