Expectations of phenomenal golf are - pardon the pun - “par for the course” at the Idylwylde Invitational.
But in a year in which tournament organizers would celebrate the 75th occasion on which the history-rich Inco Cup would be handed out to the championship flight winner, par golf was far more part of the storyline than usual.
It all began on Friday as a score of 72 – even par, if you will – would be required simply to advance to a nine player playoff for six spots to round out the top field of sixteen.
And on a weekend in which finalists Joey Kremer and Nick Hofland would go no deeper than the sixteenth green in finishing off six very talented opponents between the two of them, any deviance from par was extremely unlikely as the duo went toe to toe on Sunday.
“I knew that we were probably going to par each other to death,” acknowledged Hofland, who fell three and two to an adversary who did not give up honours once throughout the final.
“I hit the ball really well overall, this afternoon especially,” said Kremer, who qualified for championship flight for the third year in a row and cleared the final hurdle this weekend after losing to Vince Palladino in the 2022 final.
“I played really solid golf across the board,” Kremer added. “I didn’t really have any weak points which obviously helps a lot.”
In a sense, the just turned 28 year old led pretty much start to finish, posting the low qualifying score of 68 on Friday as the field established a new low for the highest score needed to hit that top flight, bettering the old mark of 73 that was the bench mark for the Invitational staged in the summer of 1998.
All of which only makes the performance of Kremer, beating Graem Costigan in the semis (5 & 3), Ryan Bastien in the QF (4 & 3) and Scott Whalen in the round of 16 (4 & 3) all the more impressive. “It’s more than just a golf tournament: it’s mental, it’s physical and you have to focus on every shot,” said the first time champion.
“It’s hard on the legs; it’s hard on the body. Somehow I pulled it together a lot better this afternoon than I did in the final last year.”
Kremer was one-up through 11 holes, but then tripled his lead through 12 and 13, giving himself some breathing room – which can be a dangerous positions, if the mindset sways. “You still have to put really aggressive swings on the ball,” stated the Toronto native who competed with the Eastern Michigan Eagles during his NCAA career and moved to Sudbury in the fall of 2020.
“You can pick more conservative targets, but once you pick that target, you still want to put that same aggressive swing that you always do.”
With Hofland looking equally sharp in besting Vince Palladino (3 & 2 – round of 16), Kyle Rank (4 & 3 – QF) and Vincent Palladino Jr (7 & 6 – SF), the anticipation of a battle that could go shot for shot, right to the end, was palpable as the tandem teed off.
“We had a really good match in the semis last year,” said Hofland. “He beat me on eighteen, one up. I played with him this morning and we were both playing well. Whoever made one or two more birdies than the other was going to get it done. There wasn’t a lot of bogeys between the two of us.”
After losing the first flight final in his first appearance in Sudbury in 2021, Hofland has now advanced to the final four in back to back years – which only adds to his appreciation of the event and the host venue.
“I love it up here,” said the representative of the Hamilton Golf Club. “It’s an awesome match play course. It takes the driver out of your hands a lot but if you want, you can get really cheeky and force one up but also plot your way around.”
Rounding out the championship flight were quarter-finalists Frank Kucher and Tag Bertuzzi as well as round of 16 qualifiers Cory Vaillancourt, Joel Clarke, Ben Fowke, Jason Picco, Ryan Hagger and Mike Roberts.
By Sunday afternoon, the buzz had still not subsided over a Friday round that featured ten players firing scores below par and another nine sitting at par. Leave it to honourary chair Berk Keaney to make that call – or as close to it as anyone got.
“I predicted yesterday the playoff would be at 73,” said the local lawyer who will celebrate his 50th year with the club in 2026 on Friday. “I felt that because it rained on Thursday a lot, it softened up the course. The pins were going to be that much more accessible, the green were accepting shots.”
“With the quality of these players, when they can pin-hunt, they are going to make a lot of birdies.”
In fact, even par might not be enough – the tag line of the 2023 Idylwylde Invitational, so to speak.
In remaining match play flight play, Ryan Willoughby beat Jacob Lacko (first flight), Josh Hayes beat Ward Kyle (second flight) and Zack Yacobeck beat Tommy Vlahos.
