Chipman wins his first Champions crown
Jaret Chipman, pictured above, won the men’s division of the Champion of Champions tournament by five strokes.
Jaret Chipman capped an excellent summer of golf by winning the men’s division Saturday at the 73rd Annual Walt McCollum Niagara District Champions of Champions golf tournament at the St Catharines Golf and Country Club.
The Cherry Hill member carded a two under par 70 to record a five-shot victory over Bridgewater’s Mike Nevinger and Twenty Valley’s Jacob Ohanian.
The 24-year-old Niagara Falls resident started his season with a bang by winning the Burlington Golf and Country Club Invitational and then followed that up by making the semifinals of the Ontario’s men’s match play championship, making the cut at the Ontario amateur championship and then coming within a couple of bad shots of making the cut at the Canadian amateur championship.
Competing at the ultra-tough Cherry Hill men’s club championship, Chipman won by nine strokes after firing rounds of 71, 75 and 73.
“It is always a pleasure to play with (Dave) Bunker, (Joe) Miszk, Matty Graham and a lot of the other good players we have at Cherry Hill. It was really good and it was a good boost of confidence to win there.”
Playing against such strong competition at the club level helps Chipman improve as a golfer.
“Every day I get to go out and play against some of the best players in Ontario and it’s a great way to keep your game sharp throughout the summer.”
And playing at Cherry Hill doesn’t hurt either.
“We are playing one of the hardest golf courses in Ontario,” the former Canisius scholarship golfer said. “When you are playing a harder golf course every day, coming to other courses you feel a little bit more confident.”
Chipman was thrilled to record his first Champion of Champions victory.
“It is pretty cool seeing faces from all over the region and to be able to do it back here at St. Catharines where I was a member for four or five years as a junior was great. It’s definitely good to be back out here and the golf course is amazing.”
Chipman’s round didn’t start great.
“I hit it well all day but I got off to a bad start when I made a double bogey on my second hole. But I caught fire by making an eagle on sixth. I followed it up with two birdies on seven and eight and I kind of just rode the hot wave.”
His success started off the tee.
“I drove the ball well all day and I took driver on pretty much every single hole. I was hitting it long and giving myself some good looks for birdie.”
Leaderboard: Jaret Chipman, Cherry Hill 70; Mike Nevinger, Bridgewater 75; Jacob Ohanian, Twenty Valley 75; Isaiah Ellis, Lookout Point 76; Chris Iafrate, St. Catharines G&CC 77; Jon Hiller, Cardinal Lakes 78; Jay Hart, Dunnville 78; Jeromy Hopkins, Port Colborne 78; Jordan Lake, Rockway Vineyards 79; Maric Brooks, Niagara National 79; Bryan Bieksa, Sawmill 81; Ricky Watson, Niagara-on-the-Lake 82; Phil Janzen, Freedom Oaks 83; David Toulouse, Grand Niagara 83; Connor McGinty, Niagara Falls 83; Hong-Ki Lee, Beechwood 84; Justin Krawczuk, Willodell 85; Aidan Hawkins, Whisky Run 94; Aaron Beauparlant, Long Beach 95; Zac Milani, Rolling Meadows DNS.
