Golf champs hope to make cut

Next step in the quest to top the leaderboard at the 68th Walt McCollum Niagara District of Champions next month in Fenwick will be taken this weekend by 87 golfers.

While 24 competitors in the men’s division, 17 in the women’s division and 24 and 22 in senior men’s and senior women’s, respectively, are already champions, having just won championships at their home clubs, they need to make the cut in qualifiers Sunday in order to move on.

Only the top 12 in each division will advance to play in the Champion of Champions taking place Saturday, Sept. 9. For the second year in a row, a competition that since 1950 has been the district finals will be played at Sawmill Golf and Country Club.

By happy coincidence, Sunday’s qualifiers for the men’s and women’s divisions will be held at the challenging, par-71 course. Derek Billyard and Donna Larson are the Sawmill champions who hope to use home-course knowledge to their knowledge in a tournament that gets underway at 11 a.m. for the men and 12:21 p.m. for the women.

Senior qualifying is taking place at Beechwood Golf and Country Club in Niagara Falls, where Bill Urquhart and Juliette Soulsby are the 2017 club champions.

Play at Beechwood begins at 1 p.m. for the men and at 2:03 p.m. for the women.

Qualifiers for junior boys and junior girls will be held Wednesday at Twenty Valley in Vineland beginning at noon for the 17 boys and at 12:54 p.m. for the five girls.

Following are the golfers listed by start times participating in the Champion of Champions qualifiers:

Senior men: Tom Briggs, Long Beach; John Dunnville, 1 p.m.; Brian Allen, Freedom Oaks; Neil Cuthbertson, Niagara-on-theLake; Doug Piett, Lookout Point, 1:09 p.m.; Rich Baker, Brock; Frank LaSalva, Rolling Meadows; Dave MacDonald, Bridgewater; Dave Tieche, Niagara Falls, 1:18 p.m.; L.A. Anderson, Queenston; Mel Butler, Rockway; Blake Goulet, Grand Niagara; Roger Perry, Cardinal Lakes, 1:27 p.m.; Lawrence Huchinson, Sawmill; Ted Kicinski, Whisky Run; Tony Ravenda, River Run; John Stansic, Water Park, 1:36 p.m.; Steve Andrews, International; Bob Goss, Port Colborne; Dan LaCaprara, Peninsula Lakes; Bill Urquhart, Beechwood, 1:45 p.m.; Larry Anderson, Willodell; Bernie Bodogh, St. Catharines; Terry McKenzie, Oaklands, 1:54 p.m.

Senior women: Jen Camelford, Dunnville; Dale Lauson, Cardinal Lakes; Miya Sinclair, Queenston; Julie Zulik, Bridgewater, 2:03 p.m.; Pat Crawford, Rolling Meadows; Michelle Darling, St. Catharines; Sandy MacDavid, Sawmill; Cindy Wegg, Twenty Valley, 2:12 p.m; Carol Cort, Rockway; Karen Debenedet, Willodell; Laurie Robert, Lookout Point; Juliette Soulsby, Beechwood, 2:21 p.m.; Sandra Billyard, Port Colborne; Sharon Greenwood, Peninsula Lakes; Yolanda Henry, Niagara-on-the-Lakes; Sue Labatte, Niagara Falls, 2:30 p.m.; Brenda Fiorita, Brock; Wendy Harbison, Long Beach; Joanne Sider, International, 2:39 p.m.; Joan Aikens, Freedom Oaks; Kathy Morningstar, Whisky Run; Maureen Peters, Oaklands, 2:48 p.m.

Men: Derek Billyard, Sawmill; Mike Soucie, Twenty Valley, 11 a.m.; Mike Michellet, Water Park; John Wach, Whisky Run. 11:09 a.m.; Tony Nicowski, Rolling Meadows; Kham Vong, Rockway, 11:18 a.m.; Adam Briggs, Oaklands; Ryan Dyck, Lookout Point; Dylan Patus, Long Beach, 11:27 a.m.; Jon Odegaard, Queenston; A.J. Shaw, Peninsula Lakes; Stephen Wright, Niagara-on-the-Lake, 11:36 a.m.; Jim Briggs, Cardinal Lakes; Mike Mattola, Beechwood; Nolan vonKalchreuth, Bridgewater, 11:45 a.m.; Henry Jensen, Niagara Falls; Bill Puckering, Dunnville; Owen Sartor, Brock, 11:54 a.m.; Clarke Fortuna, International; Matt Graham, Port Colborne; Jeremy Sharpe, Freedom Oaks, 12:03 p.m.; Mike Bedard, Grand Niagara; Brad Hill, Willodell; Mitch Molen, St. Catharines, 12:12 p.m.

Women: Nancy Bridgeman, Peninsula Lakes; Wendy Ozog, Rolling Meadows; Emily Zwier, Cardinal Lakes, 12:21 P.M.; Martha Cruikshank, Niagara-on-the-Lake; Terri Jacob, Long Beach; Donna Larson, Sawmill, 12:30 p.m.; Michelle Fraser, Whisky Run; Shannon Pollock, Rockway; Karen Vamplew, Twenty Valley; 12:30 p.m.; Ruth McBridge, Bridgewater, Carrie Pennimpede, Niagara Falls; Courtney White, Beechwood, 12:47 p.m.; Lynn Gulla, Freedom Oaks; Stefi Markovich, Port Colborne; Kathy Worral, International, 1:06 p.m.; Jane Halligan, Willodell; Bonnie Jefferson, Brock, 1:15 p.m.

Junior boys: Evan Jacob, Long Beach; Blake Pingue, Rolling Meadows, 12 p.m.; Steven Kozak, Oaklands; Blake Pringle, Long Beach; Ross Sanders, Niagara-on-theLake, 12:09 p.m.; Jack Allan, Sawmill; Aidan Hawkins, Whisky Run; Anthony Sartor, Brock, 12:18 p.m.; Luke Delgobbo, Lookout Point; Vincent DiCosimo, St. Catharines; Andrew Noble, Twenty Valley, 12:27 p.m.; Mike Athoe, Bridgewater; Tefan Serroul, Beechwood; to be announced, Port Colborne, 12:36 p.m.; R.J. Derhodge, Grand Niagara; Dustin McCarthy, Peninsula Lakes; Brenden Morin, Cardinal Lakes, 12:45 p.m.

Junior girls: Sasha Baker, Dunnville; Susan Leone, Beechwood; to be announced, Port Colborne, 12:54 p.m.; Payton Bennett, Twenty Valley; Kayla Burke, Lookout Point, 1:03 p.m.

In all 25 clubs hope to be represented by at least one qualifier at a competition limited to courses with club champions.

“Legends and Whirlpool don’t have members, so they don’t have a club championship,” Champion of Champions co-chairman Wayne Redshaw said. “It all depends on club championships.”

Lookout Point, Port Colborne, Niagara-on-the-Lake and St. Catharines have been involved with the tournament since its inception.

Only time the tournament wasn’t played was in 1977 when rain reigned supreme.

“We tried to play it four times, but it rained for two months straight,” Redshaw recalled with a laugh.