Colin Coben has been a staple at the Men’s Northern championship at Cooke Municipal Golf Course for over three decades.
In the 103-year history of the Northern, no man has appeared in more championship matches than Coben, who has appeared in nine with his first finals appearance coming in 1993. Coben has won the Northern five times, one short of tying the record.
Coben says he keeps coming back to the Northern every year because it is an opportunity to see friends and he enjoys playing on Cooke Municipal
“Just the camaraderie and (I’ve) always liked the match play tournament. Play a lot of golf up there every year, so I really enjoy it.”
Coben is riding a wave of momentum into the Northern after capturing the Saskatchewan Senior Men’s Championship at Evergreen Golf Course in Nipawin, which ended on July 25.
His final three round score of 226, including a final round 72 was good enough to defeat Brent Wotypka by one shot. Coben will compete in the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship at Saugeen Golf Club in Saugeen Shores, Ontario in September.
Coben says he was happy with how he played during the week.
“I had a good week in Nipawin and ended up making the team and we’re going to go to nationals and that’s in early September out in Ontario. Looking forward to that too, but looking forward to this weekend again.”
Coben will tee off for his qualifying round at 7:57 a.m. on Saturday morning when he will play alongside Greg Swenson, Trevor Ring and Jeff Whitfield.
The top 16 players from the qualifying round will form the championship flight. All other players will be sorted into appropriate flights based on their scores.
“You have to get off to a decent start.” Coben explains. “The first hole is one of the toughest holes out there. Just try and make pars and I mean it’s always a low (score) it could be 73 and better to get in there which is two over par there at Cooke but I’ve seen playoffs at 74 so just gotta try and get off to a good start.“
Being of the veteran players in the tournament, Coben says the key to being successful late into the weekend at the Northern is trying to not overexert yourself early.
“Once you get in it, conserve your energy. Two rounds a day, like on Sunday, you have two rounds and you gotta win that second one to play again on Monday morning and win that. You could have two rounds on Monday. I still feel I have the energy to compete, otherwise I wouldn’t be there.”
Facing a field of younger players who can drive the ball farther than him, Coben says Cooke doesn’t favor players with longer drives, but ones who can keep the ball in a good position off the tee.
“The young guys can really bang it out there, but Cooke you just gotta keep it in play. It’s not that long of a golf course, so keep it in play and make a bunch of pars and throw some birdies in there. It takes the driver out of the hand of a lot of the young guys. I seem to hit my driver all the way around there because I hit it fairly straight. I don’t overly hit it long, but keep it in play.”
Coben has a pair of memories that come to mind over the years he has played in the Northern.
In 2007, Coben captured his third career Northern title including wins over Ron Stewart, Luke Sheard and David Stewart in the championship flight, who all placed highly at the Saskatchewan Amateur which was also held at Cooke Municipal Golf Course that year.
“That’s a memory. You know, it doesn’t get any better than that. They were all going to the Canadian Am and I didn’t make the team that year. So there’s a little feather in the cap, but that’s one of the memories.”
The third time was the charm for Coben to win a Northern as he lost his first two championship matches, the first in 1993 to Garry Reilly and the second in a playoff to Rick Genest in five playoff holes in 1996.
Coben says the match against Genest was a good learning lesson for him at the time.
“I remember I had lost in a playoff one year in the final to one of the local guys. I had a short little birdie putt on the first extra hole and I said to myself ‘I won the Northern’ before I ever had won it. I missed it and he won in five playoff holes. I really remember that it taught me a lesson. Don’t presume before it happens.”
Coben captured his first Northern over Bill Cameron in 2000. He also captured wins in 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2012. His last championship match appearance was in 2014 when he lost to Taylor Asfeth.
The record for most career Northern titles at six belongs to George Bigelow (1934-38, 1945) and Ron Stewart (1973, 1975, 1982, 1988, 1989 and 1995).
The championship match for the 2024 Men’s Northern Championship is on Monday afternoon, weather permitting.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
