Golfers Tough It Out to a Heroic Finish at Spring Opener

Players at the 2009 Temiskaming Square Spring Best-Ball Tournament, hosted at New Liskeard Golf Club, were greeted by a slew of weather conditions. However, the entire field of players, along with some gutsy cart girls, made the best if it and completed the 2 rounds of golf with some pretty good scoring.

“I have to give much credit to all the competitors and workers for toughing out the weekend in the poor conditions… it turned out to be a very good event after all” said Steve Polyblank, Operations Manager of New Liskeard Golf Club.

Last season was a tough one for this tri-town club as the greens had as rough a start to a season a course could have. This is always a big challenge to overcome, especially when your course is host to one of the earliest tournaments of the season in the North. It is safe to say this season started off on a much better note.

Polyblank wished to extend a warm “Thank You” to all of those involved with the tournament along with the maintenance crew for working extra hard to get the course in great shape this early.

Even though the weather didn’t cooperate there was some very exciting golf played over the weekend. After the first day, one team stood out from the rest, the team of Guy Come (Iroquois Falls) and Andre Robichaud (Kapuskasing) stayed hot by playing steady and making putts to earn them a 66 (-6) after the first round. This provided the leaders with a 3-shot cushion over their nearest competitors, the team of Dave MacInnes (Timmins) and Steve Rusnak (Timmins) who opened with a 69 (-3).

Sundays round began with the players facing cold and windy conditions, but it didn’t take long for MacInnes and Rusnak to heat up. They put together a fabulous front nine score, which was highlighted by… “a couple of 20+ foot bombs…. they got our attention” said Come. At the half way point of the round the once trailers were now the leaders by one.

This stayed the same, for the most part, all the way to the 17th hole where Come and Robichaud tied it up with a timely birdie on the Par 5. With the teams facing the daunting Par 4 #18 (Old #9) they all knew it would take their best efforts in order to not throw away the championship. In the end it was Come and Robichaud who had the opportunity for the unlikely birdie and win. Relying on his past tournament experience, Guy Come used his trusty “chest” putter to drain the winning putt to take it all.

After all of this drama, we should look forward to a very competitive year on the North Eastern Ontario golf ring. We look forward to seeing you all there. Bring your “A” games.

Yours in Golf,

Mat Vachon
Teaching Professional
Northern Swing Golf Centre