Hopes are high surrounding the Muskie golf team as they prepare for the NWOSSAA tournament taking place tomorrow (Sept. 28) at Heron Landing on Couchiching.
And why shouldn’t they be?
The Muskies have placed among the top three in each of the three NorWOSSA tournaments this fall—finishing second twice and third once.
Fort High currently is second in the NorWOSSA team standings, trailing only Red Lake, who have won each of the three events in the fall portion of the season.
Individually, veteran Muskie golfer Andrew Easton currently is sitting in third in the standings.
Easton’s teammates—Jordan Sinclair, Ben Bruyere, Alex McDonald, Kevin Jackson, and Mark Hebert—currently all are ranked in the top 20.
Simply put, these guys are good.
“I think it’s been the best golf team we’ve had in the past maybe 10 years ever since Greg Woods and Brian Johnstone were on the scene,” Easton said.
“We’ve got some really good golfers on the team,” he added. “Hopefully we can keep it going and do well at the big tournament.
“I know these guys are capable of shooting 70s.”
Muskie head coach John Gibson believes part of the team’s success can be attributed to the attitude displayed by each of the players.
“They love the game,” he remarked. “You can see it on and off the course. The way they talk about it; their happiness when they come off [the course] and the disappointment when they come off, as well.
“It’s a great group to work with.”
One major advantage the Muskies will have over the competition heading into tomorrow’s NWOSSAA tournament is a familiarity with the course they will be playing.
All of the Muskies know the course well and have posted some good results there. In fact, Easton won the Heron Landing club championship two weeks ago.
That knowledge should serve them well.
“All the kids have played Heron Landing numerous times,” Gibson said. “A couple of them are members out there and do play regularly, so the familiarity with the course, which can be very difficult, is huge.
“I’ve got high hopes both as individuals and as a team,” he added. “I think we can be really competitive this year.”
Easton said the teams unfamiliar with the challenges posed by Heron Landing could be in for a tough day.
“It’s definitely not a forgiving course,” he said. “If you’re in the bush, you’re IN the bush. You don’t have a shot like at Atikokan or Kenora.
“If you go in the bush, you drop.
“There’s also water and the course plays long. It’s a really tough course.”
The winning team and top three individual golfers at tomorrow’s tournament will advance to the all-Ontarios being held in the spring in Ancaster.
For Easton, the right to compete in the all-Ontarios not only would be a great honour, but also a chance to hopefully impress some talent scouts.
“You could get a look from a lot of schools and stuff like that for golf and that’s what you want,” he said. “You want to go to tournaments and see if you can get looked at by schools.”
The NWOSSAA tournament, which gets underway at 10 a.m., is the final event of the fall season for the Muskie golf team.
The NorWOSSA golf season will resume in the spring, with all points accrued in the fall carrying over. The team with the most points at the end of the spring will be declared NorWOSSA champion.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
