The greens ran true, the wind wasn't a big factor and Cody Balon made his way around the front nine at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf course twice on Monday, using a total of 74 strokes to claim the Marv Symons Memorial Trophy.
The annual event, held in the honour of the former co-owner of the Days Inn, sponsors of this Victoria Day tournament, attracted 68 golfers this year with four flights of them contending for the main title along with competitors in a women's and senior division.
"After the first three holes, it looked pretty good. The wind came up and I found the trees at two, but it still worked out for me. I think I was pretty lucky to finish as well as I did," said Balon.
"I thought the greens would be slow because of the rain this morning, but they weren't, so that was a good thing too."
Course manager and club professional Brian Dueck announced the recently rebuilt back nine at Woodlawn will be open for restricted play this Thursday and Friday.
"It's still tender out there on the back. Two of the holes will be played as Par 3s because they were the last fairways seeded," he told the gathering.
When it came to the prizes on Monday, Balon, along with women's division winner Linda Murphy and senior division winner Terry Rohatyn received lightweight luggage for their efforts. Murphy carded a 91 to claim the women's event, while Rohatyn fired a 79 for the senior title. Murphy finished just ahead of Diane Thul on a count-back while Rohatyn bested Gary Millions, also by a slim margin.
Tee-off was delayed an hour to accommodate the rain that fell early in the day, but conditions improved steadily as the day wore on.
Balon bested Brett Blackstock who came in with the second best score in the featured championship flight while Rob Peloquin's 83 was good enough to claim first place in the first flight, placing him ahead of runner-up Chad Farr.
Doug Casler shot a 91 to take the second flight, just ahead of Jeff Pratt and Rob Milford grabbed third flight honours over Barry Kuntz with a 106.
In the second women's flight, Brenda Florek grabbed first spot with a 115 with Kim Morrisey finishing second. In the second senior men's flight, it was Rick Rohatyn claiming first spot with an 85, edging out Al Miller.
