Welder leaves field in dust at City Amateur
41-year-old WestJet employee posts a blistering 68 Sunday to win by 4
Winning never gets old.
Just ask Jamie Welder, who cruised Sunday to a four-stroke victory at the 99th City Amateur, completing his personal hat trick of titles at the Calgary Golf Association’s marquee event.
“I’d like to win this every single year if I could,” said Welder, a 41-year-old WestJet employee and member at Country Hills.
“I’ll come out here blazing fire — at least until I’m too old and I can’t keep it up with the young boys.”
This weekend, the young boys couldn’t keep up with him.
Welder was two shots off the pace when the action shifted from Collicutt Siding to Earl Grey after the 36-hole cut but erased that deficit — and then some — with a 2-under 69 in Saturday’s third round.
He teed off Sunday morning with a two-shot cushion and didn’t give the chase pack much hope of catching him, circling four birdies on Earl Grey’s front nine and shaving another stroke before his only blemish of the day — a double bogey on No. 16.
He signed Sunday for a 68 — and, with a total tab of 7-under 279 — finished four shots clear of runner-up Brendan Brown (Calgary Elks).
So will Welder, who also had his name engraved on the trophy in 2011 and again in ’13, be back to defend next year? Duh. “I look forward to playing this tournament every year,” he said. “I put it on my calendar every year, and it’s game-time. I just love it. It’s awesome.”
AROUND THE FAIRWAYS
Calgary’s Brendan MacDougall (Glencoe), Canmore’s Matt Bean and Chandler McDowell of Springbrook joined forces as Alberta rolled to a nine-stroke victory in the team competition at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship in Newfoundland. Calgary’s Max Murchison (Glencoe) finished in a tie for fifth on the individual leaderboard, the best result for a rep of the Wild Rose Province. Meanwhile, Team Alberta — Calgary’s Kenna Hughes (Willow Park) and Kehler Koss (Earl Grey) and Alicia Easthope of St. Albert — finished sixth at the Canadian Junior Girls in Nova Scotia. Calgary-born, Texas-based Katy Rutherford slotted sixth as an individual … The Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship tees off Monday in Ottawa. After his storybook showing at the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open, Calgarybased Jared du Toit (Glencoe) will be among the favourites at the four-day tournament. Alberta will be represented in the Willingdon Cup team event by a trio of Calgarians — Evan Holmes (Earl Grey), Scott Secord (Country Hills) and Matt Williams (Glencoe) ... Alberta Golf’s trophy season continues this week with the Guardian Capital Senior Ladies Championship in Olds.
AROUND THE GREENS
Thanks to a superb final-round score of 1-under 71, Chris Ng (Priddis Greens) surged to a one-stroke lead at the Calgary Ladies Golf Association’s Senior Ladies Amateur at Elbow Springs. Gaylene Donald (Silver Springs) was crowned the super-senior champ … A handful of local pros must be ticked at Mother Nature. Scott Allred (Elbow Springs), Josh Fleming (GolfTEC Beacon Heights), Matt Freeman (Canyon Meadows), Jamie Kureluk (GolfTEC Calgary) and Jeremy Maher (Valley Ridge) were each just one shot off the lead after the opening round of the PGA of Alberta Club Pro Championship at Calgary Golf & Country Club, but they settled for a share of second after Wednesday’s spin was scrapped due to unplayable conditions. Edmonton’s Blair Oko collected the trophy at the weather-shortened tournament … The PGA of Alberta’s Ladies’ Championship is on tap this week in Red Deer, with Alex Steffens (Silver Springs) shooting to defend her title.