Tim Charles and Peter Morse have been crowned the inaugural champions of the BDO National Golf League following a playoff win over Reid Middleton and Brian Thorne at Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ont. on Saturday.
Three teams represented Manitoba with Brett Charette and Nicolas Hince of St. Boniface Golf Club finishing the highest with 18 stableford points. Josh Blatt and Curtis Markusson of St. Charles Country Club along with Daniel Beaupre and Benoit Mowbray of Glen Lea Golf Course each finished with 14 points.
Play was stopped on two occasions Saturday morning due to inclement weather. In order to complete play, tournament formatting was altered with pairings playing their respective nine holes, with the top teams from the back and front nine then meeting in a playoff for the championship. Play resumed shortly before 1 p.m. local time for all 52 pairings (104 golfers).
Charles of North Kentville, N.S. and Morse of New Minas, N.S. earned 22 stableford points from the front nine to advance to the playoff, Middleton and Thorne of New Brunswick posted a similar score of 22 points to emerge as the top team on the back nine.
Both pairings competed on the 18th hole in-front of an enthusiastic crowd, all with par putts awaiting them. After the duo from New Brunswick narrowly missed their putts, Morse drained a lengthy putt to claim the championship for the Nova Scotia duo.
“Just out of this world, I couldn’t describe it for you. We came here to play and have a good time and if we managed to get in and win this thing, Peter had already planned to go to the British Open and now apparently, I have to go with him and I’m really looking forward,” said an elated Charles following the playoff.
This marked the second of two playoff wins for the duo, having won in a playoff in their provincial championship.
“I wanted to win it again because I was able to the first time around, but I didn’t get a chance because Peter made his putt, now in the long run, really happy he made it,” laughed Charles.
Travel issues played a role as their flights were cancelled late on Thursday night. They were able to secure early morning flights on Friday on very little sleep to get to Hamilton to compete.
“We were excited about the whole experience, playing this golf course, having the opportunity to be here when it’s set up for the RBC Canadian Open, nobody else gets that,” said Charles.
“We just like to have fun, we’re not low handicappers and that’s why this is such a great event in my opinion, anybody can do well at it, the guys we played with today were awesome, we had so much fun and that’s what golf’s all about,” added Morse.
Along with becoming the inaugural champions, Charles and Morse will be heading to Royal Troon in Troon, Scotland to represent Canada in The R&A 9 Hole Challenge one-week prior to the 152nd Open Championship. Morse already had plans to attend as a fan.
“I plan to go and take in the full experience and go there, that’s how much it means to me and to go there and play is even cooler. Thanks to Golf Canada, just unbelievable that they’ve done this for us and given us this opportunity,” said Morse.
“I hope my wife is aware that I’m going to have to spend a week there now. Could be news to her,” added Charles with a laugh.
This championship means a little more for Morse, a vice principal at Horton High School in Wolfville, N.S. In 2015, he was involved in a serious car accident, where he suffered 14 fractures and had to learn to walk again.
“To be concerned I wouldn’t be able to walk and then I started playing golf, shooting 99-100, just slowly working my way back to low 80’s, high 70’s and it means the world to me because I can’t play any other sports now. I can’t run, my legs just don’t do it. As someone who played a lot of sports it’s hard on the head, mental health as everyone knows is a big deal, so for me to be able to go out twice a week and golf with my friends and hack it up has just made all the difference in the world for me to be honest,” Morse said with a smile as he walked off the 18th green a national champion.
The BDO National Golf League was launched by Golf Canada ahead of the 2023 season as a nationwide, season-long competition to enhance weekly recreational league experiences for men, women and junior golfers. The inaugural season saw 10,000 participants from 107 leagues from coast-to-coast. Scoring followed a 9-hole net stableford format that took place during a six-week period of a club’s league season. Within those six weeks, the best four scores were used to determine the individuals that would advance to the provincial championships.
The provincial championships were contested in the fall of 2023 over 13 regional tournaments across all 10 provinces between September and October, competing for spots into the league championship in Hamilton. Travel expenses to the BDO National Golf League Championship for all participants were covered by Golf Canada.
“Today’s championship represents the culmination and a celebration of a successful inaugural BDO National Golf League season. The inaugural season included roughly 10,000 participants from over 100 leagues hailing from every province across Canada. Our championship field of 104 golfers collected enough points in their respective league major weeks to qualify for provincial playoffs and successfully advanced to today’s championship,” said Tim McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer, Golf Canada. “It has been amazing to see players of all skill levels competing here today. Enhancing league play for all recreational golfers was a key goal of the BDO National Golf League. This friendly competition has also made significant impact on creating a brighter and more inclusive future for golf in our country as 100 per cent of the proceeds will be directed to First Tee – Canada.”
Registration is now open for the 2024 BDO National Golf League.
To sign-up or for more information, please visit nationalgolfleague.ca.