By
Jason Erickson
After overcoming a near-death experience and turning that adversity into a new outlook on life, former Utah Valley University golfer Blair Bursey is climbing the pro ranks with recent success on the Canada Life Series and Mackenzie Tour—PGA Tour Canada.
Not long after graduating from UVU and turning pro in 2018, Bursey returned home to Gander on the island of the Canadian province Newfoundland to attend the annual Christmas Classic Charity Hockey Game. Bursey has always been a part of the event and was excited to get back, reunite with friends, and be somewhat of a celebrity coach to one of the teams.
The game is now in its 12th season and is played each year on Christmas Eve at the Steele Community Centre—home of the Gander Flyers of the Central West Senior Hockey League. The event is a highly attended in Bursey's hometown and raises funds for the local food bank. Bursey arrived at the event in 2018 and was in the middle of drafting his team for the game when he suddenly fell ill and had to rush to the emergency room.
"I had no idea what was going on, but I know I didn't feel right and was having a lot of stomach pain." Bursey said. "They did some tests and found out that I had Meckel's diverticulitis. I basically had a bowel that had been in a knot since birth and had finally cinched off and I was going septic. I was very, very lucky that they were able to get a surgeon that could do the procedure that night. I woke up early on Christmas morning with tubes coming out of everything. The doctor said I had survived by about six to eight hours. I am incredibly grateful and lucky to be on the other side of it now."
Bursey battled back from his procedure and quickly made progress, hitting his first shots since having his surgery during the first week of February 2019. He gained some of the weight he had lost and continued to train on the range and by the end of March he was ready to open his first full season as a professional golfer. Success came quickly as Bursey won his first tournament as a pro just two weeks later, claiming the Orange Tree Shootout title on the Outlaw Tour with a score of 10-under-par 62.
In his first full season in 2019, Bursey competed in 29 pro events with stops on PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Canada Q School, Outlaw Tour, Great Lakes Tour, European Tour, and West Florida Pro Tour. He had 16 top-10 finishes, including 12 top-five finishes. The first-year pro had finished the 2019 season with a 71.3 scoring average through 53 competitive rounds. The Zeke Agency took notice and signed him to a contract.
"I learned a ton, took some knocks along the way, and got a big step closer to the long-term goal," said Bursey.
He was back on track and with an entire season of professional golf under his belt and an agency to back him, he could continue to work toward his ultimate dream of playing on the PGA Tour. Then, COVID-19 hit the world. Bursey was about to hit the PGA Tour series in Asia and then play on the PGA Tour Canada's Mackenzie Tour when the pandemic forced both tours to cancel their events.
"I was playing quite well in some developmental tour stuff in January and February to start the year and I was ready to go over to Asia and was going to Canada Q-School as well," said Bursey. "Both of those ended up getting canceled because of the pandemic and I was obviously in a bit of limbo. I came home and shut it down for a while because there was no golf being played and the weather was bad. Once the weather got good enough here in Gander, I started practicing. I really didn't think I would be playing any competitive golf until 2021. Then, I got an email from the Mackenzie Tour saying that they were going to put together four events and obviously I'm grateful they did that. That gave me something to look forward to."
The Canada Life Series announced in July that it would hold a series of four tournaments for players residing in Canada. Bursey took full advantage of the opportunity. In September, Bursey put together a pair of top-10 finishes in PGA Tour Canada events at TPC Toronto. He finished tied for fourth in the 114-player field at the Canada Life Series Championship after carding a 13-under-par 200 (65-68-67). He tied for ninth with a score of 3-under-par 210 (66-73-71) at the Heathlands Course event. Bursey also finished tied for 40th and tied for 26th in the other two Canada Life Series events at Bear Mountain in Langford, British Columbia. During his front 9 at the Bear Mountain tournament, Bursey carded a 6-under-par 29 on the Valley course. Bursey also added another tournament win to his resume as he took medalist honors at the Toronto Players Tour event held at Oliver's Nest, shooting a two-round score of 9-under-par 132 (64-69).
"I was a little rusty during the first two events being my first tournaments in six months and struggled a little bit with my game," said Bursey. "I made both the cuts but didn't play how I wanted to, but kind of felt more like myself as each week went on and was fortunate enough in a five-week stretch to get a win and some good finishes. It was some progress and steps in the right direction, and it was just good to be competitive again."
Bursey had a stellar career at UVU as he recorded 27 top-20 finishes, including 14 top-10 finishes during his four seasons as a Wolverine. The three-time first team All-WAC honoree owns the fourth-best career scoring average in UVU history at 72.82. He also holds the fourth-best single season scoring average in UVU history at 72.06 set during the 2017-18 season.
Bursey is one of only six UVU golfers that have won an individual tournament title, winning the Bandon Dunes Championship in 2016. Bursey is responsible for four of UVU's all-time eight team tournament titles. He led the Wolverines to three-straight team titles (2015-17) at the Pat Hicks Invitational in St. George, Utah and the team championship at the Loyola Invitational (2015) at Palm Valley Golf Club in Arizona. He was also a four-time Academic All-WAC honoree and earned a pair of GCAA All-America Scholar awards.
"It was everything for me," Bursey said of his time at Utah Valley. "I came from a place where you can only really play golf two or three months of the year. Until you really come here (Newfoundland), you can't really grasp the nature of that. So UVU for me was a way out. It was an opportunity for me to get an education and see how good I could get at golf. I was playing high-level hockey in Canada and left that to come to UVU and give golf an effort. Coach (
Chris Curran) was nice enough to give me a shot and UVU became everything to me. Certain things that maybe people took for granted, I really appreciated and UVU was certainly one of them. It gave me a chance to get in 45 competitive events at a high level without much pressure and expectation and with a coach that was purely a player's coach. It was a great spot for me to get better without too much pressure on me. It was an unbelievable experience for me and I'm grateful for it."
The former UVU standout is now putting the finishing touches on a few new sponsorship opportunities in the upcoming weeks, which will allow him to aggressively pursue some new tournaments and events. He will be moving to Florida in November to train with his coach and play year-round in preparation for the 2021 season and get status on the Korn Ferry Tour, which is the route to qualify for the PGA Tour.
"I'm excited about my future and am grateful for the opportunities I've been given," said Bursey. "I've learned and become aware that there are uncertainties in life, but until you really go through something, you don't really understand that. I just have a little bit more perspective and appreciation for what I'm doing and for the people around me."
