INNISFIL, ON— After finishing the opening round at one-under, Aurora’s Peter Willis looked to hang on to his lead during the final round of the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Baka Wireless Public Player Championship, Sept. 9, at National Pines Golf Club in Innisfil.
It would not be easy for the 36-year-old Willis who had to fend off challengers from his final group along with the second to last group. Willis remained calm and despite all the moves going on around him, was able to tap in for par and the win on the 18th, finishing the day two-over (74) and the tournament one-over.
“I played well during the opening round before a slip up at the end,” said Willis. “I think over the two days my ball striking was very good. I was able to make a lot of up and downs to save par, which is pretty much what kept me going.”
Two shots back of Willis were a pair of players: Burlington’s Barrett McCarthy and Oakville’s Derek Dalziel. Barrett finished the day at even par (72), while Dalziel was one-over (73) resulting in them each earning a share of the silver medal at three-over for the tournament.
“It was a good battle between myself and the two guys I was playing with. But I was able to grind out the win in the end. I was just taking some deep breaths out there and tried to finish off the round,” added Willis.
Rounding out the top five were Etobicoke’s John Contini at five-over for the tournament and Port Perry’s Shea Varty at six-over.
“This win is definitely one of the tops for me so far. A GAO win is always a good win, as Rob Cowan said at the Champion of Champions. I am honoured to win this event with all of the great public players who have won it.”
In the Net A flight, Sarnia’s Nick Powell was able to capture the title after his second straight round of two-under (70). In second was Mississauga’s David Nelson at even par, Erin’s Roland Hill was third at one-over, Oakville’s Bogdan Szybalski finished fourth at two-over and Bolton’s David Hynd and Peter Pusitz tied in fifth at three-over.
Nick Powell won the Net A Flight and receives the gold medal from GAO Executive Director Steve Carroll.
As for the Net B flight, Markham’s Fred Bowler fired an eight-under (64) during the final round to move to five-under for the tournament to take the win. Second was Toronto’s Rizalde Cuachon at four-under for the tournament, third was Toronto’s John Boyack at two-under, fourth was Mississauga’s Mark Blake at one-over and completing the top five was Allan Gregorio from Toronto and Toronto’s Peter Corbett at two-over.
Fred Bowler captured the Net Flight B division and receives his gold from GAO Tournament Manager Larry Longo.
For the final leaderboard for the Championship Division, visit the tournament site at: http://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao1425/index.htmand for the Net Division visit: http://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao14136/index.htm
The Baka Wireless Public Player Championship has been contested since 1958. It was suspended between 1984 and 1995. This year’s event is a two-round competition with a Championship and Net A and B flight. Former champions include: Ontario Golf Hall of Famer Gerry Kesselring, Ken Trowbridge, Dave Bunker and Lucas Kim. Craig Loughry holds the record for the most victories with four.
The Golf Association of Ontario would like to thank the volunteers and staff from National Pines Golf Club, along with event sponsor Baka Wireless for their support of golf in Ontario.
