Stowe Buntz claimed a sensational hat-trick of titles as the 2023 Championship Darts Corporation season continued in Toronto last weekend.
The year’s third CDC ProTour weekend saw the sport’s leading North American stars compete in Events 7-9 from August 11-13, and it was Buntz who took centre stage at the Cambridge Newfoundland Club.
Buntz had never won a CDC title prior to last weekend, although he produced a host of superb displays on Canadian soil to catapult himself up to second on the Championship Darts Corporation Order of Merit.
The American defeated CDC Continental Cup champion Alex Spellman to claim the Event Seven spoils on Friday, reeling off the last three legs without reply to wrap up a battling 7-4 success.
Buntz had earlier survived multiple match darts in his semi-final win over Canada’s David Cameron, having also beaten Jason Watt, Jeremiah Millar and Doug Boehm on his way to victory.
The Virginia native continued his winning run to triumph in Saturday’s Event Eight, edging out Spellman in the decider for a second consecutive day.
Buntz saw off several big names to prevail, dumping out former UK Open runner-up Gary Mawson, top seed Jacob Taylor and America’s World Cup star Leonard Gates before sinking Spellman in a last-leg shoot-out.
However, it was American number one Jules van Dongen who produced the performance of the day, averaging a staggering 116.34 in his 5-1 demolition of Millar.
Van Dongen drew first blood in 12 darts after firing in two maximums in the opening leg, before winning the last four legs in 13, 12, 15 and 10 darts to cap off an inspired performance.
Despite Van Dongen’s heroics, Buntz was the story of the weekend in Toronto, making it three wins from three with a convincing win in Sunday’s Event Nine.
The American fought his way to 6-4 wins over his compatriots Chuck Puleo and Boehm to reach the semi-finals, where he dispatched two-time World Championship qualifier Danny Lauby 7-1.
Buntz then celebrated an emphatic 7-2 win against Canada’s former World Cup quarter-finalist Jim Long in the weekend’s finale, averaging over 91 to extend his remarkable winning run to 15 matches.
Sunday's action also featured a nine-darter from Canada's Ross Snook, who achieved perfection in the third leg of his clash against Cashmere Ventura - the first live-streamed nine-darter in CDC Main Tour history.
With just three events remaining, Spellman tops the CDC Order of Merit ahead of Buntz and Lauby in second and third respectively, with Taylor the highest-ranked Canadian representative in fourth.
The CDC action continues with the A-Z Darts Congressional in Washington on September 1, before the fourth and final weekend of CDC ProTour action takes place in Indianapolis from September 8-10.
2023 Championship Darts Corporation Tour
Friday August 11, Toronto
Event Seven
Semi-Finals
Alex Spellman 7-1 Jacob Taylor
Stowe Buntz 7-6 David Cameron
Final
Stowe Buntz 7-4 Alex Spellman
Saturday August 12
Event Eight
Semi-Finals
Stowe Buntz 7-2 Leonard Gates
Alex Spellman 7-2 Danny Lauby
Final
Stowe Buntz 7-6 Alex Spellman
Sunday August 13
Event Nine
Semi-Finals
Stowe Buntz 7-1 Danny Lauby
Jim Long 7-2 David Cameron
Final
Stowe Buntz 7-2 Jim Long