On the fifth extra hole of sudden-win play at Eagle Creek Golf Club, a birdie putt gave Allen McGee from the Glen Mar Golf & Country Club his eighth Ottawa Valley Golf Association City & District Championship.
Kurtis Barkley, the OVGA Match Play Champion in 2013, playing out of the Cedar Glen Golf Club, was the other competitor in the sudden-win playoff. The pair drew a crowd of many fellow competitors and rules officials for the extra holes.
Kurtis was the leader heading into the final round along with Pakenham’s Mike Kelly as each had posted total scores of 4 over par at Carleton Golf & Yacht and Perth Golf Clubs. Allen entered the final day one stroke off the pace.
It quickly became apparent that this would be a two-horse race to the finish as Mr. Kelly suffered two bogies and a triple bogie along with two birdies on the front nine while Kurtis was steady with one bogie and one birdie on the day.
Mr. McGee was on fire on the front nine and his two birdies and one bogie gave him the lead by one stroke at the turn. An up and down back nine with two birdies and four bogies for Mr. McGee had given the lead in the tournament to Mr. Barkley as they tipped up their balls on the par 5 – 18th hole. Mr. Barkley chose the safe route to the green leaving him a birdie putt to seal the win. Mr. McGee, needing an eagle to tie, drove to the peninsula and hit a six iron 197 yards on to the green leaving an eagle putt of 15 feet.
With Kurtis missing his birdie putt and Allen sinking his eagle, both players were off to the 10th tee after signing their scorecards.
Each player had chances to win with birdie putts on the fifth playoff hole. Kurtis had left his lengthy birdie putt just inches from falling in to the heart of the hole. Meanwhile Allen’s flop shop approach from the left rough beside the green settled just 2 feet from the cup, leaving a relatively easy tap-in for the win.
Allen McGee’s run of seven consecutive OVGA City & District wins from 2007 to 2013 was broken by Rideau View’s Austin Evans last year. After the awards presentations where Allen thanked the Carleton Golf & Yacht, Perth and Eagle Creek Golf Clubs for hosting the three-day championship and the OVGA for a well run event, he commented – “It’s nice to have the trophy back.”
“Obviously it means a lot,” was Allen’s response when asked what this eighth City & District Championship represents. “I was very disappointed that I didn’t win last year. I wanted to keep the streak going. My goal was to keep it going until my son won it. So now, maybe next year he’ll play in it. It was a grind out there today. Kurtis plays flawless golf hitting fairways and greens. He’s a very solid golfer.”
When asked about his comfort zone heading in to the final day only one stroke back, Allen replied, “Eagle Creek to me is still one of my home courses and I felt very good today.”
Rounding out the top five in the OVGA City & District Championship were Lance Lockett (+8) from Eagle Creek, Glengarry’s Reed Payette (+11) and in a tie for fifth place at plus 12 for the championship were Pakenham’s Mike Kelly and Royal Ottawa’s Ian Wilson.
Since 1921, excepting the World War II years of 1942-1945 and 1947, The Gerald Lees Cup, Presented by Dr. P. D. Ross has been awarded to the winner of the Ottawa City & District Championship. There have been multiple winners in the past including five time winner Frank Corrigan (1932-34 & 1937-38); four time winner Eric Kaufmanis (1976-78 & 85) and three time winner J. A. Cameron (1927-29), A. W. H. Mullen (1925, 1930-31), Frank desRivieres (1952-53 & 56), Don Cordukes (1955, 69, 73) and Peter Zebchuck (1957, 61, 64).
Final Leaderboard For Those Players Making The Cut
| Pos | Player | Today | Thru | Total | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen McGee GlenMar GCC (p) | -1 | F | +4 | 78 | 69 | 71 | 218 | |
| 2 | Kurtis Barkley Cedar Glen GC | E | F | +4 | 75 | 71 | 72 | 218 | |
| 3 | Lance Lockett Eagle Creek GC | -1 | F | +8 | 79 | 72 | 71 | 222 | |
| 4 | Reed Payette Glengarry | +4 | F | +11 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 225 | |
| 5 | Ian Wilson Royal Ottawa GC | E | F | +12 | 80 | 74 | 72 | 226 | |
| 6 | Mike Kelly Pakenham Highlands GC | +8 | F | +12 | 73 | 73 | 80 | 226 | |
| 7 | Andrew Shannon Hammond | +2 | F | +13 | 78 | 75 | 74 | 227 | |
| 8 | Norm Baird Greensmere G&CC | +5 | F | +15 | 76 | 76 | 77 | 229 | |
| 9 | Lyle Alexander Greensmere G&CC | +10 | F | +18 | 75 | 75 | 82 | 232 | |
| 10 | Ken Watson GreyHawk GC | +5 | F | +19 | 77 | 79 | 77 | 233 | |
| 11 | Jean-Francois Guillot Rivermead GC | +7 | F | +19 | 76 | 78 | 79 | 233 | |
| 12 | Nikolai Tolstoy Rivermead GC | +7 | F | +20 | 76 | 79 | 79 | 234 | |
| 13 | Zac Wood Carleton Golf & Yacht | +6 | F | +20 | 78 | 78 | 78 | 234 | |
| 14 | Ken Lafreniere Rivermead GC | +5 | F | +20 | 76 | 81 | 77 | 234 | |
| 15 | Dru Lafave Kanata G&CC | +7 | F | +21 | 81 | 75 | 79 | 235 | |
| 16 | Ryan Woodhouse Algonquin | +10 | F | +21 | 76 | 77 | 82 | 235 | |
| 17 | Austin Evans Rideau View GC | +5 | F | +23 | 83 | 77 | 77 | 237 | |
| 18 | Pierre Lauzon Hautes Plaines | +9 | F | +23 | 79 | 77 | 81 | 237 | |
| 19 | Denis Odorcic Hautes Plaines | +8 | F | +24 | 78 | 80 | 80 | 238 | |
| 20 | Peter Mayo The Marshes GC | +10 | F | +27 | 80 | 79 | 82 | 241 | |
| 21 | Mitchell Dale Sand Point GC | +10 | F | +28 | 79 | 81 | 82 | 242 | |
| 22 | Alex Rodriguez Sand Point GC | +13 | F | +28 | 75 | 82 | 85 | 242 | |
| 23 | Michael Coon Village Green GC | +14 | F | +29 | 77 | 80 | 86 | 243 | |
| 24 | Sean Flynn Rideau View GC | +20 | F | +32 | 77 | 77 | 92 | 246 | |
| 25 | Carlo Bossio Fairmont Le Château Monte | +17 | F | +35 | 79 | 81 | 89 | 249 | |
| 26 | Marc Ffrench Public Golfer-Golf Québec | +24 | F | +40 | 82 | 76 | 96 | 254 |
