Nova Scotia Open

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The Web.com Tour travels to Canada this week for the inaugural Nova Scotia Open at Ashburn Golf Club in Halifax. The tournament is being held at the New Course at Ashburn Country Club. It was designed  by Geoffrey Cornish and  opened for play in 1970. This will be the Web.com Tour's second official event in Nova Scotia. The course is a Par 72 and relatively short, coming in at just over 7000 yards and features tree lined fairways so an accurate player off the tee is likely to be favoured to those who hit it a mile. The greens are also well guarded by bunkers and ponds so it may be worth siding with a player who ranks highly in sand saves and GIR as they are more likely to score should they get in trouble.

My picks are as follows:

Brad Fritsch - 1pt e/w @ 40/1 - Fritsch has been on my radar all year on the Web.com tour and what better place to back him than in his native Canada. He was initially listed at 25/1 which was too short for me but when Ladbrokes came in at 40s I had to take him given his performance in the US Open (finishing a respectable 46th) and also as he hasn't missed a cut in 5 appearances, He is a good player who should be performing better on this tour as his stats testify - 7th GIR and 33rd in Ball Striking. This could be his week. 

Kyle Thompson - 0.5pts e/w @ 80/1 - Thompson is the player who fits this course the best in my eyes. He is 13th in DA, 17th in GIR, 28th in Sand Save % and 4th in the All Around Ranking. He has already won on tour this year at the Rex Hospital Open and hasn't missed a cut since. He can also boast a 4th here last year. Pile in!

Ryan Spears - 0.5pt e/w @ 80/1 - Headline pick this week is Spears who's stats fit the course in my eyes. He is 5th in Driving Accuracy, 23rd in GIR, 26th in Ball Striking and 42nd in Scrambling. He comes here in good form too, 14th last week (a result that could have been better but for a poor final round) and was nearly a winner at the United Leasing where he was runner up to Smylie Kaufman (again after a poor final round). He has played Ashburn before and managed to finish 12th last year while in worse form.

Nick Rousey - 0.25pts e/w @ 80/1 - He isnt a regular on tour and has missedthe cut in both tournaments he has played in on the Web.com in 2015 but Rousey does come here in form having won back to back titles on the Swingthought.com Tour. He can also boast four top 5s in 5 appearances on that tour and no worse that 15th place while ranking 1st in GIR with 86%. He also has some course form, finishing 12th here last year with all four rounds sub par.

Todd Baek - 0.25pts e/w @ 200/1 - Baek ticks all the boxes for me stat wise this week. He is 7th in Driving Accuracy, has hit over 69% of GIRs, is 29th in Scrambling and a respectable 44th in Sand Save %. He hasn't played Ashburn before but does have three top 10s to his name this year. His big odds come as a result of three MCs in a row but I wouldn't let that worry you.  

Zach Fischer - 0.25pts e/w @ 250/1 - A man who came 4th here last year at such a big price, he must be heavily out of form? Well no he is isnt perfeorming as badly as his odds would suggest - he has missed 5 cuts in 13 appearances and can lay claim to two top twenties. He has been fairly consistent without really challenging but returning to Ashburn will hopefully get him back on track. In terms of stats, he has hit over 70% of GIR in 2015 and is 21st in Scrambling should he get himself in trouble.  

Total Staked - 5.5pts