Making hay while sun shines

For the golfers who teed up Wednesday morning for the Diamond Athletic Men’s Mid-Amateur and Women’s amateur championships at St. Charles Country Club, the weather couldn’t have been more ideal.

And it wasn’t just the sunny, no-wind conditions that were perfect for Patrick Perrin, who found himself atop the men’s leaderboard after Round 1.

Perrin, who plays out of Elmhurst Country Club, ended the day with a 3-under-par 69, burying two birdies in the final three holes to take the lead.

“I feel great about my golf game,” Perrin said Wednesday. “It’s an age-old thing in golf, but you know, I’ll say it again: You can’t win it on the first day, but you can lose it on the first day. And I think I did a good job of avoiding that today, I just relied on my golf game.”

Perrin won his first men’s mid-amateur championship in 2023 and is looking to claim his second.

“Everybody starts at even par, so my main goal was just to not shoot myself out of it and put a bad score on the board,” said Perrin. “So I did a good job, and I did better than my original expectations for Day 1. I felt comfortable out there on the golf course.”

Perrin has played at the St. Charles Country Club twice since its redesign, but showed no lack of experience in carding a bogey-free round.

“I played a ton of golf at Elmhurst, but I haven’t played much for tournament golf as my schedule didn’t allow it,” said Perrin. “But yeah, I’ve been preparing for this golf tournament pretty much since the end of the golf season last year. This really is my favourite week of the year, and I’m happy it’s taking place at St. Charles.”

Perrin sits one stroke ahead of Drew Jones of Shilo Country Club and Jeremy Kirk of Fort William Country Club.

Defending champion Allan McDonald of Breezy Bend didn’t get the start he wanted, but said he’s focusing on the fun of the tournament this year and enjoying seeing all the regulars who play together throughout the summer.

“I’ve been hitting the ball pretty solid, and I’m at a point in my life where you know, I’ve got a good job, I’ve got a good woman in my life, so that stuff’s more important than defending a championship,” said McDonald. “I think I’m in a whole different mindset compared to five years ago, and I’m more just making sure I have a good time this time.”

McDonald ended with a 3-over 75, tied with eight others. He found himself in a bit of trouble on the back nine, getting stuck behind a couple of trees and dealing with mud balls, which led to six bogeys on the back half.

“Some things I gotta work on,” said McDonald. “I’ve been hitting the ball fairly well coming into this week, and then, it’s just golf; I hit a few weird ones off the tee that I’m not really used to. So that’s just part of golf and hopefully tomorrow’s a better day.”

McDonald, who says putting is his strength, hopes to carry over momentum from his front nine on Wednesday, where he sank four birdies.

Over on the women’s side, St. Charles’s Addison Kartusch is in first, finishing with a 1-over par 73.

“It feels pretty good after today,” she said Wednesday. “I hit pretty good, wish a couple more putts had dropped, but other than that, like overall, feeling pretty good.”

Kartusch is the defending women’s amateur champion, entering Golf Manitoba’s summer tournament season after a successful first year at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

“I would have to say just like overall consistency of my ball striking,” said Kartusch on improvements in her game from university. “That was a big one for me, just a couple of swing changes over the winter helped me a lot with that.”

Clara Peake and Cala Korman are tied for second, three strokes back, at four-over.

The final two rounds are set to go today and Friday.

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca