LONDON— Windy conditions greeted the 59 players who took to the course at West Haven Golf & Country Club on May 25, for the 2016 Ontario Senior Men’s Champion of Champions, presented by Turkish Airlines. The event featured senior club champions from all across the province, who were all looking to take home the title.
When all was said and done, it was Pickering’s Christopher Kertsos who came away with the low round. The York Downs Golf & Country Club member fired a one-over (72) to take the title. The 60-year-old Kertsos is no stranger to provincial honours, as he was the individual medalist at the 2014 George S. Lyon team competition.
After the win, Kertsos spoke about where the it ranks for him. “This win is pretty special to me. Other than the George S. Lyon, it’s my first individual win among my peers. I didn’t think it was going to happen the way I started the day as I double bogeyed the first hole and I was four-over after nine. Then things started to click and I started to make some birdies. I got to one-over with two holes to go but bogeyed my second last hole, which I was quite upset about, but I birdied my last one to finish at one-over. I didn’t think that one-over was going to hold up though, I really didn’t.”
Kertsos attributed the win to his strong turnaround on the back nine. “I didn’t feel great at the beginning of the round, but I just hung in there and tried to keep making pars until I had some birdie chances. I converted a few back-to-back birdies, followed by some pars and a few more birdies and that was the difference.”
Following Kertsos was a four-way tie for second place. Among the four players to all finish at three-over (74) were: 2014 Senior Men’s Amateur Champion Larry Cooper, from Oakville and the Mississaugua Golf & Country Club; 2014 Senior Men’s Champion of Champions Dan Partland, from Bolton and The National Golf Club of Canada; Jim Chapman, from Ancaster and the Hamilton Golf & Country Club; and Paul Nielsen, from Kingsville and Point West Golf Club.
For full tournament information, including the final leaderboard, see the tournament site at: https://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao16/event/gao1615/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
About the Senior Men’s Champion of Champion
The Ontario Senior Men’s Champion of Champions was first contested in 1970 and features senior men’s club champions age 55 and over from Golf Ontario member clubs across the province. Golf Ontario would like to thank West Haven Golf & Country Club for hosting the event, as well as all of the staff and volunteers who contributed to the event. Thanks also to Turkish Airlines, the title sponsor of the championship.