“I just tried to stay out of my own way all day to be honest with you”, were the words of the 2020 PGA of Canada – Ottawa Zone Champion on the Flagstick.com Players Tour Lee Curry (Camelot Golf & Country Club) after he completed his round on the south course at the Hylands Golf Club in Ottawa on August 18.
He continued, “Austin (James) was creeping, creeping and creeping and I couldn’t get any putts to fall. It turned out to be a lot closer than I wanted it to be, that’s for sure. I had my game plan and I stuck to it. He (Austin) was bashing his drives up near the greens all day, chipping up and putting for birdies. Before you knew it, the gap was closing. I got away with one on 18 when I shanked my 2nd shot and was lucky to come away with a bogey and a one stroke win.
I’ve been thinking about this win for a long time. I was told last year that Dave Levesque was the only golf professional in Canada that had won four consecutive zone championships and I wanted to match that record. It’s nice to win four times in a row. Both courses were in tremendous shape and the greens were rolling pure both days.
I’m happy for sure and thanks to Flagstick, adidas Golf Canada and TaylorMade Canada for their continued sponsorships.”
As you can tell from Lee’s comments, he was elated to win this fourth consecutive zone championship and fifth overall. I’m sure that his hopes are to win once again in 2021 for a new record fifth consecutive win and to also tie Graham Gunn and his Ottawa Zone record of six wins.
Once again the weather was perfect except for a severe drop in temperature mid-afternoon and the south course was set up and available for low scores.
ZONE CHAMPIONSHIP
Austin James (75-68-143) from the Loyalist Golf Club posted the low score on the day to close the gap with the winner Lee Curry (67-75-142) and finished one stroke behind in the championship. Tied for third place with two-day total scores of 149 were Bill Minkhorst (78-71-149) from the Prescott Gold Club and Michel Dagenais (77-72-149) from the Kingsway Park Golf Club. Tied for fifth place were Brett Claggett Woods (77-73-150) from the Ottawa Athletic Club Golf School and Adam Miller (72-78-150) from the Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club.
LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP
“I feel pretty good”, said Addi-Nicole McLaren from the Flacon Ridge Golf Club. “It ended a little rough but I kept on going one shot at a time. I was much better off the tee today than yesterday, so I’m getting better with that. The courses were in great condition and the greens were rolling very nice. The superintendent and his crew are doing a great job.”
Addi (78-82-160) was the winner in the Ladies Championship for the PGA of Ottawa over Dawn Turner (83-86-169) from the GreyHawk Golf Club.
ASSISTANTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Lee Curry from the Camelot Golf & Country Club was also the winner of the PGA of Ottawa’s Assistant’s Championship. He was followed by Austin James from the Loyalist Golf Club and Brett Claggett Woods from the OAC. James Sperinck (76-75-151) from the PGA of Canada and Roger Beale (77-74-151) tied for 4th place.
Thanks also to Dan Kolar from the Mississippi Golf Club for providing a new championship trophy for the PGA of Canada – Ottawa Zone Assistant’s Championship.
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
When asked if he was near the top of his game in his early 60’s, Graham Gunn agreed. He continued, “I didn’t have any bogies today and that was nice. I missed some putts but made a couple of 15 footers for par. I’m more content with the process right now rather than beating it out there and really today was a good testament for that. Everything was good out there today. I made the putts I had to make. I had a little surprise on 15, a par 5, where I made a 35 footer going downhill breaking 6 feet left to right.
What was really consistent over the two days on both courses was the consistency of the greens. I can’t say that one course was different from the other. I was saying to Stan (Hogan – his caddy) that I felt like I was on tour spinning the ball back. In some cases it would have been better to have them hop forward though.”
GUNNGOLF’s Graham Gunn successfully defending his 2019 PGA of Ottawa Senior Zone Championship with his two scores of three under par 69 for a two day total of 138. This was Graham Gunn’s 9th Senior Zone Championship win for the Stan Kolar Trophy and his record also includes 6 Zone Championships.
Golf Lac St-Marie’s Marc Foucault ((76-69-145) moved into 2nd place in the senior championship after posting a fine 3 under par round of 69. In third place was Tecumseh’s Hugues Fournier (74-76-15) followed by The Meadows Darrell Buchanan (76-75-151) and the PGA of Canada’s Malcolm Trickey (76-76-152)
SUPER SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Graham Gunn also won the Super Senior Division for players aged 60-69. He was followed by Malcolm Trickey and Greg White (78-76-154) from the Cedarhill Golf & Country Club.
SUPER SENIOR PLUS CHAMPIONSHIP
As previously noted in yesterday’s article, PGA of Canada’s Barry Laphen was the winner of this division for players over the age of 70 with his fine score of 78. He also opted on his registration form to play on the second day of the Senior Division. Finishing in 2nd place in the Super Senior Plus Division was the PGA of Canada’s Don Ferne with his score of 82 and in third place was the PGA of Canada’s Larry McCauley.
PGA of Canada – Ottawa Zone Executive Director Carol Ann Baxter thanked the members, staff and management at the Hylands Golf Club for allowing the Ottawa Zone the use of their facilities for the two days. She also thanked the Flagstick team for their continued support. Carol Ann also expressed appreciation from all of the Professionals in the Ottawa Zone for the continued sponsorship of adidas Golf Canada and TaylorMade Canada.
Shawn Perno from TaylorMade Canada and Jimmy Venturi from adidas Golf Canada both thanked Carol Ann for her hard work and also thanked the Ottawa Zone Professionals for their hard work and support.
On a personal note, this writer was witness to some wonderful golf but even more important was the camaraderie and the sportsmanship exhibited by everyone involved in the PGA of Canada – Ottawa Zone Championships on the 2020 Flagstick.com Players Tour. Because of COVID 19, the playing schedule for the zone professionals was reduced this year, but it was nice to see everyone finally renewing friendships and socializing a bit over a few refreshments. Let’s hope we can get back to some normalcy in the near future.
