Manitobans crushing the links

When it comes to the future of Manitoba golf, it would appear the kids are alright.

A trio of young provincial players earned Top 10 honours this past weekend at the NextGen Prairie Championship which was held at the Neepawa Golf & Country Club.

Leading the way was 16-year-old Camryn Thomas, who finished fifth in the Junior Girls category after rounds of 79, 76 and 81. That left her 10 shots back of B.C.’s Serin Girard, who edged out Saskatchewan’s Grace Odnokon in a playoff.

Alberta’s Raylee Denton finished third, while Ontario’s Vivian Liu was fourth.

Right behind Thomas in sixth was Manitoba’s Angelina Sitarz (81, 82, 86). The duo has now earned their way into the Canadian Junior Girls championship which will be held at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley Aug. 11-14.

Thomas, who plays out of St. Charles, is having quite the season. She has won a pair of Maple Leaf Junior events in Winnipeg and captured Golf Manitoba women’s city and district championship in Winkler earlier this month.

“It was super fun. My game is trending in the right direction right now after my last few events,” said Thomas, a dual sport athlete who also plays hockey out of the Rink Academy.

Sitarz, 13, competes out of Elmhurst and recently won a Maple Leaf Junior tournament at Larters in the U15 division.

“I feel like my short game was pretty dialled,” she said. “My chips were pretty good, they were going really close. I also feel like my approach shots were pretty good. I was throwing some darts there.”

Two other locals were in the NextGen girl’s field. Jewel Lafleche of Niakwa finished eighth (76, 85, 82) while Payton Chapman of Glendale was 10th (75, 83, 87).

On the boy’s side, Brayden Boge of Rossmere ended up tied for 10th after rounds of 72, 74 and 75. The 18-year-old was able to fight through a recent illness and finished 12 shots behind the champion, Ryan Mosher of Saskatchewan.

Boge said he pumped himself up by writing some encouraging words in a notebook prior to his round, which he referenced several times during the 54-hole tournament.

“I looked at them every time I had a bad shot and it kind of put my mind back in place. It worked out,” he said, noting his putter really came through in the clutch.

There were 18 other Manitobans in the field who made the cut, with the following finishes: tied-14 Adam Blair of Elmhurst; T19 Ryder St. Laurent of Niakwa; T19 Ty Brewster of Quarry Oaks; T22 Hunter Oakden of Wheat City Golf Course; 24 Hudson Hunnie of Rossmere; T25 Brady Comaskey of Pine Ridge; T25 Gavin Carver of St. Charles; T30 Ryder Pufahl of Rossmere, T33 Matthew Michaleski of Selkirk; T33 Darren Hesom of Minnewasta; T36 Liam Silvaggio of Niakwa; T36 Rhett Dyck of Minnewasta; T40 Brayden Hamm of Wheat City; T43 Gavin Oleksiew of Glendale; T50 Dane Wojcik of Oakbank; T53 Ty Montour of Scotswood Links; 58 Rylan Gordon of Winnipeg and 59 Colton Drul of Elmhurst.

Another 11 local golfers didn’t get to play the final round after failing to make the 36-hole cut.

Up next for all these talented teens in the Manitoba Junior Girls and Boys championship, which will be held July 7-9 at Pine Ridge.

Blair finishes strong

A hearty golf clap to Ryan Blair, who just finished tied for fourth at the Canadian University/College Championship held last week in Quebec.

The Elmhurst member, who competes on behalf of the University of Manitoba, finished five-under after rounds of 73, 68 and 70. That left him six shots back of Montreal’s Anthony Jomphe, who was on top of the 105-player leaderboard.

Four other Bisons were in the field with the following finishes: T29 Rory Neill; T71 Derek Benson; T76 Tyler Polanski; and T83 Ethan Portey.

In the team category, the U of M ended up tied for eighth in the event, which was won by UBC.

Bravo Braxton

It may not have been the U.S. Open — his position as a second alternate following the final qualifying stage didn’t ultimately lead to a major opportunity — but Winnipegger Braxton Kuntz still had a pretty good showing last week in what ended up being his “Plan B.”

That would be the Glencoe Invitational held in Calgary, where Kuntz finished tied for eighth in the men’s professional division after finishing three-under par (71, 72, 70). Ontario’s Thomas Giroux finished on top at seven-under.

Kuntz, who made his professional debut last August at the Manitoba Open when it was held at his home course of Breezy Bend, pocketed $1,875 as a result of his showing.

Kaleb Lambert of Elmhurst was competing in the amateur division of the tournament but missed the 36-hole cut after rounds of 81 and 84. Jeri Lafleche of Niakwa teed it up in the women’s amateur division, missing the cut after rounds of 81 and 80.

Speaking of the U.S. Open

Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who immigrated with his family from India and spent seven years growing up in Winnipeg before moving to Ontario as a teen, just missed the cut by a single stroke as he competed this past week at Shinnecock.

The 24-year-old, who is having an outstanding rookie year on the PGA Tour with three top 10s already and more than US$2.5 million in earnings, was five-over after rounds of 73 and 72. It’s just the fourth time out of 18 events this year he’s failed to play the weekend.

Ontario’s Corey Conners — who is coached by Winnipegger Derek Ingram — finished T23, nine strokes back of winner Wyndham Clark.

Nick Taylor, who was born in Winnipeg but moved to B.C., joined Yellamaraju at five-over, just missing the cut.

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre