Champions of Champions postponed to spring
Lookout Point junior boys champion Ben Hebert was supposed to play in Saturday’s 72nd Annual Walt McCollum Niagara District Champion of Champions golf tournament. The event had been postponed to the spring.
Mother Nature has forced organizers to pull the plug on the Saturday’s 72nd Annual Walt McCollum Niagara District Champion of Champions golf tournament at Niagara National Golf and Country, formerly the International Country Club.
The tournament has been rescheduled to early spring 2022 with the date and location to be determined.
“While golfers are prepared for wet conditions, the two inches of rain that has fallen over the last few days, paired with the forecast this Friday and Saturday has led us to make the difficult decision to cancel the Walt McCollum Niagara District Champion of Champions on Saturday,” a press release from the organizing committee said. “The decision to cancel is not taken lightly and we understand the disappointment that this will inevitably cause to everyone involved.”
The last year the tournament was cancelled was 1977.
“This is not the decision the committee wants to make,” said Carrie Juile, who is on the organizing committee along with Niagara National general manager Tom Vanderlip, Beechwood head pro John White, Niagara-on-the-Lake head pro Billy Simkin and St. Catharines head pro Cameron Thin. “We have decided that Mother Nature just does not want us to host the 2021 Champion of Champions in the fall.”
Scheduled to compete in the junior boys division were: Rockway Vineyards’ Jakob Dugout; Bridgewater’s Adam Scarlett; St. Catharines’ Morgan Daly; Beechwood’s Owen Sartor; Sawmill’s Nathan Freure; Brock’s Anthony Sartor; Rolling Meadows’ Brady Perry; Long Beach’s Wyatt Seburn; Willodell’s Angelo Butera; Lookout Point’s Ben Hebert; Twenty Valley’s Caleb Shorthouse; and, Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Sam Walker.
Making up the junior girls field are: Bridgewater’s Mikayla Lacey; Brock’s Hazel Templeman; and, Sawmill’s Casey Kenney.
Competitors in the championship men’s division are Long Beach’s Dino Maddalena; Niagara-on-the-Lake’s James Grigjanis-Meusel; Bridgewater’s Mike Athoe; Rolling Meadows’ Pat Purbs; Whiskey Run’s James Correia; Lookout Point’s Isaiah Ellis; St. Catharines’ Brandon McGregor; Freedom Oaks’ Casey Chymko; Sawmill’s Mike Woodhouse; Port Colborne’s Stephen Grano; Rockway Vineyards; Kham Vong; Twenty Valley’s Kyle Stephenson; Niagara Falls’ Ken Wake; Cardinal Lakes’ Adam Crumb; Niagara National’s Richard Gibson; Willodell’s Bill Zizian; Grand Niagara’s Donald Cooke; and, Beechwood’s Mike Maves.
Scheduled to take part in the championship women’s division are: Cardinal Lakes’ Emily Zwier; Beechwood’s Julia Min; Rockway Vineyards’ Kennedy Bodfield; Niagara Falls’ Carrie Pennimpede; Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Yolanda Henry; Freedom Oaks’ Pat Bradt; St. Catharines’ Lindsay Voogt; Sawmill’s Donna Larson; Twenty Valley’s Karen Vanplew; Rolling Meadows’ Wendy Ozog; Cherry Hill’s Alexandra Taylor; Whiskey Run’s Michelle Fraser; Bridgewater’s Ruth McBride; and, Port Colborne’s Stefi Markovich.
Qualifying for the senior men’s division were: Rockway Vineyards’ Derek Divok; Bridgewater’s Doug Bunting; Niagara Falls’ Harry Janzen; Niagara National’s Gary McDonald; Freedom Oaks’ Mark Flegule; Willodell’s Dave Tieche: Long Beach’s Tom Briggs; Lookout Point’s Mike Pogor; Twenty Valley’s Mike Persia; Sawmill’s Rick Kozarichuk; Cardinal Lakes’ Roger Perry; Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Jim Panetta; Rolling Meadows’ Fred LaSelva; St. Catharines’ Brian Brushettt; Whiskey Run’s Roger Arsenault; Beechwood’s Bill Urquhart; and, Port Coborne’s Bob Goss.
Qualifying for the senior women’s division were: Bridgewater’s Julie Zulik; Sawmill’s Susie Sexton; Rolling Meadows’ Carol Irvin; Lookout Point’s Sharon Montgomery-Greenwood; Cardinal Lakes’ Janet Tone; Rockway Vineyards’ Betty Divok; St. Catharines’ Sue MacKenzie; Niagara Falls’ Sue Labatte; Long Beach’s Bev Parker; Whiskey Run’s Kim Bryanton; Freedom Oaks’ Sarah-Anne Smurlick; Port Colborne’s Barb Brown; Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Lisa Allen; Twenty Valley’s Sherry Christie; and, Niagara National’s Theresa Holmes.
A ceremony was also planned to recognize the first year of inductees into the Niagara Golf Wall of Recognition.
“All the certificates have been delivered to peoples’ homes if they reside in the Niagara region and if not they have been sent in the mail,” Julie said. “Unfortunately they didn’t get honoured in person like we would have liked but at least we were able to get the certificates delivered.”
Named to the wall in the player category were: Marlene Stewart Streit; Cathy Sherk; Judith Kyrinis; Bill Kozak; Elizabeth Earley; Jack Lowrey; Rod Spittle; Jeremy Julie; Ken Tarling; Sandy Billyard; Stefi Markovich; Jack Gibson; Matt Graham; Bill Tape; Nolan Piazza; Steve (Butch) Fellinger; Joe Miszk; Merle Noyes; Tess Trojan; Kennedy Bodfield; Gary Stickl; Luke DelGobbo; Les Westlake; Dave Mackenzie; Mark Derbyshire; Dave Fulton; Michael Riva; Helen Chyplik; Chris Critelli; Jim Briggs; Adam Short; Shirley Romanow; Bernie Bodogh; Robert (Bob) Goss.
Named to the professional category were: Gordon McInnis Sr.; John White; Alex Wilson; Jeff Roy; and, Bruce Murray.
Named to the superintendent category were: John Piccolo; Aldo Bortolon; Angelo Toto; Ted Bishop; and, John Taylor.
Named to the lifetime achievement category were Wayne Redshaw; Bob Davis; Walt McCollum; and, Harry Daniel.
