Local golf quartet ties for sixth at nationals

The sun and fun of Florida was only two strokes away.
Kitchen Creek Golf Club head pro Steve Wood and his team of Steve Pruys, Shawn O’Donnell, Charlie Windego, and Jason Kuorikoski were mostly steady from tee to green, but came in tied for sixth in the gross division with a combined score of 11-under 61 at the Buick Scramble national championships in Niagara Falls on Sunday.
The top three teams recorded scores of 57, 58, and 59, respectively, to gain berths to the North American finals in Orlando, Fla. in October.
There will be no Sunshine State holiday in the near future of Wood’s team, but Wood himself wasn’t hanging his head.
“It was unbelievable, and I’m proud of the team for getting as far as it did,” said Wood, who guided his troops through the local, regional and provincial stages before stalling in Niagara Falls.
“We left some shots out there, and we didn’t capitalize on our chances. We could have done with a couple of more putts here and there. But we all had fun, and it was a great experience.”
Wood raved about the setup of the nationals, adding he wouldn’t mind implementing some ideas from the organization of the tournament into events held at Kitchen Creek.
“It was unbelievable . . . the people down there running it made it a great event,” he praised. “It was awesome weather, with no wind. It was a good day to play golf.”
Wood said his team’s quality result will make it that much tougher to repeat the accomplishment next year.
“There’s going to be a lot more local teams out next year after seeing the success we had this year,” predicted Wood. “But if we’re lucky enough, we might end up in Orlando yet.”