Added length has scores on rise for Tunis tourney

The cut for the Lord Alexander of Tunis fell at seven over par on Sunday, continuing a rising trend throughout the past decade, despite admittedly rampant advances in golf technology. Why? Chris McCuaig, the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club member who won the Tunis at his home course in 2007, said added length on the golf course itself partly explained the trend. Where Golf Quebec officials used to set up par-72 courses at 6,400-6,500 yards, for example, the revamped Ottawa Hunt layout played to a par of 71 over 6,718 yards on Sunday.

Another factor was unfamiliarity, said the man who also won the event at Rivermead in 2006, when the cut was 4-over 76. Rideau View (7-over 79 in 2014) and Camelot (7over 79 in 2015) were recently added to the Tunis rotation that also includes Royal Ottawa, and this year Ottawa Hunt is playing host to the event for the first time since its re-design by Michael Hurdzan.

“You learn where to miss it, you learn what not to do over time. I think there’s that,” said McCuaig, who carded his own 8-over 79 and missed the cut by one. “A lot of guys coming here don’t know this golf course. You see it one day. Maybe they see it (Saturday) afternoon, and then they have to come play it (in competition). It’s tough.”

Dwight Reinhart, an Eagle Creek member who earlier this season won the Quebec match-play title and placed second in the mid-amateur championship, said depth of field had also changed. In his view, elite players are better than they once were, but the back half of the field isn’t.

“It’s amazing,” said Reinhart, whose 70 left him two strokes off the lead and one behind playing partner Vincent Blanchette, the 2014 Tunis champion from the Pinegrove club in suburban Montreal.

“I just turned 46 and these kids have a different gear than I have. They can move it out there when they want to and, for me, I’m hitting all I’ve got. That’s the difference.”