PITT MEADOWS — Two-time champion John Gallacher opened the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship with a one-under 71. Not bad for a guy who says he can’t hit it out of his shadow.
Gallacher is 74 now and despite being as fit as anyone in the field this week at Pitt Meadows Golf Club, he can feel the effects of Father Time on his golf game. “I work out a lot,” the Burnaby resident said.
“I work with a trainer once a week and I work out at home. I have a gym in my basement. But I’m just getting older. I can’t hit it out of my shadow. I would say I have lost 20 to 25 yards the last six or seven years.”
Gallacher won the Senior Men’s championship in 2007 and again in 2015. He finished third last year at Revelstoke Golf Club, where won the Super Senior title for players aged 65 and older.
He has been a staple on the Senior Men’s leaderboard for the last two decades and it would be a mistake to count him out this week. No one in the field knows Pitt Meadows better than Gallacher, who now plays out of Vancouver Golf Club.
“I was a member here for almost 30 years, so I have played almost 4,000 rounds on this golf course,” he said after his round. “This is the best I have seen it in 40 years. The fairways are such an improvement from what it used to be. You had poa spots out there that would just burn out in the summertime.”
Gallacher isn’t ruling himself out this week, but is not sounding optimistic about his chances in the 54-hole event. “Who knows, but the way I have been playing this year I could shoot 85 tomorrow,” he said. “I did that at our club championship last weekend. I shot 73-83, so you figure it out. I am just old and am not playing very well this year.”
Gallacher played a solid opening round that included two birdies and just one bogey. “I just didn’t make any mistakes today. I hit a lot of greens and made a couple of putts, but nothing serious. Just parred my way around.”
Gallacher leads the Super Senior category after the first round at Pitt Meadows and is just one shot back in a tie for fifth in the Senior Men’s category, which is open to players aged 55 and over.
Michael Kennedy - Image Credit: Una Chou/BC Golf
Four players, including 2021 champion Michael Kennedy of North Vancouver, share the lead at two-under par. Chris Jung of Vancouver, Gord Zilkowsky of Maple Ridge and Neil MacLeod of Burnaby are the other co-leaders.
Kennedy’s card was clean until he bogeyed the par 4 17th hole. “It was a solid round, the course is in really good condition and the greens are rolling well,” said Kennedy, who plays out of Seymour Golf & Country Club. “I have played here a few times this year to get comfortable with the course. You have to hit it well off the tee to set yourself up.”
A bogey on his last hole, the par 4 9th, cost Jung the outright lead. “I had some par saves from the moon.” Jung, a Quilchena Golf & Country Club member, said with a laugh.
Todd Wiseman of Kamloops, Tom Kenny of Coquitlam and Trevor Van Hoof of Maple Ridge all fired 71s and are tied with Gallacher at one-under.
The top three finishers this week will represent British Columbia in the inter-provincial team competition at the Canadian Senior Men’s Championship, which is being played Sept. 9-12 at KenWo Golf Club in New Minhas, N.S.
Click HERE for complete 1st round scoring.
CHIP SHOTS: Fernie’s Greg Kosinski had an interesting round, which started with a par, followed by a quadruple bogey and a bogey. Kosinski then made five straight birdies and parred No. 9 to shoot an even-par 36 on the front. He had a couple of ‘others’ for a 41 on the back nine and shot a 77.