Men's golf tour tees off Sunday

The top male golfers in Niagara are ready to battle for bragging rights Sunday at Peninsula Lakes.
In action at the Fonthill course will be 37 exempt golfers and the 38 qualifiers looking to grab one of 15 to 18 open spots on the Nevada Bob’s Men’s Tour. The tour’s first tournament and spring qualifier are being held together for the first time.
“We’re pleased with the numbers that we have,” tour chairman Bernie Bodogh said. “That’s a very healthy thing for the tour.”
The list of exempt players is made up of returning players from last year’s top 30 points race, a few personal or injury exemptions, 10 qualifiers from the fall and the top player from the junior tour moving forward (Adam Briggs).
Returning players include defending champion Jim Briggs (public player), defending senior champion Tony Ravenda (Thundering Waters) and 2008 rookie of the year Jon Odegaard (Queenston).
Among the players expected to contend for the overall crown are old guard Briggs, Bodogh, Ravenda and Bob Goss and up-and-comers Kyle Smith (Sawmill), Stew McEachern (LochNess Links), Odegaard, Gord Henderson (Bridgewater), Rob Reimer (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and Matt Bosela (St. Catharines).
In addition to being a good player, Bosela has done a masterful job of redesigning the tour website (www.niagaramenstour.com).
Briggs is three-time defending points champion while other past champions include Randy Arrowsmith (2001), Goss (2002), Bodogh (2003), Jim McNeil (2004) and Jamie Culp (2005).
Briggs also leads the tour with 10 career wins, followed by Bodogh with five and Steven Billyard, Culp and Ken Robertson with three apiece.
This year’s schedule includes Peninsula Lakes (May 3), Grand Niagara (May 24), St. Catharines Golf and Country Club (June 7), Twenty Valley (July 19), LochNess Links (Aug. 16) and Whirlpool (Aug. 29).
“We have probably the top lineup that we’ve had,” Bodogh said. “We have full support of all the golf courses and they want to be a part of the growth of our tour.”.
Other than different courses being played, there are no changes to the tour this season.
Plans are in the works next season to finish the tour with a 36-hole Saturday and Sunday tour championship.
The non-profit tour was started in 2001 to give Niagara’s best amateur players a chance to improve their games in a competitive atmosphere with a reasonable price.