SUNDRE – The defending titleholder of the Alberta Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship was undaunted by a dreary wet start to the day that ended with sunshine during the event’s final.
This year’s tournament, which is for contenders aged 25 and over, was hosted July 15-17 at the Sundre Golf Club, where Neil Thomas held onto his championship title.
Thomas, representing the Edmonton Country Club, started the final day with a two-shot lead and by the 15th tee had built the lead to 4.
“A bad break on his second shot into the par 5 15th hole landed him behind a tree and his punch out led to bogey,” reads part of Alberta Golf presser.
“The cushion came in handy. Despite a couple more bogeys coming in, Thomas’s even par round of 72 was good for a one-stroke win over Alex Cartwright and Mike Valk and defended the title he won in Barrhead last season.”
There were 120 players at the beginning of the tournament, with 62 making the cut heading into the final.
Even though the weather wasn’t initially cooperating, everything went ahead as planned and there were no delays with the golfers playing through the rainy conditions, said Scott Shouldice, the course’s head pro.
“The morning was pretty miserable,” he told the Albertan. “It was pouring rain all morning. And then it cleared up for the afternoon, and it ended up being a really nice finish for them.”
Shouldice hailed the tournament as a success and praised the club’s members who pitched in to make it all possible.
“We had a huge support from all of our members volunteering for the tournament all week,” he said, adding 20 people helped handle a number of tasks including set up, scoring and registration.
“That was a huge success for the tournament. We can’t run these tournaments without having all the volunteers.”
A number of players local to the region were also among the competitors.
Tom Hollman, representing the Olds Golf Club, placed sixth.
Dane Thorogood, representing the Sundre Golf Club and one of the course’s owners, was in a four-way tie for 13th place.
Ryan Swelin, representing the Sundre Golf Club, ended in a two-way tie for 33rd place.
Kelly Kurt, representing the Water Valley Golf Club, finished in 51st place.
