It's been quite a spring and summer of golf for Steve Savage.
The retired Surrey resident topped a field of 176 golfers at Kelowna Golf & Country Club to win the Senior Men’s Invitational in mid-June, then scored low to lift the B.C. Golf Association's Men's Amateur Senior championship trophy in Revelstoke at the end of July.
In May, Savage also won a Washington State senior team tournament in Blaine with longtime pal John Gallacher, both members of Vancouver Golf Club.
With three championships in three months, Savage has enjoyed his most successful season of golf to date.
"Years ago I'd won tournaments before, maybe one in a year, then another a few years later, but not like this," he told the Now-Leader in a phone call.
"I used to compete a lot, then kids came along and so then it was a couple of times a month, that kind of thing," Savage said of playing golf. "Now the kids are out of the house and I'm playing more often because I have more time."
At Revelstoke Golf Club, Savage won his very first provincial golf championship with rounds of 75, 73 and 70, good for 218 total, one shot ahead of Tommy Ross, of Coldstream.
"This is my first B.C. senior championship, and I've played in four or five of them," he reported. "It's actually my first B.C. title of any kind, thinking about it now. I've won club championships and all that, but this is my first provincial win."
In the third round at Revelstoke, Savage broke away from the pack after holing out for eagle from 118 yards on the par 5 ninth hole, then rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt on the long par 5 10th.
"I felt really comfortable over that putt on 10 and just saw the line. A couple of three-putts on the back nine made it a little tougher on myself than it needed to be," Savage told sports reporter Brad Ziemer for a story posted on britishcolumbiagolf.org.
“For me this is huge,” Savage added. “You are playing against your peers and this is like my major. I won’t go to the Canadian Senior, it’s too much time away from home. So this is my major. It’s really important.”
Savage said he was very comfortable playing the final round with Burnaby's Gallacher and former Canadian Senior champ David Schulz of Calgary.
"Steve’s play was exceptional," Gallacher told Ziemer after the tournament. "I play a lot of golf with Steve. Every week we play two or three times and he takes my money. That’s the way it usually works, and this is nothing different. He played really well, hit shots like he usually does. I’m not surprised he holed that shot on nine. He hits it at the flag all day long.”
