Call it beginner's luck … if you think landing a golf ball six yards away from a hole 150 yards away with a million bucks on the line has much to do with luck.

First-time finalist Owen Nodrick came within 18 feet and one inch of becoming a millionaire at the fifth-annual 610 CHTM and Rotary Club of Thompson million-dollar hole-in-one contest, which concluded at the first hole of the Thompson Golf Course after spending five days at Centennial Park.

Nodrick was up against two seasoned veterans in the three-man final, facing former first-place finisher Darrell Cater and finalist for the second year running David Platford.

“Since you've had previous experience, it should be a snap,” quipped MC Tom O'Brien, who is also a Rotarian and the owner of 610 CHTM, prior to the final.

Cater's shot for a million stopped just a shade under 64 feet from the hole, while Platford's shot ended up 21 feet 9 inches from the cup after initially landing about four feet from a million dollars, according to the official observers.

Nodrick's win ended a two-year run of being closest to the pin for Farrol Asham, the Thompson Golf Club's course superintendent. Nodrick and Platford's shots were closer to the hole than anyone has come in the finals over the past three years. Cater put his final shot 25 feet from the hole as the final shooter in 2007, beating Tyler Davis, who sat 46 feet five inches from the pin.

Asham qualified for the final round in each of the previous three years.

The finalists qualified from a pool of 50 semifinalists who each had three shots at the flag to qualify for the final – or win prizes, had they managed an ace. The 50 semifinalists represented the 10 closest shooters from each of the contest's five days of qualifying.

Nodrick qualified for another shot at a million dollars in the Northern playdown in Flin Flon next weekend, which features the winners of the contests in Thompson, The Pas and Flin Flon squaring off.

This year's contest marked the first time that the final round was restricted to three players instead of five, and O'Brien remarked that someone must have won the contest somewhere, as this year's event featured greater restrictions than in previous years. Finalists were required to shoot from a different tee in the final than in the semifinals, with the location at least 10 yards away laterally from the semifinal shooting position.

Next year's million-dollar hole-in-one in Thompson will be held one week later in July, as the city will also host the Northern playdown immediately following the local contest final.

Proceeds from this year's contest are going to A Port in the Storm. Previous recipients included the Thompson Zoo's new wolf enclosure fund, the Thompson Skatepark committee and Mystery Mountain Winter Park.

“Thank everybody for donating their money,” said Rotary Club president Geoff Lamontagne, who was also one of the semifinalists.