Congratulations to Christian Ferguson, the 2014 Nomad Classic Champion!
Can you say ROAD TRIP!!! The 2014 edition of the Nomad Classic was held in beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to celebrate the 10 Year Anniversary of the modern era Nomad Classic (ie. since 2005). The 10th Nomad Classic took place on the world-class courses of Highlands Links for the final round, and Cabot Links for the first two rounds. While Cabot Links was a newly constructed course, it is one of North America’s few true links-style courses.
This anniversary tournament opted for single play for this tournament, and also introduced the transition to three official rounds for Nomad Classic tournaments.
The first round of the Nomad started on wet and windy typical east coast day, and finished in the sun. The firm rolling fairways of the links style courses transitioned seamlessly into the greens allowing long balls to be struck. However, the tall and thick fescue that linked the holes were treacherous reminders of the importance of course management. Nathan Greene, a seemingly perpetual bridesmaid at Nomad tournaments, started off the first round with a blistering 8-under. His high-handicap score did not fit his play that day, as he shot 102 on the par 70 course. Sam Masih and Christian Ferguson were 8 strokes back at even, with four more players within 2 strokes of them. Matt Kershaw struggled with a knee injury and trailed the pack at 17-over.
Nobody knows what Nathan and Matt did differently overnight, but the second day was a completely different round. Matt Kershaw recovered nicely, with a respectable +3 for his second round, while the pressure seemed to get to Nathan who folded like a lawnchair with a score of +12. Christian Ferguson improved on his score from the prior day with more consistent play giving him 3-under, the lowest score for the round. Ryan Doyle was the only other player to shoot below par on day 2, with a score of 2-under. Mark Rinaldo’s consistent golf over the years appeared to falter as he struggled to a round of 10-over for his 2nd round. When all was said and done, Christian Ferguson had a 4 stroke leading ahead of Sam Masih going into the final round.
The final round was held up the coast at Highlands Links for a par-71 course with views out to the Atlantic Ocean. The championship round started in Jeopardy as a torrential downpour started early in the round for the first few holes. Fortunately, it let up and by the time the foursomes were on the back nine it was hot, humid, and sunny. The early rain made conditions treacherous as the pack tried to claw and catch up to to the leader. Nathan Greene was a big mover on the day as he shot a 4-under par to erase his terrible second round. His score for the day was matched by Tim Jones, while Matt Kershaw (3-under) and Steve Way (1-under) were the only other players to go under par the final round. Ferguson had a strong lead walking up the 18th green, but was ill-prepared for the harrassment he was subjected to by the gallery of finished players. He struggled to shoot a natural 8 on the final hole, which put his victory into doubt. When the smoke cleared, it was a very close finish, but Christian Ferguson managed to hold onto the victory and was crowned Nomad Champion with a two-stroke win over Nathan Greene, runner-up once again.
Due to the tournament format change, the Sandbagger Trophy was given to the player who won the most cleaners, a skins-style betting game that takes player handicaps and hole handicaps into account. With his solid play, bittersweet congratulations were given to Nathan Greene as the biggest prize winner.
Congratulations was given to Matt Ingrassia and Tim Jones who tied for the lowest stroke play overall with 266 strokes over 3 days.
| Place | Player | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Total | NC-HC |
| 1 | Christian Ferguson | 0 | -3 | +1 | -2 | 99/103 |
| 2 | Nathan Greene | -8 | +12 | -4 | 0 | 110/114 |
| 3 | Sam Masih | 0 | +1 | 0 | +1 | 88/90 |
| 4 | Tim Biehler | +2 | 0 | +1 | +3 | 89/91 |
| 4 | Tim Jones | +4 | +3 | -4 | +3 | 87/88 |
| 4 | Steven Way | +1 | +3 | -1 | +3 | 98/102 |
| 5 | Matt Ingrassia | +1 | +3 | +2 | +6 | 86/88 |
| 6 | Ryan Doyle | +5 | -2 | +9 | +12 | 100/104 |
| 7 | Matt Kershaw | +17 | +3 | -3 | +17 | 99/103 |
| 8 | Mark Rinaldo | +2 | +10 | +11 | +23 | 88/91 |