Frozen Start, Fiery Finish.
Tower Ranch gave us everything a season finale should, beauty, brutality, and a finish that demanded nerve. The 2025 Twlv Stix season came to an end on a day that began frozen and ended on fire, the sunset bleeding ribbons of pink across the Okanagan hills as the final putts dropped.
A one-hour frost delay before an 11 a.m. start caught everyone off guard under a bright, cloudless sky. The hillside air stayed colder than it looked, but even so, frost at 11 felt unusual. When the sprinklers sputtered to life, it drew a few laughs and groans from the players waiting to tee off. The clubhouse buzzed with half-jokes and quiet frustration as everyone waited for the word to roll, the delay only building anticipation for what was ahead. When carts finally rolled, the course reminded everyone why it’s the perfect home for a championship. Tower’s greens were flawless, smooth, slick, and merciless. And the fescue long and punishing.
Forty-nine members teed it up for the final crown of 2025. This one meant more. Double purse, nearly double points, and the last chance to decide who would lift the season titles. Each shot carried consequence, every misstep capable of shifting season-long positions and rewriting the final standings.
The Gross division came down to the usual suspects: Bruce Kristinson, Bryson Marshall, Mark Johnson, Chris Myers, and Fred Winters. But it was Vitaly Yaromich, the veteran whose fire had seemed to dim this year, who stole the show. Starting on Tower’s most punishing hole, the par-4 sixth, Vitaly stuffed his approach to inches and opened with birdie. From there, he played steady, letting the field come back to him. When it mattered most, three holes to play, one shot back, he flipped a switch. Three birdies. Three darts. Three nails in the coffin. Vitaly’s -3 was not only enough to win the Tour Championship, it stood as the lowest score shot all season.
Deane Studer’s steady even-par round earned him solo second, the kind of clean, composed performance he’d hinted at all year but finally delivered. Bryson Marshall looked poised to win after rolling in a clutch birdie on the 14th to reach -2, but Tower’s back nine bit him hard. A bogey on the short par-5 fifteenth and a double on the long seventeenth dropped him to +1, still good for third. Bruce Kristinson finished fourth, another top-five in a season full of them, enough to clinch the Gross Season Championship.
In the Net division, it was a mirror of chaos and precision. Jona Spence and Vitaly Yaromich both finished at -6, forcing the rare Tour Championship tiebreak. The USGA 9-6-3-1 rule handed the win to Jona, giving him his second career victory, this time without having to share it. Playing off 17, Jona’s round was a lesson in discipline, two doubles, nothing worse, and a birdie on hole two that turned into a net eagle and a mid-round surge he never let go of. Deane took third at -4, proving his game travels on both leaderboards.
Bruce Kristinson, the iron man of Twlv Stix, finished even on the day and claimed the Net Season Championship as well. His sweep silenced any talk that low handicappers can’t win net. Consistency, not just brilliance, defines champions.
As the temperature fell and the light slipped away, fatigue settled over the hill. Five hours in the chill had worn down even the hardiest players, most unprepared for how quickly the warmth disappeared. Yet the course gave one last gift, the sky igniting in streaks of red and pink, Tower Ranch bowing out in style.
Vitaly reclaimed his edge. Bruce proved dominance through consistency. The sunset over Tower Ranch marked more than the end of a season, it marked the rise of Twlv Stix as a stage where ordinary golfers find out just how extraordinary they can be.
