Bonhomme tops Von Nida Tour Order of Merit
BY iseekgolf.com | 14 Nov 2007
Queenslander Andrew Bonhomme has taken the top honours in the 2007 Von Nida Tour Order of Merit after the final event of the season, The Vintage New South Wales Open, was completed yesterday at The Vintage Golf Club in the Hunter Valley.
Bonhomme secured the top spot with $41,497.00 in prizemoney earnings, just $158 ahead of South Australian and winner of the NSW Open on Sunday, Jason Norris with $41,339.00. Victorians Marc Leishman $36,265.00 and Ashley Hall $30,781.17 finished third and fourth respectively while Queenslander Ryan Haller finished in fifth position with $29,929.00.
“To win the Von Nida Tour is very special to me,” said Bonhomme. “This highlights who is the best Australian based player, and I feel honoured to win it. The Von Nida Tour continues to be very strong, low winning scores and some really low cuts show the depth of talent on our shores. This is the best way to prepare for our end of season events, US Tour School, or an assault on an international tour.”
Bonhomme played in seven of the 10 Von Nida Tour events this year, his season highlight a win at the Greater Building Society Queensland PGA Championship. A further three top ten finishes on the Tour including two runner-up placing’s in the Toyota Southern Classic and the Riverside Oaks NSW PGA Championship helped the 35 year-old secure the title.
In winning the Von Nida Tour Order of Merit, Bonhomme will be afforded a variety of exemptions to the Australasian PGA Tour for the remainder of 2007 and 2008.
Bonhomme was not present at The Vintage to receive the Von Nida Tour Order of Merit trophy yesterday as he is currently in the US where he has qualified through the first stage of the US PGA Tour School. He will now tee it up in the second stage later this week at The Woodlands Country Club in Texas.
Von Nida Tour Winners
nab Victorian PGA Championship – Ashley Hall (VIC)
Victorian Open – Kim Felton (WA)
Riverside Oaks New South Wales PGA Championship – Scott Draper (QLD)
Toyota Southern Golf Classic – Marc Leishman (VIC)
Hahn South Australian PGA Championship – Tim Wise (VIC)
Oceanique Western Australian PGA Championship – Jason Norris (SA)
North QLD X-Ray Services Cairns Classic – Paul Donahoo (QLD)
City Pacific Mirvac Queensland Open – Ryan Haller (QLD)
Greater Building Society Queensland PGA Championship – Andrew Bonhomme (QLD)
The Vintage NSW Open – Jason Norris (SA)
Source – PGA Australia
