Teacher his the greens with top pros at Canadian Open.
North York school teacher Dave Bunker birdies on the 16th hole at St George's during the Canadian Open on Friday. (July 23,2010)
Staff photo/IAN KELSO
Lots of extra homework has paid off for a local schoolteacher who has taken his golfing passion into the world of professionals.
David Bunker, a 45-year-old physical education teacher at Lawrence Heights Middle School and a notable amateur golfer, competed in the Canadian Open this past week, which ran from July 22 to 25, and barely missed the weekend cut after compiling a two-over par on Thursday and Friday.
"It was fantastic for it to happen so late in my golf career," said Bunker Tuesday morning of being able to compete amongst the pros at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Etobicoke. "I'm pretty lucky to get that opportunity and I had a great week, it was so much fun."
A summer swinger, Bunker knew going in to the tournament he would be in tough to make the cut against a field made up primarily of full-time pros. That mindset changed though after he birdied the 6th, 7th and 11th holes in Friday's round, putting him close to even for the tournament up to that point.
"Then I really wanted to make the cut," recalled the Woodbridge resident. "I thought if I made a couple birdies coming in...I thought, 'Oh man, I can make the cut!'"
Unfortunately, Bunker bogeyed both the 13th and difficult par four, 480-yard 14th, the only hole on which he dropped a shot both days. His tournament was then essentially over though he went on to get a birdie on the the uphill par three, 16th hole, one he bogeyed Thursday.
Bunker's two-day total of 142 was three shots above the cut but he finished higher than many pros, including former Masters champions Fred Couples and Canada's Mike Weir.
"Overall, I look back and say it was good, I played good, I hit the ball really well, I just didn't putt as well as I would have hoped," he said.
Performance on the greens is where the pros distinguish themselves, said Bunker.
"From what I saw on the range - I warmed up beside guys like (Paul) Azinger, (Rocco) Mediate and Aaron Baddeley, the top guys that are there - and I hit it the same as they do on the range, I hit it just as far as most of the guys, my ball flight is basically the same," he explained. "But the difference was putting because I gave myself lots of chances but I just didn't make as many as I would have liked."
When they (the pros) need to make putts and they have the opportunity to make them, they make them."
That knowledge will help Bunker, a teacher who takes a learned approach to improving his game. A longtime golfer who played through high school and two years at the University of Toronto, Bunker started working on his game a little more about seven years ago when his twin daughters were about 16 years old. That included practicing smarter and working on his weaknesses rather than just going to the driving range and "hitting the shots you know you can hit."
His efforts have paid off in recent years. Bunker won the Ontario Amateur tournament in 2008 as well as the Canadian Mid-Amateur tournament the same year. He repeated his victory in the latter tournament last year, which garnered him an invite to the Canadian Open. Already this summer, he has won the Ontario Mid-Amateur tournament and Ontario Match Play tournaments.
Bunker is now on his way to this week's Porter Cup in Niagara Falls, New York, and he'll follow that up with the Western Amateur tournament in Chicago next weekend. He hopes to play in both the Canadian and U.S. mid-amateur and amateur championships later this season.
He said he's fortunate to receive some financial assistance from the province's Quest for Gold lottery program and free equipment from Titleist.
"It can get expensive, but I weigh that against belonging to a course in Toronto and the area here," he added. "If I joined a club, with the yearly dues and green fees and things like that, I'd probably end up spending the same. Like this week I'm playing a great golf course, the entry fee was $200 or $225, I think, and I'm going to get five rounds at a great golf course and have a great tournament experience."
The only drawback to his success has been the fact he doesn't have as much time to get to the cottage with his wife, he joked.
He has no plans to turn pro in the near future, he said, nor does he want to leave his school to become a golf coach at a high school.
"I'm very happy with the school I'm at," he said of Lawrence Heights, located just south of the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. "I coach basketball and football at our school and that's good enough for me."
Though some of his students are mildly curious about his out-of-school career, Bunker knows not too many were likely following him this past week.
"Generally, we're a school where the NBA is king," he said. "And the World Cup, we're becoming a soccer school as well."