Campbell and Irwin, Monroe and Carter winners of Battle of Gowanbrae

Battle of Gowanbrae 2026 winners Liam Irwin (blue shirt) and Tim Campbell (white shirt) celebrate after shaking hands with playoff runners-up Brett Sippel (back) and Mark Vandenberk (not pictured).

By Spencer Seymour

The St. Marys Golf and Country Club’s (SMGCC) annual Battle of Gowanbrae tournament ran July 10-11, with Tim Campbell and Liam Irwin winning on the men’s side after the three-hole shootout, while Leslie Monroe and Leah Carter finished atop the ladies’ field.

Following his duo’s tournament win, Campbell said he and Irwin were playing solid, complementary golf throughout the two-day Battle of Gowanbrae.

“It was a really fun setup,” said Campbell. “Cam (Charlton, the SMGCC’s head superintendent) did a great job with the greens. The greens rolled out nicely. We ham and egged it well and made some putts, so it was good fun.”

Campbell and Irwin got to the playoff as the winners of the Blue Two division, winning all four of their matches and racking up 11 points through their four nine-hole rounds.

Brett Sippel and Mark Vandenberk were plus-eight after four matches to qualify for the shootout in the first Blue division and finished as runners-up to Campbell and Irwin on the final hole of the shootout. Sippel and Vandenberk won three of their four matches, with the other match being a tie.

On Hole 9, the third of the shootout, Campbell and Irwin won with a par while Sippel and Vandenberk got trapped in the long grass behind the ninth green.

Irwin gave his teammate the flowers for pulling out the win in the playoff.

“It was all Tim (Campbell) in the shootout,” Irwin said. “He doesn’t miss. He just hits it down the middle on the green and two-putts every time, and I just slap the ball in every other direction.”

Campbell described his play during the three holes of the shootout.

“I had just a little thin seven-iron on number seven, and I got up and down there,” said Campbell. “It was a nice chip. Number eight was pretty straightforward. I was lucky to get a stroke there. And then number nine; I was maybe a little nervous on the third shot with the putt, but made the fourth one, so I was happy to make it all work out.”

Campbell credited Irwin with giving the duo some momentum to build on the rest of the day on their first hole of one of their second-day matches.

“Liam (Irwin) drove the 13th green (on day two) to start us off,” Campbell said. “So, that was a big push against a difficult team (in Kyle Heinbuck and Steve Hinz) and a good start for us.”

“It’s about 270 (yards) to get to the front of the green today, uphill and into the wind when we got there,” added Irwin. “But, after waiting for the shotgun to start, it died down a bit. I just hit a mini-driver and got a good bounce off the front of the green, and it stayed on the back, and I was able to make a nice two-putt. It was a good way to start.”

The teams of Justin Lingard and Seth Knox in the Blue Three division and Scott Rinn and Dan Gracey in Blue Four each qualified for the shootout with plus-five points. Lingard and Knox recorded three wins and a tie, while Rinn and Gracey won two, tied one and lost one.

In the first white division, Steve Fisher and Eric Henkemans won twice and tied twice for three points to qualify for the shootout. Fred Pinkerton and Gord Russell won all four of their matches, scoring nine points to qualify for the three-hole finale in the second white bracket.

The ladies’ side of the tournament was won by the pairing of Monroe and Carter, who won three of their four matches to score plus-eight points and take the title in the red division.

Monroe and Carter both joked jubilantly following the win.

“Because we’re awesome,” Monroe said, laughing, when asked why they emerged victorious. “Leah (Carter) did great. I had some pretty good drives. Hole 5 in this last game; I drove the hole and got very close to the pin. It was super cool and that actually got us a good point that we needed.”

Carter emphasized how Monroe put the pair in great spots off the tees.

“Leslie (Monroe)’s drives are on point,” said Carter. “I’m really good at punching out of trees. I’m really good at that. It certainly wasn’t my putting. I did nothing that was super. I’m just like Ernie Clement. I hit solid doubles and nothing super special, but just solid.”