Gord Henderson Claims First Win in Tour Finale; Jim Briggs Wins 3rd Straight Overall Championship

Full Leaderboard | Vouchers, Skins and Prizes | Scoresheet - PDF File

September 21, 2008 - Bridgewater's Gord Henderson shot a great round of one over par 73 to win the final event on the 2008 Nevada Bob's Men's Tour schedule at Ussher's Creek by a shot over rookies Corey Fiwchuk and Rob Reimer. Henderson was very consistent, notching nines of 36 and 37 while making two birdies, one bogey and one double to go along with 14 pars to win his first ever Tour event.

Fiwchuk, playing out of his home club, fashioned nines of 38-36 while Reimer, who plays out of Niagara-on-the-Lake GC, put together nines of 36-38 to tie for second spot.  Finishing in a tie for fourth were Andy Ragats, a GAO member and Tour veteran Tony Ravenda from Thundering Waters GC.  Tying for sixth spot with with 76's were the Tour's fearless leader, Bernie Bodogh, a St. Catharines G&CC member along with Pelham Hills' Ken Childs and Tour rookie Stew McEachern, who plays out of LochNess Links. Tying for ninth place were Tour committee members Jim Briggs and Bob Goss, both GAO members, along with Ryan Gidney, who plays out of Lookout Point CC. All three shot 77's on the day.

There were many awards to give out on this day in addition to Henderson's event win. Jim Briggs took home his third consecutive Overall Championship, winning the Jim McNeil Trophy with 610 points for the season. He edged the second-placed Bodogh by 15 points. Ravenda finished in third position, only one point back of Bodogh. Goss finished in fourth position with 560 points and finishing in fifth position was Tour Rookie Jon Odegaard, who notched 538 points in his first season on Tour and took home the Niagara Golf Report Rookie of the Year award. Odegaard, a Queenston GC member, finished ahead of Fiwchuk and McEachern in the rookie points race. Jim Briggs notched the most points in the Senior point race but since he won the overall championship, it's Tony Ravenda who takes the crown as Senior Champion for 2008, with Goss finishing second and Childs finishing third. One of the more emotional moments of the night took place during the inaugural presentation of the Grant MacMillan Trophy. The Tour membership nominated Bryan Kolbuc, a GAO member, as the first recipient of the award, which was to be presented to the player who best exhibits the qualities of an ideal playing partner and Tour ambassador, including sportsmanship, camaraderie and gentlemanly conduct both on and off the course.

Since there were no skins in the previous event, that money all carried over to the Tour finale. That meant nice payouts for the five skins winners at Ussher's Creek. Barry Carr (birdie - 10th), Ken Childs (birdie - 13th), Joe Spiler (eagle - 14th), Mark Bolton (birdie - 16th) and John Rodwell (birdie - 18th) all took home $224.00 for their skins!

There were two closest to the hole awards as well, with Childs taking the $50.00 voucher for his tee shot on the 13th and Rick Henderson winning the gift certificate from new Tour sponsor 13 Mountain Street, a lovely bistro in Grimsby.  The 50/50 prize winner was event winner Gord Henderson, who took home $65.00.

The top 30 players in the final standings are all exempt for the 2009 season. There will be a Fall Qualifier for the 2009 Tour held on Sunday September 28th at Sawmill GC. Please fill out the form on the front page of the website and email it to niagaramenstour@gmail.com to express your interest in participating. The qualifier is $60.00 and will be collected prior to tee off. If participation is limited in the fall qualifier, there will likely be a spring qualifier as well to determine the remaining participants for the 2009 season.

The Tour committee would like to thank their loyal sponsors for their support once again in 2008, starting with Tony Haney and Bob Allan from Nevada Bob's on Ontario Street. Thanks as well go out to Jim Briggs at Hangups Sports, Mike Cressman at Niagara Golf Report and to new sponsor Josh Groom of 13 Mountain Street.

Most of all, thanks to the players for coming out and supporting the Tour. We look forward to seeing you all once again in 2009! Stay tuned to the website for information on the upcoming season, including schedules and courses.

USSHER'S CREEK STATISTICS -

Average Score: 81.9048

Most Birdies: Bernie Bodogh (St. Catharines G&CC), Stew McEachern (LochNess Links) and Andy Ragats (GAO) - 4

Most Pars: Gord Henderson (Bridgewater GCC) - 14

Best Par 3 Performance: Taylor Boyd (Grand Niagara) - 2.75 average

Best Par 4 Performance: Corey Fiwchuk (Legends on the Niagara) - 4.10 average

Best Par 5 Performance: Joe Spiler (Lookout Point CC) - 4.25 average

Most Difficult Par 3: #16 - 3.55 average

Most Difficult Par 4: #15 - 5.33 average

Most Difficult Par 5: #9 - 5.45 average

Easiest Par 3: #7 - 3.29 average

Easiest Par 4: #4 - 4.33 average

Easiest Par 5: #14 - 4.83 average

Leaderboard

   PLAYERS  CLUB SCORE POINTS
1  Henderson, Gord  Bridgewater 36 37 73 175
T2  Fiwchuk, Corey  Legends on the Niagara 38 36 74 140
   Reimer, Rob  NOTL 36 38 74 140
T4  Ragats, Andy  GAO 36 39 75 112.5
   Ravenda, Tony  Thundering Waters 38 37 75 112.5
T6  Bodogh, Bernie  St. Catharines 34 42 76 100
   Childs, Ken  Pelham Hills 39 37 76 100
   McEachern, Stew  LochNess Links 38 38 76 100
T9  Briggs, Jim  GAO 39 38 77 85
   Gidney, Ryan  Lookout Point 38 39 77 85
   Goss, Bob  GAO 40 37 77 85
T12  Bolton, Mark  GAO 40 39 79 70
   Boyd, Taylor  Grand Niagara 35 44 79 70
   Dunn, Gord  Twenty Valley 39 40 79 70
   Spiler, Joe  Lookout Point 39 40 79 70
T16  Baines, Mike  Twenty Valley 40 40 80 59.5
   Wood, Andrew  Rockway Glen 43 37 80 59.5
T18  Elliott, Adam  Sparrow Lakes 40 41 81 48.5
   Hunermund, Mark  Sparrow Lakes 43 38 81 48.5
   Lowrey, Wes  Queenston 39 42 81 48.5
   Mlot, Kevin  GAO 43 38 81 48.5
   Odegaard, Jon  Queenston 42 39 81 48.5
   Strachan, John  Peninsula Lakes 43 38 81 48.5
T24  Molkoski, Kenny  Sparrow Lakes 39 43 82 40
   Ormerod, Willie  Links of Niagara 42 40 82 40
T26  Guitard, Gil  Sawmill 40 43 83 34
   Kolbuc, Bryan  GAO 43 40 83 34
   Puckering, Bill  Dunnville 40 43 83 34
   Turonski, Todd  Pelham Hills 39 44 83 34
30  Tyminski, Steve  GAO 41 43 84 29
T31  Robertson, Ken  Dunnville 42 43 85 26
   Scapillati, Ben  Links of Niagara 41 44 85 26
33  Fleguel, Brad  Freedom Oaks 44 42 86 23
T34  Martin, Adam  Port Colborne 45 42 87 20
   McGlynn, Tim  Lookout Point 41 46 87 20
T36  Carr, Barry  GAO 46 42 88 17.5
   Stouffer, Phil  GAO 44 44 88 17.5
38  Rodwell, John  Beechwood 44 45 89 16
39  Mortensen, Frank  Lookout Point 45 45 90 15
40  Henderson, Rick  Twenty Valley 42 49 91 14
T41  Garcia, Mike  Queenston 45 51 96 12.5
   Mariage, Marcel  Lookout Point 49 47 96 12.5
   Arrowsmith, Randy  Long Beach DID NOT PLAY
   Bisson, Joe  Lookout Point DID NOT PLAY
   Bosela, Matt  St. Catharines DID NOT PLAY
   Groom, Josh  Links of Niagara DID NOT PLAY
   Lipsett, Bill  Twenty Valley DID NOT PLAY
   Lord, Paul  Lookout Point DID NOT PLAY
   Manuel, Tom  Rolling Meadows DID NOT PLAY
   Mikolasek, Darren  Beechwood DID NOT PLAY
   Nepon, Harris  St. Catharines DID NOT PLAY
   Pasquale, Nick  Links of Niagara DID NOT PLAY
   Ratkovsky, Adam  St. Catharines DID NOT PLAY
   Sabatini, Louis  Links of Niagara DID NOT PLAY
   Scott, Troy  Queenston DID NOT PLAY
   Smith, Brennen  GAO DID NOT PLAY
   Storm, Matt  GAO DID NOT PLAY

Vouchers, Skins and Prizes

 VOUCHERS    
1  Gord Henderson   $180.00
T2  Corey Fiwchuk   $115.00
T2  Rob Reimer   $115.00
T4  Andy Ragats   $65.00
T4  Tony Ravenda   $65.00
 SKINS    
1  Barry Carr #10 - Birdie $224.00
2  Ken Childs #13 - Birdie       $224.00
3  Joe Spiler #14 - Eagle       $224.00
4  Mark Bolton #16 - Birdie       $224.00
5  John Rodwell #18 - Birdie       $224.00
 CLOSEST TO THE HOLE    
1  Rick Henderson #3 13 Mountain St. Gift Cert
2  Ken Childs #13 $50.00
 50/50 DRAW    
1  Gord Henderson   $65.00