Werhun has his revenge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/06/2020 (2273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Same event, same round, same opponent, different result.

In the 2019 Match Play Championship men’s quarter-final, Jack Werhun fell to fellow Elmhurst golfer Jordy Lutz. On Sunday, they’d square off again, but this time, Werhun was the one to walk away with the victory and book a ticket to next weekend’s semi-final. Werhun capped off his 4 and 3 win over Lutz by sinking a long put on the 15th green at St. Charles Country Club.

“It was nice to get the upper hand,” the 25-year-old Werhun said on his matchup with Lutz. “I play with him a lot as we’re both from Elmhurst. It was nice to get some revenge.”

Werhun hasn’t had an easy road to the final four by any means. Lutz won the Match Play title in 2018 and Marco Trstenjak, who lost 1 up to Werhun on Saturday, was the No. 1-seed heading into the 32-player event. Werhun also defeated his former Manitoba Bisons teammate Noel Ngo in Round 1 action by a score of 2 and 1.

“I knew coming in this is not an easy course. You got to be patient out here. Pars are good scores on most of these holes,” said Werhun. “Obviously going in you want to do as well as you can. For me so far, it’s been pretty good. Just got to keep the pedal down and keep ’er going.”

It won’t get any easier for Werhun from here as he’ll meet Breezy Bend’s Justin McDonald, the 2018 men’s amateur and mid-amateur champion, on Saturday when play resumes. McDonald made easy work of Brandon’s Evan Natchtigall on Sunday by coming away with a 6 and 5 win.

On the other side of the bracket, defending champion Austin Dobrescu out of Shilo Country Club outlasted Braxton Kuntz 4 and 3 in quarter-final play. The Brandon product will meet Selkirk’s Wesley Hoydalo in the semi-final. The 20-year-old Hoydalo beat Southwood’s Connor Stewart 3 and 2 Sunday.

“I have lofty expectations, but I’m pretty unfamiliar with this course,” admitted the No. 2-seeded Dobrescu, a 23-year-old who played college golf at Chicago State University.

“Friday would’ve been the first time I played (St. Charles) in eight years. I was playing pretty conservative but I’m starting to get my feet wet, starting to get used to the course and starting to be able to cut some corners.”

Being from Brandon, Dobrescu won’t have the privilege of popping by St. Charles before next weekend’s showdown. His opponent, the 20-year-old Hoydalo, plans to play a couple rounds at the course to hopefully give him an edge over the reigning champ.

“The past couple years I never made it past the second round,” Hoydalo said. “I feel quite comfortable right now with my game so I’m looking forward to (next weekend).”

Starting the 2020 season with a championship is now in reach for the four remaining golfers, but Werhun is well aware there’s a long way to go.

“For sure winning would be fantastic, but for me, when I play my best, I got to remain in the present,” said the Oakbank native.

“A hole at a time, a match at a time. If that happens, that’s fantastic, but I’m going to try to keep that in the back of my mind now.”

The senior men’s field also whittled its way down to the final four on Sunday as last year’s winner, top-ranked Garth Collings of Breezy Bend defeated Niakwa’s Ken Warwick 5 and 4 to earn a meeting with Elmhurst’s Carl Lechman. Lechman, the No. 5 seed, eliminated fellow Elmhurst golfer Jerry Booth 1 up in the quarter-final.

No. 15 seed Al Kehler out of Quarry Oaks continues to prove that a ranking is just a number as he advanced to the semi-final with a 2 and 1 win over Pine Ridge’s Brad Moore. Kehler will face off against No. 11-seeded Gordon Hudson of Southwood next week. Hudson took out Pine Ridge’s Ted Antoniuk 2 and 1 Sunday.

The women’s tournament didn’t hit the links on Sunday as their eight-person event was cut in half on Saturday. No. 1 seed Bobbi Uhl of Shilo will have to get through Pine Ridge’s Marissa Naylor on Saturday to make her way to the Sunday final. The other semi-final features the two-time defending champion Hannah Diamond, 24, who feels right at home as she plays out of St. Charles. To keep her hopes of a three-peat alive, Diamond will have to defeat No. 3 seed Mikyla Albert.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31