Cooke Municipal Golf Course in Prince Albert will host the Northerns again this year. (Submitted photo/Cooke Municipal Golf Course)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Northern Tradition Still Alive

Northern Men’s tourney will run for 99th straight time; Senior provincials cancelled

Jul 2, 2020 | 2:15 PM

Even a global pandemic cannot stop the 99-year-long streak of the Northern Men’s Amateur Golf tournament being run at the Cooke Municipal Golf Course.

The 99^th consecutive Northerns at Cooke has been approved and will get going on Aug. 1-3 at Cooke to keep the streak alive.

“We were really excited when we got the go-ahead this year. We really didn’t want to miss this year and we’re already looking forward to the 100^th in 2021,” tournament co-chair and long-time participant Martin Ring said. “It’s so important. It’s as close to normal as we can get.”

Ring himself has already had about 35 Northern tournaments under his belt. When he started to break into the amateur scene in the mid-1980s, the Northerns were just about impossible to get in. The tournaments had 200 entrants—and a waiting list—while tee times started as early as 5 in the morning.

But Ring wanted to play in the tournament so bad, he would just come to the course and wait.

Court proceedings

'The impact of this trauma will echo for generations': court case surrounding La Ronge woman's death reaches conclusion

1h ago

Going Global

P.A.'s Zablocki named to Team Canada for U18 Women's World Championships

1h ago

Election 2024

Birch Hills staff won't share election decision

2h ago

“I remember sitting on the bench my first year, waiting to get a call to the tee because somebody didn’t show up,” Ring said. “That’s how you kind of got into it.”

With COVID-19, that’s not going to be the case this year. The Northerns will be capped at 96 entrants to ensure Cooke can stay within the provincial protocols, down slightly from years past.

The tournament will have a different look this year, as shotgun starts will not be allowed and all golfers will follow a tee time schedule. The fact the bubble between tee times has been shortened to 10 minutes (it was originally going to be 20 at the start of the season), that makes running this tournament a lot easier without the luxury of shotgun starts.

“It’s still manageable with 10-minute tee times,” Ring said. “We’ll have a very busy Sunday, but with 10-minute tee times and 96 players, we can start at seven in the morning.”

The Saskatchewan Health Authority had originally said in their Sports and Activities Guidelines sporting tournaments would not be allowed, even with sports in which physical distancing is possible.

But golf has fortunately been in a different boat. Golfers got the go-ahead to get back on their courses from the province on May 15 back in Phase one, while other organized sports like softball and lacrosse couldn’t get back and practicing until June 22 when Phase four started.

Even still, keeping the Northern on the schedule this year was difficult.

“We just never gave up on it, but at the same time, we also knew we had to respect all the rules and protocols that were being put in place,” Ring said. “The entire province has done a fantastic job and we understand the difficulties. COVID-19 obviously changed this dramatically.

“The Northern has always been special to us here in Prince Albert and also to the folks that like to travel in from Saskatoon and some of the other outlying areas,” Ring added.

Senior Provincials cancelled

On June 17, Golf Saskatchewan set the dates for their provincial tournaments this year, with it wrapping up with the senior provincials in Prince Albert.

But the 101st Senior Men’s Championship/Mid-Masters/57th Senior Women’s Championships that were to be set at Cooke on July 28-30 have since been cancelled.

“It was probably going to be an inconvenience more so than any other year,” Ring said. “We’re hoping to get that event back next year, obviously for myself and a couple of others, we’d like a crack at the provincial seniors on our own course.”

–

Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW