Two days of golfing is what it took for the Westlock Golf Club to name its champions for 2013.
During the Aug. 25-26 weekend, 62 golfers descended on the course to brave some windy weather and some sunny weather to try and stake their claim to being the best golfers in Westlock.
When it was all over, three golfers stood atop the heap — Aaron McNelly, Erin Wiese and Chase Rau.
McNelly’s win in the men’s division was his fourth title, said course pro Kevin Lynes. Not only did McNelly claim the title, but he also took advantage of Sunday’s excellent weather conditions to tie the course record in carding a round of 69. Combined with his round of 79 on Saturday, he shot a 148 to win the tournament.
On the ladies’ side, Wiese emerged victorious.
“She held off her competition,” Lynes said, speaking of Wiese’s two-day score of 167.
The win marks the first time Wiese won the tournament, he added, giving him a chance to put “a new name on the trophy.”
Rau’s win came in the junior men’s division.
“He played steady both days, with scores in the low 80s,” Lynes said.
In shooting a two-day score of 162, Rau claimed the junior title for the second straight year.
In addition to claiming the junior title, Rau was also awarded a $1,000 scholarship courtesy of the Wiese family, in honour of Marjorie and Kenneth Wiese, Lynes said.
Each year the Wiese family sponsors a scholarship for the junior men’s and junior ladies’ champions, he said.
Overall, Lynes said the weekend went very well, with the exception of Saturday’s overcast and windy conditions.
However, Sunday more than made up for it, he said.
“It was good,” he said. “The weather was fantastic. You couldn’t complain about that.”
Since golf is a game played outdoors, he said the weather did have an impact on the scores all the golfers posted. On Saturday, the scores were on the whole higher than they normally would have been. But on Sunday they came back down, as evidenced by McNelly hitting the course record.
Lynes also said the men played two different games on each day. For the first round, they teed off from the back, blue tees. They used the middle, white tees for round two. This was done to give them a bit of a different look at each hole.
By winning their respective divisions, McNelly, Wiese, Rau and top-ranked senior Cal Adkins all qualified to join Lynes at the various PGA events he attends.
