Congratulations to Ed Ferguson and Sam Masih, the 2019 Nomad Classic Champions!
The 15th Nomad Classic brought the tournament back to Blue Mountain and the Collingwood area for the third time in tournament history. In a throwback to 2009 and the 5th Nomad Classic, the same two courses again hosted the Nomad Classic ten years later. Unlike previously where the accommodations were in the older Tyrolean Village accommodations, this tournament was headquartered at a new modern chalet with a hot tub but lacking Sam Masih’s nemesis… a sun umbrella!?! Unlike last time where the Nomad Classic only had two rounds, this tournament would use Batteaux Creek for round one, and use a poison ivy lined Lora Bay for rounds two and three. The poison ivy added an interesting twist for stray shots.
As was the norm now, the first round was played with pairings chosen randomly afterward. With beautiful weather to kick off the tournament, 3 of the 16 players scored in the negatives. Nathan Greene, Matt Ingrassia, and Ed Ferguson shot -3, -2 and -1 respectively with the rest of the field posting scores ranging up as high as +15 by Dave Fauteux. After pairings were sorted, Matt Ingrassia was paired with a +1 shooting Matt Kershaw to combine for a tournament-leading -1 after the first round. The team of Nathan Greene and Jason Webster were close on their heels at +2 after with Webster posting a +5 to add to the low scorer on the round.
After the end of the round, handicaps were adjusted for the first time in a trial of the new World Handicap System scoring. The adjustments had little impact on the field as they scored lower on the arguably more challenging Lora Bay course. The team of Tom Shepherd and Will Ferguson rebounded from a +9 in the first round to lead the way with a -5 on the second round on the strength of a -6 by Will. The team of Ingrassia and Kershaw maintained consistency with a score of -1 with Ingrassia shooting even and Kershaw playing at 1-under. After two rounds team Matt was in the lead at -2 with the next closest team of Tom and Will at +4. Webster and Greene fell off to third place with a score of +7 while Sam Masih and Ed Ferguson were in fourth at +12 after two rounds. Christian Ferguson, one-half of the defending champions, was knocked out of contention when his partner Tim Jones posted a day-worst +19 for the round.
After handicaps were adjusted again the stage was set for the final round at Lora Bay and for team Matt to hoist the trophy if they could golf consistently for a third and final day. It may have been fatigue, or maybe it was pressure, but queue the meltdown! Five of the eight teams shot their best or second-best rounds of the tournament in the final round, but the top three teams posted their worst rounds! The team of Ingrassia and Kershaw dropped 20 strokes on the weakness of a +14 by Ingrassia and +6 by Kershaw. This was a shocking development as Matt Ingrassia is one of the most consistent low-scoring players.
With only a six-stroke lead, it looked like the second-place team of Tom Shepherd and Will Ferguson would take the lead. However, they failed to take advantage of the opportunity and posted a +16 based on a +11 from Tom, and +5 from Will. This knocked them out of contention.
The third-place team of Webster and Greene started the round nine strokes back of the leaders. With the meltdowns of the teams in front of them, they only needed to shoot a combined +11 to catch the leaders. Webster and Greene also struggled for whatever reason and posted a combined +17 to keep them trailing the two teams in front of them. Did anybody want to win this tournament!?!
In the biggest come-from-behind in Nomad Classic history, the duo of Sam Masih and Ed Ferguson shot +3, their best round of the tournament. This, combined with their two previous rounds of +6 each, gave them a modest overall score of +15 for the tournament. However, with team Matt posting a +20, this gave the leaders a final overall score of +18 overall to drop them back to second behind Sam and Ed.
Shock and amazement abounded when the final results were announced as nobody was quite sure who won the tournament leading up to the announcement. The victory for Sam and Ed was well-earned and wrapped up an amazing 15th-anniversary tournament.
The Sandbagger Trophy for this edition of the Nomad Classic was also given to Ed Ferguson with his consistent play of -1, even-par, and -2 on the final round giving him a -3 overall. Mark Rinaldo was next closest shooting his handicap after three rounds.
Despite his final round meltdown, Matt Ingrassia had the lowest stroke-play score again for the second year in a row. He shot 267 in a closely contested competition with Mark Rinaldo, Sam Masih, Tim Biehler, and Tim Jones all posting totals ranging from 270 to 279 strokes in intervals of 3 strokes respectively.
| Place | Player | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Total | NC-HC |
| 1 | Sam Masih | +7 | +6 | +5 | +18 | 85/85/86 |
| 1 | Ed Ferguson | -1 | 0 | -2 | -3 | 122/120/119 |
| 2 | Matt Ingrassia | -2 | 0 | +14 | +12 | 86/85/85 |
| 2 | Matt Kershaw | +1 | -1 | +6 | +6 | 103/102/102 |
| 3 | Will Ferguson | +8 | -6 | +5 | +7 | 121/121/118 |
| 3 | Tom Shepherd | +1 | +1 | +11 | +13 | 93/93/93 |
| 4* | Nathan Greene | -3 | +8 | +10 | +15 | 106/103/103 |
| 4* | Jason Webster | +5 | -3 | +7 | +9 | 99/98/97 |
| 4** | Steven Way | +4 | +5 | +0 | +9 | 98/98/99 |
| 4** | Ryan Doyle | +10 | +3 | +2 | +15 | 98/98/98 |
| 6 | Tim Biehler | +8 | +5 | -1 | +12 | 88/88/88 |
| 6 | Chris Muir | +3 | +5 | +7 | +15 | 115/114/114 |
| 7 | Mark Rinaldo | +1 | +1 | -2 | 0 | 91/90/90 |
| 7 | Dave Fauteux | +15 | +8 | +2 | +25 | 116/115/115 |
| 8 | Tim Jones | +2 | +19 | +2 | +23 | 85/85/86 |
| 8 | Christian Ferguson | +4 | +4 | +6 | +14 | 94/94/94 |