Golf 54-hole New Brunswick mid-amateur championship kicks off today at Sussex Golf Course

B9

Nathan White
Telegraph-Journal

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Ed Reevey of the Riverside Country Club is a perennial contender for the Nike Golf New Brunswick Men's Mid-Amateur Championship.

Reevey finished sixth in 2006, tied for fourth in 2007 and was one of five golfers tied for second last year, two strokes behind winner Drew McCafferty of Moncton. The tournament runs from today through Friday at the Sussex Golf and Curling Club. Is this Reevey's year?

"I hope so," said the 37-year-old, who made his first 2009 visit to Sussex Tuesday to get a feel for the course. "I'm just looking forward to playing the golf course. It's in pretty good shape and it should be fun."

Reevey is in the second group to tee off, at 7:39 a.m., alongside Scott Weatherhead of Westfield, who tied for seventh last year, and Bob Brown of Fredericton, who was ninth. McCafferty is in the first group at 7:30, with Gary Melanson of Aroostook Valley, who tied for second last year, and Jason Doyle of Riverside, who tied for 12th.

The other golfers in last year's five-way tie for second - Tony MacKinnon and Adam Atkinson of Fredericton and Dale Kinnie of Moncton - are all back for another crack at the 25-and-over event.

"It was very close last year," Reevey said. "It's the same old crowd. There's obviously every year a new one - Drew would have been new last year because he just turned 25. But it's a lot of the same group. We all know each other and it's a lot of fun to go out there and play a good golf course in pretty good shape with the competitive field that it is."

The top golfer 40 years old or over earns the title of provincial Mid-Master champion, which went to 2007 Mid-Amateur champion Melanson last year. Four golfers - including at least two over age 40 - qualify for the Canadian Mid-Amateur from Aug. 17 to 21 in Prince Albert, Sask. McCafferty, Reevey, MacKinnon and Kinnie represented the province in Nanaimo, B.C., last year.

Reevey, who owns Clear Power Solutions and is the father of three girls seven and under, hasn't had a lot of time to practise, but he's still confident going in.

"How many Saturdays we've had to date is pretty much the number of rounds I've played. I'd say about eight times would be pretty accurate and sometimes after the girls go to bed I try to spend an hour or so practicing," he said. "I live about a two-minute drive from the golf course, so I can put the girls to bed, hop in the car, go putt or chip, hit some wedge shots and maybe play a couple of holes."

Reevey thinks accurate chipping will be key at Sussex this week.

"I find at Sussex, if you try and be overly aggressive in areas, you can make some bogeys quite quickly by short-siding yourself on their greens. A large percentage of that golf course is the shape of their greens and how they fall off," Reevey said. "I think it's just being patient on the golf course."