Despite the wet June, local golfers have not had any shortage of opportunities to play in organized tournaments at Myrtle Point Golf Course.
The course welcomed 96 golfers to the Steve Steel tournament on June 18. The tournament has been organized annually by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Local 76 to honour a Powell River millwright who died after his battle with cancer. The local donates $1,000 to Powell River General Hospital Foundation “in hopes of improving care in Powell River,” said local president Mike Verdiel.
Over the weekend of June 15 and 16 the course hosted its annual Men’s Malaspina Amateur golf tournament.
Up-and-coming junior golfer Josh Legge took second place with only one shot over the tournament’s winner, Matt Haddad from Qualicum Beach.
On the second day of the tournament, Legge and Haddad played together. Legge shot two under par on the first day of the tournament and Haddad shot two over, but on the second day Haddad shot par on the course while Legge went five over. Teeing off on hole number 16 both golfers were tied.
“We were both square with two holes left,” said Legge. “There was some pressure with people watching, but it was fun.”
Legge took the top spot in the A division gross with a score of 147. Robbie Potesta took second in the division with 151 and Jason Groshak took third with 152.
In B division Gordie Ross took first with 166 while Joe Gareau took second with 168 and Dave Mann finished with 172.
In the senior division Surrey’s Rene Svensson took top spot with 155 followed by Bob Price at 160 and Lorne Campbell from Pender Harbour who also scored 160.
Despite his narrow loss at the Malaspina, Legge has his sights set on preparing for British Columbia Golf’s Junior Boys tournament in Revelstoke, July 2 to 5.
“It’s all good practice,” he said. “This tournament was two rounds and Revelstoke will be four and there’s a cut after two days. They take the top 70 players.”
Legge played this same tournament last year, so he said he is going into it with “eyes open.”
At Revelstoke he will be matched up against 143 of the province’s top junior golfers. Legge qualified for the provincial tournament with his North Island zone win at Parksville and Nanaimo.
“My scores weren’t great but they were good enough to get in,” he said.
Legge, 18, is preparing to attend the University of Victoria when school starts in the fall and play on its golf team. He said that there is some pressure going into the upcoming tournament because his scholarship for school will be based on how well he does.
“The better I finish, the better the scholarship is,” he said.
Legge said that his strategy is to just focus on his game and not worry about how other golfers’ games are going.
“The toughest thing is just trying to beat yourself,” he said. “I’m just going to play my game and not feed off anyone’s mistakes.”
