CANADIANS
ON TOUR

with
Barry Sharpe

October 13, 2003

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

Five distinguished British Columbia golfers who have won a combined total of 111 individual Amateur and Professional tournaments world wide spanning 44 years are the newest members to be inducted into the
Golf Hall of Fame of British Columbia

Amateur stars Dorothy Wilks, Doug Roxburgh and Gayle Borthwick together with professional standouts Dave Barr and the late Bill Mawhinney

were honored October 9 at Vancouver’s Marine Drive Golf & Country Club. This quintet now join Stan Leonard, Violet Pooley Sweeny, Margaret Sutcliffe Todd, Marilyn Palmer O’Connor, Davie Black and his son Ken Black who were inducted in 2001 when the Golf Hall of Fame was officially opened.

Representatives from the RCGA, CLGA, PNGA, BCPGA, BCLGA, BCGA and CJGA, together with a number of prominent corporate sponsors, friends and past competitors gathered to reminisce over the records and history that has been created by these newest Hall of Fame members.

Inducted alphabetically, Dave Barr was the first to be recognized, although he was unable to attend since he’s still working on his career, competing in Hawaii in a PGA Champions Tour event. One of Barr’s original personal sponsors and a former employer, Earl Francis, provided some insights into his lasting friendship with the Canadian Tour’s leading tournament winner, including his on-going debate over the years with Barr to try and convince the Kelowna native to play for the victory, not just to make the cut. Barr’s playing record includes 22 victories, with only one—the 1973 Oklahoma Men’s State Championship—being an amateur event. From 1973 through this season, Barr has won 12 times on the Canadian Tour (BC Open 1975-77-78), twice on the PGA TOUR, once this year on the Champions Tour, the 1985 Canadian PGA Championship, 1983 World Cup Individual title and was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2000. In team competition representing Canada, Barr has played on 13 World Cup Teams, nine DunHill Cup Teams---winning in 1994 with Rick Gibson and Ray Stewart---and Canada’s 1972 World Amateur Team.

A two-time U.S Senior Women’s Champion (1996-98) and Australian Two-Ball Champion (1963), Gale Hitchens Borthwick is a Saskatchewan native who was first inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1997 and then the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2000 in honor of her selection eight times as a member of an Ontario Women’s Team and six times to the Ontario Women’s Senior Team. While living in British Columbia, Gayle became the 1961 Canadian Junior Girls Champion and the following year won the Canadian Ladies Open title when the event was for Canadians only. She won both the BC Junior and Ladies Amateur titles twice and six Vancouver & District events, was named to two BC Junior Girls Teams, seven BC Ladies teams and selected to be a member of two Canadian Commonwealth teams (1963-67) and two Canadian World Amateur teams (1966-68)

William Mawhinney’s recorded accomplishments as one of Canada’s top players only runs from 1947 through 57 but in that short span he achieved more than most players in a lifetime. A winner of nine provincial amateur titles, the 1950 Canadian Amateur and 1952 PNGA title, Bill Mawhinney won 18 prominent amateur tournaments and two professional events---the BC Open and the CPGA Miller Trophy in 1957. He was named to five consecutive Willingdon Cup teams, four consecutive Hudson Cup and Morse cup teams and the 1952 America’s Cup team. A popular professional at old Quillchena, Mawhinney and Johnny Johnston acquired and operated the Meadowlands Golf Course in 1967 and in 1970 Bill was elected a member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame.

No player in Canadian golf history has dominated in his home province quite the way self-effacing Doug Roxburgh has with at least 36 individual Canadian and BC championships to his credit between 1967-96. Winning the BC Amateur title an unprecedented 13 times in four decades and the Canadian Amateur Championship on four occasions, Roxburgh has played in more Willingdon Cup Team competitions than any other golfer - - 19, including a stretch of 14 years in a row. He has represented Canada internationally at least 11 times, including seven selections to the prestigious World Amateur Team Championships. Now 53 and the Director of Player Development for the RCGA, Roxy is still a force to be reckoned with on the course, tying for 16th in this year’s BC Amateur and surviving into the second round of match play at the Canadian Amateur. When he begins senior competition in 2005 old records may be in jeopardy.

Dorothy Wilks is the diminutive dynamo from Vancouver Island who accumulated 21 victories over 42 years, despite quitting the sport for a number of years to work and to raise four children. A respected homemaker, a willing volunteer and a role model for juniors throughout BC, Dorothy Wilks has the distinction of recording a victory in each of the past five decades. A runner-up in the Canadian Ladies Closed (1960) and Canadian Ladies Senior (1990), Wilks was also a runner-up in the 1980 PNGA. A 4-time BC Ladies Champion and 6-time BC Senior Ladies winner, the veteran Victoria Gorge Vale member captured eight Victoria City & District championships, including five in a row, and was selected to be on five BC Interprovincial Teams, seven BC Senior Teams and the 1954 Canadian Ladies Team.

Much of the history and tournament records of the 11 members of the Golf Hall of Fame of BC are documented in the book, ‘BACKSPIN: 100 Years Of Golf in British Columbia,’ written by retired Vancouver Sun Golf and Hockey columnist Arv Olson, who was on hand to witness and report BC’s colorful growth and successes in golf for over 36 years.

View the BC Golf News Photo Archives above right.

A curling15-foot putt for birdie on the first hole of a playoff helped Stuart Appleby hit the jackpot at the Las Vegas Invitational Sunday with his first win in four years and a cash prize of $720,000. With a score of (62-68-63-66-69) 31-under par and after missing a 16-footer that might have won the tournament on the last regulation hole, Appleby watched as Scott McCarron narrowly missed from 12-feet at the 18th to finish tied at (69-62-64-67-66--328) 31-under. In the one-hole playoff, Appleby gained his fourth victory in eight years by sinking a birdie putt, this time from 15 feet and again McCarron’s putt broke left and slid by the hole. Appleby has been knocking on victory’s door in each of his past three tournaments and finally someone answered. In his two previous events he has finished in second place. In his last three outings Appleby has won $1,423,666 and has literally rocketed from top 60 to #10 in the money standings with $2,476,613. He’s now about $2.24 million behind Canada’s Mike Weir, the Masters Champion, who remains in 5th place $1.56 million behind the leader, Tiger Woods.

Calgary resident Stephen Ames had one bad round in five but made a bit of a comeback Sunday to finish T43 at (66-69-68-73-66—342) 17-under and earned $13,690. Ames fell one spot to #84 on earnings of $722,766. Ian Leggatt, Cambridge, ON failed to qualify at (73-66-70—209) 7-under par. Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, NC hosts this week’s Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

A final round of 5-under par was all Hale Irwin needed to overcome a three shot deficit and win the Turtle Bay Championship for the fourth straight year---the fifth time overall---for his second win of the season---for his 38th career victory on the Champions Tour---and a first prize of $225,000. It also marked the first time a player has won a Champions Tour event four years running. Irwin’s (68-73-67—208) 8-under par was two shots better than Tom Kite whose approach shot over water at the 18th splashed down a foot short causing Kite to bogey and finish (71-67-72—210) two shots behind.

Dave Barr of Kelowna, BC found three different ways of shooting 3-over par three days in a row and wound up T54 at (75-75-75--225) 9-over par, 17 shots behind Irwin. Over 54 holes, Barr’s battle with the warm trade winds at Kahuku on the north shore of Oahu resulted in 14 bogies and only 5 birdies. The end result was a cheque for $3,300. Dan Halldorson Shilo, MB also received a rough ride over The Palmer Course and ended up T67 at (78-79-72--229) 13-over for $1,575.

The champions Tour now heads to San Antonia, TX for the SBC Championship this weekend---last regular event on the schedule---and for the first time in weeks, Barr’s status for next year is in serious jeopardy. To maintain his exempt status for 2004 Barr must finish the season among the top 31 money winners. Right now he’s 27th on the official money-winning list with $686,001 from 26 tournaments and suddenly breathing down his neck are Graham Marsh, 28th with $683,969; Jose Maria Canizares, 29th with $649,045; Fuzzy Zoeller, 30th with $643,330 and Jim Ahern, 31st with $610,795. A few weeks ago Barr had a $100,000 cushion but now after a couple of mediocre outings it’s turned into a foot race to the finish. Hope of making it into the season-ending $2.5 million Charles Schwab Cup Championship is out of the question.

READ MY LIPS: . . . . Jan Stevenson, the fourth woman this season to participate in a professional men’s tournament and the first to play on the Champions Tour, may have been an interesting diversion for the spectators but she finished tied for last at (80-84-78--242) 26-over par. Before the tournament began the former LPGA poster girl found herself in some hot water as a result of a story that appears in the November issue of Golf Magazine. She’s reported as saying that top-earning Asian players are "killing" the LPGA Tour by not making themselves more available for promotional purposes, playing in tournaments, then leaving without talking to the media. Friday in Hawaii, Stevenson told the media she used to help promote the LPGA when she was younger and is annoyed there are some who don't do the same. Come Saturday, the LPGA veteran issued a written apology to the Asian community: "After hearing the statement read back to me prior to the release of it, I requested that the editor reword that portion. By no means did I intend to hurt anyone nor were the statements racially motivated. I clearly understand how these comments could be taken as racial comments and for that I am truly sorry." . . . . Stevenson, by he way, is he first woman ever to actually earn money teeing it up with male golfers, this year or any other. There was no cut at the Champions event and she received $667.50 . . . . Tom Kite hasn’t won a Champions Tour event this year but in 25 tournaments he’s earned $1,272,319 and is 6th among money-winners.

It was supposed to have been a special event for Swedish star Annika Sorenstam, the defending champion but, the golfer making it special was Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson who shot 8-under par her final round to come from behind a five shot deficit and win the Samsung World Championship by two strokes over Rachel Teske and BMO Canadian Women’s Open champion Beth Daniel. Gustafson finished at (72-69-69-64—274) 14-under par and won $200,000. This was her 4th LPGA career victory and fourth professional triumph of this season. Sorenstam finished alone in 4th, 3-shots behind the winner. Canadian Lorie Kane from PEI, hung on to finish 10th at (74-67-70-72—283) 5-under, collecting $19,000 and pushing her season earnings to just over $600,000 among the top 15 money winners.

Twenty-one-year-old Lorena Ochoa of Mexico, after a season that included seven top-10 finishes and qualifying in 19 of the 20 tournaments she has entered, is the LPGA Tour’s unanimous choice as winner of the 2003 Louise Suggs Roolex Rookie of the Year. Ochoa came flying out of the starting gate, finishing in the top-10 in two of her first three events, including a third at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, an LPGA Major, and making16 consecutive cuts to start her LPGA career. She finished the season among the top 10 money winners.

“You come into every tournament expecting to win but you learn how to lose humbly, but today I finally did it,” said Lucas Glover, who collected $85,500 for his maiden victory on the Nationwide Tour in the Gila River Golf Classic at Wild Horse Pass Resort in Chandler, Arizona. An 18-foot eagle putt on the 17th hole provided Glover with the cushion required to post his (67-69-67-67—270) 18-under par one shot lead over three others. It also shoots him up to No 13 on the money list with a chance of making the top 20 who are destined to receive PGA TOUR cards for 2004. Victoria’s Jim Rutledge finished T31, 10 shots behind at (71-69-69-71—280) 8-under, worth $2,945. David Morland was cut.

After starting then pulling out of a number of recent tournaments in North America, John Daly finally found his stride in Seoul, South Korea winning the Kolon Cup Korean Open with an impressive final round of 4-under par to claim a one shot victory---his first since winning the BMW International Open in Germany in 2001. Playing at the Woo Jung Hills Country Club, a two-time Major winner seemed to get stronger as the tournament progressed and finished at (73-69-72-68—282) 6-under par and received $85,543. Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant was a stroke back and Scotland’s Simon Yates finished two off the pace.

Windsor, Ontario’s Ahmad Bateman struggled with changing tournament conditions and finished T47 at (75-73-75-75—298) a 10 over par, earning $2,673, while Victoria, BC native Rick Gibson scrambled to finish T66 at (76-74-78-79—307) 19-over par and collected $1,197. Joining the parade of females playing in tournaments with males this season was Britain’s Laura Davies, an LPGA stalwart who struggled through two rounds, shooting 11-over par and missing the cut by four shots.

For only the third time in 32 years, a Dutchman has won an event on the European Tour and to add a little extra to the occasion Maarten Lafeber is the first Dutchman to win the Dutch Open since 1947. Lafeber won nearly $200,000 for his (67-69-64-67—267) one stroke victory. Soren Hansen of Denmark and Mathias Gronberg of Sweden shared second place.

Gary Player may have been one of the finest, most determined and most fit golfers of his time but Gary Player’s name is also associated with one of the most unusual, yet entertaining web sites you’re likely to see in golf on the internet.

Enjoy.

http://www.garyplayer.com/playersite.html