Lucas Punkari
After winning the 2002 Kitchen Creek Classic, local golfer Greg Ward’s swing began to go south on him.
So when he entered the annual tournament this past weekend, he not only was surprised that his swing held up, but that he also was able to capture this year’s title by two strokes over two-time defending champ Alex McDonald.
“This is a big surprise for me,” the 34-year-old Ward admitted following Sunday’s final round.
“I’ve been struggling with my swing for years basically, and this week I took some lessons from the club professional, Brian Johnstone, and worked on my game a bit.
“I think that was the key to it all,” he reasoned.
Ward opened the two-day tournament with a one-over 73 on Saturday, which left him in a three-way tie for third place in the championship flight and five strokes back of Jon Lundon’s day-best score of 68.
“For me, 73 is a pretty good score . . . these days,” he noted.
“I didn’t break 80 for about the last six-eight weeks, and to shoot 73 in a golf tournament was something that I wasn’t expecting to do,” Ward added.
“I consider myself very fortunate.”
Having built up some confidence with his performance Saturday, Ward continued his solid play into Sunday’s final round and found himself tied for the lead with McDonald heading to the back nine.
Lundon, meanwhile, struggled on the front nine en route to a forgettable round of 85.
“From the way that the guys were talking around us, I figured that it was starting to become a two-man race between Alex and I,” Ward recalled.
“After the turn, though, I definitely knew that it was going to be between me and him, especially if the two of us kept playing the way we were,” he added.
Ward and McDonald still were tied for the lead as they reached the 396-yard, par-four 16th hole, which was when the tide began to turn in Ward’s favour.
“I got a bad break on my tee shot and I had to take a drop,” noted McDonald, who had won the last two Kitchen Creek Classics.
“And on my third shot, I had another bad break and I shot the ball over the green from about 150 yards,” he added.
“From there, I was able to chip onto the green and putt for a bogey.
“Then I shot it just over the green on 17 and I had another tough hole on 18,” said
McDonald.
“I thought I had played solid golf throughout the weekend, but I just blew up on the last three holes so it’s a tough one to take, for sure,” sighed the 20-year-old, who currently is working on his plumbing apprenticeship in Winnipeg.
As McDonald struggled home to a one-over 73, Ward finished his round by shooting a one-under 71, which gave him a two-day total score of even-par 144 and the event title for the second time.
“When I had won in 2002, I had finished second three years in a row,” said Ward. “And while I wasn’t expecting to win it then, I knew that I belonged.
“This is a much more gratifying win for me this weekend, though, as not only was it so unexpected for me, but I was also able to defeat the defending champion,” he remarked.
“I was pretty fortunate, and I was also really lucky because Alex ran into a bad break and he was playing the best game out of any of us, by far.”
Finishing in a tie for third in the championship flight were Dan Baletki and “Snake” Krawchuk, who both shot six-over 150 for the weekend.
In the first flight, top spot went to Brad McDonald, who carded a 154 over the two days, followed by Doug Brown (158) and Rick Baker (161).
Alton Pollard led the way in the second flight with a 165 total, beating out Ron Zappetelli (169) for top honours.
Tom Fry and Dave Hyatt finished in a tie for third with a two-day total score of 173.
And in the third flight, Bill Morrison finished in first place with a 190, edging both Clyde Ditmars and Gene Naumann by a three-stroke margin.
