By Nathan Kanter

Rodgers, Schiller win provincial senior titles at NBGCC

Jul 28, 2017 | 2:35 PM

One championship went down to the wire and the other didn’t at the North Battleford Golf and Country Club on Thursday afternoon.

Lloydminster’s Jo-Anne Schiller edged out Tammy Bezaire and Lorie Boyle by three strokes to win the women’s senior provincial championship, while Regina’s Ken Rodgers won the men’s senior provincial title by 12 strokes.

“I was really happy with my game, except for a couple holes, but I was really happy with the way I was swinging,” Schiller said after the win, her second senior championship and first since 2009. “It was really great how we were all so close there [at the end].

“I’ve played with [Boyle] and [Bezaire] – great people and it just kept each other going a little bit.”

Schiller shot 246 over the course of the three days, which was 24-over-par. It was her final day of 6-over-80 that made the difference, as Bezaire shot an 82 and Boyle shot an 83 on Thursday.

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“My first nine holes [today] were really good – I shot 38 on the front nine,” Schiller said. “That just kind of got my game going.”

Bezaire shot a 43 on those first nine holes and Boyle shot a 44.

Both champions, Rodgers and Schiller, had positive things to say about the venue they spent the past three days playing at.

“This is such an awesome golf course because if you make good shots, you’re rewarded,” Rodgers said. “It’s picturesque, you have to move the ball both ways, [and] the greens are easily top-3 in the province.”

“You just have to put it in the fairway, you get some roll here, which I love on my drive, and the greens were awesome – how they rolled out,” Schiller added.

Rodgers may have cruised to his win in the end, but entering the final day, he only had a four-stroke lead on North Battleford’s Dave Wilson.

The Regina native was by far the most consistent golfer – he shot a 3-under-69 on day one and then a 1-over-73 on both Wednesday and Thursday.

“The key to consistency for me is confidence,” Rodgers said. “If I know exactly the yardages I need to hit and things like that, that helps me. So having my wife [Jill] out there, helping giving me yardage…all that kind of stuff that can give you information [helps].

“The more information you have, the better decisions you can make.”

This was Rodgers third time competing in the senior men’s championship and he’s improved each time, finishing in fourth two years ago and then third last year in Saskatoon.

Two locals finished in the top-5 on the men’s side as well, as Wilson won a playoff following his three-day total of 229 to finish in third, and David Curniski also shot 229 to finish in fifth. Biggar’s Keith Silvernagle finished in fourth.

Other locals finishing in the top-20 on the men’s side were Lloyd Hartl (ninth) and Doug Flasch (18th).

On the women’s side, Cheryl Hartl was the only Battlefords representative and finished in 11th.

For Rodgers and Schiller, the next step is the senior national championships.

Schiller has a long ways to go, as the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship are in Little Rapids, N.L. from Aug. 22-24. Rodgers will head to Kahnawake, Que. from Sept. 11-14 for the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship.

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11