Byrne reflects on homecoming

by Rob Benneian

Byrne finishes +1, T-19th

In his official homecoming tournament, a local professional golfer posted his highest finish on the Canadian Tour.

Yet despite earning just over $1,200 for four days work at Roseland Golf and Curling Club, David Byrne couldn’t bring himself to say he was pleased with the result. After storming out of the gates with a five-under-par 65 in Thursday’s opening round, tying him for the 18-hole-lead, Byrne faltered early and often Friday. Bogeys on 10 and 11, his first two holes of the day, gave way to a shocking double-bogey at the par-five 12th.

“It’s good to have a top-20 (finish),” said the Essex-native who grew up playing the municipal Windsor course. “If I didn’t have my best finish on the Canadian Tour at Roseland, I would have been scratching my head. I felt I was a couple of holes away from being in contention to win the tournament. It’s kind of a bittersweet thing.”

With Byrne being the only local pro on the Canadian Tour this season, he was bound to attract some attention from area golf fans. His celebrity status has only been elevated by winning The Golf Channel’s reality show The Big Break: Indian Wells in 2011. Still, Byrne said he was taken aback by the sheer volume of people who came out solely to see him play.

“It was cool, it’s weird to think about (being a local celebrity),” Byrne said. “I still think of myself as the kid from Sutton Creek who goes and hits the ball around and plays with anyone. It’s neat. Every time I took a step at Roseland, someone was like ‘let’s go Dave’, even the volunteers. Definitely a feeling I’ve never felt before, having that many people come out and support me. I was never near the lead the last few days and I had more crowd support than the last four, five groups combined. It’s humbling, it’s nice to see.”

Byrne, who grew up playing at Sutton Creek in nearby McGregor as well as at Roseland, said he was proud of the way his home course stood up to the best test in Canadian golf. He said since the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday, he has received numerous texts from fellow golfers praising the course and the tournament in general. Randy MacQueen, who has been Roseland’s head pro for four years, said Sunday the golfers he had spoken with applauded his crew for putting on the best event they’d played in all season.

The course underwent a serious overhaul to prepare to host the Canadian Tour event. Course superintendent Pat Hebert said several strategically placed bunkers and trees were added to challenge the golfers, while still keeping with the course’s classic Donald Ross design. Hebert said the tight fairways and long rough made the course set up similar to that of a US Open. It made for a tough, but fair test according to Byrne.

“I don’t think we’ve had a cut that has been over par (this season), and the cut was three over par (at Roseland),” Byrne said. “I thought 20 under (par) was going to win, but the course changed a lot. The rough was long, it’s just a good tough, old school golf course. There’s no tricks, there’s nothing quirky. I was happy to see the guys didn’t rip it up. I think it bodes well for an event coming back there.”

“A lot of US open courses, there’s not a lot of water. It puts a premium on driving. You have to position your golf ball for the next shot. Those fairway bunkers they put in caught a lot of golf balls, (including) like seven or eight of mine. The fairway bunkers were penal, the rough was long. I think it’s been the best course we’ve played all year in terms of fairness.”

Byrne, who was in transit to the next Canadian Tour stop in Toronto, said he needed to put himself in contention to win more tournaments, as he did Thursday at Roseland, to learn to deal with how his body reacts to the pressure. He’ll get the opportunity to do so right away.

A week after playing a course devised by one of the most influential designers in Ross, he’ll be teeing it up at another such track. The marquee event of the year, the Canadian Tour Championship, is being played Aug. 23-26 at Scarboro Golf and Country Club.

Scarboro is an A.W. Tillinghast design and has hosted four prior Canadian Opens. Tillinghast has also designed several US Open courses, including Baltrusol in Springfield, NJ, Bethpage State Park in Old Bethpage, NY and Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY. Last year, Scarboro was named the 11th best classic course by Golfweek magazine.