Local golf season is off and running
Waterloo Region courses are open again, which makes now as good a time as any to take a quick glance at the local golf season that never lasts as long as we’d like it to.
This column, which has been a regular feature in these pages since 2004, will focus on Ontario tournaments, industry issues and players that have ties to this area.
The top local story, of course, will be the future of LPGA Tour event that starts six weeks from today (June 7-11) at the Whistle Bear Golf Club in North Dumfries.
Manulife previously announced it is pulling out as title sponsor after this year’s event and Hugh Morrow, chief executive office of tournament owner Sports Properties International, said in February he wants to find a new sponsor and keep the event in Waterloo Region for years to come.
Meanwhile, Listowel’s Corey Conners is one of the local players we’ll be following and he’s off to a strong start on the Web.com Tour, sitting 19th on the money list heading into this week’s tournament in Mexico. The top 25 at season’s end earn a PGA Tour card.
Elmira’s Garrett Rank will also be worth watching. The National Hockey League referee is the second-ranked amateur in Canada, behind Jared du Toit, and will play in this year’s RBC Canadian Open thanks to his victory at last year’s Canadian mid-amateur championship in Quebec.
Rank has an opportunity to win his fourth consecutive Canadian Mid-Am at this year’s tournament in Regina, Sask.
Chris Hemmerich also has our attention. The Kitchener native earned Mackenzie Tour status last week after playing the final round of a qualifying event with a nasty cut on his right hand.
He hurt himself the previous evening while cutting vegetables.
Other players will more than likely make a name for themselves in the weeks and months ahead so stay tuned.
Tournament season gets rolling
The first championship on the Golf Ontario calendar, the Men’s Champion of Champions, will be played May 16 at Heron Point Golf Links in Ancaster.
Several players with Waterloo Region connections are in the field, including University of Waterloo player Jake Adams, who is representing the Thames Valley Golf & Country Club, and Whistle Bear’s Jeffrey Ash, who is listed as an Innisfil resident.
Waterloo’s Pete McMenemy represents Deer Ridge and former RIM bigwig Dennis Kavelman, now of Toronto, is in as the Oviinbyrd Golf Club representative.
The Senior Men’s Champion of Champions is being contested the same day at the same location and includes Waterloo’s Jay Cressman of the Elmira Golf Club and Kitchener’s John Sagi of Deer Ridge.
Qualifying tournaments for the season’s first big event, the May 20-22 Junior Spring Classic at Wooden Sticks, start this week at three locations and continue next Sunday with the boys taking over the Grey Silo Golf Club and girls heading for the Cambridge Golf Club.
The Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour will hold its first event of the season starting Friday at Whistle Bear.
The 54-hole MJT Spring Invitational will be contested by boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 18 and will include a large contingent of local players. CHIP SHOTS: Mike Skimson, who spent close to 11 years as a PGA of Canada teaching professional at the Golf Performance Center at Whistle Bear, recently moved into the role of membership services director at the Westmount Golf and Country Club. … PGA Tour winner Mackenzie
Hughes has a Kitchener connection. The Dundas native finished in a tie for second place with Justin Shin at the 2009 Canadian junior boys’ championship at Westmount. Mitch Sutton of London was the tournament winner. … Waterloo’s Luke Moser was the only player on his team to record a victory as Troy University came up short in its bid to repeat as Sun Belt Conference champions. The Trojans fell 4-1 to Georgia State in match-play semifinals and must wait until May 4 to see if they will earn their third straight berth into the NCAA Regionals. … Kitchener’s Keaton Jones finished his fourth season at Florida Gulf Coast University with a 26thplace finish at the ASUN (former Atlantic Sun) championship. … The University of Waterloo Warrior and Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks will compete at the May 29-June 1 CIS championship at Tangle Creek Golf and Country Club near Barrie. Waterloo will also field a team in the women’s tournament.