2016-17 News | Maple Leaf Strikers Golfing Society

2016-17 RESULTS

2017 FALL EVENT @ OSPREY VALLEY

Friday Sept 29th…it was not looking promising to play golf this day as the rain was coming down very hard on the drive up, but the skies cleared up in time for us to tee it up. We were playing the
Toot Course, a parkland style setup. We got to the 3rd hole and the heavens opened up again for about 10-15 minutes and it also brought wind, actually more like a gale. All the players figured it was at least a 3 club wind and gusts probably took it to a 5 clubber. This was just a practice round with the winner taking home some cash. I was fortunate enough to tie a great player, Greg Finkle, for first place with 38 points. We had dinner that night at a local restaurant, the Black Birch, a very enjoyable meal. Bill Marshall and Bill Gillespie were kind enough to open their doors for the fellows who stayed overnight and avoiding renting a room at the Best Western in Orangeville. A couple of members, who shall remain nameless, did enjoy the hotel`s accommodation.

Saturday Sept 30th…This morning was brilliant with sunshine although there was a slight frost delay but we still teed off in time. We were playing the Heathlands Course, lots of fescue, for the Singles competition. There was a breeze but it was nothing compared to yesterday. I believe most of the players preferred this course over the other two. The finishing hole is a very picturesque par 3( picture in our gallery) except for the Canada Geese that hung around. Philip Rostron was the eventual winner of this event, the Captain`s Cup. He played smart, conservative golf, usually the driver stayed in the bag.
The results were….1st place…Phillip Rostron…38 points…2nd place…Colin Fraser..34 points 3rd…Paul Gorrie..30 Points

The afternoon Foursomes event found us on the Toot course, a combination of a parklands course with fescue. The weather was perfect for this competition, which usually gets cancelled due to inclement weather. It was a very tight battle, but again conservatism won out. Phillip and Bob Bass were able to keep the ball in play off the tee and putted extremely well to take the Preston “Pooh” trophy in this alternate shot format.
The results were…1st place..Phillip Rostron & Bob Bass..35 points 2nd place…Dennis Simm & Mark Russell.. 34 points 3rd place…Paul Gorrie & Peter Langham 30 points

2017 Spring Event

Friday June 2nd, 2017…For the first time since we initiated the Striker`s golf events we had perfect weather. The venue was held at York Downs G & CC which did a outstanding job of hosting our event. Our attendees were treated like royalty. The YD pro, Ian Crebbin, had his staff ready to act on any request and had us teeing off exactly on time and we had the course basically to our selves, the advantage of 3 nines. The course was in pristine condition, although there were a few grumbles about the speed of the greens(too fast) and some of the very difficult pin positions. We had excellent meals in the privacy of the Men`s Lounge. The Singles event for the Striker members was a bit of a runaway, Tony Altilia turned it on for the back nine to secure first place and win the Lucifer trophy. The Foursomes venue was a much closer affair. One of the new attendees, Don Rogers, managed to carry Ted Clarke around the course and eked out a victory to win the Preston Cup. The results are listed below:

Singles…1st place…Tony Altilia 37 points tied for 2nd..Philip Rostron & Bert Keene 32 points…tied for 3rd..Paul Gorrie & Scott Burk 31 points

Foursomes…1st place Don Rogers & Ted Clarke 34 points tied for 2nd…Bill Gillespie & Colin Fraser..Philip Rostron & Paul Borg 32 points…3rd place..Mike Manley & Paul Gorrie 31 points

It should be noted that there is a large contingent heading over to the Lucifer tournament in July and that a couple of non-Striker members who participated in our event and are headed overseas played extremely well and are the early favourites to bring the Lucifer Cup back to Canada, notably Don Rogers (37 points) and Paul Borg(34 points).

All in all it was a great day and fun was had by everyone.

2016 Fall Event

We started our Fall event with a warm up round @ Mad River hosted by Andy Stewart. Mad River is a great golf course and deserves to be ranked in the top Canadian courses.The weather was a little shaky. We had lots of sunshine for the drive north but once we arrived at the course the rain started and the wind picked up. By the time we teed it up the rain had subsided but the wind did not abate. The greens had been punched and top dressed but were still very much on the speedy side. All in all we had a very pleasant time despite the weather.

Friday Oct 14th found us @ Lora Bay for the Singles portion of the fall event, hosted by Greg Finkle. Lora Bay is a challenging course as well, nestled along the shores of Georgian Bay. The weather was pretty much ideal although the wind was still a factor. Our winner of the 2016 Captain`s Cup is Dennis Simm. Dennis started off on fire as he chipped in for eagle on a par 5 and he had 12 Stableford points after 4 holes. He had a total of 40 points on the day, in 2nd place was Greg Finkle with 35 points and in 3rd was Colin Fraser with 34 points. Greg was kind enough to host for a few beers and snacks afterwards.

Saturday Oct 15th found us @ Batteaux Creek for the Foursomes event. Unfortunately we did not have a quorum for this event as some members had to get back to the city. We had a glorious day so I joined Bruce Brymer and wore shorts. The course itself was in good shape but the greens had been punched and an attempt was made to top dress them with little success, every putt was a guessing game. We decided to do a Skins format and Andy Stewart was the big winner with 4 skins. Other winners were Greg, Bruce, Dennis and Hartley. All in all we had a great 3 days of golf and camaraderie. Stay tuned for details on our Spring event, most likely Niagara Falls.

Cheers,

Colin(Captain)

2016 RESULTS

LUCIFER COMMONWEALTH TOURNAMENT WEEK: JULY 2-9, 2016:

A large Canadian contingent participated in the events of the 2016 Lucifer Commonwealth Tournament, week, dominated by 11 members of the Maple Leaf Strikers Golfing Society. This year’s attendees included President Ted Clarke, Treasurer Bob Bass, Secretary Ori Rotstein and members Malcolm Moore, Bill Gillespie, Adam Hermant, Marc Henderson, Richard Halinda, Philip Rostron, Tom Delibassis and Peter Golding. Others joining with our group were Ken Woods, Bernie Zukerman, Doug Thomson, Scott Burk, William Lambert and Peter Langham.

President Clarke worked diligently with his Lucifer colleagues to put together an outstanding week of golf, commencing with a game on July 2, at RoyalWimbledon and finishing with our usual Friday friendly match against the Lucifers at Woking.

The full itinerary for the week included:

July 2- Royal Wimbledon Golf Club http://www.rwgc.co.uk
July 3- Rye Golf Club- match against the Aussies http://www.ryegolfclub.co.uk
July 4- West Hill- Day 1 of the Lucifer Commonwealth Tournament http://www.westhillgc.co.uk
July 5- Walton Health New Course- Day 2 of the Lucifer Tournament http://www.waltonheath.com
July 6- Ashridge Golf Club http://www.ashridgegolfclub.ltd.uk
July 7- St. George’s Hill Golf Club http://www.stgeorgeshillgolfclub.co.uk
July 8- Woking Golf Club http://www.wokinggolfclub.co.uk

The Strikers team was lodged at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Woking and travelled throughout southeast England, mostly by cab, but on occasion with our longstanding transport director Sukhi. Many thanks to Richard Halinda for organizing these excellent accommodations which allowed us to move efficiently to our golf matches in the region and to the social scene in the city of Woking.

Our week on the Links was filled with both successes and disappointments. The Annual Tournament played at Rye against the Aussies ended in a narrow loss, with the match hanging in the balance until Aussie Alan Brown sunk a 35 foot putt on the formidable 18th hole at Rye to win his match and send the trophy back to Australia. This narrow loss to the Aussies strengthened our group’s resolve going into the Lucifer Tournament. We had not had much success at the event since President Clarke won the tourney more than a decade ago. This year was different! With our confidence bolstered wearing our new Philip Rostron Designer Strikers shirts, we set lofty goals. On day 1, Malcolm Moore positioned himself in the upper part of the pack, shooting a Stableford 34 and then soared up the leaderboard with a 38 on day 2, with a composite 2 day score of 72! He was poised to accept the trophy when one of the late day competitors snuck by him with a score of 73. Malcolm was honoured at the annual banquet at the Savoy as this year’s runner-up. Newcomer Bernie Zukerman, after a modest first day, conquered Walton Health with a score of 40 on day 2 and was recognized at the banquet as the day 2 winner. Finally, we ended the week with a close loss to the Lucifers at Woking on July 8. At the luncheon following the game, President Clarke thanked the Lucifer members for their stellar organization of the week and their kind hospitality. Lucifer Scribe Nigel Jupp concluded the proceedings by reflecting on the excellent golf and camaraderie that had taken place over the week and announced that his term as Scribe had ended and that Mark Dumas had been selected as his successor.

On July 9, a number of the group headed back to Canada, while several continued on to Wales for more golf. Strikers Tony Altilia and Peter Wilkie joined this hearty group for their tour there, sending back photos intermittently, including one with the Striker Flag flying high and proud in the gale force winds.

Respectfully submitted,

Ori D. Rotstein
Secretary

2016 SPRING EVENT

Our golfing experience this year commenced at Cherry Hill GC in Fort Erie hosted by Richard Halinda. The weather was perfect for our lunch on the patio, the food was outstanding..sandwiches, salads, desserts. The staff @ Cherry Hill did a fantastic job, very friendly and very accommodating. Richard and the pro shop set up teams for this event, lowest team with net scores would be declared the winners plus individual skins would receive a cash payout. The greens were the quickest that most of us had played this year. Richard did a good job selecting the teams as you will note below:

130..Jeff Phillips, Phillip Rostron, Tony Altilia, Richard Halinda
134..Greg Finkle, Bill Marshall, Ted Clarke
136..Bert Keene, Bill Gillespie, Adam Hermant, Colin Fraser
142..Peter Golding, Grant Irwin, Paul Gorrie, Paul Savoia

Paul Savoia did a great job in selecting our venues for our evening repasts. On Thursday evening we dined @ DaGiorgio in Fallsview Casino. The food was outstanding and never stopped coming..brucetta,pizza,pasta, antipasto,etc. and the price was extremely reasonable.

Friday the 13th found the group @ the Legends of Golf to play the main events. First up was the singles competition for the Lucifer trophy @ Ussher`s Creek and as usual we used the Stableford Scoring System with handicaps. We teed it up in perfect but gusty weather, so a bit challenging. It almost turned out to be a very expensive day for me as my tee shot on the 3rd par 3 hole ended up 2 inches behind the cup, our group have been known to imbibe a bit. The scores were very tight as you will see below, congratulations Hartley:

36 points..Hartley Zwingerman
34 points..Richard Halinda, Philip Rostron
32 points..Bill Gillespie..Ted Clarke, Colin Fraser, Jeff Phillips

Our afternoon competition was for the Preston Cup in the foursome format (alternate shot) @ Battlefield. We finally were able to complete this venue after 2 weather related failures. The teams were selected by picking names out of the hat. The front nine was extremely slow, at one hole there 4 groups either on the fairway or on the tee. We ended up playing the front 9 twice so we could finish before the sun set. Our president, Ted Clarke, and his partner, Bert Keene, started off very strongly but faded in the stretch and took turns hitting each other golf balls into the water on 17 and 18 as they were out of contention, fun to watch. Again it was a very tight competition, congrats to Paul & Paul see below:

38 points..Paul Savoia & Paul Gorrie
34 points..Ori Rotstein & Greg Finkle, Tony Altilia & Rick Krug, Phillip Rostron & Adam Hermant

Friday evening we dined @ Weinkeller, food, wine and staff were extremely good. Paul arranged a private room so prizes could be handed out without bothering other diners.

Saturday morning found us @ Whirlpool GC in rainy, blustery weather. Five hardy golfers decided to give it a go, kudos?? to them.

All in all, it was a great 3 days of golfing, eating and drinking(probably too much of the former), but most importantly the comraderie, a great bunch of guys.

We are most likely heading to Collingwood for our Fall event to play courses like Mad River, Georgian Bay Club, Oslerbrook, Laurel Bay. The weekend before Thanksgiving seems to be the preferred date, more to come.

I think everyone enjoyed this venue, playing 3 good golf courses and its proximity to Toronto. There was the usual verbal jousting but the comraderie for the 2 days was outstanding.

It was a pleasure to serve as your Captain for the last three years and the incoming new Captain, Dr Ori Rotstein, will no doubt have some exciting new venues to challenge us.

May the Golf Gods be with us,

Colin Fraser
Captain