The Road to the Top

.....is paved with good lies..... (as stated in the latest UK and international business, finance, economic and political news, comment and analysis from the Financial Times)…. But in Craig’s recent attempt to make the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship his road is paved with good “golf” lies.

Golf Lie; Definition

This golf term has two meanings. The first is simply where the ball sits. A golfer's lie is the location of the ball at rest. The second is the number of strokes it took the ball to get to where it sits. "Lie" is most commonly used in descriptive terms "good lie" and "bad lie." A good lie would be one on the fairway with good grass under the ball. A "bad lie" would be one in the rough, for instance.

Craig has been golfing since the age of 6 and began competitive golf with the McLennan Ross Sun Junior Tour in the Spring of 2003 at the age of 13. He then joined the Canadian Junior Golf Association Tour (CJGA) and Maple Leaf Junior Tour (MJT). His ultimate goal was to qualify for the Canadian or US Men’s Amateur Championship one day, so in 2008 he entered his first Men’s Alberta Amateur Qualifying tournament. He qualified both in 2008 and 2009 and made the cut each year at the Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship but failed to qualify for Canadians. The road to get to the “top” goes something like this:

Play 1 round of competitive golf at the Men’s Alberta Amateur Qualifying (a qualifying score would be approximately 76 on a par 72 course). After qualifying; play 4 rounds of competitive golf at the Men’s Alberta Amateur Championship (making the cut after round 2 with a score of approximately 150) and playing another 2 rounds (with a total 4-round score of approximately 301 on a par 72 course). After achieving this you earn a spot to play in the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship.

Third Time Lucky; Meaning

The belief that the third time something is attempted is more likely to succeed than the previous two attempts. It is also used as a good luck charm - spoken just before trying something for the third time.

This year, in his third attempt, Craig achieved this and nobody is more proud than we are. It didn’t come easy and he just squeaked in, but he is IN and headed to London Ontario to play in the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship on August 12-15.

Alberta Men’s Amateur Qualifying
Elbow Springs Golf Club, Calgary

July 5, 2010   Score 74

Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship

Red Tail Landing Golf Club, Edmonton

July 20-23, 2010   Scores 70/79/74/78

Look for this layout in the Fall 2010 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker