Alan Finch brought home a gold medal from the first-ever national Special Olympics golf tournament held in Mount Hope, Ont. Sept. 28 and 29 at the Chippowa Creek Golf Club.
The Olds resident claimed first in the second flight, with nine-hole scores each day of 48 and 47. He was among three golfers on Team Alberta that placed in the medals: Jeff Riddell of Calgary claimed a silver in the fifth flight while Janet Carter of Edmonton finished with a silver in the women's first flight.
“He seemed calm, he didn't get overly-excited at any point in time,” said Rick Astle, Alan's coach from Olds, who was also one of the coaches for Team Alberta that walked the course during the event.
“The first round was certainly stressful for them because they'd never seen the course before. The second round was a bit easier because they knew what they were playing on,” he said.
Because coaches couldn't instruct players on proper alignment or other aspects of the game while they were on the course, and couldn't be closer than 10 yards from golfers on the tee box or green and 30 yards on the fairway, players had to sort out any issues they were having on their own, Astle said.
Following the conclusion of the tournament on Saturday, the players had sessions with Canadian Professional Golf Association club professionals that helped them with various aspects of the game.
There were 54 golfers representing all regions of Canada at the tournament, including nine women. Flights were based on preliminary scores sent in by coaches and were adjusted following the first day of competition.
