Congratulations to Sam Masih and Ryan Doyle, the 2012 Nomad Classic Champions!
The 2012 Nomad Classic was held at beautiful Smuggler’s Glen in the Gananoque – Thousand Islands region of Ontario. All rounds were played on the same course which featured many picturesque and unique holes. After an early 2011 tournament, this Nomad Classic was held the latest its ever been in the early Fall of mid-September. The weather was beautiful for the entire weekend and the course was in great shape.
Doyle and Masih had a strong start to the tournament on Day 1, finishing with a combined score of -9! This was carried mainly by Sam’s low round for the tourney of an 83 placing him at 7-under for the day. However, one other team was in the hunt. The pairing of Muir and Greene, the two highest handicapped players at 113 each, were only one stroke back after the end of the day. Chris struggled with a +6, but his playing partner was unconscious and tore up the course! Nathan shot a blistering -14 against his handicap giving him a 99 for the round. The next closest team was Jones and Stoltz who shot even on the first day.
After a quiet afternoon and evening at the Glenhouse Resort, all the teams were back at it on Saturday morning. Saturday rounds were much different than the previous day. Zenny who struggled on day one, struggled again on day two while his rookie partner, Zeke, began to struggle himself. They shot the combined tournament high of +32. Other individual golfers struggled and took their teams out of contention as well. Aldis was 20-over for the tourney, while his partner was a combined +6 over two days. Kershaw’s 20-over for the tournament destroyed his partner’s chances of a second championship despite Mark’s valiant effort of 8-under on the tournament, which included the Saturday low round of 6-under or 85 strokes for him. The low scores from Doyle and Masih on Day 1 were followed up by average scores of a combined +1 on Day 2. Could they hold on? The second place pairing of Muir and Greene looked like they had a shot with former champ Muir posting a solid 1-under after struggling the prior day. Unfortunately, his playing partner must have woken up because he absolutely imploded under the pressure of vying for his first championship. Nathan had a 19 stroke swing in the wrong direction between his two rounds, dropping their team out of contention. Jones and Stoltz pressed hard to catch Doyle and Masih. A 5-under by Stoltz put the pressure on. Unfortunately, Jones’ low-handicap made it difficult for him break par for the round, leaving them 3 shots back, and the championship trophy in the hands of Doyle and Masih.
Nathan Greene’s strong first round landed him the Sandbagger award for his combined two-day total of 9-under par, one stroke better than Mark Rinaldo and Barry Stoltz, the only golfers to go under par on both rounds.
This is the second time Doyle and Masih share their name on the trophy. They last won as a team back in 2006. Masih’s name appears on the trophy two additional times from the pre-cursor tournaments to the modern Nomad Classic.
Congratulations were given to Sam Masih and Mark Rinaldo who tied for the lowest stroke-play overall with 174 strokes.
| Place | Player | Day 1 | Day 2 | Total | NC-HC |
| 1 | Ryan Doyle | -2 | 0 | -2 | 103 |
| 1 | Sam Masih | -7 | +1 | -6 | 90 |
| 2 | Tim Jones | +3 | 0 | +3 | 88 |
| 2 | Barry Stoltz | -3 | -5 | -8 | 100 |
| 3 | Nathan Greene | -14 | +5 | -9 | 113 |
| 3 | Chris Muir | +6 | -1 | +5 | 113 |
| 4 | Mark Rinaldo | -2 | -6 | -8 | 91 |
| 4 | Matt Kershaw | +7 | +13 | +20 | 102 |
| 5 | Steven Way | +4 | +2 | +6 | 100 |
| 5 | Aldis Zandbergs | +8 | +12 | +20 | 102 |
| 6 | Zeke | +2 | +9 | +11 | 95 |
| 6 | Zenny | +11 | +10 | +21 | 91 |