(Joe McLean/PGA of Canada – Ottawa Zone) – The COBRA PUMA Golf Spring Open on the Flagstick.com PGA Ottawa Tour was held at eQuinelle Golf Club in Kemptville, Ontario on Monday, May 27, 2024.
Mother Nature certainly flexed her muscles with a few rolling outbursts drenching the golf course throughout the afternoon, but golfers are a resilient bunch and play continued on to the finish. Chris Barber from The Landings Golf Club in Kingston, Ontario was heard to say, “It’s all about preparation and attitude, referring to the weather conditions”. How true was that statement with many of the players adopting that philosophy ending up with a good score and a cheque.
The 2024 Spring Open featured the largest professional field in the history of PGA of Ottawa Tournament Competition with participation by 63 PGA of Ottawa Golf Professionals and 12 candidates for membership who took their PGA of Canada Playability Tests.
Once again in this year’s Spring Open the Stableford System for scoring was utilized where 1 point was awarded for a bogie, 2 points for a par, 3 points for a birdie, 4 points for an eagle and 5 points for an albatross.
Darrell Buchanan Wins Seniors’ Division
In the senior division of the Spring Open, Darrell Buchanan, recently retired from The Meadows Golf & Country Club, finished in 1st place with his score of 4 under par 68 and 40 Stableford points.
“Everything was working for me today”, said Darrell Buchanan. “I’ve been working for a year and a half on a swing change and this year down south it started to come together a little bit. I had confidence today in what I was doing. I always hit the driver well and today was no exception. Today with the rain was the day to have a caddy. It’s amazing how much of a difference it makes with the umbrella and dealing with all of the wet clothing and towels. I asked Rolly to keep my clubs and my hands dry. As for the rain and wet conditions today, I took the attitude that it is what it is and I got on with business and played well in the rain. As for retirement, I’m thoroughly enjoying it but I’m much busier than I thought I would be.”
Rounding out the list of cheque winners in the senior division were Champlain Golf Club’s Marc Blais (37 points), GUNNGOLF’s Graham Gunn (36), Cedarhill’s Greg White (32), John Watson from Golf-O-Max and PGA of Ottawa’s Chris Bernard (31), and with 30 points were Ottawa Hunt’s Dave Kalil, Pineview’s Steve Hall and Garrison’s Dale Pedersen.
Craig Stefureak Wins Main Division
Craig Stefureak from the Falcon Ridge Golf Club finished in 1st place in the main division of the Spring Open with his score of 5 under par 67, and 41 Stableford points.
“I recorded 6 birdies and a bogie today and it was a lot of fun”, said Craig Stefureak on his first place finish in the open division. Craig continued, “I stayed calm out there with the conditions while everybody else seemed to be getting a little rattled and my caddy Zack and I were having a few laughs and joking around keeping our minds off the conditions and just hitting golf shots. I’ve got U.S. Open sectionals next week so 36 holes upcoming to hopefully qualify for the U.S. Open”.
Also in the top eight and receiving cheques were Austin James from the Loyalist Golf Club and James Sperinck from the Meadows with 38 points followed by The Meadows’ Dave McDonald with 37 points. Tied for 5th place with 36 points were Mountain Creek’s Gregory Schaepper, Smiths Falls’ Gord Percy and Rideau View’s Tyler Epp. Tied for 8th place with 35 points were Rideau View’s Dan McNeely, Gregg Foley from the 19th Tee and Mitchell Lawn from the host eQuinelle Golf Club.
All of the competitors were impressed with the conditioning on eQuinelle golf course even with the accumulation of liquid sunshine and thankful to Cobra Puma Golf representative Curtis Dancy for his registration gifts and sponsorship of the PGA of Ottawa Spring Open.
Next up for the PGA of Ottawa golf professionals on the Flagstick.com PGA Ottawa Tour is their Club EG Pro-Pro Championship at The Meadows Golf & Country Club on Monday, June 17th.
