FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, July 2, 2023
DeGrazia Charges Back to Win District Open
Congratulations to Evan DeGrazia (Chapples GC) for winning the 2023 AON District Open. Evan came back from fifth place, four strokes behind the first-round leader, to take the title. Players battled strong winds and difficult pin positions over the entire weekend. Evan's score of 147 was enough to best Jeff Hunter (Whitewater GC) by one stroke and Jeremy Kirk (Fort William CC) by three strokes, who rounded out the top three. Jack Moro (Whitewater GC), the reigning District Junior Champion, finished in a tie for fourth overall.
This win marks Evan's fourth District Open victory. He now trails only Charlie Nixon and Bill Seagris for the most wins all-time.
In the second flight, Ed Atwill (Whitewater GC) won by two strokes over Matthew Cho-Chu (Fort William CC) at 151. Matthew led the tournament after an opening round 71 but struggled to an 82 during Sunday's final round at Fort William CC. Barry Caland (Fort William CC) and Samuel Orr (Fort William CC) rounded out the top four, respectively.
Robbie Campbell (Fort William CC) led wire-to-wire in to win the third flight at 162. John Shaw (Whitewater GC) and Steve Polesky (Aguasabon GC) finished in a tie for second-place two strokes behind Robbie.
In the fourth flight, Justin Forester (Whitewater GC) blitzed his competition, winning by ten strokes over Roy Mannila (North Shore GC) at 157. Justin also finished in tenth place overall – his first career top-ten finish in a major championship. Bryan Burgess (Chapples GC) finished in third, while Tyson Bouchard (Fort William CC) and Ed Olsen (Chapples GC) tied for fourth.
Full results can be found here.
About AON
Thank you to AON for again being the District Open's title sponsor. Your support of golf in the Thunder Bay District is well appreciated.
AON in Canada provides a range of sophisticated advice and solutions in risk, retirement and health at a time when those topics have never been more important to the economy. AON designs, structures, and implements insight that may involve traditional products or programs, alternative financing techniques, or entirely new products to address a specific problem. AON offers risk advisory, risk transfer, and structured solutions that help organizations and individuals better identify, quantify, and manage their risk exposure. To help their clients design and implement secure, equitable and sustainable retirement programs, AON provide actuarial, investment, and bundled retirement solutions. AON in Canada also offers consulting, global benefits, and exchange solutions to help clients mitigate rising health care costs and improve employee health and wellbeing.
To learn more about AON in Canada, visit their website at https://www.aon.com/home/index.
About the TBDGA
The TBDGA is a non-profit organization dedicated to growing the game of golf in the Thunder Bay District. The TBDGA is supported by and works actively with Golf Ontario, Golf Manitoba, and Golf Canada to administer the game of golf within our jurisdiction. Currently, the TBDGA oversees and works with twelve member clubs.
Media Contact: Jeremy Kirk, Communications Director. Jeremy can be reached at jakirk14@shaw.ca.
