Participants of the 4 Wing Golf Playdowns, 9 & 10 Aug 2021.
Photo: Jerry Ingham
Golf is one of the few sports that can be played while socially distancing. The 4 Wing Golf Playdowns were held at the Cold Lake Golf and Winter Club on Monday and Tuesday, 9-10 August 2021. The first day was from the White tees, which is where most male golfers will normally golf from. The second day was from the Blue Tees and it was very windy to boot. This made for a very challenging round for players on day two.
The current CAF National Men’s Golf Champion is WO Paul Swansburg from WETO Cold Lake. He won the CAF Nationals in 2018 in Borden. In 2019, CAF National Golf was cancelled due to budget cuts. In 2020 and 2021 there were no golf Regionals or Nationals due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This became the first competitive golf event for quite some time, and WO Swansburg won the 4 Wing Golf Playdowns by 10 strokes. On day two, it was very windy (as mentioned earlier). At the end of the final day, WO Swansburg was overheard saying, “At first I was thinking anyone who shoots an 80 from the Blues wins it.” Then he thought, “well probably more like an 85!” He ended up shooting a steady 80 from the Blues on a super windy day to win the competition outright!
The top 6-8 (TBC) golfers from the playdowns are slated to represent 4 Wing Cold Lake at the “Battle of Alberta” in CFB Wainwright on September 13 & 14, event approval permitting. The Battle of Alberta was proposed instead of hosting a Regional competition due to it not being prudent to have military personnel leave their home Province to compete.
The following are the golfers that participated, showcasing the two-day scores, and their total:
WO R.P. Swansburg, WETO, 74, 80, 154, 1st
MCpl R.H. Shields, 1 AMS, 75, 89, 164, 2nd
Cpl T.R. Johnson, 1 AMS, 78, 90, 168, Tied for 3rd, 4th
Sgt A.P. Dela Cruz, CFPS, 85, 83, 168, Tied for 3rd, 4th
MCpl J.S. Park, 1 AMS, 81, 88, 169, 5th
Capt S.D. Timm, 410 Sqn, 83, 90, 173, 6th
Cpl S.C. Travers, 10 FTTTS, 78, 97, 175, 7th
CWO P.W. Telfer, 1 AMS, 82, 94, 176, 8th
MCpl M.E.B Graham, 417 Sqn, 92, 104, 196, 9th
Cpl P.E. Clements, 409 Sqn, 98, could not start due to work commitments. 10th
Notable mention goes to MWO D. Boland from 4 OSS, who is also a very good golfer but was unable to attend the playdowns due to work commitments. If the Battle of Alberta is approved, he’ll be missed by the team.
