WATERLOO— It was a dramatic end to the day, on June 11 at the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Women’s Champion of Champions event, as 18 holes at Grey Silo in Waterloo were not enough to crown a winner. In the end it was two more holes for two players who were paired together throughout the day: Thornhill’s Elizabeth Tong and Kitchener’s Sarah Dunning, with Tong eventually earning the victory.

The pair finished their rounds both at one-over 72, four strokes better than the next closest players. For Tong, the 21-year-old member of the University of Indiana golf team, she was able to jump out to the lead on the front nine. However, her playing partner, 19-year-old University of Toronto team member Dunning, would make a charge on the back nine, playing it two-under par. That forced a playoff, beginning on the first hole.

Both players made par on the first playoff hole and they moved to the nearby 18^th to try and decide a winner. After Tong, the Ladies Golf Club of Toronto member, played her tee shot in the middle of the fairway, Dunning, representing the Galt Country Club, struck hers well left into very tall grass. She was able to find it, but was forced to take an unplayable lie. Even though she recovered, that stroke allowed Tong to three-putt for the win.

“It was really fun to win the Champion of Champions,” said Tong. “I actually thought it might be over after the first playoff hole because she (Dunning) hit it really close and I thought she would make the putt. Things turned in my favour though, when she found the deep grass and I knew I had a five to win, but I was still nervous.”

Even though Tong controlled things for most of the day, since she was playing with Dunning, Tong knew just how close her opponent was to catching her. “It was fun to watch her because she was making all of these long putts to save par and make birdie, but at the same time I knew she was getting closer.”

Tong admits to a few mishaps on some holes, but says she felt like she played decently throughout the round. “I would definitely say the strongest part of my game today was my putting, even though I three-putted the final hole. Still, the rest of the day I was two putts or less.”

Finishing in a tie for third were Oshawa resident and Kendron Dells Golf Course member Lynn Morrison and Kelly Koselek from Toronto and Cedar Brae Golf & Country Club who each shot five-over 76.

The Ontario Women’s Champion of Champions event is contested annually and features female club champions from Golf Association of Ontario member clubs across the province. The GAO would like to thank Grey Silo for hosting the 2014 event.

UXBRIDGE, ON — Since 2004, the Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) has annually taken the opportunity to recognize individuals within the local golf community, who have demonstrated a commitment to amateur golf in the province. For 2014, five names will be added to the wall. The new honourees are: Randy Millage, Bill Swartz, Sandy Billyard, Kevin Haime, and Mark Seabrook.

The honourees will all be recognized at specific GAO events during the course of this season. Millage, from Ennismore, was already recognized back in January at the GAO’s Annual General Meeting at the Peterborough Golf & Country Club.  Georgetown’s Swartz will be honoured at the Men’s Amateur, July 8-11 at The Club at North Halton in Georgetown. Billyard, from Ridgeville, will be honoured at the Senior Men’s Championship at Hunters Pointe Golf Club in Welland, Aug. 12-14. While Ottawa’s Haime and Seabrook will be honoured at the Bantam Boys Championship at the Canadian Golf & Country Club, Aug. 6-7, in Ashton.

Since 2004, 61 members have been added on the Wall of Recognition and now five more truly deserving names will join them.

More About The 2014 Honourees

Randy Millage

Millage got involved in junior golf in the 1980s, as his children began to play the sport. He started a junior program at Tamarac Golf & Country Club in Ennismore, before becoming the junior convener at the Peterborough Golf & Country Club. Millage also helped launch the Durham-Kawartha Junior Tour, the Ontario Junior Masters Series and brought American Junior Golf Association events to Ontario.  In 1997, Millage became a certified rules official and has marshaled Golf Canada, PGA of Ontario and PGA Tour Canada events. He has also served as associate governor of the Royal Canadian Golf Association.

Bill Swartz

Swartz began playing golf early and won many tournaments as a junior in Ontario. His skill earned him a golf scholarship to North Carolina State University where he played on the team for four years. In 1982, Swartz captured the Ontario Amateur Championship and followed it with the Canadian Amateur in 1984. Swartz later played as a professional earning an Ontario PGA Tour win and went on to play on the PGA Tour. Swartz returned to amateur status and continued to compete in provincial championships and represent the province in competitions.

Sandy Billyard

Billyard has been involved in many aspects of golf throughout his life. He won the 1973 Ontario Junior Championship, was part of the 1973 Willingdon Cup winning team and was runner up at the Canadian Junior Championship in 1974. In 1976, he took part in the Canadian Open. From 1974-76 he attended the Ohio State University before continuing on to Indiana University from 1976 to 1978. Billyard won numerous invitational tournaments in both Canada and the United States. In 2000, he built Hunters Pointe Golf Club, in Welland, and remains the club’s President. He returned to provincial competition in 2011 at the Ontario Senior Championship and represent Ontario at the 2012 Porter Cup.

Kevin Haime

Haime currently owns and operates the Kevin Haime Golf Centre and Kevin Haime Golf School in Ottawa. Haime was a successful amateur golfer who attended the University of Illinois on a golf scholarship. After university, Haime turned pro and opened his first practice facility at the age of 26. He was named Canadian PGA Zone Teacher of the Year in 1997, 2000 and 2009 and the 2000 Canadian PGA National Teacher of the Year. The National Post also recognized him as a Top 10 Teacher in Canada in 2005. Haime served as Canadian PGA Zone President in 1998 and 1999. That position helped him spearhead programs like the Clubs 4 Kids Junior Golf Charity Program and the Junior Challenge Tour. Haime’s work with juniors led to a 2007 Outstanding Contribution to the Game of Golf recognition by the Canadian PGA. In 2008, The Kevin Haime Junior Golf Initiative was created, and has since granted over 200 golf memberships to high-end private golf clubs.

Mark Seabrook

Seabrook was the president of the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) Canada for the first five years of its existence. He helped to create many programs with the association that are still in existence today. He was also the first Canadian to be on the Executive Board in the United States.  In 1992, Seabrook helped create a program similar to the ‘Smart Buy Program’ in the U.S. Later, he and the Ottawa Valley Golf Association, formed the Golfmax Purchasing Program, an association that brought together owners and represented their interested on a national scale. He has helped expand the NGCOA Conference and helped to bring Canadian content into the fold. In 2002, he was honoured by the NGCOA with the Don Rossi Award for significant and long-lasting contribution to the NGCOA. Seabrook is currently the Owner/General Manager of the Canadian Golf & Country Club.

WINDSOR — The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) was saddened to learn of the passing of long-time volunteer Derek White, on June 5 in Windsor.

White, 81, had been a volunteer with the GAO from 1990 to 2012. He specialized in course rating and was the team leader for the Essex-Kent District.

“He is one of few that achieved the Master Course Rater level.  He was a mentor for everyone he worked within the Essex area,” said Marcus Strom, GAO Manager, Handicapping and Course Rating.

White also helped to bring slope ratings to courses in Ontario.

White was a golf enthusiast who loved his winters in Myrtle Beach and was a long-term member and past President of the Kingsville Golf Club.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/windsorstar/obituary.aspx?pid=171251690

PORT CARLING, ON— Experience paid off for Dave Bunker as he won his third Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) Match Play Championship, June 3-6, at the Lake Joseph Club in Port Carling. The Woodbridge resident defeated Dundas’ Nicholas Ross 4&3 in the final round.

The 49-year-old Bunker was able to take a 3up lead after the front nine, but Ross, the Hamilton Golf and Country Club member, looked to cut the lead when he chipped in for birdie on the 10^th hole. However, Bunker, the third seed in the tournament, also chipped in ending any momentum swings. The 19-year-old Ross would go on to take the 11^th hole, but Bunker won the 13^th and 14^th holes giving him a 4up lead with four to go. Ross, the 20^th seed, knew he had to win out to force a playoff and found the green on the par-three 15^th, while Bunker’s shot landed in the rough. However, Bunker chipped to within a foot forcing Ross to sink his ten-foot putt to keep the match going. He pushed his putt just right and Bunker, the Brampton Golf Club member, won the match and the Championship.

“It’s fantastic!” said Bunker after the win. “I really played well this week, I hit the ball well, kept it out of trouble and it was a good, fun week.”

Bunker knew that one of the biggest moments in his win came with the double chip-in on the 10^th hole. “Nick chipped in from the fringe and then I chipped in as well, both for birdies. That kind of kept me going. I did make a mistake on 11 and he won the hole, but it could have been two holes won by him.”

Getting to the final, let alone winning it, is no easy feat in a match play event. The field for the men began with 64 competitors. For Bunker, after winning his way through the first three rounds, he defeated Kingston’s Jesse Hogan in the quarter-finals and Toronto’s Turner Southey Gordon in the semis.

“I played really steady,” said Bunker. “I know this golf course really well so I know where to hit tee shots, I know where to hit approaches. It’s a golf course that if you start hitting it left and right, you lose golf balls so if you keep it in the fairway and make pars you are doing really well.”

As for Ross, his road to the finals included a quarterfinal win over Mississauga’s Eric Flockhart and a semis victory against Woodstock resident Spencer Dunseith.

For Bunker, it is just another GAO championship to add to his collection. He is a former Ontario Amateur Champion, Ontario Mid-Amateur Champion, as well as a Canadian Mid-Am and Mid-Masters Champion.

Recently, he had the opportunity to represent the GAO at the Manuel Prado and Carlos Raffo Cups in Lima, Peru, something Bunker says helped him in preparation for this season. “I think I maybe got a head start because I was preparing for Peru and then had a week in sunny, warm weather, and played a course in great condition. That’s what a lot of people in Toronto couldn’t do. I’ve been working hard on things so I was happy that I was able to hit the ball well this week and that my short game was good too.”

Now, Bunker will turn his attention to the Investors Group Mid-Am June 20-23 at the nearby Taboo. Bunker says that there isn’t much preparation he is focusing on but that he did get a chance to go over and check out the course this week as he looks for yet another GAO title.

Established in 1986, The Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship is contested annually and features 64 of Ontario’s best amateur golfers that have qualified through one of six qualifying tournaments held earlier this season, or who have gained an exemption into the event.  Notable former champions include Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member Ian Leggatt, David Hearn and David Byrne.

The Golf Association of Ontario would like to thank Clublink and The Lake Joseph Club for their continued support of the Ontario Men’s Match Play championship.

TOTTENHAM, ON— The field battled rain and heavy winds at times during the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Women’s Match Play Championship at Woodington Lake Golf Club’s Legacy Course, June 2-4, but when it was all said and done, a familiar name was the last one standing. Seaforth resident Robyn Doig capped off the week with a 1up victory over Concord’s Christina Foster.

The two were neck and neck throughout the front nine with Doig taking the lead on the second hole, only to see Foster square the match on five. The two traded the next two holes and after nine it was all square.

On the back nine, Doig, the Seaforth Golf Club and current University of Central Florida team member, fell behind after Foster, GAO Public Player, birdied the 11^th hole, but a par on 12 allowed her to get the match back to even. On hole 15, Foster bogeyed the Par-3, while Doig pared, giving her the 1up lead. That lead lasted only one hole as Doig would bogey the 16^th. Doig regained the advantage with a birdie on the 17, setting up a do or die for Foster on the 18^th. Doig would hang on after she split the hole and earned her second-straight Match Play Championship.

After the match, the 22-year-old Doig talked about what it meant to win the event for the second year in a row. “I am really excited. It’s an honour to win this event because so many great players play in it and it is really cool to have my name on the trophy, twice.”

When asked about the turning point in the round she said she wasn’t sure if there was an exact moment. “We were pretty steady back and forth for basically the whole match. I guess the birdie on 17, it put me 1up with one to play so I knew I needed a couple good shots on the last hole but the birdie was really what I needed.”

Earlier in the day, Doig, who was ranked first after the qualifying round, defeated Uxbridge’s Gail Pimm, ranked fifth, in the semi-final 4&3, while Foster, the third seed, eliminated the number two seeded, Elizabeth Tong from Thornhill.  Doig’s road to the championship also went through Pickering’s Meghan Bennett in the quarterfinals and Stouffville’s Ivy Steinberg in round one.  Foster defeated Courtney Tolton of Mitchell in the quarters and Unionville’s Natasha Lehman in the first round.

Doig attributed her success during the week to her overall consistency. “All week I think I played very steady. I didn’t get myself into too much trouble that would cost me in the long run. I was happy with how I controlled how I was feeling throughout the matches. Even if I did lose a hole, I knew the next tee was a new hole so I was happy with how I played.”

For Doig the win is a nice addition to her provincial trophy case. In addition to last year’s Match Play Championship, she was also the 2013 Investors Group Women’s Amateur Champion, which she also won at Woodington Lake.

“It’s hard to say what it is that I like about playing here because the Old Course it totally different than the one we played here this week. So I guess it is just a great place to be.

The Ontario Women’s Match Play was first played in 1975 and has several notable past champions including World, Canadian and Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member Marlene Streit, six-time champion Mary Ann Hayward, Terrill Samuel, and Heather Kuzmich. The Golf Association of Ontario would like to thank Woodington Lake for hosting the event and for their continued support of golf in Ontario.

Highlights from the 2014 Ontario Golf Hall of Fame Ceremony held on May 7 at Wooden Sticks Golf Club. Inductees included: Ken McKee (Lorne Rubenstein Media Award, Dorothy Campbell Hurd Howe, Earl Fritz, John Henrick and Bob Weeks.

The Golf Association of Ontario will honor Canadian golf legend Richard (Dick) H. Grimm who passed away earlier this week by distributing a commemorative pin with Grimm’s initials (RHG) on it to competitors and volunteers at provincial championships throughout the season.

“This week the Canadian golf industry truly lost one of the cherished ambassadors of our game and a treasured member of our collective family,” said GAO Executive Director Steve Carroll. “We are humbled to honor one of the game’s greatest by wearing his initials on our shirts, hats or golf bags during the 2014 season.”

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Grimm immigrated to Canada in 1948, earned the nickname “Mr. Canadian Open” thanks to his involvement in the event from 1965 to 1993. He used his skills as a salesman, promoter, official and fan to make the event what it is today. He was a key mogul in the development of Canadian golf and was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1993.

The entire Canadian golf community is mourning the loss of Richard (Dick) Grimm who passed away on May 26, 2014 at the age of 91.

PGA of Canada Professionals Dave Smallwood and Mike Skimson are pleased and excited to announce a new junior tour played strictly on GolfNorth Properties.  Registration for the Ian Leggatt GolfNorth Junior Tour is now open.  The purpose of this tour is to provide players the opportunity to experience competitive golf in professionally run one-day events.  All participants will have Tour Membership and will be awarded Order of Merit points based on their finishes. The tour will consist of a qualifying event and five one-day events in four different divisions including:

Girls (U15 and U19)

Boys (U15 and U19)

Tour Qualifying Date—Sunday June 15th—Foxwood Golf Club Cost—$125 + HST

Event # 1—Tuesday July 1st—Mystic Golf Club Cost $75 + HST

Event # 2—Tuesday July 15th—Dundee Country Club Cost $75 + HST

Event # 3—Tuesday July 29th—Conestoga Country Club Cost $75 + HST

Event # 4—Tuesday August 5th—Paris Grand Golf Club Cost $75 + HST

Event # 5—Tuesday August 26th—Grey Silo Golf Club Cost $75 + HST

 To register please visit www.golfnorthjuniortour.ca

For up to date information please follow us on twitter @leggoGNJunior

UXBRIDGE— The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) and the entire Canadian golf community is mourning the loss of Richard (Dick) Grimm who passed away on May 26 at the age of 91.

Grimm, who was born in Chicago in 1923 but immigrated to Canada in 1948, earned the nickname “Mr. Canadian Open” thanks to his involvement in the event from 1965 to 1993. He used his skills as a salesman, promoter, official and fan to make the event what it is today.

Reaction to his passing poured out throughout the golf community. “A sad day for Canadian golf as Dick Grimm passes away. A wonderful man who helped Canadian golf in so many ways,” said Bob Week via Twitter.

Weeks was a recipient of the Dick Grimm Award from the Golf Journalists Association of Canada in 2013. The award rotates each year honouring someone in the golf media and industry.

“Dick Grimm passed away today. He was a genial and commanding presence, a giant of Canadian golf, and respected by all who knew him,” said Lorne Rubenstein, also via Twitter.

Annually, the GAO also awards the Dick Grimm Distinguished Service Award to the highest honour recognizing volunteer service to the game of golf in Ontario.

The GAO would like to extend our condolences to the Grimm family and celebrate all of the achievements and contributions he made to the game of golf in Canada.

UXBRIDGE— To say it has been a difficult spring for the Golf Association of Ontario’s Tournament Department would be an understatement. Director of Rules and Competitions Dave Colling and the rest of the department have been busy ensuring the 2014 tournament schedule goes on in full despite the challenges.

Colling says that he has never seen anything like this in his 39 years being involved in the golf industry. “There hasn’t been a season like this. There have been small pockets of problems in portions of the province before, but not across such a big area.”

He says that it was only when courses started to thaw from the snow and ice did the department realize they could have additional work to do. “Only when courses started to open did we get notice that there could be problems. Most of the problems were related to the greens. Older courses that have poa annua grass for their greens were harder hit than courses with bent grass.”

“The ice did the damage to the greens forcing clubs to re-sod or re-seed. Because the spring temperatures have been so cool, it has been difficult for new grass to grow,” added Colling.

That created numerous problems for the department. “Our major problem was finding a new site for our Men’s Mid Amateur Championship. Luckily, we had Taboo Resort step up and take the tournament, but there is a ripple effect. Anytime you move an event, not only from a site but also to a new date, it creates a conflict for golfers. We had to offer withdrawals to players who were unable to play on the new date.”

The qualifying sites were another challenge for the department, as they needed to find new dates and new venues for previously scheduled sites. “One site only had 15 playable holes for us, another only nine holes that we ended up playing twice. However, we did everything to make sure we got the rounds in. I feel bad for the players because, for some, their own clubs weren’t open and some only played one or two rounds before a qualifier.”

Not only is there a challenge with the players and venues, but also in rescheduling volunteers, a major component of GAO tournaments. “You have to find different volunteers when you move and you run into conflicts. In the case of our Mid-Am, it will be the second event that Taboo hosts so we needed to get volunteers out to both.”

However, despite all of the challenges this season has produced, Colling says that all the work is pretty much done. “I think we are done now. We changed the last site that we needed to and can move forward.”

He acknowledges that the changes couldn’t be possible without the support of the golf community. “We turned to other clubs and worked with them to make sure there were solutions to the challenges. Whether we needed a new site or to change a date, the clubs were a big help to us. Even if we called one up that couldn’t help, they would recommend another nearby. The entire community really came together to help us.”

It was that support from the clubs that allowed the GAO’s Tournament Department to make sure the schedule stayed intact. “The GAO member clubs have been fantastic through the process and really stepped up. “

Colling says that there was not much that could have been done to prevent the challenges of this season and chalks it up to simply an act of nature. Still, he feels that clubs will learn from it and will make necessary decisions to avoid their own issues in the future. For now, Colling and his department, that includes Tournament Manager Larry Longo and Interns Rob Blaker and Ryan Bond-Gauthier, can focus on running the GAO events now that the challenges are behind them.