Sometimes it pays to do things at the last minute.
Merritt’s Dana Egan hadn’t even realized the Merritt Golf and Country Club’s annual mixed tournament was coming up this past weekend until she
was out golfing with Brian and Audrey Niehaus on the Sunday prior to the event.
“They asked me if I was going in it, and I said, ‘Oh, I didn’t even know it was this weekend’,” said Egan.
“I went home that night and asked Mike (Kempf) if he was off that day. He said he was, so we entered.”
On Sunday, Egan and Kempf went out and topped a solid field of 32 teams to win the low net event with a combined score of 64.00.
Egan said that she had a good day off the tee and on the fairway, while Kempf was strong with the putter.
The twosome had a good laugh as they recounted the start of their day.
Defending champions Glen and Debbie Kross from Kelowna were unable to take the low net crown this time around, but did team up to record the best overall low gross score of 69. The Kross family was once again well represented at the Merritt event as two of their sons also took part in the one-day, 18-hole tournament. Ian Webster/Herald
“On our first hole, we both hit our drives out-of-bounds on the left. Fortunately, things got better after that,” Egan said.
The final results were close. Second place went to Gord and Debi Munt from West Kelowna who were less than a point back at 64.92. In fact, only three full points separated the top 10 teams in the 18-hole competition.
Despite making up less than half of the field, Merritt pairings did extremely well on their home course. No fewer than six local teams finished in the top 10.
Last year’s low net champions, Glen and Debbie Kross from Kelowna, were back to try and defend their title, but had to settle for a score of 66.96. The couple did record the best low gross score of the day, however, shooting a three-under-par 69.
Second low gross went to Bill and Sally-Mae Houghton from West Kelowna with a 79.
