After what was already long week, the players had a short break between the semi-final and final matches. Parrington started off slow but fought hard all afternoon, eventually succumbing to an experienced competitor. Collins came into the event with great momentum after a strong showing at the 2005 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship.

Collins, who entered match play as the 10th seed, saved his best golf for the final round. He took an early lead and played steady all day, sealing the match with a birdie on the 16th hole to claim the 19th Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship and is only the second ever player from Nova Scotia to do so. He joins the history books with 1995 Canadian Mid-Amateur Champion Dave Webber of Dartmouth, N.S.

“I never thought about the win until the last hole…I was so nervous,” said Collins, who led his team to a sixth place finish in the Inter-provincial team championship earlier this week. “It feels so good to win a big tournament like this!”

Finishing as runner-up in both the team play and match play, Parrington found the final round to be draining but was satisfied to make it as far as he did.

“He got me down early…it’s not the sharpest golf a guys ever played,” said Parrington, who is the first player from Saskatchewan to make it as far as the final match. “Rob is a solid player who took out Billy Cameron from our Saskatchewan team as well... finishing as runner-up in both the team and match play was a pretty good end to a very long week.”

Semi-final Recap:

In his morning semi-final match with local favourite Tim Yorke of Kensington, P.E.I., Collins jumped out to a scorching start in front of a large crowd of locals, going as far as 3-UP. Yorke answered back by winning five consecutive holes but lost momentum on the 14th hole and Collins eventually won the match 1-UP.

Collins advanced to the semi-finals by toppling another Saskatchewan team member Bill Cameron of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan 3&2.

David Schultz of Calgary had a tough semi-final match against Karl Parrington of Saskatoon, Sk. The pair battled it out with several crucial missed putts from both players, forcing an extra hole which saw Parrington make birdie for the win.

The sun was shining bright on Belvedere Golf Club today as the gracious hosts were treated to exciting semi-final and final matches. Belvedere is the proud home to LPGA star Lori Kane and has been in existence for over 100 years.

The following are semi-final match results for Sunday, August 28, 2005:

(29) Karl Parrington (Saskatoon, Sask.) 19th hole David Schultz (Calgary, Alta.) (9) (10) Rob Collins (Yarmouth, N.S.) Def. 1-UP Tim Yorke (Kensington, P.E.I.) (14)

The following are final match results for Sunday, August 28, 2005:

(10) Rob Collins (Yarmouth, N.S.) Def. 4&3 Karl Parrington (Saskatoon, Sask.) (29)

For complete stroke play scores and match tree, click on the tournament link above (amateurgolf.com premium membership requested).