MOUNTAIN VIEW GOLF CLUB – Jeff Wiggins was the victor in the 20th annual One Club Wonder golf tournament at the Mountain View Golf Club links on Sept. 17.

Playing steady golf in blustery conditions, Wiggins shot an 83 for a three stroke win over a persistent Mike McInroy and a six stroke margin over six-time past champion Blaine Tessier.

Wiggins, who in his spare time serves as the director of Golf/Canadian PGA Head Professional at the Mountain View Golf Course, joins an elite group of multiple winners of the One Club Wonder including Tessier, Vic Istchenko and Buster Davy. He last won the tournament in 2010 and has been chafing under the pressure of potentially being branded a “one-time wonder” in the intervening years.

It was clear, from his reception of the championship trophy and the donning of the traditional yellow sweater that is passed on to the victor, that he had achieved an important life goal. The moment was all the more special for young Jeff as it was witnessed by his father, Tom Wiggins, who was up from Saskatoon for the event.

Wiggins, wielding a six iron, shot a 42 on the front nine with three pars, five bogeys and one double bogey. The leaders at that point were McInroy and Tessier, who were one stroke better. Another legend in the tournament, Istchenko, was paired with McInroy and Tessier, but the five-time winner could not keep up the pace when he eliminated himself from the race with a 48 on the front nine.

McInroy, overly impressed with his opening nine-hole score, lost focus on the par five 10th tenth hole and recorded a nine, which put him four strokes back of Tessier and three back of Wiggins who had pars. Wiggins kept up the steady golf over the back with five pars, three bogeys and one double bogey giving him a score of 41 on that side.

McInroy recovered nicely from his opening hole embarrassment to record a 45 on the back. He was still down by four strokes to Tessier and five to Wiggins when he and Tessier advanced to the 16th tee. McInroy put the hammer down and pulled off a birdie on that hole, which brought him within a stroke of Tessier after Tessier butchered the hole with a double bogey.

Tessier regained a stroke with a bogey on the 17th, staying in the championship run as he was only one stroke back of Wiggins and two in front of McInroy. It was not to be. Both McInroy and Wiggins parred the final hole and the pressure proved too much for Tessier. He folded like a cheap tent, scoring a quadruple bogey on that hole and fell back to an ignominious third-place finish leaving Wiggins with a convincing three stroke margin and conceding second place to McInroy.

On the low net side of this international tournament, Toogie Hartson of Skagway stole the win from his Canadian playing partner Barry Davidson with a net round of 74. Davidson finished second with a net 75 and some spirited grumbling about a “sandbagging Yankee.” He will get over it, however, as he and Hartson are in a regular foursome on Thursday mornings. It might also be mentioned that, when it comes to sandbagging, they both have a 19 handicap.

Third place went to two legitimate higher handicappers in the event, Russ Smoler and Ron Stanyer, who recorded net rounds of 76. There were only four birdies made during the tournament and Smoler (16th hole) and Stanyer (10th hole) had two of them. The other birdies were scored in the elite group by Tessier (6th) and McInroy (9th).

For those of a statistical bent, the 35 players in the tournament played a total of 630 holes, of which 94 pars and four birdies were recorded. This was a significant reduction from the previous year that saw 143 pars and eight birdies on the scorecards. The “easiest” holes to par were #8 (par 3), #15 (par 4), #7 (par 4) and #10 (par 5) with 12, 11, 9 and 8 pars made respectively.

The fierce winds did result in an increase in the scores submitted. The average gross score was 102 which was a six stroke increase over 2015 and the average net score was 86 which was a five stroke increase over 2015.

Those average scores for 2016 just happen to match the averages for the entire recorded history of the tournament.

Putting is a central feature of this game with all players struggling to master that art with whatever club they are carrying (usually something in the vicinity of a seven iron). The average number of putts per player was 35, which was one more than the mark for the 2015 tournament. McInroy took the prize for the fewest number of putts needing only 29, an average of 1.6 putts per hole.

Glenn Ford and Ron Stanyer tied for second in this contest with 30 putts apiece.

They were advised that the prize for second place was the equivalent of smooching with a sibling.

This was the 20th annual One Club Wonder and, in the style of a pro-am event, the 35 players boasted handicaps ranging from two to 29. As the title of the tournament suggests, participants are restricted to one club, which must be used for every purpose – driving, iron shots, putting and, if necessary, bottle opening.

The tournament, which was first played on the back nine by seven players in 1996, has evolved to the current range of players playing the full 18 holes.

Of special note, the tournament organizing committee and the participants in this year’s tourney were privileged to have the One Club Wonder founder, Tom O’Hara, return to the Yukon to participate in this year’s event. O’Hara’s initiative was gratefully recognized by one and all.

The participants in the tournament also expressed their appreciation to the Mountain View Golf Club and all its employees under the direction of Jeff Wiggins, for the cooperation and the good humour they exhibited during the 2016 golf season and throughout both the planning and the playing of the One Club Wonder.

The organizers gave a standing ovation to Derek Wirth and, through him, to all the members of his crew for providing Yukon golfers with a superbly prepared and maintained course.

So as not to protect the innocent, the complete results, showing gross scores, handicaps and net scores are available at whitehorsestar.com/sports.

(Player-Score- Handicap-Net)

Jeff Wiggin 83-2- 81

Mike McInroy 86-8- 78

Blaine Tessier 88-2- 86

Derek Wirth 89-11- 78

Graham Frey 89-2- 87

Gareth Howells 91-12- 79

Toogie Hartson 93-19- 74

Jim Connell 93-14- 79

Vic Istchenko 93-11- 82

Barry Davidson 94-19- 75

Glenn Ford 94-17- 77

Dan King 96-5- 91

Ron Stanyer 97-21- 76

Ron Kulych 98-13- 85

Gord Starko 100-19- 81

Robb Dunn 100-14- 86

Tom O'Hara 100-11- 89

Terry DeForrest 101-13- 88

Patrick Michael 103-20- 83

Russ Smoler 105-29- 76

Terry Aschacher 105-19- 86

Les Chapman 105-19- 86

Don Emond 105-17- 88

Roy Slade 107-21- 86

Don Coates 107-21- 86

Dick Eastmure 107-17- 90

Stan Dorosz 110-25- 85

Garry Potter 111-19- 92

Gary Hewitt 112-22- 90

Wayne MacNicol 112-19- 93

Arden Meyer 113-26- 87

Leif Lassen 114-14- 100

Matthew Sills 120-25- 95

Tom Patrick 121-18- 103

Dave Griffiths 121-18- 103

By Nat Stremy
Special to the Star