Dyck tops field at Port Colborne
Ryan Dyck got off to a quick start Sunday at the Port Colborne Country Club and then hung on for a one-shot victory on the latest stop on the Niagara Men’s Golf Tour.
The Cherry Hill member’s four under par 68 was good enough for a one-shot triumph over Jaret Chipman and Zach Hallborg.
“I started really well. I was four under through five. I made a couple of good pitches and putts at the beginning and just kind of coasted from there.”
The key shot in the round came late in the day.
“I knew I had to make par on 18 and I hit a really good drive which left me a wedge in and gave me some comfort.”
Last year’s overall points runner-up recorded his first tour win of the season in what has been an up and down year for the former NCAA Division 2 (now Division 1) scholarship golfer at Lindenwood University in Missouri.
“It has gone pretty well. I have played good in some one-day stuff and our club championships and didn’t play as well as I wanted in the Golf Ontario events.”
After placing 30th at last year’s Canadian mid-amateur, he tied for 52nd at this year’s provincial mid-amateur and missed the cut at the Ontario amateur.
Winning the club championship at Cherry Hill was no easy task.
“I had to take down one of our other men’s tour guys, Jaret Chipman, and we’ve have a bunch of other good players at the club as well who don’t play on the men’s tour but they play a lot of GAO stuff.”
Dyck also won the Brook Invitational at Lookout Point for the second straight time. He last won the event in 2019.
Prior to Port Colborne, Dyck had tied for second and placed third and sixth in previous tour events.
Winning scores for the tournaments have been -4, -7, -2 and -4.
“We’ve got some new guys in and it has really kept it competitive. Jaret and Aiden (Gavey) have played really well this year and I have been trying to hang around,” Dyck said. “Even the guys right behind have been right around par or a few under. As a convenor, I am really happy with the level of competition.”
The top 40 players in the points race advance to the tour championship Sept.17 at Lookout Point Golf and Country Club and with double the points awarded in the final event, six or seven players are still in the race for the overall points title.
“It should be really good and there are a lot of guys excited to play Lookout. It should be fun and exciting,” Dyck said.
Points leaders: Aidan Gavey 643; Jaret Chipman 632; Ryan Dyck 608; Kham Vong 531; Trevor Low 492; Zach Hallborg 492; Brendan Canning 468; R.J. Derhodge 447; Andrew Dagneau 438; Maric Brooks 438
Port Colborne leaderboard: Dyck 68; Hallborg 69; Chipman 69; Brooks 71; Low 71; Brandon McGregor 73; Vong 73; Derhodge 74; Gavey 74; Lukas Pavkovic 75; Colin Buckborough 75.
