Courtenay's Greg Koster captured the Master-40 division title at the 2012 Men's Mid-Amateur Championship, held June 13-15 at the Summerland Golf and Country Club.
A playoff was needed to decide the winner. Koster, who admittedly struggled on the final day, birdied his final hole in regulation to shoot a plus-four, 219 total and get into a two-man playoff with Pitt Meadow's resident Greg Bismeyer.
"Today was a real struggle. I never really got going enough to challenge for the overall championship but I am glad I held it together to claim the Master-40," Koster told British Columbia Golf. Overall, Koster finished in a two-way tie for fourth at the tourney.
When asked about his final-hole birdie, Koster laughed while detailing it.
"I thought I had blown myself out of the championship, really. I wanted to finish strong and to do that I needed a good iron shot into the green, which I didn't hit. I was able to get up and down from the greenside bunker for birdie and I am glad I did to get into the playoff."
Going into the playoff, both players headed back to the par-five 18th hole. Bismeyer hit his first tee shot out-of-bounds and Koster got on the green in regulation. A two-putt par sealed the victory as Bismeyer was not able to hole-out for a par-save.
Finishing third in the Master-40 division was Kelowna's Norm Bradley after a hard-fought five over-par 77 final round, 220 total.
Kevin Carrigan of Victoria held on to capture the Men's Mid-Amateur overall championship. The Royal Colwood Golf Club member and second-round leader pieced together a resilient one-under par 71 final round, capped by a birdie on the final hole to win by two strokes on a day that saw poor weather in the morning and sunny, windy conditions in the afternoon.
Complete results are at www.britishcolumbiagolf.org.