Clublink GAO lake joseph club Match Play Championship

Dave Bunker Repeats as Ontario Men’s Match Play Champion


PORT CARLING— Not only did defending champion Dave Bunker need to battle a very worthy opponent, Quinn Vilneff, in the finals of the Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship, but he also had to battle the elements to claim his fourth title.

The tournament, held at the Lake Joseph Club in Port Carling, wrapped up on June 12 after six rounds of matches that began on June 9. What began as 64 players came down to Bunker, from the Brampton Golf Club and Vilneff, from the Essex Golf & Country Club.

The final round was a soggy affair with rain falling on the competitors throughout the round. Woodbridge’s Bunker held a lead as they began the back nine, but Vilneff made Bunker work for it, forcing him to attempt a four-foot putt on the 14th hole, which the 50-year-old Bunker missed. That brought Amherstburg’s Vilneff back to all square. The 23-year-old Vilneff would get up and down on the 15th to take the lead. After the pair were even on the 16th, Bunker squared the match on the 17th hole, setting up a winner take all situation on the 18th. Both players played the hole similarly with their tee and approach shots. They both found the green in two and both had an eight-foot putt for birdie. After Vilneff pushed his right, Bunker stepped up and drained his to win his second straight and fourth Ontario Match Play title.

“I knew the weather was going to be bad today and the bugs, but you just have to try and focus the best you can,” said Bunker about the conditions. “It is a long week and you need to be prepared to play lots of holes if you go far. I just got fortunate that things went my way. I got some good breaks and that’s what you need to make it to the final match.”

Bunker added that he wasn’t thinking about repeating as champion. “I wasn’t thinking too much about last year or repeating. It was more about how each match went. How I played each hole and how I was going to play the next.”

The road to the finals, for Bunker, included wins over Connor Denning (6&5), Cole Kent (3&2), Jordan Gregoris (2&1), Raymond Oh (1up) and Jeff Crowe (4&3). As for Vilneff he defeated Arjun Walia (6&4), Greg Mullins (7&5), Charles Corner (3&2), Nicholas Ross (1up) and Luke Moser (5&3).

Bunker will now take the momentum from this win and turn his attention to the U.S. Senior Open, June 25-28, in Sacramento, California after he qualified on June 1.

About the Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship

Established in 1986, the Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship is contested annually and features 64 of Ontario’s best amateur golfers that have qualified through one of five qualifying tournaments held earlier this season, or who have gained an exemption into the event.  Notable former champions include Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member Ian Leggatt, David Hearn and David Byrne.

The Golf Association of Ontario would like to thank Clublink and The Lake Joseph Club for their continued support of the Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship.

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Clublink GAO TaylorMade-adidas Golf team ontario

2015 Team Ontario Announced

UXBRIDGE—The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO), is pleased to announce the seven boys and six girls that will comprise Team Ontario for 2015. The announcement comes on the heels of the GAO’s recent partnership with TaylorMade-adidas Golf. An agreement that will provide Team Ontario athletes with adidas clothing and access to TaylorMade equipment.  The team, which began training in October, is set for a full winter of work as they prepare for the official start to the competitive season in May with the GAO Investors Group Junior Spring Classic.

“Overall the team looks very good, with many of the players already having achieved bench mark successes in their junior golf careers,” said Mary Ann Hayward, GAO Manager of Sport Performance. “All of the players are highly motivated to make the national development team and our coaching staff is prepared to work very hard to help them get there.”

This year’s team highlights the quality of the GAO’s high performance programs as eleven members of the team are either returning Team Ontario members or graduates from the GAO’s Regional (U17) Team Program.

With a pair of Team Ontario players, Trevor Ranton and Grace St-Germain, moving up to the National Development Team, Team Ontario features five returning players in 2015:

Joining the returnees, are the following graduates of the GAO Regional Team Program:

Rounding out the team are:

“It is great having six of our new players coming out of regional programs. They are accustomed to the team training environment and come with a good base in their technical and physical training,” added Hayward.

Team Ontario coaching staff is led by GAO Head Provincial Coach Reggie Millage, a Class ‘A’ PGA of Canada professional from Milton. Millage enters his second season with the team after taking over the position last November. Also returning this year are Athletic Therapist Andrew Hoermann and Mental Skills Coach Judy Goss. New to the coaching staff this year is Nick Martichenko, who fills the role of Strength and Conditioning Coach.

“This year’s team is obviously a very different group, especially with the make up of seven boys and six girls,” said Millage.  “Most of them are already well established and are willing to work hard to reach the next level. The coaches have already been working one-on-one with them, making the changes we feel are necessary as we work towards the spring.”

Millage also spoke about the very experienced coaching staff. “We are very excited to have Andrew back as Athletic Therapist. He is the longest serving member of the coaching staff and very good at what he does working with the athletes. Adding Nick to the team is also exciting because he is a very qualified and dedicated Strength and Conditioning Coach. Nick is very committed to working with golfers and he and I have worked together in the past and have enjoyed good success in taking athlete’s golf games to the next level.”

The team is already an accomplished group and they will look for even better results in 2015. Some highlights from the 2014 season included: Getty capturing the CN Future Links Quebec Championship, Marck-Sherk taking the gold medal at the Ontario Summer Games (Juvenile Girls’ Championship), Currie winning the Ontario Bantam Girls’ Championship and the Ontario Junior Tours Championship, Lim victorious at the CN Future Links Quebec Championship, and Sear successfully defended his Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) individual championship title.

Looking ahead Team Ontario will train indoors during the winter months at The Golf Lab in Vaughan.  ClubLink’s Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs, Florida will be the new host venue for Team Ontario training camps in January and February.  During March Break, the team will head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a training camp as well as take part in the Can-Am Matches which is an annual team match event between the top junior golfers from Ontario and South Carolina.

About Team Ontario

The GAO Team Ontario program is a high performance training program for the top junior aged golfers in Ontario. Athletes are selected in September each year and the program runs from October through August. Team Ontario athletes receive the very best in coaching services, training/competitive opportunities, and sport science support as they strive to make Golf Canada’s National Development Team. Being selected to Team Ontario is a tremendous accomplishment and offers unparalleled support and guidance to the participating athletes and their families.

Clublink GAO lake joseph club Match Play Championship

Dave Bunker Defeats Nicholas Ross for Third Match Play Championship

PORT CARLING, ON— Experience paid off for Dave Bunker as he won his third Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) Match Play Championship, June 3-6, at the Lake Joseph Club in Port Carling. The Woodbridge resident defeated Dundas’ Nicholas Ross 4&3 in the final round.

The 49-year-old Bunker was able to take a 3up lead after the front nine, but Ross, the Hamilton Golf and Country Club member, looked to cut the lead when he chipped in for birdie on the 10th hole. However, Bunker, the third seed in the tournament, also chipped in ending any momentum swings. The 19-year-old Ross would go on to take the 11th hole, but Bunker won the 13th and 14th holes giving him a 4up lead with four to go. Ross, the 20th seed, knew he had to win out to force a playoff and found the green on the par-three 15th, while Bunker’s shot landed in the rough. However, Bunker chipped to within a foot forcing Ross to sink his ten-foot putt to keep the match going. He pushed his putt just right and Bunker, the Brampton Golf Club member, won the match and the Championship.

Dave chip

“It’s fantastic!” said Bunker after the win. “I really played well this week, I hit the ball well, kept it out of trouble and it was a good, fun week.”

Bunker knew that one of the biggest moments in his win came with the double chip-in on the 10th hole. “Nick chipped in from the fringe and then I chipped in as well, both for birdies. That kind of kept me going. I did make a mistake on 11 and he won the hole, but it could have been two holes won by him.”

Nick putt

Getting to the final, let alone winning it, is no easy feat in a match play event. The field for the men began with 64 competitors. For Bunker, after winning his way through the first three rounds, he defeated Kingston’s Jesse Hogan in the quarter-finals and Toronto’s Turner Southey Gordon in the semis.

“I played really steady,” said Bunker. “I know this golf course really well so I know where to hit tee shots, I know where to hit approaches. It’s a golf course that if you start hitting it left and right, you lose golf balls so if you keep it in the fairway and make pars you are doing really well.”

As for Ross, his road to the finals included a quarterfinal win over Mississauga’s Eric Flockhart and a semis victory against Woodstock resident Spencer Dunseith.

For Bunker, it is just another GAO championship to add to his collection. He is a former Ontario Amateur Champion, Ontario Mid-Amateur Champion, as well as a Canadian Mid-Am and Mid-Masters Champion.

Recently, he had the opportunity to represent the GAO at the Manuel Prado and Carlos Raffo Cups in Lima, Peru, something Bunker says helped him in preparation for this season. “I think I maybe got a head start because I was preparing for Peru and then had a week in sunny, warm weather, and played a course in great condition. That’s what a lot of people in Toronto couldn’t do. I’ve been working hard on things so I was happy that I was able to hit the ball well this week and that my short game was good too.”

handshake

Now, Bunker will turn his attention to the Investors Group Mid-Am June 20-23 at the nearby Taboo. Bunker says that there isn’t much preparation he is focusing on but that he did get a chance to go over and check out the course this week as he looks for yet another GAO title.

Established in 1986, The Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship is contested annually and features 64 of Ontario’s best amateur golfers that have qualified through one of six qualifying tournaments held earlier this season, or who have gained an exemption into the event.  Notable former champions include Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member Ian Leggatt, David Hearn and David Byrne.

The Golf Association of Ontario would like to thank Clublink and The Lake Joseph Club for their continued support of the Ontario Men’s Match Play championship.