It all came full circle for Andy Crampton and Len Sheehan at the 50th Peterborough City and District Masters Golf Championship on Sunday.
Both men claimed their first city and district titles, Sheehan in the seniors division, at a golf course that played a pivotal role in their lives.
Pine Crest Golf Club is where Sheehan’s father brought him as a child to buy his first set of golf clubs off the course’s founder Wes Dixon.
Crampton first started playing golf as a child there while his father Mark Crampton was Pine Crest’s head professional.
Crampton is on a roll after winning his first Kawartha Invitational championship a month ago. He shot a first-round 76 to sit five strokes behind Steve Fredericks and Jared Hoyle after day one.
He admits he thought it was unlikely he’d catch either but fired a 69 on Day 2, winning by two strokes over Peterborough Golf and Country Club’s Jamie Morrow (72-75—147) and The Quarry’s Joe DeCarlo (74-73—147 ).
“Steve Fredericks was winning, who has won everything, so I didn’t really expect to make up five shots on Steve that’s for sure,” said Crampton. “It’s pretty special. There are a lot of people here who have won so it’s nice to win the city and district in your hometown. I’ve grown up here and worked in the industry and my dad worked in the industry. It also means a lot to win it for Kawartha.”
Crampton had been in contention for various tournaments in the past but 2022 was his breakthrough year.
“I hadn’t really won anything leading up to this year. It’s kind of been a long time coming. To get one out of the way took the pressure off for today. I could just go out and play and whatever happened, happened.”
To do it at Pine Crest was the cherry on top.
“I grew up running around here with Bob Dixon and Jan Dixon. It’s special for sure. They’re like family to me and I’ve always been treated like I’m a member here and belong here,” he said.
Crampton finished his round and then sat in the clubhouse, not sure how those behind him had been doing.
“It was kind of weird not being out there in the leader group. It was a different feeling for sure. I kind of wanted to wait until all the scores were in and it was final before I let out a breath of relief,” he said.
Sheehan, 64, representing Tamarac GCC, had finished as runner up four times including the last three years to Kawartha GCC’s Dan O’Donoghue by one stroke in the seniors division. This year Sheehan (71-75—146) beat O’Donoghue (76-75—151) by five strokes. PGCC’s Mike Thompson (73-79—152) was third.
“I turned the tables finally,” said Sheehan. “With this one being the 50th year it’s really special. It’s a long time coming and it just caps off a great year.”
Sheehan suffered after Day 1 and never looked back. He said his ball-striking and putting was spot-on.
“I didn’t get into trouble on Saturday and I didn’t get into trouble today,” he said. “I was just my usual steady up and down.”
Crampton helped KGCC capture the men’s team title with a score of 597. PGCC was second at 612 and Pine Crest and The Quarry tied for third at 622. Also on KGCC’s team were Derek howes, Jake Shaughnessy, Zak Howard, Jaden Gates and Fredericks.
KGCC also won the seniors division with a score of 618 followed by Pine Crest at 633 and PGCC 642. Members of the winning team included Michael Gabbaiani, Ken Skoretz, Roger Self, Robert Buckton, Steve Stanlick and O’Donoghue.
Other participating clubs include Keystone Links and Liftlock Golf Club.
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