Northern Ontario Open tees off today

Eyes will be on the Sault Ste. Marie Golf Club as the Canadian Tour visits the city for the $175,000 Northern Ontario Open.

Four local golfers along with a few other amateurs will join the pros in the four-day event. It's the second time in four years that a CanTour event has been staged at the city's east end golf club.

Locals Paul Raycroft, Jeff Hamilton, Frank Kucher and Richard Evoy have earned the right to join the 156-man field.

Raycroft earned his spot after claiming the lone berth from the Sault Golf Club qualifying tournament on Friday. Kucher earned one of four spots from Monday's CanTour qualifier while Hamilton, the SGC club pro, gained his entry on a tournament exemption. Evoy gained entry on Tuesday after a player withdrawal. The top pro in the tour's fifth event of the season is the current Order of Merit leader Derek Gillespie, who leads the money list with $32,760. Gillespie has already secured a CanTour win this season in Mexico last month.

Other notables include Ben Ferguson and Craig Kanada, who played on the PGA Tour the past two years, along with Alex Quiroz, Paul Davenport, David Hearn, David McKenzie and Doug McQuigan. Anders Hultman and Rob Johnson, who have won CanTour events this season, will also play.

Each round of the event will be televised live on The Golf Channel (local Shaw Cable channel 54) from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. from Thursday to Sunday.

Draw times have been released for the first two rounds of action. Tee offs begin at 7:30 a.m. today and Friday with groups of three beginning at both the first and 10th tees. Groups will follow every ten minutes off those tees until 9:30 a.m.

A second group with begin their rounds at 12:30 p.m. with tee offs on both holes continuing until 2:30 p.m.

Raycroft is scheduled to open today from the first tee at 9:20 a.m. while beginning his second round from the 10th on Friday at 2:20 p.m. Frank Kucher tees off today at 9:30 a.m. from the 10th and Friday at 2:30 p.m. from the first.

Hamilton starts from the 10th tee at 1:50 p.m. this afternoon and 8:50 a.m. on Friday from the first. Evoy begins today at 7:50 a.m. from the first tee and Friday at 12:50 p.m. from the 10th tee.

Mother nature could play havoc with the field throughout the tournament. As of late Wednesday evening, Environment Canada is calling for a risk of thunderstorms Thursday, a chance of rain Friday and Sunday while calling for showers on Saturday. Temperatures are also expected to dip to the low teens with highs in the low 20-degree area.

The tournament winner will receive a $28,000 first place cheque and receive an exemption into next week's CPGA championship.

At the Ontario Open Heritage Classic at the Sault Ste. Marie Golf Club in 1999, Aaron Oberholser set a tour record that still stands with an 11 shot margin of victory. Oberholser is a familiar name to PGA fans as he has two top 10 finishes so far this season. Another familiar name is Canadian Ian Leggatt, who finished second to Oberholser and is also a member of the PGA Tour.