Burnaby’s John Gallacher maintained a level of consistency that all golfers aim to achieve.
Over three rounds, the 66-year-old held ground and the lead en route to the Pacfic Northwest Golf Association’s Super Senior men’s championship title at Loomis Trail Golf Course and Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club two weeks ago.
At the end of each day, Gallacher was atop the leaderboard, but with a close pack in pursuit.
It didn’t faze him one bit.
“Every day was close and it helped I had a real good first day,” Gallacher said of the run. “The first two days we had really nice weather and it was very good to play (in it). The last day was miserably wet but I plowed through.”
Gallacher opened the Blaine, Washington-hosted event with a 1-under par 71, just one-stroke better than friend and rival Gudmund Lindbjerg of Port Moody.
He followed that with back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds to finish 1-over par (217), three shots ahead of Lindbjerg and Lance Lundy of Pemberton.
Up by two after the second round, the Vancouver Golf Club member had to fend off a steady challenge from Pemberton’s Lance Lundy, who stayed within two shots after nine holes.
Gallacher broke free with a series of pars to start the back nine and momentarily took a five-shot lead following a birdie on the par-4 15th hole – a hole he eagled on the opening day. A double-bogey
by Gallacher on the final hole made it a three-shot win.
“It was good because we (Lindbjerg and Lundy) are good friends, so we played together and we all played very well,” said Gallacher. “(Lindbjerg) and I have played a lot of golf (at Semiahmoo and Loomis Trail) so we both know the courses very well.”
Three years ago, Gallacher and Lindbjerg teamed up to capture the PNGA team title in Oregon.
Last week he finished second in Kelowna at a senior men’s event. This week he's in Kamloops for the Rivershore Overlander senior men's championship.
A two-time B.C. senior champ, Gallacher said the transition to the super-senior series -- an unavoidable event when a golfer hits 65 -- hasn’t meant he’s slowed down; in fact, his schedule for 2017 has 18 tournaments, including the Canadian championship and some European senior events later this summer.
He joked that while some of his friends take the super-senior tag uneasily, he's more than happy to have a new division to compete in. It beats the alternative, he said.
“I do what I can and I’m enjoying it,” he said. “I’m fairly healthy and fairly fit, I’ve got a golf trainer and coming to the course is a great chance to play with some old friends. We have a riot.”
