Former Mountaineer Papineau Wins Royal Beach Victoria Open on Sunday
June 19, 2023 11:31 AM | Golf, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Former West Virginia University golfer Etienne Papineau shot a 6-under-par 64 on the final day Sunday to claim the 2023 Royal Beach Victoria Open at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria, British Columbia.
His four-day score of 262 finished 18-under par.
Papineau becomes the first Mountaineer golfer to win a professional tour event since Mike Krak was victorious at the 1969 Westchester Open while working as a club professional at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Connecticut.
Krak was also a two-time winner of the Metropolitan PGA Championship and appeared in 15 majors while playing on the PGA Tour.
The Royal Beach Victoria Open, which took place on the same weekend as the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, is the first of 10 events scheduled this summer on the PGA Tour Canada, which is considered one of the PGA's feeder tours. The top five PGA Tour Canada golfers at the end of the year earn automatic invitations to the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour, formerly known as the Web.com Tour. Five others earn either partial status or are fast-tracked to the final stage of qualifying school.
Papineau won the Royal Beach Victoria Open by five strokes and jumps to the top of the PGA Tour Canada leaderboard. He earned $36,000 for his first professional tournament victory.
"It's been a crazy, amazing week," Papineau, the first Quebec native to win on PGA Tour Canada since 2013, said afterward. "I'm extremely pumped and it's a good start to the season, for sure."
"He's off to a great start," West Virginia coach Sean Covich said.
Papineau, from Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec, completed his collegiate career at West Virginia in 2020 and was a member of the Mountaineers' 2019 NCAA regional team that came up two strokes short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Papineau ranked third on the squad that season in scoring with an average of 72.09 and had five rounds in the 60s with a low score of 66. He had three top 10 finishes for the year.
Papineau has already participated in two PGA Tour events during his young career at last year's Waste Management Phoenix Open and the RBC Canadian Open earlier this spring.
Max Sear, Papineau's teammate at WVU, qualified for last year's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.
Former Mountaineer player and state amateur champion Allen Cook was given a sponsor's exemption to play in the 2017 Greenbrier Classic, and Mathew Sharpstene, who played three years at WVU before transferring to Charlotte for his final collegiate season, qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open and is currently competing on the Asian Tour.
Papineau is looking to follow in the footsteps of young Canadian golfer Nick Taylor, who emerged from PGA Tour Canada to recently win the Canadian Open. The Canadian Tour became the PGA Tour Canada in 2013, and 65 former players have gone on to play PGA Tour events since then, with 25 becoming victorious.
PGA Tour Canada has produced more than 300 Korn Ferry Tour players.
Sear and former Mountaineer standout Mark Goetz also participated in last weekend's Royal Beach Victoria Open but did not make the cut.
This weekend, Papineau, Sear and Goetz are scheduled to play at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open at Elk Ridge Resort at Waskesiu, Saskatchewan.
Former Mountaineer Logan Perkins is in today's qualifier in hopes of playing in the event as well.
His four-day score of 262 finished 18-under par.
Papineau becomes the first Mountaineer golfer to win a professional tour event since Mike Krak was victorious at the 1969 Westchester Open while working as a club professional at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Connecticut.
Krak was also a two-time winner of the Metropolitan PGA Championship and appeared in 15 majors while playing on the PGA Tour.
The Royal Beach Victoria Open, which took place on the same weekend as the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, is the first of 10 events scheduled this summer on the PGA Tour Canada, which is considered one of the PGA's feeder tours. The top five PGA Tour Canada golfers at the end of the year earn automatic invitations to the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour, formerly known as the Web.com Tour. Five others earn either partial status or are fast-tracked to the final stage of qualifying school.
Papineau won the Royal Beach Victoria Open by five strokes and jumps to the top of the PGA Tour Canada leaderboard. He earned $36,000 for his first professional tournament victory.
"It's been a crazy, amazing week," Papineau, the first Quebec native to win on PGA Tour Canada since 2013, said afterward. "I'm extremely pumped and it's a good start to the season, for sure."
"He's off to a great start," West Virginia coach Sean Covich said.
Papineau, from Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec, completed his collegiate career at West Virginia in 2020 and was a member of the Mountaineers' 2019 NCAA regional team that came up two strokes short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Papineau ranked third on the squad that season in scoring with an average of 72.09 and had five rounds in the 60s with a low score of 66. He had three top 10 finishes for the year.
Papineau has already participated in two PGA Tour events during his young career at last year's Waste Management Phoenix Open and the RBC Canadian Open earlier this spring.
Max Sear, Papineau's teammate at WVU, qualified for last year's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego.
Former Mountaineer player and state amateur champion Allen Cook was given a sponsor's exemption to play in the 2017 Greenbrier Classic, and Mathew Sharpstene, who played three years at WVU before transferring to Charlotte for his final collegiate season, qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open and is currently competing on the Asian Tour.
Papineau is looking to follow in the footsteps of young Canadian golfer Nick Taylor, who emerged from PGA Tour Canada to recently win the Canadian Open. The Canadian Tour became the PGA Tour Canada in 2013, and 65 former players have gone on to play PGA Tour events since then, with 25 becoming victorious.
PGA Tour Canada has produced more than 300 Korn Ferry Tour players.
Sear and former Mountaineer standout Mark Goetz also participated in last weekend's Royal Beach Victoria Open but did not make the cut.
This weekend, Papineau, Sear and Goetz are scheduled to play at the Elk Ridge Saskatchewan Open at Elk Ridge Resort at Waskesiu, Saskatchewan.
Former Mountaineer Logan Perkins is in today's qualifier in hopes of playing in the event as well.
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