McDonald whips wind to win mid-amateur

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This article was published 08/07/2020 (2232 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE hot air was blowing Wednesday but Allan McDonald demonstrated a calmness that propelled him to victory at the Manitoba men’s mid-amateur golf championship at Bel Acres Golf & Country Club.

McDonald fired a 1-over 73 to finish 3 over for the three-day tournament, cruising to a five-shot lead over Breezy Bend clubmate Justin McDonald (no relation) and 2019 mid-amateur champion Eric Johnson.

Winds of 30 km/h, gusting at times to 45 km/h, didn’t agitate the champion in the least. On the contrary, he delighted in it.

“I used to be a bad player in the wind. I never knew the knock-down (shots), I didn’t swing easy,” said McDonald, 28, who works in financial services and is a reservist with the Canadian military. “It took some time but now I like playing in the wind. When I woke up this morning and saw the wind, I was like, ‘OK, (claps his hands) good, good.’ Right up my alley.

“I just stayed patient, hit fairways and the middle of greens.”

As steady as he performed, McDonald was the beneficiary of a catastrophic, 12th-hole collapse by the fellow with the same surname, Justin McDonald, the 2018 titleist. He was forced to scribble in — wait for it — a 13 on the card.

“I just made a few bad swings and that’s what happened. I made a 13. Parred the last five after that,” Justin said. “One hole cost me the tournament. It happens.”

Leading the tournament (for players aged 25 and over) by three strokes as he stepped up to the tee on the par-5 12th hole, his horror show began with a stray tee shot to the bush that led to an unplayable lie. He would proceed to hit a couple of balls out of bounds, spray another couple into the trees and take three whacks on the green.

He’s blown up like that before on the competitive stage, he admitted.

“I made a 12 at Minnewasta (Morden) a couple of years ago at the mid-am. I made 12 and then went birdie-par-birdie to finish,” said Justin, who began the final round with a two-shot lead.

Allan McDonald, three shots back to start the day and in the second-last trio, said he could tell something goofy was happening on the 12th, a few holes behind him.

“I thought I would have to be low on the back. However, I saw a bunch of commotion on 12, we were on 15, and I was asking everyone what was going on because there was no leaderboard,” he said.

“There was this gap between the groups. I found out what happened. That’s not what you expect to happen.”

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He’ll now alter his summer schedule to play the Manitoba men’s amateur, July 16-19 at Minnewasta and Glendale.

“I wasn’t planning on playing, but I think I have to now.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell