Fredborg on fire

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This article was published 17/07/2017 (3321 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Travis Fredborg feels right at home on the green at the Manitoba Men’s Amateur Championship.

After all, the Selkirk native lives just down the street from the Selkirk Golf & Country Club — the venue for the first two rounds of this year’s tournament. 

Fredborg shot a 5-under-par 66 on Monday, which put his name at the top of the leaderboard after the first day of competition.

“I know this place like the back of my hand, so it’s nice to get off to a good start,” said 21-year-old Fredborg, a member at Pine Ridge.

Fredborg won the Manitoba Men’s Junior Championship in 2013 and 2014 before taking his talents south to the University of Nevada. He spent the last two years playing golf for the Wolf Pack, but next year will be transferring to the University of Arizona to join the Wildcats’ golf program.

“I got a really good opportunity that I couldn’t say no to. They’re top 10 in the country, so it will be great,” he said.

A big reason for Fredborg’s success in the sport is his older brother Shayne, who is Fredborg’s caddy this week. Shayne was a member of the University of Manitoba Bisons golf team for five years and Travis credits him for introducing him to the game.

“He knows my game almost better than I do. We’ve been playing together since I was young.

“He’s the reason I started golfing,” Fredborg said.

Fredborg says with his brother as his caddy and the tournament being played on his home course, it “didn’t really feel like a golf tournament” and that he was able to be more relaxed and have fun. Clearly, it worked, as Fredborg will head into day two with a two-shot lead over Devon Schade, who won the event the last two years, and Josh Neufeld. Schade and Neufeld are members of the Bisons golf team.

Eric Johnson sits alone in fourth place following an opening round of 70, while Jesse Skelton, Ben Bandura and Anthony Leicht are tied for fifth at even par.

“This is a tournament I’ve wanted to win since I was 11 years old. The Manitoba amateur provincial title is just something that I want,” Fredborg said.

Fredborg and Schade are good friends and golf together throughout the summer. Schade said he knew Fredborg would play well on Monday, so he felt pressure to put up a good score to keep up.

“We’re both buddies and good competitors. We challenge ourselves and play together all the time, so it’s nice to see each other at the top of the leaderboard,” said 22-year-old Schade.

As the defending champion, the target is on Schade’s back. Another tournament win for Schade would make him only the third player to win the event three years in a row. R.J. Reith won from 1935 to 1937 and Todd Fanning did it from 1990 to 1992.

“I was in the same situation last year where they were all looking out for me because I won the year before. I’m used to it now and I enjoy it. I like the challenge,” Schade said, who’s entering his fourth year at the University of Manitoba.

Fredborg might have home-field advantage for the first half of the tournament, but the last two days will be played at the course where Schade is a member, Elmhurst Golf & Country Club. Schade said he will have a slight advantage playing there. He added if he can finish today’s round near the top of the leaderboard, he will like his chances to do what he’s done the past two years.

“Winning the Manitoba amateur is unbelievable. That’s what I set out to do every year and it’s what I practise for. Winning it twice was incredible and I like to think I have a good chance to win this year,” Schade said.

The tournament resumes today at the Selkirk course before shifting to the Elmhurst layout for the final two days.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31