King’s Forest keeps two Open dreams alive
One is a recent graduate, a pro, and the other is an amateur who grinds it out at a steel company in Stoney Creek.
Yet, on Monday, they had the same thing going for them. Familiarity. Elliott Whitley and Darren Shaw are moving on to the final qualifier for the Canadian Open after making the cut in a regional competition at King’s Forest — their home course.
An Open berth would be the first for both of them.
Whitley, a Hamilton-born golfer who plays on Canada’s professional tour and starred at Florida’s Lynn University, has been to the final qualifier four times and never made it through. He’d like to change that the fifth time around.
“It would mean everything,” the 23-year-old said. “It’s our only tournament in Canada, right? So it’s the U.S. Open to me. Just to play in it would be a dream and then to win it would be something no one has done in 60 years as a Canadian. That would be pretty cool.”
It’s the second time Golf Canada has chosen King’s Forest, an 18hole municipal course owned and operated by the City of Hamilton, to host a regional competition. It’s one of three such contests in the country, and the initial stage of the qualifying procedure for the Open.
The final qualifier, which takes place at Ancaster’s Heron Point on July 18, is stage two.
The city’s supervisor and head professional Mark Arnett called the selection “a big deal” and attributed it to the “strength” of the links. “Great layout, great conditioning,” he said. “It’s just a very strategic golf course, very difficult, and that’s what they want — something challenging.”
It was certainly tough on Monday, when the only thing interrupting the stifling heat was heavy wind. At times, gusts exceeded 60 km/h.
Golf Canada’s tournament director Mary Beth McKenna said the conditions — along with the difficulty of the course — played a factor in Monday’s scores.
King’s Forest, she added, is long enough to play, challenging and a good test. It “lends itself perfectly” to a competition like this, where “the top players are going to kind of shine and be able to make it through to final qualifying.”
Shaw, an ex-club champion who works at Baycoat Ltd., a steel and coil coating company at the base of Lake Avenue, didn’t have his best round, with a four-over 76. Still, he was happy, saying he “couldn’t have played much better.” Whitley shot a two-over 74. “I got off to a bad start, and the wind didn’t really help things,” he said.
In addition to Shaw and Whitley, Hamilton’s Colin MacGregor finished a stroke above the cut with a three-over 75. Ancaster’s Joshua Montgomery, who finished in an 11-way tie with Shaw and others for 16th place, also moves on to the final qualifier.
Monday’s winner, 22-year-old Branson Ferrier from Barrie, earned automatic entry into the Open with his four-under 68. The tournament takes place July 18 to 24 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville.