Toulouse Goes Low to Win at Sawmill
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Sunday June 13, 2010 - Tour rookie Dave Toulouse finally has a win.
The LochNess Links golfer overcame two early bogeys to fire a two under par 69 at Sawmill GC and win the third event of the season by three shots for his first tournament victory of any kind.
Toulouse had nines of 35 and 34 and notched five birdies, ten pars and three bogeys during a round where his driving was accurate and his iron play was on point, with 14 greens in regulation.
The win by Toulouse means that the first three wins in 2010 have come from players who didn't participate on the Tour in 2009, once again showcasing the great infusion of talent from the qualifiers.
Evan Olsthoorn, a rookie on the Tour from St. Catharines GCC, finished alone in second place with a one over par 72 (34-38), giving him two second place finishes in the first three events. Finishing in third was Lookout Point's Frank Mortensen (37-36), a two-time winner in 2009. Tying for fourth position with three over scores of 74 were Stephen Billyard from LochNess Links (38-36), Ryan Gidney from Lookout Point (40-34), Port Colborne GCC's Bob Goss (36-38) and Kyle Smith from the host club of Sawmill (38-36). Tying for eighth place and rounding out the top ten were Adam Briggs from Fox Run (39-36), Lookout Point's Ian Penney (36-39) and Tour rookie Matthew Hopper, a GAO Public Player (37-38), all of whom shot 75.
Scoring was pretty low at Sawmill overall, meaning plenty of birdies and only three skins on the day, with each worth a healthy $170.00. Frank Mortensen made a rare eagle two on the par four 6th hole, Kerry Howe from St. Catharines GCC made the only birdie on the par three 8th and Ryan Gidney made the only birdie on the par four 15th.
The Closest to the Hole prize from 13 Mountain Street Restaurant went to Howe for his shot on the 8th hole which settled 14' 5" away from the cup while Joe Bisson from Lookout Point won the Closest to the Hole award from Briggsy's Sportswear and Promotion for his shot on the 17th, which ended up less than 3' away. Mark Hunermund from Twenty Valley GCC won the 50/50 draw and took home $72.00.
Stephen Billyard retains the lead in the race for the Jim McNeil Award at the midway point of the season with 356.5 points. He's now followed closely by event winner Dave Toulouse, who sits only 15.5 points back. Rounding out the top five in the overall standings are Adam Briggs, Ryan Gidney and Evan Olsthoorn. Toulouse moves into the lead in the race for the Gary Bos Academy Rookie of the Year award. Following close behind in second is Olsthoorn while opening event winner Evan Angi drops to third. Sawmill's Mark Armitage continues to hold onto the fourth position while Kerry Howe stays in fifth place. In the Niagara Golf Report Senior Division race for players 50 & older, Bob Goss jumps into the lead over Bridgewater GCC's Gord Henderson by a slim 7.5 point margin. Fox Run's Jim Briggs holds onto third, Frank Mortensen jumps up to fourth and Willie Ormerod from Links of Niagara slips slightly to fifth position.
The Tour committee would like to thank Sawmill's Jeremy Julie and his mother Gail Julie for all of their help in hosting the event. It is the first time the Tour has played Sawmill since our opening year in 2001 and I'm sure the players very much enjoyed the changes to the golf course that have taken place over the past couple years.
The Tour's fourth event will be held on Sunday July 11th at Ussher's Creek GC at Legends on the Niagara in Chippawa. Tee times for the event at Ussher's Creek will be online in the next few days.
SAWMILL
STATISTICS -Average Score: 80.13
Most Birdies: Dave Toulouse (LochNess Links) - 5
Most Pars: Ryan Gidney (Lookout Point CC) - 14
Best Par 3 Performance: Mark Armitage (Sawmill GC), Joe Bisson (Lookout Point CC), Bob Goss (Port Colborne GCC) and Dave Toulouse (LochNess Links) - 2.75 average
Best Par 4 Performance: Frank Mortensen (Lookout Point CC) - 3.82 average
Best Par 5 Performance: Chris McLean (GAO - Public Player) - 4.33 average
Most Difficult Par 3: #8 - 3.89 average
Most Difficult Par 4: #18 - 5.02 average
Most Difficult Par 5: #12 - 5.76 average
Easiest Par 3: #14 - 3.13 average
Easiest Par 4: #6 and #13 - 4.29 average
Easiest Par 5: #2 - 5.24 average