Whitehorse reclaims Whisky Cup at weekend golf tourney

The Whisky Cup is returning to Whitehorse after the tournament's Canadian contingent got the close two-point victory Saturday at Mountainview Golf Course.

The Whisky Cup is returning to Whitehorse after the tournament’s Canadian contingent got the close two-point victory Saturday at Mountainview Golf Course.

With the win, the Whitehorse squad ended a two-year losing streak to the American team from Skagway.

This is an annual tournament played between the two communities, which have developed a friendly rivalry with each other throughout the 17 years that the event has been put on.

“We look forward to it every year because we love the Yukon and we love the guys we come to play with,” said Skagway’s captain and co-organizer of the tournament Mitch Snyder.

The Whisky Cup uses a match play format, which involves a system of scoring that awards points for each hole won by a golfer.

The opposite to this format is stroke play, which counts the number of strokes it takes a golfer to complete a particular hole.

The tournament is played using the foursome match feature with two teams of golfers. The team that shoots lowest score wins the hole and a single point is awarded with each victory at the conclusion of 18 holes. All ties are given .5.

A team-play format was used on Friday,while singles competition was featured Saturday. There is also a handy-cap system

The handy-cap system has changed over the years in attempt to make the tournament as fair as possible and the last couple of years has included keeping track of the score on the first day of the competition. Players are ranked and then strokes are given accordingly to how a player ranks up against their opponent.

If both Whitehorse and Skagway are tied at the end of the second day of competition, both sides would engage in a playoff to determine a winner.

Only once has a playoff been needed at this event and it occurred in 2006, which was won by Skagway.

Despite Skagway successfully defending its title in 2007, Whitehorse has traditionally excelled in this event.

With Saturday’s victory, Whitehorse extended its win total to 13, while Skagway has won the Whisky Cup on four occasions.

Friday’s competition featured13 matches in total, which concluded with Canada taking an 8-5 lead into Saturday’s event.

Skagway came close to tying it at the end, scoring an impressive 13.5 points. Despite it being close Whitehorse was able to hold on to reclaim the trophy. 

The team from Skagway saw a boost in participation as a result of the Dustball tournament being delayed one week because of the ISF Junior Men’s World Fast Pitch Championship, which was held June 20 to 29.

Other than the green’s fee there is no cost involved to play in the Whisky Cup, which is an invitational tournament.

Buster Davy was a player on the Whitehorse team at the the tournament. Davy has been a golfer for 25 years and has competed in a number of different tournaments in Whitehorse, but this was the first time he has taken part in the Whisky Cup.

Despite not having any experience competing at this golf tournament, Davy played very well, winning his singles match on Saturday. He shot a 45 on the front nine and improved his score to a 43 on the back nine.

Davy said he had fun playing in the event.

“I don’t care if we win or lose, it’s just nice to get out and play and meet different people from Skagway,” he said.