by Joe McLean
The Ottawa Valley Golf Association held its City & District Match Play Championships at the Canadian Golf & Country Club located in the west end of the City of Ottawa on Monday and Tuesday, August 8th and 9th.
A cold front had come through to lower the humid temperatures and match participants played through wet conditions and damp turf over the two days.
But the matches played on in Men’s, Senior Men’s and Women’s Divisions and competitors complimented the Canadian for its course conditioning.
MEN’S MATCH PLAY
After two days of match play competition, Renfrew Golf Club’s Jonah O’Connor hoisted the Ottawa City & District Match Play Glenlea Championship Trophy over his head in what is fast becoming a Renfrew tradition. The valued prize was donated by Lyn Stewart in 1939.
Jonah reached the final match after a bye in round one with wins over 2020 OVGA Match Champion Ryan Sevigny from Eagle Creek and Rideau View’s Caelan Sammy while his opponent in the final, 2018 OVGA Match Champion Brad Goodman from the Greensmere Golf Club also had a round one bye and then defeated Prescott’s Craig Brennan and 2010 & 2021 OVGA Match Champion Dwight Reinhart from the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.
“This is my first win in OVGA competition”, said Renfrew’s Jonah O’Connor after the trophy presentation by OVGA President Dru Lafave. He continued, “My match today with Brad (Goodman) was a grind. He makes a lot of pars and he’s sneaky good with his short game so there were a lot of birdies coming down at the end. We had a good match and I’m happy to win this one for the Renfrew Golf Club. There are a lot of good players at the club and we push each other to be better.”
SENIOR MEN’S MATCH PLAY
John Taylor from the eQuinelle Golf Club was awarded the OVGA Senior Match Play Trophy by OVGA President Dru Lafave after his match with Peter Harrison from the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club ended on the 17th green.
This was the second time John had won the Senior Men’s Match Play Championship, a feat he also accomplished in 2019. John had reached the final with wins over Mississippi Golf Club’s Robert MacLeod, Smiths Falls’ Tom Henderson and Rockland’s Robert Irvine while his opponent Peter Harrison had defeated Mississippi’s Peter Beerli, Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club team-mate Dave Ross, and Peter Ridyard from the Hylands Golf Club to reach the final.
Flagstick caught up with John Taylor and asked him about his second OVGA Senior Men’s Match Play win.
“Yes it is. I won back in 2019 in a playoff with Perry Freda. In my final match against Peter Harrison, he had me down but today I’ll be honest I only missed one green in the two rounds and that put a lot of pressure on my opponents. I wasn’t making my mistakes and for them to win a hole, they would have to birdie it. My game plan as always was to hit fairways and greens and then make a putt, and in the worst case 2-putt. I had one three-putt today but so be it. The greens were a little slow with the dew on them but sped up later with the wind drying them out. The course was in great condition and Canadian was a good host. We had a lot of rain but the course took it very well.”
WOMEN’S MATCH PLAY
Diane Dolan from the Hylands Golf Club was presented the OVGA’s Bonnie Wolff Women’s Match Play trophy after her hard fought win over 2021 Match Champion Teri De Luis from the Brockville Country Club.
Diane reached the final round after wins over Buckingham’s Louise Hotte and 3-time match play winner Lise Jubinville also from the Hylands Golf Club. Teri was in the final after her wins over Algonquin Golf Club’s Annabelle Richard and Rideau View’s Susan Pearl.
Flagstick caught up with Diane Dolan and asked her how it feels to be the first OVGA Hall of Fame Member to win a match play championship.
“It feels great to win the match play championship,” said Diane.”I’m not thinking in terms of being a Hall of Famer, not that it’s not nice and important. It didn’t cross my mind and I’m just happy to have played good golf and have a good match with Teri. Teri never gave up during the match. The match was really close all day until we got to the final two holes. I started off well but I just wasn’t making the putts I needed but in the end I made sure that I put the ball close to the hole.”
Congratulations to all 2022 match players and also to the OVGA for another successful Championship event.
