Hayden, Lafleche battle through wind

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This article was published 11/07/2023 (1131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was not a matter of who could go the lowest, but who could prevent themselves from being blown out of contention.

And after a gusty opening 18 holes at the Manitoba women’s amateur championship, stands a wily vet who meticulously navigated her way around a Pine Ridge track that was nothing short of nasty on Monday.

Breezy Bend’s Charmaine Hayden fired an otherwise encouraging 79 to hold a share of the lead in the provincial championship at plus-seven. Jeri Lafleche, the 16-year-old defending champion, is tied with Hayden atop the leaderboard.

“It definitely is a boost for the confidence,” said Hayden, 46, who is seeking the first women’s amateur title of her illustrious career. “I’m proud of what I did today, that wind was a battle. You couldn’t lose your focus at all, you had to keep your focus the whole time.”

Unfavourable conditions around an already formidable course left most players in survival mode, as winds topped 40 km/h throughout the day. Hayden, who was a member of Pine Ridge from 10 to 18 years old, said she was able to lean on her familiarity with the track and experience in competitive play when the going got tough.

“I think back to previous shots or moments that I’ve had like that before,” said Hayden. “My putting is my least confident area, so I had a couple of really slippery downhillers today — three or four footers — so I try to think back to an actual moment when I had that.”

Hayden’s game has aged like fine wine over the years, leaving her in contention at just about any tournament she tees it up at. To stay sharp, she’s leaned on a couple of trusty golf minds in the form of her husband, Darren, a golf pro at Quarry Oaks Golf Course, and Sean Murray, a coach out of St. Charles.

“Having a coach is really helpful, talking to others about your game. And purposeful practice. My life is very busy outside of golf, but when I do practice I try to make it very purposeful and meaningful,” said Hayden, who is an educator. “It’s maybe not happening as much as I would like, but I take advantage of the times that I do have so that helps a lot.

“I try to put Sean first and foremost,” she continued while laughing. “I try to ease off of Darren because he’s a golf pro for a living so I don’t want him to have to be a coach when we’re playing. I want him to enjoy his round. So I take what Sean says and I often run them by Darren just to get a second opinion, as well.”

Earlier in the day, the Manitoba men’s mid-amateur championship teed off. And while some beat out the gales that hindered the women, others found themselves in similar predicaments.

Host club member Ryan Terdik was in the second group of the day and took full advantage of the calm morning, carding a one-over par 73.

Terdik owns a one-stroke lead over Shilo’s Drew Jones and Southwood’s Marshall Cox heading into the second round.

Swan River’s Crystal Zamzow, who has caught fire in recent weeks with wins at the Elmhurst Invitational and Manitoba junior women’s championship, and St. Charles’ Addison Kartusch are close behind the leaders entering the second day of action after each carding an 80 to sit at plus-8.

Also in contention is Southwood’s Rhonda Orr, another well-known veteran seeking her first women’s amateur title. Orr’s 11-over par 83 has a solo hold on seventh place after 18 holes, and while she left Monday in lower spirits than Hayden, she understands there’s still a long way to go.

“It was playing very very difficult. Not only was it a strong wind but it was gusty and at times swirling in the trees. I guess if you played here more, you might know where the swirling is coming from, so it caught all of us off guard once in a while,” said Orr, adding it’s “been quite a while” since she played a competitive event at the course.

“I’ve played a lot of competitive golf in the last 10 years. So there’s always somewhere that you’ve played where the conditions were really tough and the greens were fast and it was windy. You just have to rely on your mental to stay in it. We know that it’s going to be tough for somebody to shoot a par, so you just stay in the grind and if you get out of position, get back into position and stick with the program. Just stay with it.”

Orr, who was awarded Golf Manitoba’s Female Golfer of the Year award in 2022, has a handful of runner-up finishes at the women’s amateur championship, including last year at Granite Hills. She’ll need to find the magic that led her to seven-straight senior provincial championships and ninth in the last 10 years.

“Today was about survival,” Orr said. “There weren’t many birdies to be had out there. And because the greens are so fast, you can’t get on the wrong side of them. Any time I three-putted and I watched my playing partner three-putt, is when we tried to make a birdie — tried to get a little bit aggressive on our putts.

“You needed to be very respectful of the greens today.”

jfreysam@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jfreysam