Special Olympics held their Region 5 Golf Qualifier at the Blue Ocean Golf Club in Sechelt on Sunday, July 10. This was the final regional qualifier for 2016 with teams from Vancouver, North Shore, Delta and the Sunshine Coast.
Dustin Archer of Sechelt said this was his second tourney. He started golfing because he found it fun and his goal for the day was to get under 10.
Derick Pye, another local athlete, has been golfing for eight years – this was his fourth tournament. Pye started golfing to try something new and found that he liked it. His goal was to meet new people and make new friends.
Nellie-Jo Kurta, who hails from Vancouver, joined her team back in 2012. She came to have fun and has also been to the Nationals where Chuck Bertrand was her coach.
Chelsea Kaake from Delta has something special in her bag of tricks. She is the third best female golfer in Canada. That’s no surprise considering she’s been teeing off and putting since childhood. Her goals for this event were to do her best and qualify for the 2017 Provincials.
After a yummy dinner and dessert, awards were handed out. Lindsay Pearson won first place in women’s division one, and Gus Vaughan won first place in men’s division two. Vaughan also won first for the longest drive.
Taking home ribbons were local athletes Derick Pye, Dustin Archer, Brandon Lacey, Bryan Ware and Paul Davis.
Special kudos go to the Blue Ocean Golf Club for their overwhelming support for the athletes every week with donations of golf clubs, balls and use of the greens.
And a huge hole in one goes out to Chuck and Annette Bertrand for hosting the event with such pizazz.
All in all, folks, ’twas a special day on the green. Who could ask for more?
