The Men's Club Championship is normally a two-day, 36-hole event, but this year, extreme nasty weather on Saturday put the course in an unplayable condition.  The decision was made to, rather than reschedule the event for the following weekend because many players already had prior commitments, play the event on Sunday as a single round 18-hole tournament. 

The weather on Sunday morning was again testing our patience as thunder, lightning and heavy rainfall threatened to cancel the event completely, but around 2:00 p.m., the skies cleared and the players headed out to play.

The field was split into four flights based on the players handicaps.  In the D-flight, for players with handicaps 22 and above, Mike Fitzmaurice was leading by one stroke after nine holes, having carded a 46 on the front nine.  Tom Bailey was only one stroke back at 47, with Geza Kocsis looming with a round of 48.  But on the back nine, Bailey got his game together and shot 46 for an 18-hole total of 93, edging Kocsis out by one stroke.  Bailey was the D-Flight winner, while Kocsis won First Low Net in the flight with a net 72.  Jiggs Maynard won Second Low Gross with a 98, while Bill Richards took Second Low Net with a net 76.  

In the C-flight, for players with handicaps 16 – 21, Mike Cleary was leading the flight after nine holes with a score of 40.  Barry Beatty was only two strokes back at 42, while Larry Curtis, Dan Coblenz and Paul Holk were in at 43.  On the back nine, Coblenz matched his front nine with another 43 for a total of 86 while Cleary ran into trouble on a few holes and backed off for an 18-hole score of 89.  Holk had trouble on the par 5s, carding 8s on two of them and finishing with a 92.  Curtis also ran into some problems on the back nine and played himself out of contention.  Lorne Lazenby, who had shot 44 on the front nine, pulled his game together on the back nine, shooting a three-over par 40 for an eighteen hole total of 84.  Lazenby was the C-flight winner, while Chad Fernandez took Second Low Gross with an 88.  Dan Coblenz won First Low Net with a net 69, followed by Mike Cleary with a net 72.

In the B-flight, after nine holes, Kevin Dagnall and Mike Pitzen were tied for the lead with three over par 38s, but Derryl Urstadt was only one stroke behind.  Dale Woods and Freeman Coblenz were also in the hunt with scores of 41.  On the back nine, Woods shot a two-over par 39 for an eighteen hole total of 80, while Dagnall was in at 42, also for a round of 80.  However, Dagnall was the overall Low Net Champion with a net score of 65, and so Woods was declared the B-flight winner.  Derryl Urstadt was only one stroke back at 81 and claimed Second Low Gross while Freeman Coblenz won Second Low Net with a net 71.

In the A-flight, also known as the Championship flight, for players with handicaps 10 and under, it was a tight race all the way.  There were four past champions in the field, including Rick Grolway, Brian Acton, Rob Beitz and Jerry Thomson, and all four were determined to repeat as Club Champion.  There some others with the same thought in mind, including Gerry Call, Frank Yakabuski and Jamie Green and all players played excellent golf on the front nine.  After nine holes, Acton, Grolway and Yakabuski were all tied with scores of one over par 36, but Jerry Thomson was one stroke back at 37 and Jamie Green was in the hunt with a 38.

On the back nine, three players continued in their hunt for the grand prize while the others faded a bit.  After 15 holes, Acton and Grolway were tied at two over par, with Thomson one stroke behind.  But Acton and Thomson both bogied the 16^th hole, while Grolway managed a par, giving him a one stroke lead over Acton and two strokes over Thomson. 

The seventeenth hole has changed this year with some major additions that have made the hole a risky one.  A new pond has been added on the left side of the fairway where the holes doglegs left, and it creates a problem for many players.  You can play it safe and chip down the fairway leaving a long shot to the green, or you can try to hit over the pond and brush that surrounds it, but there is the risk of coming up short. 

Thomson wasn’t out of it yet, as he birdied 17 and scored a par on 18 for a three over par 75.  Acton hit a great drive and second shot over the pond on 17 but missed his putt for par, falling one stroke behind Thomson.  Disaster struck for Grolway on the seventeenth hole as he laid up on his drive in front of the pond.  He chose to go for it, hitting his ball over the pond but there was a strong headwind, and Grolway’s ball did not clear the hazard.  He had to take a penalty and re-hit from the far side of the pond, and again, his ball did not clear the hazard.  His third shot over the hazard was in the fairway, but he went on to score a nine on the hole, playing himself out of the quest for the championship.

Congratulations to Jerry Thomson, who is a repeat winner, this year’s Club Champion.  Brian Acton was the A-flight winner, with a score of 77, followed by Frank Yakabuski, who won Second Low Gross with a score of 79.  Rick Grolway won First Low Net with a net 70, followed by Gerry Call with a net 73.

Submitted by Lorne Lazenby