Another year, another Champions playoff
Alexandra Taylor defends ladies title with win in one-hole playoff with Stefi Markovich
On Saturday Port Colborne Country Club hosted the Niagara District Champion of Champions golf tournament for the second year in a row.
While the ending wasn’t exactly the same across the board, it was strikingly similar in many ways.
For starters, a playoff was needed and, once again, it featured a battle for regional bragging rights between the club champions from Lookout Point and the host club.
There was at least one repeat winner, also for the second time in as many years.
This year, Port Colborne edged Lookout Point by one point in the team challenge. Last year, Lookout Point prevailed over Port Colborne, once again by — you guessed it — the narrowest of margins.
For Alexandra Taylor, a onehole playoff in the ladies flight literally felt like déjà vu all over again. Taylor had just defeated Markovich for the club champion at Lookout Point and was facing Markovich, the club champion at Port Colborne, with another title on the line.
And the same butterflies were fluttering around in Taylor’s stomach.
“I had that feeling in my stomach because Stefi is a member at Lookout as well. We were headto-head during our club championship,” she recalled with a chuckle. “I had that ‘I feel like I’m going to throw up feeling’ and I did today, too.”
Taylor, who defended her ladies title by parring the first hole for a one-stroke victory, credited the win to a putter that was working extremely well.
“I was really grinding out there for pars. I wasn’t hitting the green,” she said. “I basically made everything inside seven feet today, so that really helped out and saved the strokes out there.”
Markovich, who was seeking her eighth Champions ladies title and 12th overall, didn’t feel overwhelmed with the pressure of competing on her home course.
“There is always pressure to perform when you’re on your home course, but I can’t say that I felt that kind of pressure today,” she said. “I started kind of pretty awful today — my swing was a little askew — but I pulled it back together on the back nine and at least gave myself a shot.”
Markovich, a mathematics teacher at Saint Francis Catholic Secondary School in St. Catharines, enjoys playing against Taylor.
“We’ve been going back-andforth for the last couple of years. It’s fun. It’s fun to always be pushed, right, and we push each other,” she said with a laugh.
Taylor dedicated the victory to the memory of her maternal grandmother, Betty Watkins, who died last week in Newberry, England, at age 93. On
Saturday, Taylor brought a club head cover that belonged to her grandmother with her.
Port Colborne’s Sandra Billyard topped the senior ladies flight for the second year in a row, increasing her total of titles at Champions to six. She also won four ladies championships while playing out of Peninsula Lakes.
Billyard said representing the host course at Champions can be a double-edged sword.
“I knew where the greens were fast. I knew where they were slow. That helped,” she said. “The bad part about being at your home course is people think you’re going to win.
“That puts pressure on, but for the most part I do think it helped me.”
Her 4-over round on the par-72 course wasn’t entirely stress-free, however. While Billyard was as “calm as I could be” entering the back nine at even par, her game started changing after that.
“As soon as I was even par, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, I might have a chance to win it.’ I could feel myself starting to get nervous,” she recalled. “And I moseyed along OK and then I bogeyed 16, I hit the worst iron of my life on 17 — it’s a par 3 and I hit it into the water — and I parred the last hole.
“But I got more nervous as I thought I had a chance to win.”
With Twenty Valley’s Payton Bennett unable to defend her title after suffering a wrist injury, only two golfers competed in the junior ladies division. Sawmill’s Mya Mackey finished with a 90 for a four-stroke victory over Port Colborne’s Mikayla Lacey.
Retired teacher is a quick study
Dave Bunker knew where the Port Colborne Country Club when he played in the Champion of Champions Saturday, but that was just about it.
“This is my second time playing most of the golf course. The last four holes I haven’t played before,” the retired teacher — and quick study — said after topping the leaderboard in the men’s flight with a 3-under 69.
The Cherry Hill member’s three-stroke victory is even more remarkable given that he only moved to Ridgeway from Brampton in April. He didn’t know about the Champions tournament until most of the tee times were already set.
“I did not know about it until maybe two weeks ago when I saw it on the website that there were some tee times and I spoke to Walker (Arnott) at our club and said, ‘Hey, is it a possibility that we could play,’ and they were able to accommodate us, which was great for both Mina (Wilson) and I.”
Bunker, an Ontario Golf Hall of Fame inductee, Class of 18, only worried about his own game when he played the entire layout at Port Colborne for the
first time Saturday.
“There is never a ‘sure thing.’ I just wanted to play as well as I could and see what happens,” he said. “It just happened I was fortunate enough today that I got a couple of breaks and they worked in my favour.
“I got a good break on nine where I hit the flagstick and it stayed right near the hole.”
A strong driver lifted Lookout Point’s Des Brady to the top of the leaderboard in the senior men’s division.
“I hit the ball nicely. I was one or two times in trouble but, for the most part, I drove the ball well,” he said after taking his fourth senior men’s title and first since 2013. “I had a couple of three-putts, which were a little disappointing, but other than that it seemed good.
“My iron play was good. The greens are so small. If you hit a green you’re not too far from a birdie.”
The retired Hudson’s Bay employee, who turns 72 in three weeks, nearly shot his age finishing with a 74 for a threestroke victory over St. Catharines’ Bernie Bodogh who was going for a three-peat.
“I’m really quite proud of myself today actually,” he said. “Getting to my age and still being able to compete and enjoy it. A Lookout Point member since 1980, Brady said he looks forward to the Walt Mccollum Champion of Champions tournament because only club champions can complete. In the past, there were even qualifiers.
“You have very good players at this event. It is always fun to play against them,” he said. Aidan Hawkins of Whisky Run carded a 77 for a onestroke victory over Damien Stehling of Cardinal Lakes in the junior boys division.