Chase Komaromi outlasts the field and wins Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship
Peter MacKellar
PORT CARLING — The grind of a match play championship is one of the toughest tests for any golfer. Not only must they best a field of competitors, but unlike a stroke-play event, four rounds is only the beginning. On June 9, from The Lake Joseph Club in Port Carling, Golf Ontario wrapped up the Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship with Delaware, Ontario’s Chase Komaromi hoisting the trophy after seven matches.
The championship match featured Komaromi and Waterloo’s Matt LeMay. Komaromi, from The Oaks Golf Club, jumped out to a great start by winning holes two, three and four to build a 3up lead. The 23-year-old added to his lead on the seventh with a birdie after a great second shot. A par on the eighth allowed him to make it 5up, which he carried to the back nine.
LeMay, 21-years-old, would mount a comeback early on the back nine. He pared the 10th to cut the deficit to four. Then, after a nice approach on the 11th, LeMay got another shot back and was just three down. He continued to cut into the lead with a birdie on the 12th hole. Then, LeMay made par on the 13th, after Komaromi’s tee shot found the woods, making it a one-hole match. However, that was as close as LeMay would come. Komaromi took back-to-back holes on 14 and 15 and then the two halved the 16th ending the match 3&2 for Komaromi.
After the win Komaromi talked about what the win meant to him. “It has been a stressful week. I basically drove here through the night Monday from a U.S. Open Sectional in Columbus, so it was unexpected to get the win. I played pretty well all week, stuck to my game plan and it all worked out.”
Despite capturing the title, Komaromi definitely recognized that the final match became interesting when he saw his 5up lead evaporate. “I think the worst I had been all week on the front nine was 3up, but 10 and 11, I gave those holes back in each match. Even after losing those holes today, I figured if I kept plugging away I would get back into it and it worked out in the end.”
Chase Komaromi’s road to the final match
Komaromi entered the event as the 31st seed. He beat Newmarket’s Doug McNeil in the first round 4&3. That earned him a match with four-time Ontario Match Play Champion Brampton’s Dave Bunker. However, Komaromi was not fazed by the challenge, winning 2up. “Beating Dave definitely gave me a big boost of confidence. It was nice to meet him, he is a great player,” added Komaromi.
Round three saw a match with Kitchener’s Keaton Jones where Komaromi won 3&2. In the quarter-finals, it was Komaromi versus Burlington’s Jeff Clarridge. Komaromi narrowly took the match 1up. That sent him to the semi-finals against Mississauga’s Conner Watt. Komaromi’s roll would continue with a 3&1 win, punching his ticket to the finals.
Matt Lemay’s road to the final match
LeMay entered the event as the number five seed. The Golf Ontario Public Player matched up with Mississauga’s Keith Joel in the opening round. LeMay got by Joel with a 2&1 victory. Then LeMay, the 2014 Ontario Junior Boys’ Champion, knocked out Toronto’s Harris Bundy with a 9&8 win. In the third round, LeMay faced off with Barrie’s Braydon White and took the match 2&1. That win advanced LeMay to the quarter-finals where he took on Elmvale’s Andrew Nagel. It turned out to be a very close match with LeMay pulling out the 1up victory. His semi-finals match saw him faceoff with Dundas’ Nicholas Ross. LeMay got past Ross with a 5&4 win to earn his place in the finals.
Golf Ontario would like to thank ClubLink and The Lake Joseph Club for hosting the Ontario Men’s Match Play Championship. Thanks also to the Golf Ontario volunteers who make these events possible.
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 four qualifying tournaments held earlier this season, or who have gained an exemption into the event. Notable former champions include: David Hearn, David Byrne and Dave Bunker.
Dave Bunker Repeats as Ontario Men’s Match Play Champion
Peter MacKellar
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.
Dave Bunker Defeats Nicholas Ross for Third Match Play Championship
Peter MacKellar
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.
“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.”
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.”
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.
