The 2015 Gamble Cup was played under an extreme heat alert for the very first time, on Sunday September 6, 2015 at Puslinch Lake Golf Club in Cambridge Ontario.
In the field for the 2015 championship were defending champion Kyle Frasier along with past champions Gary and Scott Gamble and first-time hopefuls Martin Gamble and Jeff Gamble.
The tournament got underway at 11:15am with the group 1 pairing of Gary, Scott and Jeff. Solid tee-shots from Gary and Scott were followed-up by a lost ball on the dogleg first hole by Jeff Gamble. It was agreed that the ball “had to be somewhere” so Jeff was awarded a free drop with no penalty.
Scott Gamble was the only golfer in group 1 to achieve par, which set into motion an unprecedented Gamble Cup performance on the front nine.
Scott Gamble turned in a par, par, birdie and par on the first 4 holes that eventually lead to a culmination of 17 stableford points or a stroke-play score of 38 on the front nine. Not to be outdone, Kyle Frasier held his own on the front nine, despite struggling with his putter, making an admirable effort to keep within 6 points. Right behind Kyle was Gary Gamble who got off to a slow start but still managed to tally 15 on the board, followed by Martin Gamble at 12, who had several miracle shots to keep up the pace.
A sub-plot of the 2015 Gamble Cup was a previously undisclosed lower back injury of Jeff Gamble who opted to keep his injury under wraps until it was evident that he could no longer continue; dropping out of the round mid-way through the back nine. At the post-tournament party, Jeff admitted that he had taken pills prior to the match, to relieve the pain.
The scoring became substantially closer on the back 9 as leader Scott Gamble failed to produce points at the rate he had on the front, adding only 13. Meanwhile Kyle Frasier found his groove on the green, exploding for 18 on the back. That score watch matched by Martin Gamble who strung together a series of shots that had the entire field wondering “where did that come from?”. Not to be outdone, Gary Gamble also made a late round charge by adding 16 points to his total producing one of the closest final scores in Gamble Cup history. (final scores posted below).
In the end, front nine success was enough for Scott Gamble to secure the victory and his second cup championship; joining the likes of Stephen Gamble, Gary Gamble and Kyle Frasier as repeat champions.
Final score:
Scott Gamble – 36
Kyle Frasier – 35
Gary Gamble – 31
Martin Gamble – 28
Jeff Gamble – 13