Niagara men’s tour off and running
Aiden Gavey. won the first stop of the Niagara Men’s Golf Tour last Sunday at Grand Niagara.
Jeffrey Clarke made a solid debut Sunday at Grand Niagara at the opening stop of the Niagara Men’s Golf Tour.
The 31-year-old Milton native, who nows lives in Hamilton, hit 14 greens in regulation and finished with 10 straight pars en route to a one over par 73 to finish three shots behind winner Aiden Gavey.
The Glen Cairn member was coming off a third-place finish in the St. Thomas Early Bird Invitational this spring after he bogeyed two late holes to lose by two.
“It was similar to Grand Niagara. I was in the mix to win and just couldn’t get it done in terms of the putter.”
Clarke is in his first year on the Niagara tour.
“I am good friends with Zach Hallborg, Hamish (Nagrani) and Ryan Dyck. They are a bunch of guys I played golf with growing up at some of the Golf Ontario and Golf Canada events and they invited me out this year. Now that I am a little bit more local it is feasible for me to drive down. I was just looking for some more competitive play and competitive tournaments and it is on Sunday which is nice.”
His first impressions of the tour are excellent.
“It was good. It was a wet and windy day that’s for sure but it is very well set up, the live scoring was great and the guys were great. It was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the rest of the year.”
He has lofty goals for the tour.
“A couple of wins would be nice. I feel like I have been knocking on the door with St. Thomas earlier this year. I have been playing well but I can’t seem to get the ball to drop for birdies but I know my time will come. Maybe I can get a win under my belt and continue to get better.”
Clarke’s golf resume includes: playing in eight Ontario amateurs and seven national championships; competing four years at Brock and being named an Ontario University Athletics all-star in 2012 and 2013; placing 18th in the Ontario men’s amateur in 2022; finishing eighth in the Ontario mid-amateur in 2018 and 21st in 2019; and, capturing the Glen Cairn club championship.
Gavey picked up right where he left off last season. The 24-year-old native of Caledonia was last year’s overall points champion and a three-time tournament winner. The former NCAA Division 2 scholarship golfer at Rogers State in Oklahoma was the 2022 runner-up at the Ontario men’s amateur championship.
Rounding out the top 10 at Grand Niagara were Dyck 74; Mike Woodhouse 74; Nolan Vonkalckreuth 74 Jaret Chipman 74; Morgan Daly 75; Charlie Cooper 77; Brendan Canning 77; and, Jim Briggs 78.
Next stop on the tour is July 7 at Willow Valley.
