There are some new names atop the champions list at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club after players literally sweated through two days of humid and steamy competition on the weekend.
Ricky Watson, the 32-year-old former associate pro at the club, regained his amateur status and played his way to the men’s open title.
And Louise Robitaille, a former women’s open champ, defied ongoing back injuries and rallied from five shots down after Saturday’s first round to eke out a one-shot victory over defending champion Yolanda Henry on the final hole.
With temperatures pushing 40C with the humidity and the greens finely tuned and running much faster than usual, competitors had their hands full.
Watson, a junior phenom who grew up playing at the club and then built a career as a club pro, was the most consistent shooter among the men, with a 77-76-153 total over the 36-hole tournament.
He edged out another former club champ, Joe Doria, by six shots. Defending champion James Grigjanis-Meusel, recovering from illness, finished third, another two shots behind.
“It feels great to be club champion at NOTL,” Watson said afterward.
He had been in contention back in 2005 as a 15-year-old but perennial champ Mark Derbyshire won that year.
“I always hoped to someday have another shot at it, so when I left the golf business and got my amateur status back in the spring I marked the dates on my calendar for sure,” said Watson, who now works in real estate in NOTL.
“It was definitely a comfortable pairing on Sunday playing with James and Joe, as I play with them all the time. We even played in St. Andrews together last fall,” he said.
“The course played great, really firm and fast and made scoring difficult, especially on Sunday. It was really close going into the back 9.”
“I look forward to trying to defend next year and hopefully the three of us will be in contention again.”
The women’s side provided most of the weekend’s drama and the open came down to the last hole.
With Robitaille and Henry tied after 35 holes, the golf gods showed how unforgiving the game can be.
Short of the green off the tee, Henry made a brilliant second shot to within about six feet of the hole while Robitaille was still about 30 feet away near the back of the green.
Robitaille ended up with a bogey four but Henry, an excellent putter, missed twice and ended with a five.
The other excitement was in the women’s first flight division, with Susan Gagne and May Chang tied after 36 holes.
In a sudden-victory playoff, they were still knotted after two tense holes until Chang pulled out the win with a bogey after Gagne got into trouble in the sand.
Other winners crowned on the weekend included:
Jon Taylor as senior men’s champion, Martha Cruikshank (senior women’s division), and Gary Stuggins and Lisa Allen (super senior). Marg Ketcheson took the women’s second flight title.
On the men’s side, Rob Reimer won first flight, Jim Garrett took second flight and Ron Planche was third flight champion.
The Legends Cup (for players over 80) consists of two nine-hole outings played on consecutive Tuesdays prior to the championship weekend. This year’s legendary champ was Doug McCulloch.
First ace: The NOTL Golf Club had its first reported hole-in-one of the season on Friday, July 29, when visitor Josh Robinson aced the par-3 ninth hole. He used a 6 iron to hole it from 178 yards.
