Thunderstorms and a field of more than 100 golfers couldn't keep Cody Balon from winning his first Men's Classic tournament at the Estevan Woodlawn Golf Course.

Balon shot a 5-under-par 66 in the final round August 2 to win the tournament by three strokes over Brody Moreland, who came all the way from Michigan for the tournament.

Balon entered the third and final round trailing by three strokes. But the 66 allowed him to rally and finish the tournament with a total score of 211.

“I putted really well,” said Balon. “I hit some really good shots.”

Moreland had a 214. Mike Ross was third with a 215. Brian Hank was fourth with a 217.

The tournament, which is Estevan's stop on the Saskatchewan Golf Association (SGA) Order of Merit, is Balon's first win in an SGA event.

“The goal this year was to make the horse race (which has the golfers from the championship flight),” said Balon. “And I did it. I was a few shots back today. Coming in, I didn't really plan on winning. I just tried to play as well as I could.”

Thunderstorms interrupted play a couple of times during the tournament, including once in the final round.

“When we were on the sixth hole, we saw some lightning, so we held off for 20 minutes, and then we went back at it,” said Balon.

Balon was second after the first round thanks to a 69, which he said was his best round ever. That career-best score stood up for all of two days. He shot a 76 in Round 2.

Hank won the tournament's Ab Murphy Low Medallist Award for having the lowest score in the opening round, thanks to a 68.

Moreland won the annual nine-hole horse race. Two golfers were eliminated on each of the first two holes; one golfer was eliminated on each subsequent hole.

Graham Ball and Wally Abood were the winners of the first-ever seniors' flight. Ball had the lowest net score, including handicaps, with a 206. Abood had the lowest gross score with a 237.

Flight winners were: Carter Hilkewich won the first flight with a 220; Rick Pesola, second flight, 230; Layne Wolos, third, 230; Francis Shorthouse, fourth, 242; Lorne Tytlandsvik, fifth, 250; and Brad Beck, sixth, 261.