Wally Berseth from River Bend (London) who was so instrumental in getting the 12 Western Division clubs into the SRC has been invited onto the executive.  He is replacing Jim Price who served many excellent years with the SRC executive, and retires this year.  Wally is a welcome addition and no doubt will contribute greatly to the future of the organization.

Credit Valley has chosen to drop its SRC involvement in 2012 and have been replaced by Donalda.  We had been approached by Donalda this summer and they immediately accepted when the vacancy occurred.  They are playng in Division "A" with Summit, St. Catharines, and Wyldewood and they are welcome to the competition. 

The Bridgewater team beat favoured London Hunt by  a mere 2 points (20 to 18) to win the Senior Ryder Cup Championship on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011.  Members of the victorious team were Rick Knutson, Mike Greco, Gerry Martin, Wayne Nelson, John Courtney, Dave MacDonald, Don McQuaig, and Len Dowsett.  The Brierwood Country Club in Hamburg, New York, hosted this year's event on a sunny, very blustery day.  Ninety-six players from 12 different clubs participated.

Near the end of the matches most of the players gathered at the large scoreboard to watch as the results trickled in.  London Hunt led for most of the latter stages as they accumulated 18 quick points.  Summit and Trafalgar were strongly in contention as well.

However, the Bridgewater team of Don McQuaig and Len Dowsett came in late with the 6 points needed to boost their team to victory.  The Bridgewater team of Rick Knutson and Mike Greco had a hard fought match as well.  They were tied with Vince Marchesano and Rick Trainer of Beverly when Rick holed an 85 yard sand wedge for an eagle, to win that nine and eventually the match.  This is Bridgewater's third Championship title.

Team skins winners for the day were Rick Knutson and Mike Greco with an eagle 2 on #9.  Also Fred Fairs and Chris Canning of Trafalgar eagled the par 5 17th hole.

Next year's championship will be held at The Summit Club in Richmond Hill early in September 2012.

Final 2011 Championship Results:  Bridgewater 20,  London Hunt 18,  Summit 17,  Trafalgar 17,  Twenty Valley 14,  Lookout Point 12,  Brierwood 11,  Beverly 9,  Loch Ness 9,  The Oaks 8,  Credit Valley 6,  Highland 3.

The division winners who have qualified for the Championship on September 13th at Brierwood are:  HIGHLAND, THE OAKS, LOCH NESS, CREDIT VALLEY, LONDON HUNT, BEVERLY, LOOKOUT POINT, BRIDGEWATER, TRAFALGAR, TWENTY VALLEY, and the wild card SUMMIT.   As the host club, BRIERWOOD gets in automatically.

Jim Price, the Championship chair, has forwarded details on the day to all participating captains.  They are to send their team lists back to him asap for the final draw.  This will be distributed to all captains once the Executive have completed the draw. Tee times begin at 11:00 am and will be on the 1st and 10th in a crossover format.

He also is sending out the names of hotels in the immediate area for any teams who want to stay over.  The Championship Committee is finalizing details on what should be a very competitive field given the number of excellent teams. 

The only clubs that qualified and played last year are: TRAFALGAR, TWENTY VALLEY (2010 Championship host), LOCH NESS and BRIDGEWATER.  CUTTEN, last year's winner was beaten by a strong BRIDGEWATER squad in a tough division battle.  Many of the division winners were only known after the final matches - which is the way it should be. For the total points in each divivision and where each club finished, go to "DIVISION STANDINGS" on the Home page.

The staff at Brierwood are eagerly anticipating the first ever American SRC Championship and have the course in super shape for the day.

The Championship Committee, Bill Kerr, Jim Price, John Tattersall and Reg Finlayson met with the Brierwood management recently to review details for the September 13 event.

We can report that the facilities are outstanding and will proudly host the first American championship.  Manager Ray Tugend, Pro A. J. DiRosa, Chef Ed O'Donnell and Captain Archie Walker were extremely gracious and creative in explaining how they will contribute to the success of our Championship.

The clubhouse is - how shall I say - unique.  It is huge, with oak panelling and chandeliers everywhere.  Originally built by Bethleham Steel for their employees, it has a spa, bowling alley, numerous dining areas and bars around every corner.  Arnold Palmer Enterprises now own and operate it.

We found the golf course, which is very close to Lake Erie, in top shape despite all the spring rain.  It will provide a challenge since the very tightly bunkered greens demand pinpoint approach shots.  Most of the fairways are treelined and sprayed tee shots are not rewarded.  Also there is an excellent driving range.

With the three newly added divisions, we will have almost one hundred players competing.  It should be a memorable SRC Championship.

The SRC held its annual spring meeting on Tues., May 10th at Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club.  There was a record attendance as only one club did not send a representative.  Thanks to the superb efforts of the email "blasting" by John Tattersal. 

There was a sense of excitement in the room as 12 new clubs and their representatives were welcomed into the SRC association:  River Bend (Wally Berseth), Brantford (John Sharp), Highland (Gene Gordon), Elmira (Clark McAlpine), London Hunt (Don White), Sunningdale (Dirk De Vries), Westhaven (Al Hutcheson), Galt (Paul Paquette & Paul Weber), The Oaks (John Langmuir), Craigowan (Rob Mason), Whistle Bear (Blane Hamilton), and Deer Ridge (Joe Hamley).  A special orientation meeting was held before the regular one for the representatives of the new clubs.  It was chaired by Wally Berseth and essentially reviewed many of the fundamental responsibilities of their position.  A number of the Executive were there to field questions. 

Team qualifying procedure was a subject that was reviewed at the regular meeting for the benefit of all attendees.

It appears 2011 will be one of the most competitive SRC golf seasons we have experienced.  The winning team that captures this championship will have beaten a very strong field.  Let the games begin!

Art Stead gave an excellent summary of Cliff Dobson's tenure as Past President of the SRC and his 11 year involvement in the Association.  Under his guidance and leadership the SRC has grown to be an international forum for senior golfers to compete in match play.  A portrait painting of Cliff was presented to him by current President Reg Finlayson to acknowledge his dedication and hard work.

Due to the increased number of teams in the championship final at Brierwood this year, the Executive decided to switch to two man better ball.  It will be a test year for this format and we will re-evaluate player response to determine if it will remain.

The 2012 host site for the SRC Championship will be the Summit Club in Richmond Hill.  In 2013 it will be at the Beverly Golf & Country Club and in 2014 the River Bend Club in London has agreed to host the Championship.

 With the recent addition of 3 new Western Divisions we now have 40 clubs and 10 divisions in the SRC for the 2011 competitive season. Again this is due to the persistent efforts of former Dundas Valley member, Wally Berseth, now living in London.

The clubs and their new divisions are:  Division B - RiverBend, Elmira, Brantford and Highland;   Division C - London Hunt, Sunningdale, West Haven and Galt; Division D - Deer Ridge, The Oaks, Whistle Bear and Craigowan.  Match dates are being negotiated and will be posted here as soon as received.

We welcome these new clubs and eagerly anticipate the three fresh rookie division winners in next year's championship at Briarwood, N.Y. on September 13th.

The draw has been done for 2011 Divisions and it is posted in another part of this website.  Game dates are slowly starting to trickle in and will also be posted as soon as received.  Please contact your other division representatives to pin down those dates before the courses close and folks head south.  The games are Two Man Better Ball, Scramble, Chapman and Shamble.

The Executive Committee held elections for committee officers which were approved at the October 12th Annual General Meeting.  They are as follows:  President - Reg Finlayson, Vice President - Gary Bartlett, Secretary - Art Stead, Treasurer - Rex Smith.  Five executive members who will serve terms of up to three years are John Tattersal, Brian Butler, Tom Quarantillo, Jim Price, and new member Bill Kerr.

Retiring President, Cliff Dobson, worked diligently to continue the success of the SRC and deserves congratulations from all of us.

The 2010 Senior Ryder Cup Championship was won handily by The Cutten Club with 17.5 points at Twenty Valley on Tuesday, September 7.  They finished a full 3 points (or one match) ahead of Port Colborne.  Team members were John Buzanis, Bob Desautels, Peter Lago, Rick Ludlow, Mike North, and John Pate.  Super Seniors were Dave McBain and Tom Cox.  Bob Armstrong, a key part of the team, is a school principal and could not attend the Championship.  In his place was alternate John Buzanis  who contributed 2 points.

On a hot windy day with temperatures hovering at 29 degrees; winds gusting to 60 km per hour; treacherous greens stimping at a slippery 12, made it a wild ride if you did not have your "A" game.  There were branches and  leaves dancing across fairways and greens; balls were oscillating and moving  as players tried to  line up their putts. It  was  fortunate that the predicted rain did not materialize.  Players were using 3 to 4 clubs more in some cases to reach their normal distances.  All the more credit to Cutten for prevailing in these conditions.

In  the latter stages of the Championship  the final result was in doubt, as teams drifted in from both the 9th and 18th holes (due to a cross over this year).  Both Port Colborne and Trafalgar had early leads and it was not until the final matches with Pete Lago who got 2.5 critical points from Russ Potter of River Oaks and Rick Ludlow with 2.5 points that the Championship winner was declared.  All clubs who participated were champions in their divisions and had the opportunity to win.  This year as happened in 2009, all matches were seeded to ensure that each player competed against an opponent of similar calibre.

Cutten had won their division with 77 points over a tough River Oaks team that finished at 65 points and nailed a wild card spot in the Championship.

Other team scores were - Port Colborne 14.5, Trafalgar 14, River Oaks 14, North Halton 12, Twenty Valley 12, Loch Ness Links 12, Bridgewater 7, and Links of Niagara 5.

There were 6 skins with Art Stead (Port Colborne) being the big winner with an eagle 3 on No. 1 and a birdie 3 on No. 17.  Bob Hoffstetter (Bridgewater) had an eagle 2 on No. 2, Chuck Pilkey (River Oaks) had a birdie 3 on No. 3, Jim Clelland (Trafalgar) a birdie 2 on No. 7, and Brian White (Loch Ness Links) with an eagle 3 on No. 10 were the rest of the skins winners.

A bonus for the Cutten team was a complimentary challenge match at River Bend Golf & Country Club in  London against their top seniors.  This was communicated by Wally Berseth of River Bend, who was a guest at the Championship and used to play in the Senior Ryder Cup matches when he was a member at Dundas Valley.  He is spearheading a move to establish a western SRC division in London and Kitchener for next year. (More on this as it develops)

Club Manager, Tracy Robinson, Professional, Brody Whetham, Superintendent, Steve Muys, and their staff at Twenty Valley did a superb job hosting and preparing the course for this year's Championship.

The 2011 Championship will be held at Brierwood in New York State.  (Picturesof 2010 teams etc.will be posted later.) 

Friday, September 30th, 2011, 10:00  am

Location:  Dundas Valley Golf Club

Tuesday, October 11, 2011, 11:00 am

Location:  Dundas Valley Golf Club