For golfer Louise Robitaille, victory came after the mental reset of drawing a black line on her scorecard after a blow-up hole left her down three shots with only four holes to play.

For James Grigjanis-Meusel, admittedly nervous, “my hands shaking,” it arrived after a clutch chip from about 25 yards out on the 18th hole forced a playoff.

The women’s and men’s winners in the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club’s annual club championship tournament took different routes to victory Sunday, but both showed quiet resilience in the face of adversity.

Again this year the tourney offered up drama, joy and just a little bit of heartbreak.

After two days of intense play in blistering heat and humidity, the marquee competitions for the men’s and women’s overall championships came down to the wire — and then some for the gents.

As the sun was sinking in the west just after 8 p.m. on Sunday, defending champion Ricky Watson (78-77-155) and his golf buddy Grigjanis-Meusel (77-78-155) needed two holes of a sudden-death playoff before Grigjanis-Meusel salvaged victory with a four-foot par putt.

“Obviously, I am disappointed to lose,” Watson told The Lake Report afterward, “but it was a great battle.”

“Two years in a row it’s come down to the last hole between the two of us,” he added.

“We both don’t really play any tournaments anymore, so it’s always fun to get nervous and see how our games shape up. Tournament golf certainly exposes my weaknesses,” said Watson, who was crowned A flight champion.

Grigjanis-Meusel, who works as a greenskeeper at the club, says he looks forward to more duels with Watson.

“It’s always a good, friendly competition.”

Shortly before that, Robitaille arrived on the 18th tee with a tenuous one-shot lead over Carroll Baker — but getting there was no easy feat.

Baker, who started the final round one shot behind Robitaille, battled back and was ahead by one as the women made the turn for their final nine.

She stretched that to three shots with four holes remaining after Robitaille made an uncharacteristic triple-bogey 8 on #14.

That’s when she drew a black line on the card and told her daughter Chantal, who was caddying for her, “We’re starting over again.”

It worked. She finished par, par, bogey, par. That first par got her one shot closer to Baker.

Then a triple-bogey 7 by Baker on the tricky dog-leg 16th turned things completely around as Robitaille made a long putt for par to go back up one shot.

That led to the final hole showdown after they both made bogeys on the 17th.

Robitaille took her fifth women’s title since 2018 with a par putt on the closing hole for a three-shot margin of victory when Baker carded a double-bogey 5.

One shot behind Baker, who won the senior women’s crown for her effort, was Yolanda Henry, a three-time club champ. She earned the A flight title.

It was a hard-fought win, and on Sunday, any of the players in her group could have won, Robitaille said in an interview.

“I kind of like to come from behind a bit. When I’m in trouble, I like to buckle down and focus more,” she said.

“I do better under stress than I do if there’s no stress at all.”

But it was so close that anyone in the group could have won at that stage, she said.

“I didn’t think I was going to win it, to be honest, by the time I got to the 15th hole. I had my 8, and that was huge. Being down three with four (holes) to go is not easy.”

She’s happy with her performance and ball-striking, but noted she had some trouble gauging distances, thanks mainly to using a new set of clubs. They’ll take some getting used to.

In the day’s final group, four of the club’s top male golfers also duelled back and forth.

Grigjanis-Meusel’s 77 on Saturday gave him a single-shot lead over Watson, Joe Doria and Stephen Warboys starting the final round.

After nine holes, Grigjanis-Meusel had stretched his margin to three shots over Doria and Warboys thanks to a 1-over 37.

Watson had a tough start and was five shots off the pace.

But he flipped the script on the back nine, shooting even-par 36 while Grigjanis-Meusel had 41, with double-bogeys on 13 and 16. Doria (78-80-158) and Warboys (78-83-161) also ran into some trouble over the closing holes.

On the 18th, playing at about 230 yards for the men, Watson hit his tee shot to within 20 feet while Grigjanis-Meusel was about 25 yards short of the green in the light rough.

He made a spectacular chip to about four feet.

“My hands were shaking on that shot. I was expecting (Watson) to make the putt,” the 31-year-old said in an interview afterward.

Despite the nerves, “I did exactly what I was trying to do” but it left the door open for Watson to win the title with a birdie.

He missed, leaving his uphill putt short. Grigjanis-Meusel made his and they were deadlocked after 36 holes.

Following matching pars on the first playoff hole, Watson had another birdie chance, this time from the fringe near the left bunker on #2.

He “didn’t judge the first putt from the fringe well and left myself seven-ish feet for par, which unfortunately lipped out. James made his five-footer for par after another great chip,” Watson said.

An associate pro at the NOTL club until 2022, Watson regained his amateur status and won the men’s title that year and in 2024.

The pair have dominated the past six championship tourneys, with Grigjanis-Meusel winning in 2020, 2021, 2023 and now 2025.

“But, since Ricky has been competing, neither of us has been able to win two in a row,” he remarked.

However, there could be some up-and-coming players waiting to challenge them.

More than 100 golfers competed in several divisions, including about a dozen talented teenagers and several young guns in their early 20s.

Tops among them was 21-year-old Jaden Patterson, an elite lacrosse player and talented golfer who won club titles as a teen.

He shot 80-81-161 and finished just six shots behind the top men’s duo, an impressive result during a tough weekend of golf.

Other women’s champions were: Super seniors: Judy Mantle (98-102-200); B flight: Ginny Green (96-96-192); C flight: Susan Gagne (97-95-192); D flight: Carolyn Cochrane (108-112-220); Junior girls: Keira Dexter (112).

Other men’s champions were: Super seniors: Ted Carmichael (76-78-154); B flight: Rob Reimer (81-83-164); C flight: Jim Garrett (86-91-177); D flight: David Gagne (97-96-193); Junior boys: Lucas Roberts-Ramos (77-90-167); Bantam boys: Steven Pillitteri-Smith (88-103-191).

Tournament notes: With the largest number of competitors in recent years, including many young players, club pros Darren Smith and Owen Howells were pleased with the growth of the annual championship tourney, especially in this, the club’s 150th anniversary year.

That turnout bodes well for the future, he told the crowd at Sunday’s trophy presentations.

As well, Smith told The Lake Report that “sportsmanship was alive and well at NOTL GC on the weekend” as two golfers disqualified themselves on Saturday after accidentally breaking a rule.

Paul Dickson reported himself for taking an incorrect drop after he hit a ball out of bounds on the seventh hole.

And Michael Clarke did what many players do in daily play when he picked up his ball a few inches from the cup and didn’t actually knock it in. When he realized his error, he, too, reported his violation and disqualified himself.

“Both were honest mistakes that they themselves immediately brought to my attention and agreed on the DQ ruling,” Smith said. “I was proud they called it on themselves.”

Find the full results from the NOTL club championships here.