Skip to content

Red Deer’s Ken Griffith poised for championship push

Griffith trails just four strokes
30335612_web1_220908-RDA-Canadian-Senior-Championship-day-three_1
Red Deer’s Ken Griffith lines up a putt on the 18th hole at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club during the 2022 Canadian Men’s Senior CHampionship on Thursday. (Photo by Ian Gustafson/ Advocate Staff)

Heading into the final day of the 2022 Canadian Men’s Senior Championship at the Red Deer Golf and Country Club, the championship may just come down to the final hole.

Ken Griffith, who is a member of the club, sits at one under par after the first three rounds of the tournament. Griffith did have three birdies on holes two, eight, and 16 but bogeyed the final two holes of the day to finish Thursday’s round three over par.

Despite that Griffith trails Americans Mike Lohner and Rusty Strawn, who are tied for first at five under par by just four strokes heading into the final day.

Griffith said overall he thought he played quite well.

“It was a difficult day out there. The wind was hard, it was gusting, and there were a lot of challenges out there,” he said. “I felt like I played a good round of golf today. I just felt like I left a couple out there coming in. You think you’re downwind coming in and it’s easy but downwind can be harder to play in when it’s wind like this.

“Sometimes you just don’t post the score you want but you feel like you played well.”

Throughout the tournament, Griffith has managed to keep himself in the hunt to win the championship staying within the top three on the leaderboard. After the first day, he was tied for third before launching himself into second place after the second day at four under par just one shot behind the leader. Despite the drop on day three, Griffith remains optimistic.

“That’s the challenge. That’s what this is all about. It’s not who’s best on one day it’s who can do it over four days. Being patient is the biggest thing knowing you’re going to make mistakes, just don’t make big ones. It’s a 72-hole tournament so we’ve played 54 holes, we have 18 left to go, and that’s a lot of golf to play,” Griffith said. “I’m confident in a good round tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”

On Thursday Griffith played alongside the two leaders Lohner and Strawn for the first time this tournament. He gave the Americans credit saying they were great gentlemen and golfers. He added it was a great round of back-and-forth golf and was glad to play with them for the first time.

Griffith regrets not hitting his putt on the 18th hole which would have put him at two under par. But with that said the weather is forecasted to be similar on Friday and anything can happen in those types of conditions.

“My round was three over today and it could have been three under it’s just that kind of round. Get a little luck on my side, get a couple of bounces, and maybe I can post a 69. We’ll see how that holds up,” he said.

The final day of the tournament begins at 8:10 a.m. Tournament leaders Lohner, Strawn, and Griffith will tee off at 10 a.m.



Ian Gustafson

About the Author: Ian Gustafson

Ian began his journalism career as a reporter in Prince Albert, Sask. for the last three years, and was born and raised in Saskatchewan.
Read more