Windsor, Ont. – Kurtis Barkley of Williamsburg, Ont. and Natasha Stasiuk of Oakville, Ont. both completed wire-to-wire victories to defend their respective Gross Stroke Play titles at the second annual Canadian All Abilities Championship, presented by BDO and hosted at Essex Golf and Country Club in Windsor, Ont.
Barkley followed up an opening-round 4-under 67 with an even par 71 on Wednesday to finish the championship at 4-under 138, one shot better than runner-up Chris Willis of Aurora, Ont. whose round of 1-under 70 was the low round of the day.
“The conditions were awesome tee to green. It’s a ball striker course you know, tee to green which I’m usually pretty good at it. I think I hit 14 greens today and I hit 17 yesterday, so it was definitely suited to my game,” said Barkley, a member of Cedar Glen Golf Course who came into the championship ranked no. 6 on the World Gross Ranking for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD). “I played smart percentage wise, and Kris is an amazing player. I battled with him in the Ontario one and I look forward to many battles with this guy.”
Rounding out the top-five behind Barkley (67-71—138) and Willis (69-70—139) were Jesse Florkowski of Medicine Hat, Alta. (73-72—145), Michael Pisaric of Fort Erie, Ont. (77-77—154) and local product Kevin Delaney of Windsor (76-81—157).
The win marks back-to-back victories in the Men’s Gross Stroke Play division for the 34-year-old Barkley, who won the inaugural Canadian All Abilities Championship in 2021 at Humber Valley Golf Club in Toronto. Barkley’s impressive season also includes a victory at the 2022 Ontario Disability Championship in July, his fourth consecutive win at the provincial event.
In the women’s Gross Stroke Play division, defending champion Natasha Stasiuk carded rounds of 84-82 to finish 24-over 166. The 24-year-old Oakville, Ont., native finished 13 strokes ahead of runner-up Tess Trojan of St. Catharines, Ont. (91-88—179).
“It feels pretty awesome and amazing,” said Stasiuk, who also collected her fourth consecutive title at the Ontario Disability Championship earlier this summer. “It was a tough situation. It was back-to-back-to-back with Tess on the back nine. I’ve been working a lot on my game, my mental game. I went to Pinehurst in July, and it helped me prepare for this.”
For the Women’s Net Stableford Competition, Trojan, a public player with the Golf Canada, earned 39 stableford points in the second round for tournament total of 74 stableford points to defend her division title. Trojan finished 20 points clear of Stasiuk who earned 28 points Wednesday and a tournament total of 54 stableford points.
In the Men’s Net Stableford competition, the local favourite Delaney, a member of Pointe West Golf Club in Windsor, earned 35 stableford points Wednesday to finish with 75 total points for the championship, two clear of Pisaric (73). Rounding out the top-five were Randall Mackus of Prince George, B.C., (72) in third and Willis in fourth (71) with Vic McLelland of High River, Alta. and Kristian Hammerback of Winnipeg, Man. in a share of fifth at 70 stableford points.
Click here for complete final results from the 2022 Canadian All Abilities Championship.
A total of 39 players, regardless of disability classification, competed over 36 holes across four divisions— Women’s Gross Stroke Play; Women’s Net Stableford; Men’s Gross Stroke Play; and Men’s Net Stableford.
As a legacy of the second annual Canadian All Abilities Golf Championship, Golf Canada was proud to donate a SoloRider (Para Golfer adaptive golf equipment) to the City of Windsor to support golfers with a disability. The SoloRider will be utilized at the Roseland Golf & Curling Club.
A venue for the 2023 Canadian All Abilities Championship will be announced at later date.
The Canadian All Abilities Championship was contested September 13-14 as a 36-hole competition featuring players from Canada and the United States with neurological, intellectual, sensory, and physical impairments. First held in 2021 at Humber Valley Golf Course, the competition supports Golf Canada’s commitment to create a more inclusive and respectful sport environment across the Canadian golf community.
Golf Canada has worked with several partner organizations on the Canadian All Abilities Championship including Special Olympics Canada, Blind Golf Canada, Canadian Amputee Golf Association, Emeritus Golf, The R&A, EDGA, and others to ensure an inclusive and fair competition is provided to the athletes.