On day two of the 2022 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club, American Mike Lohner has proved himself as one of the tournament’s top golfers.
After he shot a 69 on day one, Lohner continued his impressive play through Wednesday when he shot a two-under-par 70. He leads fellow American Rusty Strawn and Red Deer’s Ken Griffith by one stroke heading into round three.
All things considered, Lohner who is from Texas, said he is lucky to be here instead of working back home and has never competed in Canada before.
“I’m having a blast and overall I’ve played better than I scored so I just feel great about it,” he said, adding he has had one too many bogeys.
The tournament has had a high quality of play including Strawn who won the U.S. Men’s Senior Championship last week as well as Griffith who has played great golf so far in the tournament. Griffith is tied for second at four under par with Strawn, after shooting a three-under 69 Wednesday.
“I felt lucky when they called and invited me to come,” Lohner said. “I think that I got to play really well the next two days if I want to hang in there.”
The 59-year-old added the course itself is a major test of skill especially with using the driver.
“It’s not a wide golf course and the thing I’ve noticed is the trees are not caught up so if you hit it behind or into one of the pine trees they don’t cut the base up so you can punch it underneath… I’m used to having those cut up so you can hit low shots through the trees,” he added.
“That’s not the way it is here and the greens are fast and this course is in great shape. I’ve been impressed with the entire organization and just the incredibly nice people.”
Lohner began competing in senior events four and a half years ago but added in national events a year ago. He also tries to play five to 10 national events per year. He tried earlier this summer to qualify for the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship and shot four under par but it wasn’t enough. Because of that, he feels lucky to be in Red Deer competing for this championship.
The interprovincial championship, which is awarded after the first two days of the tournament was also given out on Wednesday to the defending champion team Alberta. Alberta finished the event five-under par, seven strokes better than team B.C. Alberta shot five under in round two to run away with the title.
Action continues on Thursday, with the final round set for Friday.
