‘Solid’ start for Shilo golfer at ‘marathon’ tournament

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This article was published 15/07/2019 (2579 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STEINBACH — Austin Dobrescu got his first taste of tournament-golf success earlier this year, capturing an NCAA Division I event in Alabama by going wire to wire.

Now, the 22-year-old Shilo resident is hoping history can repeat itself as he sits on top of the leaderboard following the opening round of the Manitoba Men’s Amateur at Quarry Oaks.

“It was a solid round, especially for the first round, to get the tournament started. A good start to the week,” Dobrescu said after carding a four-under 68 on a hot, humid and windy day.

Dobrescu has a three-shot lead over Southwood’s Colwyn Abgrall, who shot one-under 71. They were the only two players in the field of 80 to break par.

A group of five golfers are in a tie for third after carding one-over 73s, including veteran Jay Doyle of Niakwa, Justin Hayes and Mike Tibbs of Breezy Bend, Tyler Rolfe of Red Lake and Steven Young of St. Charles.

Dobrescu just finished up his third year on a golf scholarship at Chicago State. His senior year included winning an event in February, which he believes has set the stage for what could be a very productive season.

“I’ve been playing well all of 2019. That was kind of the start of it,” he said. Dobrescu’s opening round Monday included four birdies and 14 pars.

“The way I look at it, a four-day event, it’s a marathon. I just went out there, played pretty conservative, took the birdies where they came, not too aggressive,” he said.

Dobrescu first picked up a golf club as a young boy but didn’t start playing competitively until his early teens. He has yet to crack the Top 10 at the Amateur but is hoping for a breakthrough.

He will finish up his studies in business management later this year, but isn’t entirely sure what the future holds just yet.

“It’s tough, thinking ahead. I kind of catch myself thinking ahead too much. Right now, I’m just living day by day, finish up my degree and after that, I’ll figure it out,” Dobrescu said.

Defending champion Justin McDonald had a day to forget, shooting an 11-over 83 which has him in a tie for 49th, 15 shots back of the lead. McDonald struggled with the soggy conditions brought on by a 2½-hour delay due to a severe thunderstorm and downpour.

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“It’s wet out there, right? So it’s very difficult to gauge it. It wasn’t in the best of shape with the rain,” McDonald said of Quarry Oaks.

St. Boniface’s Jacob Armstrong, who captured the Manitoba boy’s junior championship last week, shot nine-over 81 and is tied for 39th.

The field will be cut down to the top 60 and ties after Tuesday’s second round. The top seven players at the end of the four-day tournament qualify to represent Manitoba at the 2019 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship later this summer.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

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