Toronto Island Open
September 21 & 22, 2002

The TIO is one of our favorite events. The tournament was supposed to be held in early July this year, but due to a workers strike in Toronto the event had to be rescheduled. This event typically has a low attendance anyway, but the rescheduling really hurt the attendance. Had it occurred in July, there would have been 12 pro women. As it was, we had 5 pro women. There were only 16 pro men.

The atmosphere around this event is what really sets it apart. The course is on Toronto Island so everyone takes a ferry over to the island in the morning. It is a small island that has many bikers and rollerbladers, but extremely few motor vehicles. The course is quite challenging and rewards the low thrower. There is also a beautiful view of the Toronto skyline from the island.

My first round on Saturday started out really well. In our first three holes, we had two CTP's (closest to the pin) one was worth $50 US and the other was $100 US. I got both of those CTP and was playing well. About half way through the round, I had a bad streak and lost a few strokes. I still ended up with a strong score of 57. Elaine King (who is from Toronto) shot a personal best on her home town course and was a head of me by 2 strokes. In the men's division, Shawn shot a 51 which put him on the first card. Ron Russell shot a men's course record which was 48.

Because there were so few people, the structure was relaxed. The groups were arranged for the second round and people were allowed to start whenever their groups where ready to do so. Neither Elaine nor I shot as well the second round. I ended at 62 and she had a 60. Shawn shot a sold 50. Ron's record from the previous round was short lived as Keven McCoy shot a 47 that round.

On Sunday we had only one round to play then there would be a 9 hole skins match for the top 4 players. I made a charge, but fell two short and took second to Elaine. Shawn had a real roller coaster ride during his final round. He either played absolutely incredible or he played horrible. He made some huge shots and had 7 birdies but then missed two extremely short putts that would have given him the win. Instead he tied Steve Brinster for second while Ron Russel won by one stroke.

The 9 hole skins match included: Ron, Shawn, Steve, and Kevin. They played 2 regulation holes and 7 safari holes. Shawn nearly put in a 120 foot upshot from his knee on the second hole, but it spun in the chains and then fell out. On the third hole he also had a chance to win the skins. He had a put inside of 20 feet that would have given him the first 3 skins but the putt fell a little short. Everything pushed on the 4th, and 5th holes. Then Keven McCoy made a huge put on the next hole for the $700 on the line. The next two skins pushed and the rest of the money ($300) was on the line for the last hole. It was not a long hole, but there was a very tight gap to hit before traversing over water. It was understood that if the skins where not won but score, the money would go to whomever had the closest drive. Both Shawn and Keven had good drives. Shawns was the closest, but he was also the only one to two the hole so he won the last three skins outright.