Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Golfers in Fort Simpson had the chance to hit the links like Tiger Woods over the weekend.

The winners of the first flights at the Aboriginal and NT Golf Championship Tournament included, from left, Darrell Littlechild in senior men, Keyna Norwegian in open women, Phyllis Harris in senior women and TG Wilson in open men. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

On July 14 and 15, the Seven Spruce Golf Course hosted the Aboriginal and NT Golf Championship Tournament for the first time. The tournaments are normally held separately, but this year they were combined.

Forty-five golfers, including 38 from the village and seven from Fort Liard, Fort Smith and Yellowknife, followed a stroke-play format over 36 holes.

Matt Grey, a golf pro from Yellowknife, was present to ensure golfers followed professional rules, including having to come back to where they shot from and hit another ball if they lost their first one.

"It was a learning experience for them," said Shane Thompson, the club's president.

"They were able to appreciate the game that much more."

TG "Teeg" Wilson said he liked the format, which normally isn't used during tournaments at the course.

"It was a good challenge," he said. "We need to have at least two of these a year."

Competitors in the tournament were entered into flights with golfers who had similar handicaps. After finishing with an 87 on Saturday and an 83 on Sunday, for a total of 170, Wilson finished first in the open men's first flight.

Wilson said finishing in top place didn't come easily.

"It was definitely a grind, really fighting for every par," he said.

Pars were the best that Wilson got. Over the weekend he didn't score any birdies. Wilson said it felt like he was fighting the course on the first day but on Sunday it was smoother as bounces went his way.

"It was a good test," he said.

Phyllis Harris from Fort Liard also enjoyed the tournament.

"I thought it was awesome," she said about the tournament.

Harris said she was satisfied with her score of 209, which put her in first place on the senior women's first flight, although she is sure she could have done better. Harris said she struggled in a few areas, including three-putting on approximately four occasions, thereby doubling her score on the holes.

"That's always very frustrating," she said.

Harris said she was pleased with the fact that she parred three out of four par-threes on Saturday.

Harris said a lot of people obviously did a lot of work to get the course ready for the weekend. It was in "awesome condition," she said.

Darrell Littlechild said he liked the stroke-play format because it's how he used to golf while playing in Alberta.

Littlechild finished with a 180 to take first place in the senior men's first flight.

Thompson said the club was honoured to host the tournament. A group of volunteers formed an organizing committee and many members volunteered to improve the course, he said.

Thompson said he was disappointed that only seven golfers from outside of the village participated in the event. Thompson said the club will be looking at what could be changed in the future and what needs to be done to strengthen NWT Golf.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.