Joey Payeur
All Tyson Morrisseau needed to do to qualify for the NWOSSAA championship in Geraldton tomorrow was bring his ‘A’ game to the course he knows better than any other.
Mission accomplished.
The Muskie golfer fired a round of 74 before losing in a one-hole playoff to Dryden’s Trey Palermo at the NorWOSSA season-finale tournament at Heron Landing on Couchiching last Thursday.
Palermo grabbed the win after parring the first playoff hole while Morrisseau had to settle for bogey.
Morrisseau finished in seventh place overall in the boys’ division with 252 points—just behind sixth-place Ryan Dasno of the Queen Elizabeth High School Warriors (Sioux Lookout).
But with the top five finishers all part of the Dryden Eagles’ contingent which qualified for NWOSSAA in the team competition, both Dasno and Morrisseau snatched the first two of five available tournament spots available to those not affiliated with teams.
“Tyson played well,” said Muskie golf coach Brian Johnstone. “That’s a good score on this golf course.
“He’s quite happy with his finish.”
Morrisseau will be Fort High’s lone rep in Geraldton after fellow Muskie James Brown declined the chance to compete at NWOSSAA.
Brown shot his lowest score of the season last Thursday with an 84 to finish sixth overall among the non-affiliated players with 132 points—making him the first alternate to go to Geraldton.
Red Lake’s Breton Burke ended up fourth among the non-affiliates with 171 points, but decided to withdraw from NWOSSAA consideration, meaning Brown would be eligible for Breton’s spot.
But Johnstone said Brown also declined the invitation due to work commitments.
“He didn’t want to have to figure out how to make his job schedule work just to go all the way to Geraldton for one round of golf,” explained Johnstone, noting Brown did qualify for—and compete in—last year’s NWOSSAA event.
“I was hoping James would have had a little better year, being a veteran on this team,” admitted Johnstone.
“But he hadn’t played or practised much this year and the expectations weren’t extreme.
“He’s not happy about how the year went but he understands why it went the way it did.”
The third member of this year’s Muskie golf squad, Brandon Morrison, carded a 106 at Heron Landing last Thursday to end up 32nd overall with 36 points.
“For a kid who hadn’t played golf before Week 1 of the golf team starting, Brandon played quite well,” lauded Johnstone.
“He had no expectations set in stone. He just wanted to play,” Johnstone added.
“I’m proud of how he did.”
As for Morrisseau, he likely will need to shoot even better to advance to the OFSAA championship Oct. 16-17 at the Essex Golf & Country Club in LaSalle, Ont.
But Johnston said the Muskie ace may be in for an even better day at the beautiful Kenogamisis Golf Club in Geraldton tomorrow.
“Kenogamisis has quite high-end architecture in terms of a course,” he noted. “But compared to here [Heron Landing], it’s not going to be as difficult.
“It will be a test of golf for Tyson,” Johnstone conceded. “But it’s not going to be too much of a threat to his confidence.
“I’m excited to go see what he’s got going up against the best kids from our part of the province.”
