For the second time this season, the Yellowknife chapter of the Mediocre Golf Association needed a playoff to determine its latest champion.
And just like with all of the past tournaments this season, a new player was left standing when it was all over.
Ranald Matheson overcame the challenge of Ryan Sheppard and Brian Bodnaruk in a playoff to win the Bratish Open, the MGA's version of the British Open, on Sunday at the Yellowknife Golf Club. All three ended up tied after the 18-hole round with identical scores of 96 but Matheson managed to par the second playoff hole to claim the win.
The trio teed off at the 14th for the first playoff hole, which saw Sheppard eliminated after a rough go of it right from the tee shot.
“He drove it right over the green and ended up popping his chip right back over the green to the other side,” said Shaun Morris, the chapter's president. “He said he was nervous before teeing off and it showed.”
With Sheppard out of contention, Matheson and Bodnaruk went back to the 14th tee to battle it out, which saw Matheson end up parring the hole to claim victory.
“It was entertaining to watch,” said Morris.
The real British Open usually features plenty of wind due to the fact that the island is situated close to the North Sea but those very same conditions played havoc with the players in Yellowknife.
Morris said the conditions seemed to level the playing field.
“It seemed like there was more parity this time around,” he said. “Those who were driving the ball low seemed to do better than those who were hitting high.”
In the final results, eight players were within three shots of each other and Morris said any of those eight could have been in the playoff with a swing of a couple of shots. Robin Mercer-Sproule was the top women's shooter as she finished in a tie for fifth place with a score of 98.
“She had a really nice round,” said Morris.
Morris came in as the defending champion of the event but wasn't able to turn the trick this year. In fact, he didn't even factor in the money, which went to the top 16 players. He ended up 17th.
“I played terrible but I still had fun,” he said.
Matheson's win netted him the big cheque of $1.26, vaulting him up the money list to 10th while Sheppard's $0.77 for finishing in a tie for second meant he remains atop the money list with $3.63 this season.
“That's impressive considering he still hasn't won a tournament this season,” said Morris.
The chapter is off for a few weeks and will return for the MGA Championship, its version of the PGA Championship, on Aug. 12.