Race to crown new champs tees off at Pine Ridge

Adam Blair hopes he’s saved his best for last.

The Elmhurst golfer is teeing it up this week in the Manitoba Junior Championship for the sixth and final time. His top finish came in 2024, when he placed eighth, and the 18-year-old is on the cusp of aging out of the event after graduating from Vincent Massey Collegiate last month. He’s headed to Kentucky State University on a golf scholarship this fall.

A provincial title would be quite the parting gift, don’t you think?

“It would be pretty awesome,” Blair told the Free Press with a big smile.

He put himself in prime position Tuesday, firing an opening-round 2-under 70 at Pine Ridge Golf Club to grab the early lead. Blair takes a two-shot advantage over Wheat City Golf Course’s Hunter Oakden into Wednesday’s second round. The 54-hole event wraps up Thursday.

“I played the par fives really well. Obviously made some mistakes but made up for them. More birdies than bogeys,” said Blair.

Five birdies dotted his scorecard, including three over a four-hole stretch on the back nine (Nos. 12, 13 and 15). They offset a bogey on the par-4 sixth and a double bogey on the infamous par-3 ninth.

“Back nine, I just forgot about it and hit some good shots,” said Blair, who has played Pine Ridge — just across the street from his home course — dozens of times in his life.

“I feel like I’ve got some confidence now that I’ve got the first (round) under my belt. Now just keep it going and go have some fun.”

Oakden’s even-par 72 featured three birdies and three bogeys, with his final birdie coming on the 18th hole. The 15-year-old from Brandon has been playing Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour events since he was nine.

Three golfers are tied for third at 1-over 73, including Blair’s close friend and playing partner, Hudson Hunnie. The 17-year-old recently completed Grade 11 at River East Collegiate and plays out of Rossmere.

“I’ve played with him 20, 30 times this year. We know each other really well and it’s just fun to compete with each other,” Hunnie said of Blair.

“He’s always very solid. He just gets in play, doesn’t get himself in trouble and makes some putts when he needs to. That was his key to success (Monday).”

Hunnie is a dual-sport athlete who recently completed his first season as a goaltender with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Selkirk Steelers. He hopes hockey or golf will eventually provide professional opportunities.

For this week, however, the focus is entirely on the latter.

“I’ve been hitting it well. The game’s been trending and I’m in a good spot right now,” said Hunnie.

“It’s really good to just not shoot yourself out of the tournament. A couple bad holes and shots I wasn’t proud of, but other than that I made a 20 foot comeback putt on 18 (for par) so that felt good.”

Brady Comaskey (Pine Ridge) and Ryder St. Laurent (Niakwa) are tied with Hunnie. Gavin Carver (St. Charles) and Ty Brewster (Quarry Oaks) are tied for sixth after 3-over 75s. Matthew Michaleski (Selkirk), Brenin Devlin (Elmhurst) and Dane Wojcik (Elmhurst) round out the top 10 in the 71-player field, six shots behind Blair after opening with 4-over 76s.

Over on the girls’ side, the field may not be as large as the boys’ — just 16 golfers — but the competition is every bit as fierce after the first of three rounds.

Angelina Sitarz, a rising star on the local scene, turned plenty of heads Tuesday. The 13-year-old Elmhurst member fired a four-over 76 to grab a share of the lead. Her impressive round featured three birdies, five bogeys, a double bogey and nine pars.

Matching her at the top of the leaderboard was Camryn Thomas, a 16-year-old from St. Charles who is coming off a tie for third at the Manitoba Women’s Amateur Championship, played Sunday and Monday on her home course.

Thomas, who also plays hockey at The Rink Academy, finished tied for fifth at last year’s Manitoba Junior Championship and is looking to take the next step in her promising golf career. Her opening-round 76 included four birdies.

Jewel Lafleche, who tied Thomas at the Women’s Amateur before winning a playoff for the final spot on Team Manitoba, sits four shots off the pace after an opening-round 80. The 16-year-old Niakwa member was nine-over on the front, but stormed back with a one-under back nine that included birdies on Nos. 12, 13 and 14.

Payton Chapman (Glendale) is the only other golfer within double-digits of the leaders following her opening round of 10-over 82.

Both the boys and girls events are guaranteed to have new champions this year as 2025 winner Spence Mott (Shilo Country Club) and three time champion Addison Kartusch (St. Charles Country Club) have aged out.

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