GHSC News Item: September 27, 2024 – Ontario Open Done (2024) 

Reported by: George Supol, GHSC Hickory Ambassador

Niagara-on-the-Lake GC (Sunday)

On Sunday, September 22, 22 players played the historical 1895 course, Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL), in two-player hickory golf scramble teams. This was a 9-hole warm-up for the two-day Championship and it started at 4:00 PM. Four teams finished with even-par scores of 36, though one team (Nick Waterfield and Eddie Woolwine) finished first through “retrogression” with a birdie on the last hole. NOTL is recognized to be the oldest golf course in North America still operating on its original location. After the round, the players gathered together inside the clubhouse dining room for dinner and prizes.

 Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Course

Whirlpool GC (Monday & Tuesday)

On Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24, GHSC ran its second official Ontario Open Hickory Golf Championship at Whirlpool GC in Niagara Falls, Ontario. This was 36 holes of competitive golf, played with 4 divisions (Open, Senior, Legends and Ladies). A mix of gross scores and net scores were used to determine the individual flight winners (1st low gross and 1st low net) and the overall Champion (tournament low gross).

According to Niagara Parks …

Whirlpool Golf Course stands as one of Canada’s most esteemed public golf destinations, boasting a rich history dating back to its opening in 1951. Crafted by the legendary architect Stanley Thompson, Whirlpool represents the culmination of his illustrious career, embodying the essence of his masterful course designs. Nestled alongside the breathtaking Niagara River Gorge, the course showcases Thompson’s signature style with its classic parkland layout and strategic hole placement, offering golfers a delightful mix of challenges and scoring opportunities.

 Whirlpool Golf Course

For 2024, a total of 34 registered players attended, including 29 two-day players and 5 one-day players. For 2023, we had 41 registered players including 28 two-day players and 13 one-day players. Of the two-day players for both years, there were 4 U.S. players and 1 player from Alberta. This was the first year that both competitive rounds were held at the same golf course.

For two days, Whirlpool played fair but difficult. The fairways and rough were lush and soft, and the greens played fast enough (9.0 on the Stimpmeter). Winds were generally light and the skies were overcast most of the time. The air was heavy, so balls did not travel as far. Light rain was present only for the start of the first day though it threatened the entire second day. The players played lift, clean and place in their own fairway on both days mainly because of the softness and the early Monday rain, the continuous threat of rain on Tuesday and to ensure consistency of play.

Championship Day #1 (Monday)

On the first day, Ben Plaunt and Hugh Cameron of the Open Division shot 80 (+8) and 82, respectively, followed by three other players shooting 85, 89 and 97. These scores were from the red tees which played to 5,700 yards.

Eddie Woolwine, Jeffrey Forgrave, Jeff Rogers and Bill Southall of the Senior Division shot 80 (+8), 81, 82 and 84 from the forward yellow tees which played to a distance of 5,200 yards. Another five players shot higher scores in the 80’s while three shot in the 90’s.

Bob West, Murray McRae, and Paul Adams of the Legends Division shot scores of 85 (+13), 86 and 89, respectively, also from the yellow tees.

Ariane Macdonald shot a respectable 117 on the first day from the Ladies’ yellow+ tees.

A GHSC Ontario Open dinner was held on Monday evening at Johnnie Rocco’s restaurant in Niagara Falls.

Championship Day #2 (Tuesday)

The relative score standings of the eventual winning players after Day #1 were essentially mirrored on Day #2. In general, half of the field improved their scores, while the other half had higher scores. This is probably normal for most two-day hickory golf tournaments, provided the weather doesn’t change too much.

Ben Plaunt, who hails from Edmonton Alberta, scored 75 (+3), for a two-day total of 155, the lowest gross score in the tournament. Ben is therefore our 2024 Championship winner. Hugh Cameron from Renfrew Ontario (near Ottawa) scored 85 for a two-day total of 167, 12 strokes behind Ben. Hugh won the Open Division Silver Medal. Tom Johnson, a well-known and respected U.S. player from Ohio, scored an 82 for a two-day total of 171, 4 strokes behind Hugh. Tom is a past winner of the “Fall Classic” predecessor tournament in 2022. Doug Bowslaugh was the net winner of the Open Division Bronze Medal with a two-day net score of 154. Jim Burton, The Grateful Golfer from Mattawa Ontario, shot a 95 for a two-day total of 180. Unfortunately, Rick Woeckener was unable to attend and defend his 2023 Championship title.

Eddie Woolwine continued his excellent play with a second 80 gross score, for a two-day total of 160. He is our Senior Division Silver Medal winner. Jeffrey Forgrave took the 2nd place Senior Division Bronze Medal by shooting an 83 for a two-day gross score of 164. Jeff Rogers shot an 85 gross, for a two-day total of 167, taking the 3rd place gross. Jeff also shot a net 151, the lowest net score in the tournament thereby taking 1st low net Bronze Medal for the Senior Division.

Bob West, Murray McRae, and Paul Adams of the Legends Division shot scores of 86, 88 and 87, respectively. These gentlemen finished with combined scores of 171, 174 and 176, respectively, for the event. Thus, Bob West won the Silver Medal for 1st low gross. Murray McRae won the Bronze Medal for 2nd low gross. Paul Adams and George Kelly, both American players, tied for the Bronze Medal for 1st low net shooting scores of 156.

In the Ladies Division, Ariane MacDonald from Cobourg Ontario continued her good play shooting 122 gross, for a two-day total of 239 gross, 153 net. She was awarded the Ladies Silver Medal.

Here is a link to our 2024 Scoring Summary.

This summary contains gross and net scoring results by Division as well as closest-to-the-pin and draw prize winners. 

For net scoring, registered Golf Canada/Ontario Hickory Handicaps, SOHG Hickory, or modern golf handicaps are used, in that order. The Handicap Factor is now calculated using the best 8 of the player’s last 20 rounds and updated with each new round played. The Handicap Factor travels with the golfer from course to course and is adjusted up or down depending on the length and difficulty of the course played, resulting in a “Course Handicap”. Practically speaking, a hickory handicap may be obtained with as few as three scorecards. Barbara Allan is our GHSC Official in charge of tournament handicaps. Players are reminded to post the scores for their two tournament rounds for official Golf Canada/Ontario hickory handicap purposes.

The Tournament Organizing Committee for this year’s Championship would like to thank all players who attended both Niagara-on-the-Lake and Whirlpool. We believe that this year’s event was our best yet, and the attending players contributed both their energy and competitive spirit and helped us make the experience a truly special one.

Thanks also to our musical GHSC member, Patrick Potter, for his bagpiping on both Monday and Tuesday. Samples of his piping are available by clicking the buttons in the column to the left of this write-up.

Tom Johnson won the draw prize of a new golf bag donated by Lorne Emery. Thanks, Lorne for your donation!

A special thanks also goes to Kelly Leonard for the donation of a beautiful 23-degree hickory-shafted, handmade short spoon, with a head made from Purpleheart wood. This draw prize was won by Bill Robertson.

Thanks to Rob Ward, Whirlpool Pro, and his fine group of employees at Whirlpool who made us all feel special. This includes the friendly groundskeeping crews whom we interacted with, the food and beverage staff, and the pro shop staff.

Thanks also to Owen Howells, Assistant Pro, and the NOTL management and staff who treated us so well on Sunday for our warmup scramble.

Here is a link to The Grateful Golfer’s web post about his participation in our 2024 Ontario Open Hickory Golf Championship. We always enjoy reading Jim Burton’s articles about playing his hickory sticks.

For next year, we hope that all re-attending players will entice at least one friend to register for the 2025 Ontario Open Hickory Golf Championship. 

Below are some pics we took at our Ontario Open gatherings. Click on an image to see a full version. We hope to add a few more that were taken by the players themselves. The first several pics are from NOTL. The balance was from Whirlpool.

(Another fun historical golf experience.)