Wiseman leans on pro experience

Todd Wiseman knows what pressure feels like in a sporting arena.

The Port Moody, B.C. resident faced it every summer across an eight-year playing career as a defensive back in the Canadian Football League with the B.C. Lions, Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Wiseman, who switched from knocking down passes to knocking down birdies after the 1994 season, is feeling a different kind of weight this week in the Canadian senior men’s championship at Niakwa Country Club, but has managed it well through two rounds.

Wiseman turned in a rather clean three-under 69 on Wednesday, his two bogeys outweighed by five birdies, to grab a share of the lead in the 55-plus national event. Wiseman tied a single-round tournament low to share the 36-hole lead with Winnipegger David White and America’s top-ranked senior amateur Bryan Hoops.

“I’ve been doing this golf thing for a while,” said Wiseman, who is 1-under for the 72-hole tournament. “We played 18 games a season, and there are 18 holes, and there are about 70 defensive plays per game, and there are about 70 to 75 shots that you have, and there are individual moments.

“I sort of built my thought process around that. And there is an accountability on every play. There’s an accountability on every shot, and a consequence. So I have a few more sporting memories than maybe some of the guys. Not as many golfing memories, but I try and draw on those because in sport there’s going to be ebbs and flows to it, but I’ve definitely taken from my past. Very fortunate to have done that.”

Wiseman, who won the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship last summer, is teeing up for the second time in this event. Last year, he finished tied for 22nd.

It’s been a successful summer for the 60-year-old, who won the senior men’s invitational in Kelowna in June and finished T9 in the provincial senior championship at Crown Isle in July.

He’s continued his strong play and is now 36 holes from a national championship.

“I’ll say this: I was confident in what I can do. I was curious about the travel and figuring out your yardages and just playing in different conditions, and a course you’ve never seen, but there are some players here, right?” said Wiseman, who was two shots off the lead when he finished his round.

“At this point, with half a day done, to have one name in front of me, that’s pretty special. So I wasn’t that confident, but we’ll take it. I guess I’ve earned it up until this point.”

The field was cut from 156 to the top 62 plus ties after 36 holes. Four Manitobans made the ‘weekend’, including White and a trio of host course members in Todd Fanning (5-over), David Kuik (8-over) and Jay Doyle (9-over).

White, Fanning and Doyle, in particular, had reason to celebrate after their cumulative score of 4-over (292) earned Manitoba its first victory in the Canadian senior inter-provincial team championship.

The Manitobans won by five strokes over defending champion Ontario.

The trio’s victory was capped in style when Fanning sank a long birdie putt at the 18th and followed with a big fist pump and a gaze toward the heavens.

“I was never able to be part of a team other than the junior at home. I had a fella today remind me that they beat us in the Willingdon Cup in ’91 in the playoff at Royal Ottawa, so it lit my fire a little bit today,” Fanning said. “When I heard that David was on fire again today, I knew Jay and I wouldn’t be as bad as we did yesterday. You never quite know what anyone else is going to shoot, but I felt pretty confident with being only one back going into today that we had everyone where we wanted them.”

White, Fanning and Doyle’s friendship goes back 45 years, when they were junior members at Southwood. All three have had this tournament circled on their calendars, knowing they could deliver a long-awaited title at home together.

“At home. We’re at Niakwa,” Doyle said. “And like I said many times in the past, Todd and I talked for years about winning a senior title for Manitoba, and we got the right piece of the puzzle that came with us this year, and I’m just thrilled.”

White carded a two-over 74 in the second round after roaring out of the gates with a three-under 69 on Tuesday.

“I wasn’t even thinking for the last six holes I played anything about whether I was leading the tournament,” the St. Charles member said. “I was only thinking about how we can win this team thing, and I was asking, ‘How we doing? How we doing?’ and to get into the clubhouse and see Todd come in and birdie the last hole and hear that we done it, let’s pop the champagne.”

The individual victory now becomes the focus for White. It’s his first time making the cut in the national event in four starts, and although the leaderboard is crowded — 14 players are within six strokes of the lead — he maintains that he’s playing carefree going forward.

“The way I played golf today gives me a lot of confidence because I would have thought I would have been nervous today, but I was freewheeling for the most part and really taking a rip at the ball,” White said.

“For me now, the next two rounds, I don’t really care if I finish first or 20th. I’m sure it’ll be a lot of pressure if I can hang on to first… but for the most part, being in the position I’m in now, I just want to play my game and just trust it.”

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