Juniors battle for golfing crown

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This article was published 13/07/2020 (2226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jacob Armstrong knows what’s at stake this week.

If he can win Golf Manitoba’s Men’s Junior Championship, which is exactly what the 18-year-old St. Boniface member did last year, he’ll join some elite company.

Over the years, big names such as George Knudson, Todd Fanning and Rob McMillan have won the junior crown back-to-back. In the past decade, Ryan McMillan (2017-2018) and Travis Fredborg (2013-2014) have also accomplished the same feat.

Armstrong is hoping to be the next golfer to successfully defend the title. With a 2-over 72 score in the opening round on Sunday at Selkirk Golf and Country Club, Armstrong is in the hunt. He sits in a five-way tie for fourth place. Neel Soni of St. Charles sits at the top of the leaderboard after Day 1 having shot a 2-under 68.

“That would be quite unreal. It’s a couple days away, so we’re not there quite yet, but I’d be lying if I said it’s not in the back of my head,” said Armstrong on the potential of repeating.

Knowing what last year’s win meant to Armstrong, it’s easy to understand why he’s eager to climb that mountain again. Braxton Kuntz had a four-shot lead over him in the final round, but Armstrong rallied back to win the 2019 title.

“It was unreal. I think the last day of the tournament last year was probably the best day of my life,” said Armstrong. “Everything came together and it was the perfect story for me.”

The Dakota Collegiate product is coming off his first season at the University of Fraser Valley. He used to have a tendency to get down on himself after making a bad shot and it would linger throughout the rest of his round, but Armstrong credited some older players on his team for helping him improve his confidence. Unfortunately, Armstrong and his team didn’t get the ending they were hoping for as their home tournament and nationals were both axed owing to COVID-19.

“I might be biased, but I think the team had a great shot at winning nationals. It was a great team this year. But a tournament getting cancelled, there are so many people going through so much worse. I can’t really complain much,” Armstrong said.

Kuntz didn’t get off to the start he was hoping for on Sunday as he bogied the first three holes. The Breezy Bend golfer went on to finish 4-over 74 to put him in 11th place.

“I have pretty high expectations for myself today. I wouldn’t say I really fulfilled them, but I’ll try to work it out tonight,” said Kuntz.

“I’ll go over to Breezy to practise and see if I can figure things out.”

While Kuntz lost a heartbreaker last year, the 16-year-old Linden Christian School student said he has no regrets. It does, however, make him even hungrier to get the job done this week.

“To be honest, last year, the final back-nine on the fourth day, I played well. I honestly didn’t play that bad. But Jacob played unreal,” Kuntz said.

“I wasn’t too disappointed in myself because I knew I played solid, but there’s always a couple shots that I left out there that I can look back on and improve.”

The shot of the day was courtesy of Logan Tomanek, a Bel Acres golfer who hit a hole in one on the 12th.

“It looked pretty good. It was going right at the hole and it felt good. I just saw it bounce off the back of the bunker out front and it hit the flag and dropped in,” said Tomanek.

It’s the first time the 17-year-old from Grant Park High School has hit a hole in one. Getting it done at the biggest junior golf tournament in the province isn’t a bad place to do it.

It wasn’t enough to salvage some early struggles as Tomanek ended up shooting 16-over 86, but it’s a confidence boost moving forward.

“It’s pretty game-changing. It just changed the entire mentality of my round. I was relaxed more and I felt a lot better playing. I felt ‘I can do this thing.’ It’s a dream. You play golf to do that,” said Tomanek, who kept the ball and his scorecard.

“I’m just happy and I want to do it again.”

The junior women teed off later in the day and the leaderboard was crowded by the end of the round. Swan River’s Crystal Zamzow is rolling so far as her 9-over 79 puts her in first.

Mikyla Albert trails by one stroke while Cala Korman is two shots from the lead.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31