Senior Ryder Cup
Niagara Region Playoff
Bridgewater Country Club
Warm, breezy and sunny conditions greeted 128 golfers in the last of five Senior Ryder Cup Playoff matches. Bridgewater Country Club was a good test for the sixteen clubs trying to qualify for the mid September SRC Championship at Brampton Golf Club. The Stanley Thompson designed course provided gentle, open fairways and opportunities for long drivers and short iron golfers to demonstrate their skills. Doglegs provided additional and different challenges especially where the approach shots crossed the Frenchmen Creek water course. This was most notable on the ninth and eighteenth holes where greens were well protected by their false fronts.
The list of competing clubs was significantly different than a year ago. Only four clubs from last year’s playoff contenders were present this year including Heron Point, Rebel Creek, Rolling Meadows and Cardinal Lakes Golf Clubs. West Haven Golf and Country Club did compete in the South West Region Playoffs, Twenty Valley Golf Club in the Central Region Playoffs and Blackhorse Golf and Country Club in the Georgian Region Playoffs last year. All three were strong contenders in their regional playoffs. Other competing clubs in 2023 included River Oaks Golf Club from Grand Island, NY, The Links of Dover Coast, Lookout Point and Port Colborne Country Clubs, The Club at North Halton, Rockway Vineyards and Glencairn Golf Clubs and St Catharines and Crosswinds Golf and Country Clubs.
The results this year were likewise very different from last year when there was a four-way tie for second place. No team scored more than 18 points last year and teams were tightly bunched together. This year, St Catharines scored an amazing 23 out of 24 points – the highest of any team in all the regional playoffs this year. Following closely behind were Rockway Vineyards and River Oaks with 21 points. Missing out this year was West Haven with 20 points, more than they had in 2022 when they made the playoffs. Another two points behind West Haven was Heron Point with 18 points, the exact total they had in 2022 when they won the Niagara Region Playoff. Unfortunately, only three teams from this region advance to the Championship at Brampton. Final team results can be found on the SRC website along with match by match results (Events/Playoffs/2023/Niagara).
Several individual awards were given out to closest to the pin winners at Bridgewater. Included amoung these were: Ross Park from Glencairn who won a generous bottle of Seagrams scotch, courtesy of Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management; Dave Renwick, also from Glencairn won another Seagrams product this time from Seagrams; Rick Hodgson missed out on the hole in one for a car possibility on the 6th hole but still won a sizeable gift certificate from TruLOCAL; finally, Frank Mortensen from Lookout Point won a Muskoka chair from one of our newest sponsors, My Custom Sports Chair. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management continued their tradition of giving a $500.00 Golf Town gift certificate to a lucky draw winner. The winner is this case was Rob Adoranti from Heron Point.
The SRC Championship roster is now set. All sixteen teams have been identified and every team is back to zero points. As has been seen in every region, it is very difficult to predict results based on past performance. We do know, however, that any team that is going to win the Art Stead Championship Trophy will have to play their best golf for two days. We wish all sixteen teams the best on September 18th and 19th at Brampton. The teams include:
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Central Region – Whitevale Golf Club, The Pulpit Club and Glencairn Golf Club;
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East Region – Greyhawk Golf Club, Kawartha Golf Club and Mill Run Golf Club;
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Georgian Region – Idylwylde Golf Club, Saugeen Golf Club and Barrie Country Club;
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Niagara Region – St Catharines Golf and Country Club, River Oaks Golf Club and Rockway Vineyards Golf Club
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Lexus of London South West Region – Pointe West Golf Club, Deer Ridge Club and Craigowan Golf Club
The SRC would like to thank the Bridgewater staff led by Rocco Amelio, the General Manager, Bob Culig, the Head Pro and Kara Moore the Food and Beverage Manager for looking after all the important details that make playoff days great experiences for the players. Numerous sponsors also assisted the SRC by providing financial and product support, all of which goes into making this a worthwhile day for the 128 golfers participating from across the region. As well as those who donated ‘closest the pin’ prizes, we would like to thank Sleemans, Tilley Canada, Walter Caesar, Hides Canada, Winding Road Maple, Charton Hobbs, Reif Estate Winery, Jancor Sales, Visit Tucson, Renfro Hosiery, Imperial Headwear and G&G Sales, Pizzaville, Maui Jim, TruLOCAL, Golf Away Tours, BDO, My Custom Sports Chair, Good Things Promotions, Sketchers Golf, Henri et Victoria, Chilly Moose, Jack Black Grooming Products, Panago, Jack Astor’s, Gorilla Gold, Sapsucker and Callaway. A special thank you goes out to Genesis Niagara for providing excitement in their ‘hole in one’ opportunity. Sadly once again, no one was able to take advantage of it. All of these donors have allowed us to add team and raffle prizes at each playoff and expand our lunch time offerings. In addition, the in - kind donations helped us raise $850.00 from our raffle. That money will be used to defray some of our playoff expenses.
Niagara Region Champions: St Catharines Golf and Country Club
Back left to right – Mike Corcoran, Graeme Flett, Bill Morrison, Kevin Jones, Brad Butler, Ken Hildebrand
Front left to right – Doug Foxton, Stan Dymczak, Absent Yogi McKay (in Greece)
