Manotick, Ont. – Team Ontario won their second straight Bruce Forbes Trophy as the Inter-Provincial team champions at the 2024 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO. Team Ontario continued their tradition of dominance in the inter-provincial team competition, capturing the title a record 18 times in the 30 year history of the competition.
The trio of Cam Burke of Kitchener, Ont., Ben Thompson of Toronto, Ont., and Charles Fitzsimmons of King, Ont., combined for a total score of 5-under to defeat Team Manitoba by seven strokes on Wednesday at Carleton Golf and Yacht Club.
“We don’t get to play team golf very often so it’s kind of a cool format for us where we get to have a little bit of comradery and you know the entire country is here, so I am lucky enough to have won it before and it feels really good,” said Burke following completion of round two earlier on Thursday. “We will not get to celebrate today as we will be heading right back out, but it’s just cool to be able to compete with some guys who you have played with all of these years, and we had a really good day today, so it was fun.”
All three Team Ontario members headed into round three with under par scores on the individual leaderboard.
“I only ended up playing three holes yesterday, so it was raining the whole time so today the fact it wasn’t raining and there was no wind, it was fairly straight forward as far as the conditions were concerned,” said Burke. “I think we were all under par for the day and we ended up taking advantage of the good conditions.”
Team Manitoba shot a total score of 3-over to place second in the Inter-Provincial Team Championship. Team British Columbia placed third after shooting a total score of 4-over.
Burke recorded an impressive second round shooting a 7-under 63 Thursday morning to have his score count, while Thompson’s 2-under 68 also counted on Thursday towards the team’s final score. “It feels awesome. It kind of brought me back to the college days of sort of having that team comradery and watching everybody on the fairway with the team shirts and all that, it was awesome and a privilege to support Team Ontario,” said Thompson.
Play resumed at 7:00 a.m. ET on Thursday at Carleton Golf and Yacht Club in Manotick, Ont. After Wednesday’s second round was suspended due to unplayable conditions due to the rain, 80 players in the field completed their second rounds and were treated to sunny conditions for round three.
Burke finished his third round shooting 3-under 67, to sit at 11-under for the tournament and leads by eight shots over Brooks Lancaster and Kyle Gordon heading into Friday’s final round.
During round three, Burke’s round got off to an ideal start by carding two birdies on the front nine before bogeying on the par-3 sixth hole. He carded a total of four birdies during his third round.
Burke added, “there was no real plan, only to hit as many good shots as possible. You just have to go out there and give yourself chances and hopefully things work out. Today they did and two days ago it was also a very good score given the conditions as well so I’m obviously very happy to be where I am at but we got a heck of a long way to go. Lots of work to still be done but this is where you want to be. If I would shoot a 63 like I did today, I may be on television right now.”
Kyle Gordon of Whitby, Ont. finished his second round yesterday with a 4-under 66 and followed up with a 1-over 71 on Thursday to sit in a tie for second place with Brooks Lancaster of Kaleden, B.C. at 3-under. Tied for fourth are Jared Coyle of Manotick Ont., and David Lang of Toronto, Ont.
Lancaster leads the Mid-Master division by two strokes over Christopher Thayer of Golden, Colo. The Mid-Master is a separate division for players 40 and older.
Tim Hollman of Olds, Alta. recorded a hole-in-one on the eighth hole during his third round today on his way to shooting a 3-under 67. Hollman sits T13 at 2-over.
In addition to the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur title, the 2024 champion will receive direct exemptions into the 2024 U.S. Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship and the 2025 Canadian Men’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships.
The final round will tee off at 8:00 a.m. ET on Friday, with the lead group of Burke, Lancaster and Gordon teeing off at 10:10 a.m. For Friday’s groupings and tee times, please click here.
For the leaderboard following the third round of the 2024 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, please click here.
GOLF CANADA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Golf Canada annually conducts more than 30 golf competitions and qualifiers nation-wide – including nine National Amateur Championships – which play host to more than 3,000 domestic and international athletes from all corners of the world. In partnership with our host clubs, thousands of volunteers, provincial golf associations and our proud sponsors, Golf Canada is dedicated to supporting player development through world-class competition since our inception in 1895. Officiated by certified Canadian Rules of Golf officials, Golf Canada’s amateur competitions are fully compliant with golf’s international governing bodies and include marquee events such as the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships as well as the Canadian Junior Girls and Junior Boys Championships. Golf Canada’s amateur championships are proudly supported by BDO Canada, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), Titleist, FootJoy, Sport Canada, Levelwear and JOURNIE Rewards. For more information and scheduling visit https://www.golfcanada.ca/competitions-calendar/.