The Canadian Men’s Senior Championship has wrapped up in Scarborough, Ont.

The top Saskatchewan golfer was Delisle’s Colin Coben who finished in a tie for 25^th at plus-19 for the event held at Cedar Brae Golf Course. The Valleyview Golf Course member carded a six-over, 77 on Friday to cap the 72-hole event. The tournament was Coben’s 31^st appearance at a national championship.

2018 Saskatchewan senior champion and team alternate this year, Rick Hallberg of Weyburn shot 75 in his final round. For the week the Weyburn product was 20-over par. He tied for 32^nd overall.

This season’s reigning Sask. senior champion Ken Rodgers of Regina was 12-over par during the final round, the Tor Hill Golf Course player closed the championship at plus-25. Rodgers will finish in a tie for 48^th place.

2017 champion Gene Elliott of West Des Moines, IA won the event at six-under, five shots ahead of the second-place finisher.

The complete leaderboard can be found here.

Saskatoon’s Josh Nagy has several golf championships on his resume, but the talented teenager was forced to decide on his future this summer.

A star forward with the Saskatoon Blazers AAA midget hockey team and 2018 Saskatchewan junior men’s golf championship created plenty of options for Nagy. He ultimately chose the golf avenue to further his post-secondary career.

“After our season ended the coach emailed me and said there’s a spot if I want it,” Nagy said of his commitment to Robert Morris University. “I had talked to him in the winter a little bit. I was focused on hockey, but the coach emailed me and said there’s a spot if I want it,’ Nagy said.

Nagy was considering signing with the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and chasing hockey to further his education, but he decided to get on with his business education immediately out of high school in the Bridge City.

“It was definitely hard to decide between hockey and golf, it took a while to decide. I had the opportunity to sign with a couple junior “A” teams but ultimately chose here on what they had to offer. To come here right after school instead of taking two or three years off before coming to college, I want to get school done with,” Nagy explained.

On the course this past summer, Nagy was as stellar as ever, he won the Future Links Prairie Championship in Yorkton early in the season punching his ticket to the Canadian Junior Boy’s Championship. That allowed him to bypass the Saskatchewan junior provincials and compete in the IMG Junior Academy World Championship at Torrey Pines in San Diego. He said the experience was one he will never forget.

“It was amazing,” he said. “To get the exposure, I got there for the first round and I look around I see New Mexico State, Arizona State University, and Oregon scouts on the putting green, so it was nice to play good the first two rounds. I was even after two rounds, didn’t play my best in the third round and I missed the cut by one. I think the cut was top-50 out of 200 so to be up there was pretty nice.”

The Robert Morrison team, that is an NCAA Div. I program is preparing for their first event of the season on Sept. 16 and 17. Unfortunately Nagy won’t be in the field. He admitted being a top dog in a Canadian province doesn’t lead to a cake walk at college.

“We did five rounds of qualifying and unfortunately I missed going to the tournament by a couple shots. I’m putting in a lot of work right now to qualify for the next one. I have a day off now so I’m going to go to the course and hit some balls and play a bit and try to continue to get better and qualify for the next one,” he said.

Gary Brandon was more than a golf professional; the man was a sporting leader who is set to be recognized for what he did for the game across Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Brandon is one of three 2019 Saskatchewan Golf Hall of Fame inductees and the lone individual who will be enshrined on Sept. 21 posthumously. Brandon lost his fight with cancer in 2009.

Being honoured for his sporting accomplishments is nothing new, Brandon is in the Saskatchewan Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the 1972 Unity Cardinals who won a national title, he was also enshrined into the Prince Albert Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. His daughter, Bobbi, the professional at Moon Lake Golf and Country Club said recognizing his golf career was only a matter of time.

“We are very happy, we actually had started this process last year. We are very happy to see that it’s gone through and I know he would be very proud,” she said.

After becoming a member of the PGA of Saskatchewan Brandon started his 18-year tenure at the Melfort Golf and Country Club in 1983. While there he revived the men’s and ladies’ leagues and created the extremely popular Left-Right Championship that now bears his name. Brandon was also a driving force behind the men’s provincial championship simply now known as the Mid-Amateur under the guidance of Golf Saskatchewan. The 1996 Canadian Junior Women’s Championship was also hosted in Melfort under his tutelage. Whether it was golf tournaments for all skill levels or a curling event, Bobbi said her father put fun first in sports.

“He was always a huge supporter of sports in general,” she said. “He always wanted to bring people together, he seemed to really take to that. That’s kind of why the distinguished service nomination is a good fit for him.”

Brandon was named the PGA of Saskatchewan Senior Player of the Year in both 1998 and 1999. He was honoured by his peers with a lifetime achievement award in 2001. In 2002 he took his passion to Manitoba and worked at the Dauphin Lake Golf Club for another seven years. He designed the Mark’s Nine Golf and Country Club in the Prince Albert area too. With the event under two weeks away, Bobbi said her family is looking forward to a special night honouring their father.

“We’re happy to see him be acknowledged,” she said. “It’s always a little bittersweet after somebody has passed, but he’d be very honoured.”

Tickets are available here for the gala event at the Riverside Country Club.

Day three is complete at the 2019 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship at Cedar Brae Golf Club in Scarborough, Ont.

Ken Rodgers kept his tie for 24^th after posting a five-over, 76 on Thursday during round three. The Regina product who plays out of Tor Hill Golf Course sits at 13-over heading into Friday’s final round.

Delisle’s Colin Coben is also at plus-13 alongside Rodgers. Coben shot nine-over, 80 Thursday.

Rick Hallberg of Weyburn is still in the top-40 at the championship, the Golf Kenosee member stroked a 78 during round three. Hallberg sits at plus-16 overall.

American Gene Elliott continues to lead, the West Des Moines, IA golfer is at nine-under par, six shots ahead of the field.

The championship round takes place on Friday. The complete leaderboard can be seen here.

It was an impressive opening week for some of Saskatchewan’s student-athletes playing golf at US colleges.

Saskatoon’s Roman Timmerman made the biggest impression winning his first collegiate championship in the opening event of the season, the GAC Preview. Timmerman has been close to winning at the NCAA Div. II level over his first couple years at Southern Arkansas University (SAU), but he finally succeeded at the Lake Hefner Golf Course in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

“It feels awesome,” he told Golf Saskatchewan on Wednesday. “I knew I was capable of doing it but, you never know until you do it. To get the monkey off my back, I’ve been putting a lot of work in lately, so it feels really good.”

Timmerman finished the 54-hole event with a score of 210 (68, 68, 70) and was tied with Dakota Clark of Oklahoma Baptist at 10-under par. The Riverside Country Club member ended up securing the win in a playoff. He said not only was winning a memorable moment but getting the victory early in the season takes some pressure off going forward.

“It takes a lot of the pressure off for sure,” he said. “My goal coming into this season was to get an individual victory. To do it right off the bat in the first tournament feels great, now I can focus on the team. We have a great team this year so hopefully we can continue with this momentum.”

As a team the Muleriders won the event, their second straight at the Hefner course. That’s also the school’s fourth win in the last calendar year under coach Ben Sanders. The overall score of 22-under, 842 is the second lowest ever in the university’s history. Timmerman’s tournament score was the fourth lowest in the school’s Div. II era dating back to 1995. Poised to have a big year along with Yorkton’s Kade Johnson, Timmerman said the success is exciting to be a part of.

“I don’t our program has seen this success before so to be a part of it feels awesome and to share it with Kade is pretty cool,” Timmerman said.

Next up for the Muleriders is the Northeastern State Classic on Sept. 16 and 17.

Kydd assists Indiana Wesleyan in team win

Regina’s Jacob Kydd put together a 36-hole plus-10 performance and helped the Indiana Wesleyan men’s golf team win their second straight event.

The Royal Regina Golf Club member finished in a tie for fifth after shooting rounds of 75 and 79 at the IWU Fall Invitational. The fifth-place finish follows a tie for sixth in Kydd’s first tournament of the season on Aug. 30.

The Wildcats, a school governed by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), travel to Peru, Indiana for the Battle at the Rock on Sept. 16 and 17.

Schmidt claims top-3 spot at Lewis-Clark State

Regina’s Alex Schmidt also performed well to start the year at her school, Lewis-Clark State College.

Schmidt shot a two-round total of 160 to finish third in the Argo Invitational in Great Falls, Mont. The Royal Regina member’s strong showing helped the Warriors finish second in the team competition.

Schmidt and the Warriors will travel to Helena, Mont. for the Fighting Saints Invitational on Sept. 23 and 24 for their next event.

Three of five Saskatchewan golfers competing at the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship in Scarborough, Ont. have made the cut and have a shot at impressive finishes in two days.

Delisle’s Colin Coben is just outside the top-10 sitting in a tie for 12^th after carding a one-over, 72 on Wednesday. The Valleyview Regional Golf Course member is at plus-four through 36 holes.

Regina’s Ken Rodgers posted one of the top rounds of the day shooting two-under, 69 dropping his overall score to eight-over. The Saskatchewan champion is tied for 24^th.

Rick Hallberg was also well below the cutline of plus-14. The Weyburn product followed an opening round of 76 with a four-over, 75 during the second round to place himself in a tie for 33^rd at nine-over.

Rick Hillestad, the Saskatchewan Super Senior champion shot eight-over on Wednesday, he was two shots back of the cut. Swift Current’s Brent Wotypka was also in the field, he improved an a 12-over round one to shoot plus-eight, 79 but also missed the cut.

As a team Saskatchewan performed well finishing in fourth place at 12-over. Alberta won the team competition.

American Gene Elliott is the leader at five-under par.

Hallberg will be the first Saskatchewan golfer to tee off on Thursday for round three, the Golf Kenosee player is on the blocks at 6:30 a.m. local time. Rodgers’ group starts at 6:45 a.m and Coben will begin his round at 7:55 a.m. and

The complete leaderboard can be found here.

Another year, and another spectacular Synergy 8 Community Builders “Drive for Kid’s” fundraising event.

For the past 11 years the Saskatoon based group of community-oriented people have organized a fundraising golf tournament and gala dinner to raise money for certain initiatives they feel fit with a priority on healthcare. Once again this year the group, with the assistance of over 60 volunteers and 90 corporate sponsors raised an estimated $200,000 to purchase equipment for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation (JPCHF). Synergy 8 founder Troy Davies said the event held on Aug. 27 at the Willows and Prairieland Park thrived again this year.

“It was a huge success,” he told Golf Saskatchewan. “The rain cleared up for golf and for the dinner event we went with a different set up with a centre stage to bring the crowd closer together and I think that went over really well. Darren Clarke and Blair O’Neal were phenomenal and as advertised. A bonus was we were able to fly in Riders’ quarterback Cody Fajardo for the golf that morning to allow the golfers to meet him. He’s a gem and a really great guy and plans on coming back next year.”

Saskatoon born NHLer Eric Gryba was on hand again this year, Calgary Flames goaltender Cam Talbot has also attended and contributed live auction items in the past. There is a splash of different sports stars involved in the event, but the focus remains on golf when it comes to the feature speakers. Davies believes the group has a unique and successful angle focusing on the sport.

“We feel that golf is the way to go for us anyways, it works well,” he said. “We do bring in some NHL guys and a mix of football now too but ultimately golf is our main directive. We think our youth golf in Saskatchewan is taking off and even Canadian athletes we’re starting to see them make an impact. Whether it’s tennis or golf or whatever it might be. To see the likes of a Brooke Henderson get more Saskatchewan golfers more engaged and if we can help promote that and raise money at the same time, that’s our mandate.”

The Synergy 8 group has “spread the wealth” across several worthy causes over the years. This year was the fifth time the organization chose the JPCHF as a benefactor. On Sept. 5 the province celebrated the grand opening of the 176-room facility. Patients will start being taken on Sept. 29. For Davies, a trained emergency medical technician and Saskatoon city councilor, the day was one he will never forget.

“It’s a huge day for us, we’ve partnered with Brynn (Boback-Lane, JPCHF CEO) and her team and we know they’ve worked hard for 20 years at this. Brad Wall was at our event in 2010 and he announced the hospital was going to happen. To have the Minister of Health come to our event and announce it now happened nine years later and that we were able to raise enough money to purchase the equipment for the pediatric trauma room this year thanks to our sponsors so, it was a huge success for everyone,” Davies said.

Since the inception of the Synergy 8 group, the “Drive for Kid’s” campaign has raised $4.5 million. The group takes a couple months off to reorganize before planning begins for next year. Davies said the 2020 event is already shaping up to be another major win for the province and healthcare, as well as golf fans.

“In December we will back into negotiations and looking to bring in some big names from a golf perspective again,” he said.

“Right now it’s looking pretty promising, that’s all I can say but, we have a big name planned so far.”

All Elmwood Golf and Country Club head professional Brennan Rumancik seems to do is win.

Rumancik went back-to-back at the PGA of Sask Tour Championship on Tuesday.

After claiming the title in 2018 at Dakota Dunes Golf Links, Rumancik did it again in less-than-desirable elements at the course south of Saskatoon. Rumancik opened day two of the match play event in the semi-finals, after securing a pair of victories on Monday.

In the semis, Rumancik was 3 down through six holes against Kevin Dietz. Both players went back and forth, with Rumancik taking the victory on the 18th green. With the rain pouring down and the temperature low enough to almost be counted on one hand, an even more dramatic match was in store in the final.

Rumancik came into the event as the second seed. His opponent in the final was top-seeded Ryan Wells of Prince Albert. 18 holes solved nothing between Rumancik and Wells, so a playoff was needed. The first playoff hole proved fruitless, but Rumancik put his foot down on the second.

The reigning PGA of Sask ‘Player of the Year’ drained a 20-footer for birdie to claim the 2019 Tour Championship.

The final event of the summer season was the third win for Rumancik. He won the Oakcreek Zone Championship up in Nipawin, then won the professional flight of the Pro Junior event at his home course in Swift Current.

With two straight seasons of three event wins, including those aforementioned Tour Championships, Rumancik makes a strong case to repeat as the Player of the Year. Rumancik will have to wait until late October to learn his fate regarding the prestigious honour.

The PGA of Sask Awards Show runs October 29-30, in conjunction with their Merchandise Show, at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon.

Story originally published on www.swiftcurrentonline.com
Authored by Eric James

Delisle’s Colin Coben and Weyburn’s Rick Hallberg are the top ranked locals after one round of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship in Scarborough. Ont.

Early on Coben, playing in his 31^st national golf event, was sharing the lead at one-under par. The Vallleyview Regional Golf Course member shot three-over to sit in a seven-player logjam in 20^th after the opening round.

Hallberg, who plays out of Golf Kenosee finished his opening round at Cedar Brae Golf Club at plus-five. Hallberg is tied for 33^rd.

Saskatchewan Super Senior Champion (65+) Rick Hillestad shot eight-over on Tuesday, the Saskatoon resident is tied for 85^th overall. In the Super Senior division Hillestad sits in a tie for 18^th.

Saskatchewan Senior Men’s Champion Ken Rodgers of Regina posted an 81, 10-over to sit in a tie for 96^th. Swift Current’s Brent Wotypka carded a first-round score of plus-12, 83.

As a team Saskatchewan sits in eighth place at plus-13. Ontario and Alberta are tied for the lead at two-over.

The second round will be played Wednesday beginning at 5:30 a.m. local time.

To see more from the leaderboard click here.

Despite turning 41-years-old at the end of the year, Tyler Wright has had a Hall of Fame worthy amateur golf career. The Regina product is one of three inductees that will be enshrined into the Saskatchewan Hall later this month in Saskatoon.

Wright was an active child living in the Queen City playing sports 12 months of the year including golf, a pastime he picked up from his grandpa Louie who lived a few doors down the street. Grandpa Louie made Wright a set of clubs from some of his dad’s clubs and he’d hit balls in the backyard or alley when he was about six or seven years old. When Wright was nine he attended a junior clinic at the Regent Par 3 course that included a couple rounds at the Royal Regina Golf Club (RRGC) under the tutelage of Joe Trudell. As they say, the rest is history. Wright got his first membership at the Royal when he was 10 and played an estimated 25 to 30 rounds. From the next year through high school he averaged well over 100 rounds per summer. In 1990 he won his first organized tournament and the fire simply burned brighter for him.

“I don’t know if there was ever a conscious moment where I thought I was going to be good at this game until much later,” Wright explained to Golf Saskatchewan. “I started just loving the game and then I started playing tournaments. I won in my eyes, my first significant tournament, the James Tire Junior Invitational was the name of it, it was at the Wascana Country Club. It was provincial class golf course and tournament. I managed to beat Luke Sheard coming down the stretch, I shot 90-90. That was kind of the beginning of when I thought, you know what? I could be pretty good at this game.”

Junior success continued to follow Wright, he won the gold medal at the 1993 Saskatchewan Summer Games and his team won the under-13 gold medal. He began to win his age group around Regina in events and club championships, but his first provincial tournament turned out to be a real ‘watershed’ moment and turning point in his young career in Yorkton.

“It was the first time where I went, well I’m capable of this but if I don’t put the work in,” Wright admitted. “I think that spring I was spending a little more time hanging out with my grade 8 friends and getting ready for that high school transition. Once I came back from that I realized that if I want to do this it’s going to have to be a more of a full commitment.”

He went on to win the Regina High School Championship in 1995, the City Junior Championship in 1997 and the provincial high school gold medal in 1996. Wright also made the Saskatchewan juvenile team in 1995. His provincial high school victory caught the eyes of several American colleges and he chose to attend Idaho State University on a Div. 1 scholarship. Along with the scholarship he was awarded the Leddy-Heywood Scholarship on two occasions. The substantial financial bursary was given to students that excelled at sport and other aspects of high school life. Wright contributed his time playing golf to that accomplishment.

“It’s not meant to be a cliché that golf is a gentleman’s sport. You learn a lot of life lessons, learning to manage yourself in an individual sport like golf is a completely different experience than managing yourself on a team. You have people to pick you up or a coach to take care of you, you have several supports, in golf’s case you don’t have those supports. You must learn to be self confident, to be resilient, when you are struggling on a course, we all know this. When you play you are going to have a bad shot or bad holes, how you respond to that directly correlates with life,” Wright said.

Wright redirected his college career to the University of Regina and played basketball for the Cougars for five seasons while still playing competitive golf in the summers. He is a five-time member of the Saskatchewan Willingdon Cup team (2001, 2005, 14, 15, and 17). He finished in seventh at the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship in 2015, at that point the highest ever finish for a Saskatchewanian at the mid-am. He bettered that with a fifth-place finish at the Wascana in 2017. A lengthy list of wins kept piling up in and around Regina as well including just this year when he won the second provincial Mid-Master’s (40+) title at the RRGC. Wright was already selected for the Hall before that win given his success. When he heard the news from SGHOF secretary Brian Lee, he was speechless.

“You wish to leave a legacy in all walks of life,” he said. “In this case leaving a legacy in a sense for my family, friends, and children making the Hall is hard to put into words. I dreamed of winning golf tournaments and fortunately the legacy has resulted with me being honoured with this induction, it’s very special. When Brian called me it was absolute elation,” he beamed.

Wright will be enshrined along with fellow Wascana member and mentor Randy Gilewich and Gary Brandon on Sept. 21 at the Riverside Country Club. He said going in with those two and joining the prestigious list of past inductees is remarkable.

“There is so many of them that have supported me and sent their congratulations,” he said. “Guys that you emulate, you want to be like. You probably want to compete with them in tournaments and beat them in tournaments, to be in the Hall with them is very special. Those individuals will forever be people I aspire to be like on and off the golf course.”

Wright was able to win his most recent event this summer with his daughters Scarlett and Indyana at his side along with his wife Jennifer. His father, Larry was his caddy and his mother walked the grounds of the Royal showing her support. Wright said their support has been immeasurable through out his career and life and any future wins is more about them than his own selfishness.

“I don’t think it’s as much about modelling the winning, of course I want to win, of course I will set those goals, of course I’m going to play provincial tournaments and represent Golf Saskatchewan at national tournaments. I think it’s the process to get there that needs to be modelled. The practice I put in I think is something that I think is of the most value to children. It’s what I valued as a young kid,” he said.

Wright is currently the vice-principal at O’Neill High School in Regina. He was inducted into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame alongside his father in 1995.

Tickets for the gala in Saskatoon are on sale now and available here.

You can hear much more from Wright who spoke with Golf Saskatchewan’s Clark Stork following the announcement.