2008 Canadian Hickory Championship

9th Annual Canadian Open Hickory Championship - August 20-22, 2008

While this is officially a 3-day event, a number of players arrived early to participate in the annual road trip to the Rocky Mountains - this year to play the Stanley Thompson designed Jasper and Banff courses. The weather man favoured the groups and the panoramic views in the Rockies are hard to match! The "pre-play" is a popular attraction each year and makes it a bit of a holiday as well as a tournament. Negotiations are underway to include a 2-day hickory event at Banff next year just prior to the 10th annual Canadian Open...stay tuned for more details.

The Wednesday 2-man team scramble match play competition saw great matches mixed in with a Prime Rib lunch. The A side final match saw Randy Jensen and his partner Wanda Ducher defeat the team of Paul Biocini and Willie Ducher in a close match. Wednesday was a good day of practice where the winners continued up the ladder while those less fortunate played more golf on the other 9's to acquaint themselves with the course and fellow competitors. Evening activities featured a Bar-b-que and viewing of a private collection.

Quite a crew came out for the pre-tournament Thursday Ryder Cup matches (Canada vs. the US) with 44 players competing for the Casey Cup. The format was 9 holes foursomes, 9 holes better ball and 9 holes singles match play. Despite the presence of a number of top American players with their largest contingent to date, the Canadians countered with perhaps their strongest team. Much to the dismay of the American team, Canada once again handily defended their title for the 9th straight year. Perhaps the highlight was the final hole of a singles match featuring Glen Jevne of Canada vs Sam Irvin of the US. All square after 8 holes, Jevne drove the 330 yard 9th hole within 18 inches and made the putt for a deuce...a difficult feat for Irvin to match! The anchor team for the Canadian/Commonwealth side included Brendan Casey from Kent, England and Mike Germaine from Calgary. More importantly than the results of course was the sportsmanship and camaraderie exhibited by all the groups. Next years Ryder Cup captains were announced - Ron St. John for Canada and Paul Biocini for the US.

 

Copyright © The Legends, 2010

Glen Jevne defends his Canadian Open Hickory
Championship!

60 players all dressed in their finest arrived on Friday for the third day of activities - the 36 hole Canadian Open Hickory Championship. Interestingly enough in the past 7 years of this event there have been 7 different champions. This year for the second year in a row a playoff was needed to determine the champion - featuring two veterans of the tournament with a score of 148...defending champion Glen Jevne (76-72) of Wetaskiwin, Alberta and Paul Biocini (74-74) from Modesto, California. The first playoff hole saw the hole halved in par with Glen Jevnie winning on the second playoff hole. Just missing the playoff was Darren Pockett (76-73) of Victoria, British Columbia. Junior Champion was Peter Germaine of Calgary and Ladies Champion was Wanda Ducher of Edmonton.

 

 

A steak bar-b-que followed with all parting with the promise to meet again next year - same time - same place!

The 10th annual Canadian Open Hickory Championship is tentatively scheduled to be held the 19th - 21st of August, 2009 - watch the website www.thelegends.ca for details. All are most welcome!