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Yukon golf champ struggles at provincials

Whitehorse’s Tom Amson had a lot of momentum heading into the B.C. Men’s Senior Golf Championships last week at Shuswap Lake Estates in Blind Bay.
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Whitehorse’s Tom Amson had a lot of momentum heading into the B.C. Men’s Senior Golf Championships last week at Shuswap Lake Estates in Blind Bay.

A little over a week earlier he won his second senior men’s title at the Yukon Golf Championships. He also had a good practice round the day before the start of the tournament.

But after starting with a pair of double bogeys, Amson struggled to find his groove.

“When I knew nothing about the golf course I shot 75, and when the tournament started I shot 82, 83, 87,” said Amson.

“I feel I could do a lot better. If I had shot three 75s I would have been in the top 25.”

Actually, three 75s would have put Amson in a tie for 11th. Instead, with a combined 252 over three rounds, he finished tied for 111th.

Amson, who was the only Yukoner there, had no birdies in his first round, one in the second and two in the third.

“The greens were difficult to read and get the speed of,” said Amson. “It was all poana grass, so if you don’t hit it firm it doesn’t hold the line. And if you miss the hole when you hit it firm, it’s not hard to go by eight or 10 feet.”

“Putting is a strong part of my game and I had very few one-putts. I only had three birdies in three rounds and that’s pretty uncommon for me.”

He had one hole in his third round that stands out in his mind, but not in a good way. He carded a 10 on a par five after getting into some bunker trouble.

“There wasn’t that much sand in the bunker and it was like hitting off the pavement. I went over the fence, over a house – it was kind of comical in the end,” said Amson, holding back chuckles.

“I heard it hit something … and I was out looking and I saw a brand new Lexus sitting out there and I was like, ‘I hope I didn’t hit that.’”

He didn’t hit the Lexus, but the extra five strokes took him out of the top 100 in the field of 144 golfers.

Harry Ferguson of Invermere, B.C. took first, finishing on par after three rounds.

Amson will next represent Yukon at the Canada 55+ Games next month in Ontario. He won silver at the last 55+ Games in 2014.

Contact Tom Patrick at

tomp@yukon-news.com