It was a perfect day for golf – unless you were a golfer, apparently, as the qualifying round of the 2024 Idylwylde Invitational captivated a large number of onlookers who persevered through until the end of the final playoff hole around 9:30 p.m. or so.
In fairness to the field almost 200 deep some of the best golf the city will witness this year, it was merely the backdrop of a 2023 tournament that established a new low score to qualify for championship flight (even par 72) that skewed opinions heading into Friday play.
Swirling winds and unforgiving roughs would see a more normative score of 75 needed to at least make the playoffs this time around, with no golfer breaking the 70 shot barrier for only the second time in the past six years.
In the end, Hamilton native and tournament newcomer Jimmy duDomaine led all participants with a round of two under par 70, with North Bay product and 2022 semi-finalist Ryan Neil just one stroke back.
Former champion Don Martone (2021 champion) was in at 72 before the bunching began, with Matt Battiston, defending champion Joey Kremer, Stephen Morris, Sam Coons and Cory Vaillancourt all in at 73.
Rounding out the group that would bypass the evening drama were Johnny Svalina, Adam Mutuchky, Conor Gaudet, Ryan Bastien, Ken Small and Ryan Willoughby – the group at 74, if you will.
If you are keeping tabs, that wrapped up 14 of the 16 championship flight berths, leaving the 75 bracket – Jake Tilleczek, Ben Fowke, Jacob Lacko, Connor DiSalle, Evan MacLean and Kyle Rank left to battle it out for two remaining spots.
And battle it out they would, with five extra holes required to trim the field.
With the entire sextet carding a par on the tenth hole, the collection of golf talent was dropped by just one on the 11th as Tilleczek’s tee shot sat virtually flush to a rock off to the left of the fairway, leaving basically an unplayable shot of any kind.
Crossing over to the par three 17th hole, a Ben Fowke bogey morphed the quintet to a quartet, with Jacob Lacko securing the 15th position one hole later when his second shot from 180 yards out or so left him a six foot putt for eagle, which he made.
With Connor DiSalle eliminated on a bogey, it was left to Evan MacLean and Kyle Rank to make their way back to number ten. After making four clutch putts in his last three holes just to stay alive, MacLean went straight at the pin with his second shot on ten, leaving himself a short putt and snapping the longest current streak of any golfer into championship flight, with Rank having cracked the top 16 in each of the past five years.
Meanwhile, the likes of duDomaine and Neil steered clear of lengthening their day, with the McMaster Marauder golf alum putting to good use the lessons of his one and only round ever played at the pristine Walford Road setting.
“I had heard that it can be a tricky course so you just have to play it smart,” noted duDomaine, a 35 year-old with a zero handicap. “Yesterday on the practice round, I didn’t play it quite as smart. I shot a lot higher than I did today.”
It certainly didn’t hurt that his touch on the green was likely as good as pretty much anyone in the field on day one. “When I get dialed in, I can be pretty good with the long irons but today, honestly, I just putted better than I usually putt,” said duDomaine. “The greens were really true.”
“If you hit the line, it usually went in.”
As for match play, there is some good and bad in the background of the gentleman who is well-acquainted with some of the Sault Ste Marie contingent who attend this event annually. “I’ve played a bunch of match play events but haven’t been that successful at it,” duDomaine laughed.
“If I just stick to my game, I should be okay.”
For the second time in the past three years, Ryan Neil was okay with his play in his qualifying round, his round of 72 two years ago making the cut before falling just short last July. “Last year, I had a terrible front nine but a really, really great back nine and thought I might have snuck in – but I didn’t,” explained the graduate of the Radford University Highlanders NCAA program in Virginia.
Though he grew up only 90 minutes away, Neil had little Idylwylde course experience prior to this recent run of three straight years at the Invite. “I had only play it (the course) once, when I was twelve years old, I think,” said the Big South All-Academic team member as a senior in 2021-2022.
“I played in the Idylwylde Junior Invitational and then did not see it again until three years ago.”
Like many who played in the tournament in 2023, Ryan Neil found it challenging not focusing on the first round of the event last year. “It’s difficult,” he said. “You start playing against a pre-conceived number that you have thought about from the previous year. You were essentially playing against Old Man Par; can I shoot 72 or better.”
That will not be a concern come Saturday morning as the top 16 players plus those in flights one, two and three battle it out in match play format, with the championship final set for Sunday afternoon.
