Huron Expositor, 2016-07-27, Page 7From one champion to another
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
The sun was beating down
27 degrees Celsius and it felt
like it was 90, from the pres-
sure of a tied match after 18
holes, you can almost guar-
antee the two golf pros bat-
tling for the jacket felt as
though they were about to
suffer a heat stroke.
The crowd circled around
the last hole at the Seaforth
Golf and Country Club, it
was time for a playoff, win-
ner gets the blazer and their
name etched on the Seaforth
Country Club Classic
trophy.
In first place from the first
day of the 48-hour tourna-
ment, Dan Bowling's second
shot on the par -four rolled
quite a distance over the
green. Bowling, a lefty from
Brights Grove Ont., the same
hometown as Canadian icon
Mike Weir, had to sink his
shot for par. It didn't go as
planned -he shot a bogey
with five strokes.
The man responsible for
Bowling's demise is six-foot
four, 26 -year-old Michael
Gligic who shot par to win
the title along with a huge
bristle -board $10,000
cheque.
"We tied and we had to go
to playoffs, I hit a good shot
about eight to 10 feet from
the hole," stated Gligic after
walking around the 18th
hole holding the Seaforth
Country Classic trophy
wearing the championship
black blazer.
"I just knew I had to play
good and get lots of birdie
chances and fortunately some
of them went in."
Gligic is no stranger to the
tournament, besides the two
times he participated in the
Canadian Open, the Burlington
Ont. born golfer has played in
the SCCC every year since its
inception in 2008. This champi-
onship is just another feat to
add to his list of achievements,
he also currently holds the title
for the Seaforth Golf & Country
Club's lowest score, where he
shot an astonishing 60.
"Mike's had a couple of good
finishes lately, he's made a bit of
money in the last three to four
weeks," which is good to see,"
said humbled David Markle,
the 2013 and 2015 Seaforth
Country Classic champion,
who assisted Gligic into his new
shiny blazer:
Local Logan Lammerant did
well for an amateur with a plus -
three and was rewarded with
the Dan Halldorson Tribute
Cup for his performance. Paul
Doig finished plus -nine and his
sister Robyn Doig, who was the
only female competing, braved
it out by driving from the same
tee -block as the men. She
walked away with plus -11. The
assistant professional at the
club, Kyle Skinner ended up
with a plus -14.
Living with Type 1 diabetes
himself, Skinner has been the
vanguard of the charity project
for the Canadian Diabetes
Association. To date through
Diabetes and other giving
endeavours, the tournament
has donated more than a
$100,000. On July 23 they
donated $9,400 to the cause.
Carolanne Doig along with
Maureen Agar are responsible
for organizing as well as sev-
eral other event duties, Doig
Shuffleboard scores
Wednesday, July 27, 2016 • Huron Expositor 7
The tournament raised more than $9,000 towards the Canadian
Diabetes Association. Over the years through other charities as
well as the CDA, they've raised more than $100,000.
Shaun Gregory
From the left, Kyle Skinner, Maureen Agar, the winner of the 2016
Seaforth Country Club Classic, Michael Gligic and Ken Doig Sr.
said if it wasn't for the 60 vol-
unteers who spent countless
hours, months before and
during the tournament, it just
would not have been an
achievable undertaking.
"In our heyday, we had over
200, when we had the big
events here," stated Doig a few
minutes after Gligic walked
around the 18th hole as the
bagpipes blared in his cele-
bration. "Some of them before
they leave tonight will go up to
Maureen and I, and they will
say put me back on number
five next year."
"We already know after the
tournament is over that we
have volunteers for next year':
Canada falls rather short
compared to the S. in teens of
an economic outcome from the
sport According to the National
Allied Golf Associations
(NAGA), which is a national golf
administration devoted to ris-
ing the numbers of golfers in all
sectors of Canada, about 5.7
million people in the country
Michael Gligic and Ken Doig Sr. pose with the Seaforth Country
Club Classic trophy. Gligic beat Dan Bowling in an intense playoff
last Saturday to be crowned the 2016 champion.
swing clubs on the nation's
courses. In comparison the U.S.
participation sits at roughly 25
million, reported by the
National Golf Foundation's
yearly study in 2014.
This is where the dilemma
kicks in for Canadian profes-
sionals to make a decent pay
cheque from golf. From several
sources in the tournament,
including Doig, you have to be
top -tier to make a living from
the sport. As a result when golf-
ers compete in Seaforth, fami-
lies known as billets open their
doors for these underpaid ath-
letes. This relieves the stress of
having to pay for a hotel several
kilometres away.
"One of the problems we
have in Seaforth is we don't
have any accommodation here
to speak of. Two bedrooms at a
bed and breakfast is not going
to cut it when you (have) 100
people coming," Doig told the
Expositor last Saturday. "That is
one of the weaknesses of this
community:'
In 2008, Doig added that
they had 144 players signed
up who wanted "to stay close,"
so they could sharpen their
skills and get accustomed to
the course prior to the open-
ing day of what was then part
of the Canadian Tour. But due
to the lack of development of
public lodgings, some were
forced to travel as far as Strat-
ford, Grand Bend and Goder-
ich to find a hotel room.
Luckily Doig stated there
were more than 80 homes in
the area that welcomed the
golfers for a bed and place to
freshen up.
In accordance to a May 19,
2015 agenda package, a request
for designation change was
received by the municipality
from the Seaforth Golf Course.
The document stated that the
well-known local golf club had
an interest in constructing a
motel/hotel complex adjacent
to their establishment
If you would like to see
more information on the
tournament visit www.sea-
forthcountryclassic.com.
Shuffleboard scores for Men's high: Jim Davis 4 Ramsey and Red Vantyghem Women's high: Donna Charlotte Norton and Mar- Corbett, Catherine DeCorte
July20 wins, Ken Preszcator, Arnie 3wins. Smale, Joyce Matz old, ian Pullman 3 wins, Grace 2wins.
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