Newcomer Kyle Smith Wins Season Opener; 22 Qualifiers Gain Exempt Status

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

Sunday May 3, 2009 - If you're looking to win the opening event on the Nevada Bob's Men's Tour, it seems like a good place to start is to win the previous year's Fall Qualifier.

For the second year in a row, the winner of the Tour's fall qualifier came through to win the next season's opening event. In 2008, it was the Norwegian Sensation Jon Odegaard and this year, it's 'The Mathematician' Kyle Smith who took down the title at the picturesque Peninsula Lakes GC.

Smith, shown above receiving congratulations from Nevada Bob's owner Bob Allan, fired a splendid even par round of 71 to win in his first official event on Tour. A St. Catharines Collegiate math teacher who plays out of Sawmill, Smith came out of the gates on fire, shooting a lights-out, three under par 33 on the Hillside nine and followed it up with a 38 on the Quarry nine to win the title by a shot over Lookout Point's Ryan Gidney (36-36), Bridgewater's Gord Henderson (36-36) and Pete Robertson, a GAO player who was the top qualifier after nines of 37 and 35.

Robertson, shown below, led a total of 22 successful qualifiers who gain exempt status for the remainder of the 2009 season, with all qualifiers who shot 84 or better making the cut.

Finishing fifth all alone was Lookout Point's Ian Penney, returning to the Tour after a one year absence in style after a round of 73 (38-35). Talented Niagara Junior Tour graduate Adam Briggs of Fox Run, playing his first Men's Tour event, shot a fine 74 (38-36) to finish 6th all alone and gain family bragging rights, as his father and the three-time defending Tour Champion Jim Briggs finished one shot back after nines of 38 and 37. Tied for 7th with Briggs were two qualifiers: Jesse Bedard of Royal Niagara (37-38) and Doug Widner from LochNess Links (40-35). Rounding out the top ten with a score of 76 was qualifier Mike Bedard of LochNess Links (39-37) along with Tour veterans Bernie Bodogh of Links of Niagara (39-37), the stylish, plus fours aficionado Mark Hunermund from Sparrow Lakes (39-37), the GAO's Andy Ragats (35-41), Tony Ravenda from Thundering Waters (37-39) and the cross-handed sensation Andrew Wood from Rockway Glen (36-40).

As indicated, 22 out of 37 potential qualifiers ended up gaining exempt status for the remainder of the season, bringing the total number of Tour members to 59. It looks like there will be quite an infusion of talent coming from this qualifying class, which only means great things for the Tour.

Weather conditions were ideal for early May, with temperatures in the mid-teens under clear blue skies.

One of the big highlights of the day came when Hunermund made an eagle two on the difficult par four 4th hole on the Hillside nine, the signature hole at Peninsula Lakes. It was one of three eagles on the day by the field, as both Gord Henderson and Bernie Bodogh made eagle threes.

There were six skins on the day, each worth $110.00. Winners are Adam Briggs - Quarry #4 (birdie), Barry Carr - Quarry #7 (birdie), Pete Robertson - Quarry #9 (birdie), Bernie Bodogh - Hillside #3 (eagle), Mark Hunermund - Hillside #4 (eagle) & Gord Henderson - Hillside #9 (eagle). Robertson also won the Closest to the Hole prize from 13 Mountain Street Restaurant for his shot on the 9th at Quarry while Beechwood's own John Rodwell won the Closest to the Hole award from Briggsy's Sportswear and Promotion for his great shot on the 8th on the Hillside nine. Phil Stouffer, a GAO member, won the 50/50 draw and takes home a whopping $118.00.

The Niagara Golf Report rookie of the year race should be hotly contested in 2009, with 20 players in their first season on Tour. Kyle Smith jumps out in front on the strength of his win, with Adam Briggs in second, Jesse Bedard and Doug Widner tied for third and Mike Bedard in fifth spot. In the Senior division, for players 50 & older, newly-turned 50 year old Gord Henderson takes the early lead in what should be a great race. Jim Briggs sits alone in second, Tony Ravenda and Mark Hunermund are tied for third and the GAO's Bob Goss is in fifth position.

The Tour committee would first like to thank Peninsula Lakes' Steve Christie for all his support over the years. Peninsula Lakes has always treated the Tour well and is a favourite of many players. The course was in tremendous shape, as always and the greens were running smooth and fast. The Tour would also like to thank Bob Allan of Nevada Bob's, who was around to help with scoring and has been the Tour's biggest supporter for a number of years. Thanks again Bob!.

PENINSULA LAKES STATISTICS -

Average Score: 82.22

Most Birdies: Adam Briggs (Fox Run GC) - 4

Most Pars: Ryan Gidney (Lookout Point CC) - 14

Best Par 3 Performance: Ryan Gidney (Lookout Point CC) - 3.00 average

Best Par 4 Performance: Pete Robertson (GAO) - 4.00 average

Best Par 5 Performance: Gord Henderson (Bridgewater GCC) - 4.20 average

Most Difficult Par 3: #9 (Quarry) - 3.88 average

Most Difficult Par 4: #4 (Hillside) - 5.26 average

Most Difficult Par 5: #7 (Quarry) - 5.57 average

Easiest Par 3: #8 (Hillside) & #2 (Quarry) - 3.43 average

Easiest Par 4: #1 (Hillside) - 4.46 average

Easiest Par 5: #9 (Hillside) - 5.14 average

Leaderboard

	PLAYERS	CLUB	SCORE			POINTS
1	Smith, Kyle	Sawmill	38	33	71	175
T2	Gidney, Ryan	Lookout Point	36	36	72	131.5
	Henderson, Gord	Bridgewater	36	36	72	131.5
	Robertson, Pete	GAO	37	35	72	131.5
5	Penney, Ian	Lookout Point	38	35	73	110
6	Briggs, Adam	Fox Run	38	36	74	105
T7	Bedard, Jesse	Royal Niagara	37	38	75	95
	Briggs, Jim	Fox Run	38	37	75	95
	Widner, Doug	LochNess Links	40	35	75	95
T10	Bedard, Mike	LochNess Links	39	37	76	74
	Bodogh, Bernie	Links of Niagara	39	37	76	74
	Hunermund, Mark	Sparrow Lakes	39	37	76	74
	Ragats, Andy	GAO	35	41	76	74
	Ravenda, Tony	Thundering Waters	37	39	76	74
	Wood, Andrew	Rockway Glen	36	40	76	74
T16	Juzsku, Wes	GAO	37	40	77	59.5
	Molkoski, Kenny	Sparrow Lakes	37	40	77	59.5
T18	Goss, Bob	GAO	36	42	78	53.5
	Jackson, Jeff	GAO	39	39	78	53.5
T20	Foster, Josh	Whisky Run	40	39	79	46
	Lipsett, Bill	Twenty Valley	40	39	79	46
	Odegaard, Jon	Queenston	41	38	79	46
	Rodwell, John	Beechwood	40	39	79	46
T24	Bolton, Mark	GAO	41	39	80	38
	Butler, Brad	St. Catharines	39	41	80	38
	Griffis, Kyle	Bridgewater	39	41	80	38
	McCulligh, Kevin	GAO	37	43	80	38
T28	Arrowsmith, Randy	Long Beach	42	39	81	27
	Boyd, Taylor	GAO	39	42	81	27
	Garcia, Mike	Queenston	38	43	81	27
	Germond, Jeff	St. Catharines	40	41	81	27
	Lord, Paul	Lookout Point	41	40	81	27
	McLean, Chris	GAO	40	41	81	27
	Stouffer, Phil	GAO	38	43	81	27
T35	Cassidy, Bradley	Rolling Meadows	41	41	82	18
	Spiler, Joe	Lookout Point	39	43	82	18
	Strachan, John	GAO	40	42	82	18
T38	Bedard, Donny	Royal Niagara	41	42	83	13
	Bosela, Matt	St. Catharines	40	43	83	13
	Egerter, Don	Fox Run	42	41	83	13
	Gruhl, Steve	St. Catharines	44	39	83	13
	McEachern, Stew	LochNess Links	40	43	83	13
	Nepon, Harris	St. Catharines	41	42	83	13
	Reimer, Rob	Niagara-on-the-Lake	38	45	83	13
T45	Abrams, Dave	Sawmill	40	44	84	6
	Fleguel, Brad	Freedom Oaks	40	44	84	6
	Goodman, Cal	St. Catharines	42	42	84	6
	Henderson, Rick	Twenty Valley	43	41	84	6
	Rollick, Brent	GAO	41	43	84	6
	Waldbroel, Kyle	Twenty Valley	43	41	84	6
	Webb, Curtis	Niagara-on-the-Lake	43	41	84	6
52	Childs, Ken	GAO	45	40	85	2
T53	Lowrey, Wes	Queenston	43	43	86	1
	Mortensen, Frank	Lookout Point	41	45	86	1
	Ormerod, Willie	Links of Niagara	43	43	86	1
56	Joon, Nick	GAO	45	43	88	1
57	Carr, Barry	GAO	48	41	89	1
58	Puckering, Bill	Pelham Hills	43	48	91	1
59	Turonski, Todd	GAO	46	46	92	1

Vouchers, Skins and Prizes

VOUCHERS
1	Kyle Smith			$180.00
T2	Ryan Gidney			$100.00
T2	Gord Henderson			$100.00
T2	Pete Robertson			$100.00
5	Ian Penney			$60.00
SKINS
1	Adam Briggs	Quarry #4 - Birdie 3		$110.00
2	Barry Carr	Quarry #7 - Birdie 4		$110.00
3	Pete Robertson	Quarry #9 - Birdie 2		$110.00
4	Bernie Bodogh	Hillside #3 - Eagle 3		$110.00
5	Mark Hunermund	Hillside #4 - Eagle 2		$110.00
6	Gord Henderson	Hillside #9 - Eagle 3		$110.00
CLOSEST TO THE HOLE
1	Pete Robertson	#9 Quarry - 4' 5"		13 Mountain St. Gift Cert
2	John Rodwell	#8 Hillside - 4' 6"		Briggsy's Sportswear
50/50 DRAW
1	Phil Stouffer			$118.00