Maybe it was the golf at Beverly that attracted such an excellent turnout at our annual spring SRC meeting on May 8th.  Only clubs not represented were Cutten, Markland Wood, Beechwood, Sawmill, and Lookout Point.

Art Stead, SRC Secretary, had worked diligently on the days leading up to the meeting editing, collating, and updating all the 2012 pages for the Manual.  He walked everyone quickly through the page replacements.

There are 12 new captains so time was taken to review their duties, responsibilities and team qualifying procedure.

Brian Butler talked about the 2012 Championship being held at The Summit and said the format will be a shotgun.

This year the divisions have been chosen to alleviate distance travelled.  The Executive are working on scenarios to remedy this which may mean restructuring all the divisions in 2013 to accommodate the travel dilemma.  Good luck to all players this summer as we all compete to get to the Championship at Summit in September.

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Credit Valley has chosen to drop its SRC involvement in 2012 and have been replaced by Donalda.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.

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.

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.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 10:00  am

Location:  Beverly Country Club

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 11:00 am

Location:  Beverley Golf Club