Still got it

Brian Hutton ventured to Port St. Lucie, Fla. late last month for weekend of golf and good times with old friends, met over three decades in the golf business.

But the former Canadian Tour player proved he’s still got game at 51, the surprise winner of the Canadian PGA Club Professional Championship. He took home $12,000 for his efforts, but more importantly earned a return trip to the RBC Canadian Open next summer.

It will be the first time he’s teed it up at the national championship since the late ‘80s, when he made back-to-back appearances to close out the decade.

Hutton, a two-time Strathcona Invitational champion (1977, 1980), is over the moon at the opportunity, though, has a realistic outlook on his chances, when he tees it up alongside the likes of 2010 winner Carl Petersson, Matt Kuchar and Tim Clark.

“I didn’t make the cut, but I did play in two Canadian Opens in 1988 and 1989 at Glenn Abbey,” said Hutton, who left Thunder Bay to play on the Canadian Tour and has spent the past 13 years as the head professional at the Southbrook Golf and Country Club in BInbrook, Ont., just outside of Hamilton.

“That was back when I was younger and playing the Canadian Tour. I didn’t think I’d ever get in another one. To be honest, at my age and the time of my life, I don’t expect to be overly competitive amongst the tour players, but it’s still a thrill to be in the PGA environment and be able to play and hopefully make the cut.”

Hutton, who lives in Burlington, Ont., had to come-from-behind to win the Canadian PGA Club Professional Championship, edging out Vancouver’s David Zibrik and St. Sauveur, Que.’s Marc Girouard with a seven-under, 209 total.

He said his berth next summer at the Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club is what it is.

“I’ll take it a lot more casually. Winning the Club Professional Championship, I didn’t go there with the intention or the effort to try to win. I go there now to enjoy the game, to enjoy the guys – we see a lot of our peers from across the country – and to enjoy the golf environment. It’s a very well-run golf tournament,” said Hutton, who made his sixth appearance at the event last month.

His best finish previously was 11th.
 
He credited his putting, having just made the switch to the claw grip, made famous by Chris DiMarco and adopted by golfers around the world, during a pro-am warm-up the week before.

It worked.

“A lot of guys have gone to it, especially some of the older fellows, and I used it on all of the short putts in the tournament, from approximately six feet and in, and was quite successful with it. I actually made almost every putt from six feet and; certainly from four feet and in,” he said, via phone from Burlington.

“For me that was the big difference. It gave me more confidence on the longer putts also.”