Those looking to get into the Westlock Golf Club’s record books will have a slightly more difficult time — a new course record was set during the Men’s Open Aug. 2-4.
Fort McMurray’s Aaron Barrington set the new course record on his way to a three-day five-under par total of 211. His round of 68 beat the previous course record by a single stroke.
“It used to be 69, so this was one shot lower than the previous record; it was held by five different guys,” course pro Kevin Lynes said. “Lower scores have been reported, but a course record is only valid in a tournament.”
The new course record was good news, but better news as the impressive turnout of 96 golfers — two dozen more than last year.
“It’s even better than we expected,” he said. “I think last year we had 70 players, so we were up 26 players from last year, which was good to see.”
The golfers were split into eight flights according to skill level, with about a dozen golfers in each flight. Local golfers were in the minority, with about two-thirds of the competitors travelling to Westlock just for the tournament.
“They came from long distances to play,” he said. “I’m hoping it’s telling us we’re doing a good job with the tournament and as these guys go back they’re spreading the word.”
Golfers came from as far away as Calgary and Fort McMurray in Alberta, Victoria and Dawson Creek in B.C. and even Fort Smith, N.W.T.
Lynes said he figures the golfers are spreading the word to their friends about the quality of the course and the tournament, which means more people come each year.
“Hopefully we’ll get to the point where we’re full up with 120 or 130 golfers,” he said. “The more the merrier until you get to that cutoff.”
And all told, people had little in the way of complaints about the weekend.
“The comments we had were the course is in unbelievable shape,” he said. “Everything we heard was positive. It seems to be something that’s growing and growing.”
