Elmwood Golf & Country Club teaching professional Jeff Chambers is back in the win column, after a two year absence from the top of the leaderboard on the PGA of Saskatchewan summer circuit.
Chambers earned a win at the two-day Taylormade Pro-Am, held at Moon Lake Golf & Country Club outside of Saskatoon. He posted a two-under round of 70 on day one, and a one-under round of 71 on day two.
“I got off to a good start on day one and shot two-under, which I thought was pretty solid out on that golf course with the conditions,” he said. “We went into day two, I got off to a shaky start, missed a couple short putts which really bothered me, but just battled back.”
“The good news is I’m great at bounce-backs. I’m just going to bounce back with a birdie, and sure enough birdied that next hole. I played three-under from there, and played really solid. It was enough to take the victory. It felt really good.”
With Moon Lake boasting a partial links-style course, surprisingly swirling winds weren’t the reason for only two out of 19 professionals shooting under par over the final round.
“Day two started off perfectly calm, which I think freaked out a lot of people, because when you’re at Moon Lake, you’re always expecting wind,” Chambers admitted. “It was actually really calm, but the pins were on some pretty slippery slopes, and they had at least four or five that were really tough, tucked pins.”
The key for Chambers over his 36 holes atop the leaderboard was the ability to consistently put himself in prime locations for his second shot.
“I only hit one wayward tee shot – I made a bogey with my provisional which was great, but that was it. I know listening to a lot of the other guys, they have a lot more penalty strokes than that – that was a big key, just getting off the tee and giving myself a chance every single hole.”
The last time Chambers earned an event win was this exact same event in 2017 – the first of three straight years an Elmwood pro won at this event, with head pro Brennan Rumancik winning in 2018.
“Moon Lake’s one of those places that I’ve always seemed to play well at,” he said. “The golf course just sets up, and I like that the greens roll terrific. I just like the layout, there’s some fun risk-reward holes.”
Chambers said the main reason behind a lack of strong results has just boiled down to a heavy focus on coaching and teaching the sport as evidenced by his 2018 PGA of Canada Coach of the Year award. Nevertheless, the ability to find himself a win at a familiar event provides the perfect building block for the remainder of his 2019 playing season.
“I’m a competitor, I’ve always tried to keep close there,” Chambers said. “Even though I don’t get to spend the time working on the game, I do love to compete and I love to win. It’s just a great feeling.”
Up next on the PGA of Sask event schedule is the Pro-Pro Best Ball tournament at Murray Golf Course in Regina. Chambers’ partner is a familiar face, and the reigning PGA of Sask. Player of the Year.
“I’ve got the best partner in the province for the Pro-Pro. I’m looking forward to partnering up with Brennan. We’re always cheering on one another. To be able to partner with him for the Pro-Pro is going to be so much fun.”
Before the 18-hole event is underway on September 4, though, Chambers assumes his comfortable role as a coach and teacher once again. He’s stepped in and is coaching Yukon’s golf team for the Western Canada Summer Games this week at Chinook Golf Course.
Story originally posted by Eric James, www.swiftcurrentonline.com
Syndicated with permission.