Golf season ends on a warm note
Little sneezing or freezing at final golf tournament
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, October 2, 2014
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The final golf tournament of the season in Fort Simpson didn't quite live up to its name this year.
Darrell Littlechild chips his ball onto the hole nine green during the Sneeze and Freeze. Littlechild is one of two golfers who got a hole-in-one on the Seven Spruce Golf Course this season. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo
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Twenty-one golfers were doing little nose blowing and a few hardy ones were even wearing shorts during the annual Sneeze and Freeze. After it was postponed on Saturday, Sept. 27, due to rainy weather, golfers lucked out the following day with clear skies and temperatures that peaked at 13 degrees.
"It turned out pretty nice," said Ted Grant.
Grant and his partner Ryan Petrie won the tournament with a 73, one over par for 18 holes. The event capped a successful season for the two golfers. They placed second in the First Air Open, also with a 73, and third together with John and Triona Kearney in the Canadian Zinc Open.
Although scores usually improve in the second round, Grant said that wasn't the case this tournament. He and Petrie had a 34 on their first nine holes and followed it with a 39.
"The putting was atrocious," he said.
The team should have been able to birdie both holes seven and eight on their second round, but got boogeys instead because of their putting. Both men did win individual awards with Grant taking the men's closest to the pin at 3.6 metres on hole two and Petrie winning the men's longest drive on hole eight.
Grant said the tournament marked his last golf game on the course for the year. Seven Spruce had a good season, he said.
"Every year our course gets better all the time," said Grant.
He attributed many of this year's improvements to volunteer work by Owen Rowe and Rowe's Construction, which did a lot of clearing on holes three and four and by holes nine and five. Mike Byland, the course maintainer, also got the fairways into better condition, he said.
While Grant may be putting his clubs away, Darrell Littlechild is hoping for another month of golfing.
"I'm going to golf 'til it snows," he said.
Littlechild and Neal Phillips took second place in the tournament with 74. The pair had 38 on their first nine including one birdie and three boogeys and 36 on their final nine with one birdie and eight pars. Although hole one can be tough, Littlechild was pleased he and Phillips pared it both times.
It was the first time the two had partnered together for a tournament, despite competing against each other regularly. Except when he was travelling, Littlechild golfed at the course almost every day. With such a dry summer, there were few days when weather prevented golfing, he said.
Littlechild's highlight of the season was getting a hole-in-one on hole two on Aug. 26. David Shaw also got a hole-in-one on that hole in June.
Third place in the tournament went to Kevin Menicoche and John Moreau with 76. Mark Gillis and Ramona Hardisty-Gillis had the lowest mixed team score at 80 while Tiiu Cli and Jodie Isaiah had the lowest female score at 89. Sheila Pollard had the longest women's drive and the longest putt awards went to Steven Thompson and Brenda Moreau.
The flags will be kept in the holes on the course until Oct. 10 or the first snow - whichever comes first.
