Do You Believe in Miracles

On Tuesday, Jay Finley had tears in his eyes as he stood on the 18th tee at Silver Lakes Golf Club during the qualifier for the Ontario Amateur. The dimes he had used to mark his ball all day rattled around in his pocket. Someone had told him dimes were a sign that those who had died were looking down on their loved ones. Jay hadn't heard that before, but he was looking for anything to hang onto to help get him through the day. 

Less than 48 hours earlier, Jay's father had died after a battle with throat cancer. John Finley was 65. 

Jay had played Silver Lakes only once before, in the same tournament some 20 years earlier. That day, John was on the bag. He pleaded with his son to hit an iron off the last, but Jay ignored the advice, pulling driver. Although he made it through, the round wasn’t without some anxious moments, the result of several wayward drives.

The Finleys’ relationship with the game went way back. John introduced his son to golf when he was 5, and the game came pretty easily to him. Jay played in junior events with future Canadian stars Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners. John was a firefighter at the Oshawa Fire Department for more than 32 years. The job includes long shifts but also extended time off, which the father and son often spent playing golf. 

Although he experienced some success in junior tournaments, and played well in High School, when he went off to college at Ontario Tech, he hardly touched a club until his senior year. That year, the school started a golf team, and Jay was quick to sign up. Once again, the game came easily. Despite not playing much at all for years, Jay made the team and played well that season. 

After graduating from college in 2012, Jay joined his dad at the fire department. The long shifts, coupled with days off between shifts, afforded Jay the luxury of working on his game. Because Jay worked two 24-hour shifts a week, he had five days to hone his game, once he caught up on his sleep. 

He maintained a plus handicap and played in local amateur events when his schedule allowed. He even made a run while trying to qualify for the Canadian Open in 2023, getting through the regional qualifier before falling short in the Monday Q. 

The pair played golf together as much as they could. “We probably played five to 10 times a year together,” Jay told me.

John spent more than three decades at the fire department before retiring in 2015. According to the Firefighters Cancer Support Network, firefighters have a 9 percent higher risk of getting cancer and a 14 percent higher risk of dying from it. In January 2024, John was diagnosed with cancer. The original prognosis held some promise, but things took a dire turn earlier this year. John developed pneumonia and spent six weeks in the hospital. 

Finally, doctors informed the family there was nothing more they could do. John asked to be discharged from the hospital, and the family moved him to Jay's house so he could live his last days surrounded by loved ones. 

John Finley died on Sunday surrounded by loved ones. 

In February, Jay signed up for the Ontario Amateur qualifier. In the chaos and uncertainty surrounding his dad’s battle with cancer, Jay had not thought much about the event, although he and his father had discussed the last time they had played Silver Lakes one night in the hospital. They reminisced how Jay, a hard-headed teenager at the time, refused to stop hitting the driver. The laughter was much needed. 

Jay hadn’t had time to think about the qualifier, much less play golf. Heading into Tuesday, he had played just three nine-hole rounds the entire season. 

But on Monday, Jay's wife, Abigail, encouraged him to get away and hit balls. The range session was therapeutic. 

During a discussion that night, the couple agreed it might be good for Jay to play, even as they acknowledged he didn't have any real chance of getting through. John's funeral was scheduled for Friday. Sitting around the house wasn’t doing any good, so it was decided he would play to honor his father’s memory. 

When I asked how the range session had gone, Jay laughed. "Their range is a big lake with no targets, and they used floating balls,” he said. “It was pretty pointless." 

On the first tee, he reflected on that round 20 years earlier with John on the bag. Because Jay so struggled with the driver back in those days, John encouraged him to play conservatively. The advice would go in one ear and out the other. 

So what did Jay do at the short par-4 1st hole on Tuesday? He hit 6-iron, of course, and got it in play. His father would have been so proud. Although his 8-iron approach missed the green, Jay got up and down from a greenside bunker. 

Jay told me he didn't think about the possibility of getting through until he closed out the front nine with back-to-back birdies and turned in 1 under. On the back, Jay teared up multiple times. He came to par-5 18th at 2 under par, knowing he needed a par to advance.

The dimes in his pocket, Jay remembered the conversation with his father two decades earlier as he stood on the tee. He grabbed his 4-iron and made a routine par.

He not only got through, but he also tied for low medalist honors. 

"I finally listened to Dad's advice," Jay said on Thursday.

Jay Finley will play the Ontario Amateur in August. He will have more dimes in his pocket. 

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