Cockerill shoots 60 at Niakwa

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This article was published 21/06/2024 (821 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This wasn’t a normal putt for birdie for Aaron Cockerill during what was supposed to be a mostly pressure-free round with his buddies.

During a visit home to see family and friends, Manitoba’s top touring golf professional snuck in a round at Niakwa Country Club on Thursday and quickly found himself in the midst of something special.

Cockerill made five birdies before he recorded the 10th hole-in-one of his career on the 205-yard par-3 ninth hole to finish the front nine at 6-under 28.

The birdies continued to drop on the back nine: on 10, 12 and 13 before things really got interesting after Cockerill made an eagle on 16.

That stretch left himself in position to do the unthinkable.

With a birdie on either of the final two holes, he could have finished with a 13-under par 59.

Alas, it was not meant to be — despite having a nine-footer for birdie on 17 and a 25-to-30 footer on 18.

“As weird as it sounds, with a hole in one and shooting 60 for my best round ever, I was oddly disappointed that I didn’t shoot 59,” Cockerill said Friday afternoon. “Which tells you how crazy golfers are.”

Cockerill still managed to leave with the course record at the classic Stanley Thompson layout — and another incredible story to share.

“I didn’t have a crazy start. I was two-under through five,” said Cockerill. “Then, I went birdie, birdie, birdie. I got birdies on the par-5s and hit one close on 7. Then I made a hole-in-one on nine and I was like, ‘That was pretty good.’”

After making a pit stop while making the turn, one of his playing partners said, ‘You just shot 28 on the front.’”

“I wasn’t really thinking about it until that point and then I was like, ‘OK, this is possible.’ I had shot 60 before. This year I shot 60 in Dubai but I eagled the last hole, so there was no hope of 59.”

Maintaining the one-shot-at-a-time mantra is difficult to do when you start to think about finishing a round in the 50s.

“It’s funny, when you’re playing a match, you’re almost not thinking about your score. You’re just trying to win the hole — whether there are strokes involved or whatever is going on,” said Cockerill. “It’s almost easier to just make birdies that way because you’re not really thinking about it as much

“It was super fun. It wasn’t a tournament, but it was good preparation for myself before I go back to playing tournaments here right away.”

As for the ace he recorded, Cockerill wasn’t sure it was in initially.

“It was a bit into the wind and we didn’t really see it go in — there was a bit of a glare,” he said. “We were looking through the Rangefinders and we saw a mark that was three feet short of the hole. I didn’t think it was over (the green), so it was one of those walks up there where you were just kind of excited. I ran up there and it was in.”

Cockerill is gearing up for an important summer stretch, as he’s pushing to get into the field at the Scottish Open in the middle of July and he’s hoping to get into the 152nd edition of The Open Championship at the Royal Troon Golf Club.

Playing in one of golf’s majors is a goal he hopes to achieve.

“I’m going to give myself a few cracks at it,” said Cockerill, who is taking part in a qualifier and also could get into the event through his standing on the DP World Tour.

Cockerill participated in the Canadian Open for the third time of his professional career earlier this month, but he missed the cut at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

“That was frustrating. I felt like that was the best course for me, personally, of all of the three that I’ve played in,” said Cockerill. “It wasn’t crazy long. You had to be accurate off the tee, but I probably had the worst putting week of my pro career. It was weird. I just never got a feel for the greens.

“I couldn’t read them. Generally, I’m a very good putter. That’s probably my strength. It was a major weakness that week, which is not a good combo. That is golf, sadly. Sometimes that happens. We still had family and friends there, so we tried to make the most of it.”

Cockerill then went to one of the regional qualifiers for the U.S. Open at Cherry Hill Club in Ontario, while he shot 71-69 to finish 2-under 140, he didn’t earn one of the seven spots that were available.

“I played OK. I hit a ton of greens, but I didn’t make a lot of birdie putts,” said Cockerill. “You had to shoot 7-under, so I was kind of close, but not really. I played just slightly below average.

“I’m definitely going to continue to play those (qualifiers). If you have one good round or a good day, you’re into a major.”

Cockerill, who is playing out of the Els Club in Dubai, is heading back overseas Monday to resume his DP World Tour season, where he currently sits 27th in the Road to Dubai rankings.

“I just need to keep the pedal down,” said Cockerill. “I feel like I’m playing pretty good.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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