Written By Jeffrey Reed
When I began covering sports in Middlesex County, Jack Nicklaus won his last of four U.S. Open championships, the New York Islanders captured their first of four-straight Stanley Cups, Mike Schmidt was MVP with the World Series-winning Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Steelers became the first NFL team to win four Super Bowls.
Of course, the fact that I was a rookie reporter in 1980 makes me old enough to have used persimmon woods and 2-irons rather than high-tech drivers and hybrids on the golf course. In fact, covering local golf was one of my first assignments, which saw me interview youngsters on the Junior Tyson Tour (est. 1968) – Canada’s oldest junior golf tour.
This summer, scores of local junior golfers competed on the nine-tournament Tyson Tour which included stops at courses in London, Komoka, Sarnia and Springfield, with the Tour Invitational Championship August 21 at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club. Record rainfall saw the shortening and delay of a few events, plus the cancellation of the Forest City National Golf Club tournament. Yet one of the most competitive fields in recent years saw two local golfers dominate the Junior Boys division.
Taking top honours as the tour’s overall champion and Junior Boys champ was Strathroy’s Logan Woodiwiss, also winner at this season’s Thames Valley Golf Club stop (the first round of the two-day Les Thomas Memorial Tournament), and at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club and West Haven Golf and Country Club tourneys.
Woodiwiss, 17, and another Tyson Tour standout, Ben Hudson, 17, of Ailsa Craig both work with golf coach Mitch Sutton, who captured back-to-back Canadian Junior Boys golf championships in 2008 and ’09. Both are all-around athletes who have set goals of playing professional golf, and Grade 12 classmates at Strathroy District Collegiate Institute where they’ll compete with the school golf team this year.
Hudson won the Highland Country Club tournament, as well as the overall Les Thomas title at Fanshawe Golf Club, but with only three appearances he did not qualify for a spot in the championship round at Sunningdale. Nevertheless, he now has his name on the same Les Thomas trophy as 2003 Masters Tournament Mike Weir, who won in 1986 and ’87 – and yes, this ancient scribe was there to witness Weir’s win in what was then match play golf.
“I love golf,” explained Hudson, who only took up the game in 2020. “Golf is totally individual. My score is a complete representation of my work. I know there are no other factors other than how I am playing. I’ve done well so quickly because of my work ethic. I know that if I want to get to a specific level, I have to put in more work than anyone else.”
Woodiwiss said, “I set my expectations high, and I work hard to achieve them. Competing against Ben and pushing each other definitely makes both of us better golfers. We always want to beat each other, and it’s fun having friendly competition.”
Even an old scribe can’t help but be inspired by that youthful enthusiasm.
Award-winning writer Jeffrey Reed has covered Middlesex County sports since 1980. He is publisher and editor of LondonOntarioSports.com. Reach him at
jeff@londonontariosports.com.
