photo: Peeter Põldre
On September 24th, 2016, 82 golfers from across North America gathered for the 20th Annual EGO Golf Tournament at the beautiful Mill Run Golf Course just west of Uxbridge, Ontario. The weather was perfect at 19 degrees and sunny.
As the golfers arrived for registration at 11:00 am they were received by hot coffee and kringel. The kringel was donated by Ülle Veltmann from the Estonian House Café. Lunch was a choice of hamburger or sausage on a bun. After lunch the golfers took part in the putting contest run by Tõnu Kadai.
After a group photo, Matt Savage, the Mill Run Golf Course Pro welcomed the EGO golfers and went over some of the rules pertaining to the scramble play. Jaak Järve, EGO president also welcomed this year’s golfers and notified everybody of a memorial hole dedicated to two Estonian community musicians as well as EGO golfers who recently passed away, Peeter Kopvillem and Allan Liik.
At about 1:00 pm, the shotgun EGO tournament carts rolled out from the clubhouse to the awaiting tees and fairways. The course was in excellent shape, and the greens were fast.
The individual winners were as follows: Grist Hole #2- Ladies Longest Drive- Maret Liik; Grist Hole #3- Closest to the Pin (everybody) Memorial Hole dedicated to Peeter Kopvillem and Allan Liik- Adam Holmberg and Tiiu Tõnisson; Grist Hole #5- Closest to the Pin (Men)- Madis Virro; Grist Hole #6 Men’s Longest Drive – Tyler Krabi; Grist Hole #8- Hole-In-One (Win a 2016 Nissan Juke)- no winner; Wheel Hole #3- Closet to the Beer Keg- Peeter Põldre; Wheel Hole#4- Closest to the Pin (Everybody)- Brody Krabi; Wheel Hole #7- Closest to the Pin (Ladies)- Maret Liik; Wheel Hole #9- Straightest Drive- Tiit Romet.
Most of the individual winners received a $100.00 gift certificate from BEST BUY. Both Adam Holmberg and Tiiu Tõnisson won a bottle of Hennesey Cognac on the Kopvillem/Liik memorial hole. Brody Krabi won a 32” inch television presented by Robert Saarna from Royal Lepage for the closest to the pin on Wheel Hole #7. Tiit Romet won a $250 GIC, a t-shirt and a piggy bank from ETCU presented by ETCU President Anita Saar for Straightest Drive On Wheel Hole #9.
Men’s putting champion was Ciaran Brady with a score of 20 points. Women’s putting champions were Riina Klaas and Kia Puhm with 20 points. All putting champions received gift certificates to Baton Rouge Restaurant and two free passes to ESTDOCS.
For the Individual Championship low gross men’s top three winners were: 1st Place- Jason Brooks 83; 2nd Place- Ian Daniels 84; 3rd Place- Peeter Ojala 84; For the Individual Championship low gross ladies top two winners were: 1st Place- Tatiana Ojala 109.
The winners for the Scramble Teams were as follows: Ladies top three teams - 1st Place- Aili Wells, Kim van Dyke, Paula Sainthill, Susan Blye 68; 2nd Place- Marlene Kuutan, Tiiu Tõnisson, Riina Klaas, Maimu Schaer 83; 3rd Place- Anne Tõnisson, Kristina Võhma, Kathy Põldre, Eneri Taul 86.
Mens top three teams; 1st Place- Enn Oolup, Ray Skyvington, Thomas Vanaselja, Ed Kungla 68; 2nd Place- Peter Tõnisson, Tiit Romet, Madis Virro, Jared Diehl 69; 3rd Place- Andres Järve, Toomas Kald, Joonas Varrik, Tõnu Kadai 70.
It also must be noted here, that Enn Oolup is the first player in EGO Tournament history to record a hole-in-one. He achieved this on the Wheel #7, 3 par ,123 yards. As is the tradition with a hole-in-one winner, Enn graciously bought a round of drinks for all EGO players. Congratulations go out to Enn and we expect to see him at all future EGO tournaments.
Mixed top three teams: 1st Place- Elli Kipper, Adam Holmberg, Mihkel Holmberg, Peeter Põldre 69; 2nd Place- Alexandra Wilbiks, Tyler Krabi, Brody Krabi, Patrick Raymer 70; 3rd Place- Enn Varrik, Helle Varrik, Jarek Varrik, Kristen Varrik 73;
Following dinner, Jaak Järve distributed out the awards and raffle winning prizes. The raffle generated $1400.00 for the EGO tournament. Some of the top prizes included free rounds of golf at the Mill Run golf course, high-end liquor gift baskets assembled by Maimu Schaer, Best Buy gift coupons, Baton Rouge Restaurant gift coupons, free passes to ESTDOCS, a premium putter, dozens of golf balls, an Axel Roosman print and dog and cat food packages. A special thanks go to Jaan and Maimu Schaer who helped organize many of the raffle donations. Key donations were made by Erik Küttis, from TLC Pet Food, and Jared Diehl from Taylor Made. Many thanks for the golfers who donated many premium raffle prizes.
The tournament was a huge success due to the participation of the players but also our hole sponsors- Estonian Foundation of Canada, Estonian Toronto Credit Union, Robert Saarna- Royal Lepage, Heinsoo Insurance, Mark Vaher REMAX Premier, Estonian House Café- Ülle Veltmann, friends of Peeter Kopvillem and Allan Liik, Jack Lake Productions Inc., and a special thanks to Rob Brown from Alta Nissan Aurora for the 2016 Juke opportunity.
EGO (Estonian Golf Club of Ontario) would also like to thank Kirsten Saarna and Kariina Järve for their spotting duties on Grist Hole #8. Thanks again to talented Peeter Põldre who brought his camera and captured the day. You can checkout his photographs at www.eestielu.ca.
Thank you Matt Savage, Nick Senkiw and the entire Mill Run Golf Course team, you made us feel at home again. See you all again next year, our 21st anniversary, back at Mill Run on September 23rd 2017!
Jaak Järve
