Recent heavy rains and the transition into October are reminders that another local golf season is coming to an end. There are still some rounds to be played, but championship titles have now been decided and the official golf season is just about done for another year.
On the local golf scene, congratulations go to this year’s club champions from the Nanaimo Golf Club, where Kerry Davison is the head professional. Assistant pro Chris Wilson reports that 116 men and 20 women took part in this year’s two-day competition. For the men, the 2013 club champion (under 55) was Zach Anderson, who edged out Merrick Dennill with a 144 total. Third low gross was Al Jensen. Top three winners in the low net competition were Mike Canning, Kristian Hrabowych and Craig Pearse.
Richard Nemeth claimed the senior men’s (55-64) title. Sandy Harper was second and Rob Kirton third. Low net winner was Bob Burns, ahead of Duncan McMillan and Jeff Oxler. In the super senior (65-plus) division, Tony Hatchwell was the low gross champion. Second and third places went to Ron Berry and Mike Bishop. Top three low net scores were posted by Rick Monaghan, Bob Douglas and Joe Simons.
Women’s club champion at the Nanaimo Golf Club this season was Kim Evans, who was awarded the Barker Cup. Sherry Coutts was the runner-up. The low net title went to Andrea Hrabowych, ahead of Jessica Simons and Lorraine Fisher. Winner of the Bunny Anderson Trophy as senior women’s champion was Anna North, with Karen Schadt taking second place.
Also at the Nanaimo club, the junior club championship saw John MacDonald capture the boys’ title. Max MacKay was second, while Owen Bray had the best low net score. Winner of the junior girls’ championship this year was Shirin Anjarwalla.
Ian Harper is the pro at Winchelsea View Golf Course, where this year’s club championship was won by Al Ashbee, with a two-day total of 139. Just one stroke behind was Nick Bayliss. I was very fortunate to claim the low net title, just ahead of Gerry Redmond.
From out at Cottonwood Golf Course, head pro Winston Michell sends word that Kevin Bishop was the men’s club championship low gross winner in the 42-man field with a 152 over 36 holes. Runner-up was Kevin Roden, with Hung Tang third. Low gross in B flight went to Arnie Loxam, the C flight winner was Neil Sorsdahl and the D flight winner Jasson Vickers.
A total of 29 women competed in the Cottonwood ladies’ championship, which saw Lucette Tremblay place first ahead of Chris Frederickson. Winners of B and C flight respectively were Moyra Graham and Carol Ross.
In other golfing news from the season past, congratulations go to Zach Anderson, who at age 16 won the Zone 6 Order of Merit title and was named as Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. Among his other accomplishments this season, Anderson won the CN Future Links Championship and placed fourth at the B.C. Golf Junior Championships.
Meanwhile, Shirin Anjarwalla won the junior girls’ Order of Merit title thanks to her fine play over the summer and was a repeat winner of the Player of the Year crown. Anjarwalla posted several tournament wins and finished fourth at the 16-and-under juvenile girls’ championship.
As mentioned, there is still some golf to be played. The VIU Mariners team continues its fall season with a tournament in Chilliwack this weekend. And a late highlight to the season will come later this month, when Nanaimo’s Sandy Harper will be honoured with induction into the B.C. Golf Hall of Fame.
Whatever your sport, a reminder in closing to play your hardest, play fair, and show good sportsmanship.
Ian Thorpe writes about sports Thursdays.