A local golfer overcame injury and poor weather to put in a strong showing and enjoy a good time at the 96th Saskatchewan Senior Men’s Championship last week at Moose Jaw's Hillcrest Golf Club.
Patrick Murphy, whose home course is the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club, finished tied for 27th place in the field of 58 golfers at Hillcrest after shooting a final round score of 82 (11-over) last Friday to bring his three round total to 240 (27-over). Moose Jaw’s Ken Bradley won the August 5 to 7 championship with a score of 218 (5-over).
“The final round wasn’t very good because I tweaked my knee on the seventh hole,” said Murphy, who shot a score of 80 in the opening round and 78 in the second. “I wasn’t going to quit, so I just kept on going and kind of took half a swing at the ball to get by.”
Murphy said the first six holes of the final round went really well for him as he was riding a 2-over heading onto the seventh hole, but the injury forced him into a few bogeys the rest of the way. He said one bad hole, a five on the par-3 fifth hole, in the first round cost him a few spots in the standings, but the second day went well despite playing through a downpour.
“On the second day I was probably in the top 10,” he said. “The greens are quite a bit slower than what we’re used to in Estevan, so it took me a little while to get used to them. But once I did then things went better.”
The heavy rains in Moose Jaw before and during the tournament caused the ball to stick instead of roll, causing Murphy to leave a couple putts three inches short of the hole. Despite the rain, he said the course was in very good shape for the tournament and it was a pleasure to play in the championship with a great group of golfers who annually participate in it.
“You get a lot of fellowship out of it,” said Murphy, on why he was playing in his eighth Saskatchewan Senior Men’s Championship. “You get to know the guys. The nucleus of the guys is the same that come every year and you get to know them. You sit and catch up on a lot of war stories and have a beer. Sometimes you only see these people once a year. It’s as much a social gathering as it is a competitive tournament.”
