The winners of the RBC PGA Scramble at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Course this year were similar to last year’s winners.
The team of Jeff Ward, Shawn Wilhelm, Brad Wilhelm and Mark Spencer won the tournament with a net total of 52.7, thanks to a score of 57 and a handicap reduction of 4.3. Ward, Spencer and Brad Wilhelm were on the team that won the tournament at Woodlawn last year; Shawn Wilhelm was new to the team.
The tournament has the traditional elements of a scramble, as teams must use three drives from each player during the tournament. But there are some differences.
Only two players on each team can have single-digit handicaps. Ward and Spencer had the single-digit handicaps for the victorious team. The minimum team handicap is 32 and the maximum is 112.
Also, the tournament subtracts one-tenth of the combined handicap of the four golfers from their stroke total to determine the net score. In the case of the winning team, their combined handicap was 43, and so they subtracted 4.3 from 57.
Reece Donovan, Taysen Holt, Cameron Donovan and Rob Peloquin were second. They shot a 58, and their handicap subtraction was 3.7, for a net score of 54.3.
James Gordon, Brent Gedak, Brent Gusikoski and Dave Lavoie were third. Their score was 60, and their handicap subtraction was 4.2, for a net score of 55.8.
Ward said it was a fun day and the weather co-operated. They did well at distributing each golfers three drives.
“The better you can distribute those in the earlier holes, then there’s no pressure on individuals later in the round,” said Ward. “We did that fairly well today, and that really allowed us to make some more aggressive shots at the end of the round.”
He expects the experience from last year will help them out as they move on.
“It’s definitely a different beast playing a scramble that’s competitive and with real end goals to move on. We did it last year, and we realized some of the pressure putts that are needed, and we made those today. We made a lot of significant putts, probably from about 15 feet, which really threw some birdies on the card and helps you to go low.”
Head pro Amanda Minchin said there are local qualifiers throughout the country, with the local winners advancing to regionals. The local victors will advance to regionals in Swift Current on Aug. 19, and the top two teams from that tournament will move on to nationals.
Minchin will join them to compete at the tournament in Swift Current.
“There are slightly different rules at regionals. The person whose tee shot you use at regionals, that person cannot hit the second shot in. So it makes for a little bit of a strategy. It’s the same format when you go to nationals,” said Minchin.
Minchin said this is the second time Woodlawn has hosted the scramble, and they’re looking to grow the tournament. Thanks to the various handicap requirements, there is a bit of strategy when selecting a team.
