If there’s a playoff to determine a winner in a golf tournament and no one’s around to play in it, does it make a sound?
Not if it’s the Yellowknife chapter of the Mediocre Golf Association. They simply count strokes to figure it out.
The chapter hosted The MGA at the Yellowknife Golf Club on Monday evening, the third tournament of the 2022 season. It’s the chapter’s version of the Canadian North Midnight Classic and featured 48 golfers looking to win the “big cheque” of $1.35, according to Shaun Morris, the chapter’s leader.
Just like the previous tournament — dubbed The Bastards — the 18 holes of regulation golf saw more than one golfer end up with the same low score. This time, it was James McKay and Chris Flannagan who were deadlocked with identical scores of 88. But unlike The Bastards, where Ryan Sheppard emerged victorious after a two-hole, sudden-death showdown, there was no playoff.
Morris explained why.
“When we went to start the playoff, we found out that both James and Chris had left,” he said. “You can’t have a playoff with no one there to play off.”
When that happens, it goes to the scorecards to determine the winner with the countback system used. That’s where the tied players’ scores are put head-to-head by hole. If the score on the first head-to-head hole is tied, it then moves on to the next hole back and so on until someone scored better than the other on the same hole. The 18th was the first tiebreaker and that’s where McKay emerged victorious; he bogeyed while Flannagan triple-bogeyed.
“Even when we’re breaking ties, we’re mediocre,” joked Morris.
McKay also ended up with the low gross award. His $1.35 in earnings puts him atop the chapter’s money list with $1.54, two cents ahead of Kevin Hewitt. Hewitt ended up one shot back in third on 89, and he pocketed 75 cents.
The highest-finishing women’s player was Pim Wangyao, and not only was she best of the female contingent, she was the fourth-best player on the night as she shot 90 to claim 68 cents. Her fourth place equals the best result for a women’s player in the Yellowknife chapter.
“Meredith Wilson had a fourth-place finish and so did Thip Changthalasy,” said Morris. “It’s impressive to see her (Wangyao) have that kind of round.”
Just like the Midnight Classic, the weather was perfect and there was even the added bonus of not a lot of bugs, said Morris.
“There was a bit of dryness but I didn’t have to put on the bug dope,” he said. “It was a beautiful night, great night for golf.”
The chapter is taking a bit of time off until its next event. That will be the F.U. Open, the MGA’s play on the U.S. Open, set for July 17.