Abgrall on target at provincial Men’s Amateur

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This article was published 16/07/2019 (2584 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STEINBACH — Colwyn Abgrall may not be headed to the NHL any time soon, but that’s fine by him.

The 22-year-old pulled into first place after Day 2 of the Manitoba Men’s Amateur golf championship at Quarry Oaks Golf Course on Tuesday.

But growing up, golf wasn’t always the first thing on Abgrall’s mind. He was also a competitive hockey player.

“I was big into competitive hockey when I was younger but, obviously, I didn’t grow into a hockey player’s body — so I figured golf would be the smart decision,” Abgrall said. “I just kept working at it and my game has been developing over the years pretty nicely.”

Consistency was key for Abgrall on Tuesday. He shot one-under 71 for the second day in a row, putting him in the lead at two-under par for the tournament.

But golfing at Quarry Oaks was definitely an adjustment for the Southwood Golf & Country Club member. Abgrall says Southwood is one of the more wide-open courses you’ll see in Manitoba. Adapting to Quarry Oaks’ bush and tighter fairways was something he and many of the other golfers had to get used to.

“It’s absolutely a target golf course. I mean, there’s just a lot of four irons and two irons off the tee, not a lot of drivers. So the main goal out here is just keeping the ball in play off the tee and, you know, hitting some good approach shots.”

Austin Dobrescu agreed, saying it was the target golf course that got him into a little bit of trouble on Day 2 of the championships. It was Dobrescu who led after Day 1, shooting a hot four-under 68 on Monday.

“The course kind of limits you with not a lot of drivers. You gotta lay back because of the treelines. It’s kind of target golf, there’s a lot of hazards where you can get into trouble. So you just have to hit it on one spot and hit it on the green,” the 22-year-old said.

Dobrescu shot three-over in Tuesday’s round and dropped to second place with a one-under overall score. But he’s still in good shape — and good spirits — heading into the final two days of the tournament.

“I’m going to play a little bit more conservative, like safe lines, but more aggressive swings because there’s a lot of birdies out here, a lot of wedges. If I just do that and my putter is good to go, then it’ll be a good day,” Dobrescu said.

Neither Dobrescu nor Abgrall have represented Manitoba at nationals before, but both will have a great chance if they continue to stay competitive out on the course.

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Abgrall is the only competitor in the 80-person tournament to shoot back-to-back rounds of under-par play.

Elmhurst Golf & Country Club’s Marco Trstenjak was the only other golfer to shoot under par on Tuesday, advancing nine spots on the leaderboard by shooting a two-under 70.

Day 3 of play at the Men’s Amateur championship continues today at Quarry Oaks, with the first group teeing off at 9 a.m.

devon.shewchuk@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @devonshewchuk