Shaun Lees wasn't planning on playing a round of golf Wednesday night.
Good thing he did. His sweet swings tied the 40-year-old course record at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club when he shot a scintillating 62.
"It was a great round, I hit the ball good, putted well and hit a lot of greens and only missed a couple of fairways by a couple feet," said Lees. "It was fun but a little nerve-wracking. I knew what the record was but I tried not to think about it at all and got lucky and tied him."
Phil Hobbis set the standard when he carded a 62 back in 1974.
Lees, 41, now in his third season as the teaching pro at PGGCC, took up golf as a 12-year-old growing up in Prince George. His previous best round on the course was a 65. He three-putted on No. 12 for his only bogey but came up with his best shot of the day on No. 14, draining a 25-yard uphill putt.
"That kind of got me going again and back in the groove and I made a good eagle putt on 16," Lees said. "Other than that it was nothing spectacular but very consistent and I made enough to go low. [Home course advantage] definitely helped a little bit - playing somewhere else you wouldn't know the breaks and stuff."
He shot 31 on the front nine and 31 on the back and finished with one eagle, eight birdies and one bogey.
The record round was witnessed by Darcy Bryant, Will Gilbert, Todd White and Ryan Flannigan. The group came by the pro shop and convinced Lees to join them on the course as a last-minute decision.
"I'm glad I did," he said. "It was just a fun round. The guys I played with were great. They stayed out of my way and let me do my thing and they didn't hassle me, they were really positive."
Lees' scorecard will be going up on display in the clubhouse next to the plaque from Hobbis's record round.
Lees is on the list of 75 golfers entered in the men's Smon Fraser Open at PGGCC. The three-round tournament starts Saturday with the first tee-offs at 7:30 a.m. Keenan Hopson is the defending champion.
