A longtime member of the Cowichan Golf & Country Club was remembered fondly with the renaming of the men’s open in his honour earlier this month.
John Horgan, a three-term president of the club and key sponsor of the men’s open, died on June 18. The event was renamed the John Horgan Memorial Cowichan Open Sponsored by Discovery Honda in recognition of him.
The former owner of Discovery Honda in Duncan, Horgan was serving as a city councillor when he died.
SEE MORE: Duncan councillor John Horgan dies
“The reason we wanted to honour John was that a number of years ago, around 1991, we were going to lose our sponsorship, and John stepped up and took it over,” Cowichan Golf Club head pro Norm Jackson explained. “He was always here on the days of the tournament, starting on the 10th hole. He was a great contributor to the Cowichan Golf Club.”
The first tournament under the new name, on June 30 and July 1, was “unbelievable,” Jackson said.
“It was probably one of our strongest fields in a number of years.”
Zach Anderson of Nanaimo shot 66 on the second day to finish at 138, while Kevin Carrigan of Victoria shot 64 on the second day to move up to fourth.
Cowichan’s own assistant pro Andy Johnson was the low pro and tied for second overall with Cobble Hill’s Brent Wilson, who golfs out of Gorge Vale. Rounding out the top five was Shawnigan Lake’s Tristan Mandur, who golfs out of Arbutus Ridge. Cowichan junior Mason Pierce had the low net score of 135, three shots better than Victoria’s Tai Reynolds.
The Cowichan Women’s Open was held a week later on July 8. It was won by Shelly Stouffer of Nanoose Bay, who shot 80 to hold off Sylvie Martel and Laurie Randall, both from Victoria, by two. Cyndi Powers of Arbutus Ridge had the low net score of 68, three shots better than Kim Harrap and Christ Robson, who tied for second.