Blaine Tessier won the One Club Wonder golf tournament on Sept. 12. It was the mild-mannered and self-effacing Tessier’s eighth victory in the 24th year of this event, and marked his return to the tournament after having spent time the previous year freshening up his game in Scotland.

Tessier shot an 82 with his trusty eight-iron for a five-shot cushion over Lester Balsillie, an OCW newcomer. It would have been a tougher row to hoe was it not for Balsillie’s rookie nerves and learning curve on the putting green where he spotted Tessier to a five-shot lead after only three holes played. Once Balsillie got through that tough beginning, he played shot for shot with Tessier and stayed in Tessier’s rearview mirror for the remainder of the day. Balsillie finished alone in second place with a score of 87.

Ken Taylor took the low net championship and, with it, the much larger trophy. He shot an 88 which, with his handicap of 10, computed to a net score of 78 strokes. Taylor had been a long-time participant in the tournament until 2016, when he took three years off to tend to other activities. He returned in 2019 and, with his victory this year, has obviously shown that he has regained his form.

Taylor, although he also spotted Tessier a comfortable lead in the early holes, was very much in the contest thereafter. He was even closer to Tessier than Balsillie after the opening nine being only three shots off the pace. He stayed in that position right through the 13th hole but couldn’t muster what it would take over the remaining holes giving up three strokes coming home.

The low net portion of the event was also a contest as Taylor, with a two-stroke handicap advantage over Balsillie, just squeaked out a one-stroke win. As well, other notables were sniffing at Taylor’s behind in this regard. These included the ageless Don Coates, Doug Janzen and Darrell Pasloski. They all had handicaps of 16 and all shot 97 for net scores of 81, just three strokes back of Taylor. Two other players, Derek Wirth with a net 82 and another newcomer, Micah Mercier, with a net 83, were not far behind.

For those of a statistical bent, the average gross score was 106, the highest since 2004, and the average net score was 87. The 34 players in the tournament played a total of 612 holes on which 62 pars and five birdies were recorded. In comparison to the 2019 tournament, this was a decrease of 21 pars and an increase of one birdie. The five birdies in this year’s tournament were scored by Blaine Tessier on #3, Ken Taylor on #4, Jay Massie on #5, Lester Balsillie on #13, and Dan King on #16. Sixty-eight percent of the pars took place on the par-three and par-five holes with 30 on the par threes and 12 on the par fives. The toughest holes on the course were #11, #12 and, #17 where no pars or birdies were recorded.

The title of the tournament, One Club Wonder, indicates the obvious point that players must play every shot with a single club. The most common club used is a seven iron, and that club was chosen by 14 players this year. The other clubs used this year included the six iron (eight players), the eight iron (four players), the 4 and 5 hybrids (three players each), a five wood, and a seven wood (one player each).

Putting is a central feature of this game with all players struggling to master that art with whatever club they are carrying. The average number of putts per player was 36, which equalled the mark for the 2019 tournament. Ken Taylor easily topped the field in this regard. He finished the day with only 23 putts which broke the record of 25 putts set by Vic Istchenko in 2014. That was the same year that Istchenko shot a record-setting low score of 77. It was matched the following year by his nemesis, Blaine Tessier.

It needs to be noted that, in this year of the pandemic, careful attention was given by tournament organizers to all of the COVID-19 guidelines provided by the chief medical officer. This included the obvious such as appropriate physical distancing, elbow bumping instead of shaking hands, not sharing beverages, and the like.

It also led to a review by the OCW Health and Safety Committee of the dangers posed by sand traps on the course. In aid of evidence-based decision-making, the committee reviewed the sand trap experience of players in past One Club Wonders. The committee found that many players, when immersed in a trap for a lengthy period, would experience COVID-19 like symptoms such as sniveling, high fevers, difficulty breathing, heart palpitations, and severe mental distress. Those findings led to a direction from the committee that players be given an option that would allow them to spend as little time as possible in the sand traps. A special rule was made that allowed them, with a one-stroke penalty, to remove their ball from a trap to any place outside the trap that was not closer to the pin and was not on the green.

The committee recognized, however, that there was a danger that some players might invoke Charter rights to shoot from wherever their ball might come to rest. Although it would seem clear this is a misinterpretation of the Charter and more of an American second amendment issue, the committee accepted, in the interest of avoiding court action on the point, that a player could play their ball from a sand trap if they felt that to be an essential right.

The OCW Board of Directors and all participants in the tournament expressed their enthusiastic appreciation to Derek Wirth, the Golf Course Superintendent, and his staff for having provided great course conditions for the tournament.

The OCW Board also gives sincere thanks to the MVGC’s new Director of Golf, Abe Buckle, for his ready assistance and cooperation in all matters related to the tournament.

By the elusive Nat Stremy