OLDS — They didn’t win the Alberta Senior Men’s championship tournament, held Aug. 5-7 at the Olds Golf Club, but local golfers Keith Newton and Mark Schultz are pretty happy with their game.
Grant Oh of Calgary won the tournament with a three-round total of 208, eight under par and three strokes ahead of New Zealander James Varnam, who who golfs throughout the globe. Varnam shot a three-round total of 211, five under par.
This was Oh’s first-ever senior men’s victory.
Newton finished tied for 14th with a three-round total of 227, 11 strokes over par (75,77,75).
Schultz ended up tied for 38th with a total of 236, 20 strokes over (76,77,83).
Two other former Olds Golf Club members made the top 24 as well: Wade Thurber (76,71,82 = 229, 13 over par) and Kerry Jamieson (78,76, 80=234, 18 over par).
Varnam birdied five holes in a row on the front nine and ended up tying Oh at four-under heading into the back nine.
But in the end, Oh was just too strong, birdieing four holes on the back nine, including 17 and 18 for the victory.
The first two days of the tournament saw hot and sunny conditions.
However, the last day brought rain, which didn’t let up until well into the afternoon.
During an interview, Newton said this is about the eighth such tournament he’s played in. His goal is always to try to finish in the top 10.
So far he’s done that about three times, so he’s pleased to have finished just outside that group.
His second goal is to finish in the top 24, which he did achieve – so he didn’t have to go through qualifying next year.
“I’ve always managed to do that so far, but I’m getting older, so some day that will come to an end,” he said.
Overall, Newton was pleased with his game, especially given the windy, rainy conditions on Day 3.
“Lots of guys don’t really like those conditions and I always kind of – I enjoy it,” he said.
“I don’t know, it’s just – it’s a personal challenge and I find when the conditions get crappy, I kind of think that it favours me because I have a pretty decent short game. (I’m) a good chipper and not a bad putter and so I was happy with that day the most.”
Newton was especially pleased with his performance during the first round.
“I was really happy with the first 17 holes and then I just had a brain crap on the last hole to make a double bogey,” he said.
“Day 2, I didn’t have much going for me but I just kinda hung on and hung in there.”
Schultz was fairly satisfied with his game the first couple of days.
“I just had a hard time with my putter. I didn’t make any good puts but I hit the ball really, really well the first two days,” he said.
“And I was pretty happy with making the cut and making it to the third day.”
The final round on Friday was a challenge though, thanks to the rain and wind.
“I struggled a lot with just my swing and stuff. But all in all, I was pretty happy with the way things turned out,” he said.
Oh said he changed his approach on Friday, given the fact Varnam was playing so well.
“James was throwing five birdies at me on the front nine so I had to get my act together and start making birdies too,” he said during an interview.
“I kind of buckled down and instead of playing passive, I started to play a little more aggressive too in the back (nine).
“Instead of trying to hit the middle of the greens and trying to two-putt, I was actually trying to go for birdies -- starting to go after the pins because James was making birdies.”
Oh said it feels “really good” to have won his first Alberta senior men’s tournament.
