Photo courtesy of Radford University

Alone on top of the leaderboard, as this year’s champion, and the crown carries many jewels.

Hayden was playing well coming into the tournament, but held no expectations. Once he got there, it was love at first sight.

"I loved the layout from the moment I saw it," he told us. "My mom and I joked about being the only American saying that if I won I wonder if I would be invited back... it was funny when I actually won it!"

As winner of The Glencoe Invitational in Calgary, Alberta, Hayden receives an exemption into the final qualifying round for the RBC Canadian Open, an exemption into the Mackenzie Tour - PGA TOUR Canada's 2015 ATB Financial Classic, and an exemption into the Canadian Men's Amateur Championship.

The Low Albertan, Calgary’s Brett Hogan, will represent Team Alberta during the Morse Cup competition at the 2016 Pacific Coast Amateur to be held at the Seattle Golf Club. Hogan finished the tournament at five-over and tied for third with Travis Fredborg (Selkirk, Manitoba) Pierre-Alexandre Bedard (Chibougamau, Quebec).

Quinn Vilneff (Amerherstburg, Ontario) finished alone in second place, shooting a four-over 220.

Hayden played steady golf, despite a few blow-ups during the tournament. Glencoe’s par-4 11th hole was his nemesis, where he carded a 9 in the first round and after a par in the second round, had a double-bogey 6 on the final day. But despite that final double, he had three birdies on the back nine to win the trophy.

"After I made the 9 on number 11 on day one, I just knew there was more golf to play, and just told myself to hang in there," Hayden told AmateurGolf.com

During the final round, Hayden focused on the task at hand, looking for key scoring opportunities down the stretch.

"I was 3 over after 13 but knew I had two par-fives that I could reach in two, so I was told myself to take advantage of them coming in. The key shot to my victory was my chip shot on 16. I hit it long on my second and had a really tough third, I couldn't have hit a better chip shot. That shot won me to tournament."

This was Hayden's first trip to Canada. "It went pretty well so I'm excited to come back up here!"

ABOUT THE GLENCOE INVITATIONAL

The Invitational was established in 1992 to allow for high-level tournament golf to be played prior to our national provincial championships. The Glencoe Invitational is listed on the Golf Canada Order of Merit as well as the World Amateur Golf Order of Merit. The World Amateur Golf Ranking System ranks the top amateur golfers in the world on the basis of their average performance in counting events on a rolling cycle over the previous 52 weeks. The tournament took a three-year hiatus during 2012 thru 2014 to restore our Robert Trent Jones II course, The Forest, to its former glory. The Invitational Committee and the Members of The Glencoe Golf & CountryClub are excited to welcome back this premier event to Canada’s Golf Calendar.

The Glencoe Invitational field of players is typically made up those in the top 50 on the Golf Canada Order of Merit, Provincial Champions, Willingdon Cup players, Canada’s National team as well as players referred from other golf associations. Past tournaments have included players from New Zealand, USA, and Bermuda and to date, 57 former participants and champions are now playing on various professional tours.