Bodogh Does Some Home Cooking in Win
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Sunday August 8, 2010 - Bernie Bodogh has a history of success at Links of Niagara at Willo Dell and once again parlayed his home course advantage into success.
The Tour co-chairman played his front nine in an impressive four under par and would hold on to fire an even par 72 to win the fifth event on the Briggsy's Sportswear and Promotion Men's Tour by a single shot over playing partner Joe Bisson and Stephen Billyard.
Bodogh actually reached five under par during his round and almost let it slip away but his six birdies, 8 pars, 2 bogeys and 2 doubles was just good enough to prevail on a day where scoring was low across the board.
The win was Bodogh's sixth on the Niagara Men's Tour and his first since winning at Rockway Glen in 2008. The six wins is second all-time in Tour history, with fellow Tour co-chairman Jim Briggs holding the record of 10 wins. This is also the second time Bodogh has prevailed at Willo Dell on the Tour - he shot a Tour record 64 (-8) to win going away in 2003.
Lookout Point's Bisson made six birdies as well and had nines of 37-36 while LochNess Links' Billyard went 38-35 to finish tied for second. One shot further back and tying for 4th were Bridgewater's Kyle Griffis (35-39), Riverview's Andy Ragats (36-38) and Lookout Point's Joe Spiler (35-39). Seven more players rounded out the top ten with matching scores of 75: Evan Angi (36-39) and Ryan Gidney (35-40) from Lookout Point (36-39), Joe Buote from Riverview (40-35), Gord Henderson from Bridgewater (37-38), GAO Public Player Matthew Hopper (38-37), Willie Ormerod from the host course (38-37) and Dave Toulouse from LochNess Links (38-37).
There were no eagles on the day and as a result, there were only three skins, with each worth $180.00. Joe Bisson made a birdie 2 on the par three 3rd, Eagle Valley's Travis Glass made a deuce on the par 3 12th and Evan Angi made the only birdie on the par four 13th.
The Closest to the Hole prize from 13 Mountain Street Restaurant went to Roger Perry from Sparrow Lakes for his shot on the 3rd hole which settled only 4'7" away from the cup while Tony Ravenda from Thundering Waters won the Closest to the Hole award from Briggsy's Sportswear and Promotion for his shot on the par 3 16th, which ended up 7'8" away. Sawmill's Dave Abrams won the 50/50 draw and took home $59.00.
The race for the Jim McNeil Award heats up after the points reset, with Stephen Billyard taking the lead back from Lookout Point's Adam Briggs by 59 points. Rookie Dave Toulouse maintains his grip on third position and fellow rookie Evan Angi moves up into 4th while Ryan Gidney is only one point further back in 5th overall. Mathematically, anyone still within the top 11 can still win the overall crown so expect some fireworks later this month at LochNess Links! Dave Toulouse continues to lead the way in the race for the Gary Bos Academy Rookie of the Year award. Moving into second is Angi, with Kerry Howe falling back into third. Sawmill's Mark Armitage holds onto fourth spot and Evan Olsthoorn from St. Catharines GCC holds steady in fifth. Things are unbelievably tight in the Niagara Golf Report Senior Division race for players 50 & older, with Lookout Point's Ian Penney holding a slim lead over Gord Henderson. Rounding out the top five are Tony Ravenda, Frank Mortensen from Lookout Point and Bob Goss from Port Colborne.
This event was very challenging for Tour organizers, as the original venue for the event, Whirlpool GC in Niagara Falls was not in acceptable shape for the Tour due to disease on the putting surfaces. Our eternal gratitude goes out to Chuck Gates and all the staff at Links of Niagara at WilloDell for allowing the Tour to play the course on exceptionally short notice.
The Tour's final event of the 2010 season will be held on Sunday August 29th at LochNess Links in Welland. The event will be sponsored by Tour member Ryan Buckner and Buckner's Source for Sports, the region's best choice for sports equipment and apparel.
LINKS OF NIAGARA AT WILLODELL STATISTICS -
Average Score: 78.93
Most Birdies: Bernie Bodogh (Links of Niagara) and Joe Bisson (Lookout Point) - 6
Most Pars: Stephen Billyard (LochNess Links), Gord Henderson (Bridgewater) and Matthew Hopper (GAO - Public Player) - 13
Best Par 3 Performance: Andy Ragats (Riverview) - 2.80 average
Best Par 4 Performance: Joe Spiler (Lookout Point) - 3.88 average
Best Par 5 Performance: Joe Bisson (Lookout Point) - 4.20 average
Most Difficult Par 3: #12 & #14 - 3.63 average
Most Difficult Par 4: #8 - 4.67 average
Most Difficult Par 5: #11 - 5.35 average
Easiest Par 3: #16 - 3.09 average
Easiest Par 4: #6 and #18 - 4.28 average
Easiest Par 5: #10 - 5.12 average