MARKHAM, ONTARIO - Angus Glen Golf Club had previously hosted two prestigious national championship events - the 2002 and 2007 Canadian Opens. Add a third to that list, the 11th annual Canadian Golf Teachers Cup, played on the South Course September 5-6. Sixty-two players teed it up, but in the end, there can be only one overall winner, and history was made in the process.
Bob Richardson, playing out of the Senior division, captured the title in dramatic fashion, sinking a 5-foot putt on the 36th hole just to get into a 3-way playoff with defending champion Christopher Callihoo and Dave Belling, a two-time champion in WGTF events, the 2003 World Golf Teachers Cup and the 2004 United States Golf Teachers Cup. Against such formidable competition, Richardson took down the title on the second hole of sudden death, and made history in becoming the first Senior to take the Canadian Golf Teachers Cup overall championship.
Day one started off cold and windy - very windy. Only Callihoo and Richardson were able to tame the conditions as Callihoo fired an impressive round of 71 to stake his way to a 1-shot lead over Richardson and a 5-shot lead over the surprising Geoff Bryant, the USGTF's president playing out of the Super Senior division, who spends most of his days tending to federation business and not playing golf. Senior Ken Hanley sat in fourth position with a 77, with Belling, Jim Grow, and Mark Harman tied for fifth at 78.
Although a healthy mix of players from the Open, Senior, and Super Senior divisions were all at the top of the leaderboard, it seemed that Callihoo's lead was safe over all but Richardson, as Callihoo is normally a very solid player who is prone to few mistakes.
Harman made the strongest opening statement during the final round, birdieing the first two holes right off the bat, but a bogey-bogey-quadruple bogey sequence starting on the third hole finished the five-time US and two-time World champion. Richardson started the exact opposite, putting his approach on the first hole into the water from thick rough, resulting in an opening double bogey. Belling was able to extract mainly pars, with the occasional birdie and bogey thrown in, on the first nine. Meanwhile, showing that the game of golf gets the best of us sometimes, Callihoo struggled at +3 through the first eight holes before a birdie at the ninth temporarily righted the ship.
Callihoo's troubles continued on the back nine, as he flared his tee shot on the par-3 12th hole into a hazard, and he wound up with a double bogey five. He then compounded his error at the next hole with another double bogey six, and Richardson fared even worse at the unlucky 13th with a triple bogey seven on his own. Meanwhile, although Belling missed a 6-footer and took bogey, he continued to gradually make up ground on the leaders. Both he and Richardson were able to birdie the par-5 16th hole to remain within striking distance of Callihoo, whose lead was now down to two over both players.
The final two holes of regulation proved dramatic. The short par-3 17th hole was playing dead downwind, and Callihoo overshot the green, leaving himself a very tough shot. He left his second short of the green, played his third to approximately 15 feet, and missed, giving him his third double bogey of the back nine. Routine pars by Richardson and Belling set up a three-way tie heading into the 36th hole - in effect, the players were already into sudden death at this point.
The 18th, a dogleg left par-4, saw Belling hit a very bold tee shot to the corner, while Richardson flared his tee shot to the right side of the fairway. Callihoo's tee shot went through the fairway into thick rough. Richardson's approach was short of the green, and his chip left him with a 5-footer for par. Callihoo was able to find the green, but was 25 feet away. Belling played a fine approach to 10 feet, and the stage was set. First, Callihoo's birdie put barely missed and he tapped in. This meant Belling's 10-footer was for the championship. He gave a fine effort, just lipping out on the low side and he also tapped in for par. Now, Richardson's 5-footer was to stay alive. The putt looked as if it would lip out, but after spinning all around the hole in a 360, it dropped. A three-way sudden death playoff began shortly thereafter at Angus Glen's fourth hole.
Callihoo pulled his tee shot on the par-4 and, with a very difficult shot, failed to clear some trees and his approach fell into the hazard, resulting in a double bogey that eliminated him. Both Richardson and Belling hit the fairway and green with their shots and two-putted for pars. On the par-4 fifth hole, the second of sudden death, Richardson found the putting surface, 25 feet away on his approach. Belling opted for an aggressive play, firing at the back-left hole location. However, his ball went left of the green into the thick rough. His pitch left him a 12-footer. Meanwhile, Richardson cozied his first putt up to the hole for an easy par. Belling missed his par effort, and Richardson had the title. Belling's consolation prize was that he did take the Open division championship once Callihoo was eliminated.
In the Super Senior division, Bryant failed to play as well as he did on day one, and Dennis Babcock took that title with scores of 79-78 - 157. Bryant managed to take second place with a score of 162 despite struggling to a final round 86. In the Ladies division, reigning World Cup individual Ladies champion Darquise LeDuc erased a six-shot deficit to Melody Robinson, shooting 89-79 - 168. Robinson, like Callihoo, had an uncharacteristic off-day as she wound up with a second-round 89 for a 172 total.
All participants agreed that the event was a tremendous success, and a special thanks goes out to Belling, who also served as the tournament director. The location for the 2011 event has not been set at press time, but hopes are high for continued increases in participation from both Canadians and Americans. Although the event is called the Canadian Golf Teachers Cup, all WGTF Level III and IV members are most welcome to play, as is the case with all WGTF individual nations' Golf Teachers Cup events.
CHAMPIONS OF THE
CANADIAN GOLF TEACHERS CUP
1999 Paul Rayment, Whitby, Ontario
2000 Paul Murphy, Richmond Hill, Ontario
2001 Dave Klowak, Winnipeg, Manitoba
2002 Jason Benninger, Waterdown, Ontario
2003 Mark Schleppe, Vancouver, British
Columbia
2004 Sylvain LaPlante, St. Luc, Quebec
2005 Edward Wang, Coquitlam, British
Columbia
2006 Jamie Cowan, Kitchener, Ontario
2008 Jeremy Dueck, Calgary, Alberta
2009 Christopher Callihoo, Montreal,
Quebec
2010 Bob Richardson, Keswick, Ontario
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