Joey Payeur
It was next man up so Kendyn Faragher stepped up.
With reigning team MVP Tyson-Skylar Morrisseau forced out of action on his sixth hole by a shoulder injury, the rest of the Muskie golf squad were left to defend their home course at Heron Landing during the second NorWOSSA tournament of the season last Wednesday.
Faragher accepted the challenge and ended up as the top local finisher—capturing fifth place with a round of 83.
That also put Faragher in good position to qualify for the NWOSSAA championships if he can turn in a similar performance today in the NorWOSSA regular-season finale at Beauty Bay Golf Course in Kenora.
“I knew these guys could play,” Muskie coach Brian Johnstone said about Faragher and Dylan Ossachuk, who both missed the season-opener the previous week in Dryden due to hockey tryouts.
“But I was really impressed with Kendyn.”
Ossachuk also cracked the top 10 last Wednesday by carding an 89—nabbing a tie for eighth with Cody Bruchkowski and Douglas Arnell of the Red Lake Rams.
Morrisseau, who shot an 88 in Dryden the previous week and was eighth in the standings entering the day, felt a sharp pain in his shoulder on his fifth hole but tried to play through it.
That proved to be a fateful decision for the silver-medalist from this summer’s North American Indigenous Games in Regina, as the shoulder locked up on him when he played the next hole.
“I was more worried about his health than anything,” Johnstone replied when asked about how much Morrisseau’s absence would affect the team.
“There’s always another year of golf and another tournament,” he noted.
“But I knew he was only going to do more damage if he kept pushing.”
Morrisseau wore a sling for a few days. But after initially fearing he possibly had torn his rotator cuff, Morrisseau was feeling good enough Monday to practice with thoughts of a second-straight NWOSSAA appearance foremost in his mind.
“It’s tender but he’s going to try and play [today],” Johnstone confirmed.
Kenora won the team title easily at Heron Landing with a combined score of 333—well ahead of St. Thomas Aquinas in second (351) and third-place Dryden (366).
Red Lake was fourth (374), followed by Sioux Lookout in fifth (400) and Fort High sixth (401).
The top three teams, along with the top five individuals in the standings not on any of those teams, will advance to the NWOSSAA tournament Oct. 2 in Thunder Bay.
With Kenora (20 points), and Dryden and St. Thomas Aquinas (12 points each) well in front of Red Lake (six), Fort Frances and Sioux Lookout (four each), it is guaranteed that top five will come from the bottom three teams.
As it stands right now, Bruchkowski leads that group with 151 points, with Sean Gula in second (121) and Arnell in third (109).
Cortez Favot of Sioux Lookout is fourth (100) while Faragher is fifth (86).
Fort High competitors behind him are Austin Geurts in sixth (85), Sheldon Jourdain Jr., in eighth (79), Ossachuk and Morrisseau tied for ninth (77), Ian Tookenay in 15th (52), and Brandon Jones in 16th (49).
Three of the four other Muskie participants improved on their rounds from Dryden.
Jourdain Jr. cut his score by an astounding 28 strokes—going from a 121 in Dryden to a 93 at Heron Landing to wind up tied for 14th.
Geurts, meanwhile, shaved 12 shots off his initial score, carding a 95 to tie for 19th.
Jones also enacted a reduction philosophy, trimming 14 shots from his Dryden result to post a 104 to come in a tie for 24th.
The only Muskie not to score lower was Tookenay, who only rose one stroke from his Dryden mark to finish at 109 and land in 29th spot.
No female golfers participated for the Muskies for the second-straight event, and were not anticipated to join the team today in Kenora.
