Joey Payeur
Anyone wanting to golf in Windsor in two weeks first must go through the land of the Muskie—and a team that plans on defending its home course down to the last shot.
It’s the ideal scenario for the Muskie boys’ golf team when they test their mettle against the best in Northwestern Ontario at the NWOSSAA championship set for 10 a.m. tomorrow at Heron Landing Golf Course on Couchiching.
The last time the Muskies sent a team to NWOSSAA, back in 2010, the quartet of Alex McDonald, Kevin Jackson, Ryan Mosbeck, and James Brown all advanced to the all-Ontarios.
If Fort High finishes first in the team standings tomorrow, it means a trip to Windsor for this year’s OFSAA boys’ golf championship Oct. 14-15.
“It’s a big home-field advantage for us,” said Muskie coach Brian Johnstone, whose contingent combined to finish second at the NorWOSSA final last Tuesday in Red Lake with a team score of 354—just one stroke behind the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (353).
“It is still a long shot for us to get to OFSAA as obviously there are going to be a lot of good players out there [tomorrow],” Johnstone added.
“The St. Thomas Aquinas Saints won every tournament this year,” he noted.
“But on your home course, anything is possible.”
The Muskies earned seven points as a team in Red Lake to end the NorWOSSA campaign in third place overall with 15, trailing the Saints (30) and Kenora Broncos (19).
Sean Gula (Red Lake Rams) and Keith Wrolstad (Dryden Eagles) also earned NWOSSAA berths as the top two point-getters not affiliated with any of the top three teams.
With just three teams qualifying for NWOSSAA, the Muskies nabbed the final berth after thrashing the Eagles by 38 strokes in Red Lake, where Dryden finished fifth on the day and fourth overall in the standings with nine total points.
Leading the Muskie charge last Tuesday was Tyson-Skylar Morrisseau, who carded a round of 82 in tough conditions that gave him top individual honours for the day by one shot over Trey Palermo (Broncos).
He also finished with 272 points for the season—behind only Palermo (295) and Owen Stebnitsky of the Saints (279).
“It was tough out there, extremely windy and cold,” Johnstone recalled.
“I’m proud of the guys.
“Tyson was resilient even though he had a tough time hitting some greens,” he noted. “But he held it together and made the ones that counted.
“He battled hard with [Palermo] all day.”
Graeme Kitt, playing in just his second high school golf tournament, finished in third place for the day after a round of 87.
He wound up 12th in the overall standings with 175 points—even though he missed the first of the three NorWOSSA tournaments.
“I think Graeme is even surprised where he finished,” admitted Johnstone.
“The score was not one of his best but in the conditions that were present, it was pretty good.”
Kendyn Faragher made it three Muskies in the top 10 by securing 10th place with a round of 91 that put him in 11th overall (186 points).
“[Faragher] told me after the round he still left some shots out there,” Johnstone noted.
“It’s just the inexperience of youth and not understanding the conditions.”
Sheldon Jourdain Jr. carded a round of 94 to end up 15th for the day and tied for 16th overall with Colton Yaremko (Broncos) and Jacob Lugli (Saints) at 135 points.
“Sheldon’s played pretty steady all year,” said Johnstone.
“He’s definitely improved from last year to this year, and his consistency is much more improved.”
Cam Gushulak will round out the five-man Muskie contingent at NWOSSAA tomorrow after he came up with his best round of the season—a 97—to wind up tied for 17th on the day with Lugli.
Gushulak closed out the NorWOSSA season in 25th place with 87 points.
“Cam played consistent throughout the round,” said Johnstone.
Brandon Morrison was the other Muskie competing in Red Lake, where his 113 left him in 31st place for the day and 35th for the season (30 points).
“[Morrison] played really hard to get in as both a member of the team and as an individual, and just didn’t get there points-wise,” Johnstone remarked.
“But that doesn’t take away from his contributions to the team this year.”
Johnstone hoped the uniqueness of the Heron Landing course will play into the hands of the Muskies, who will be more familiar with the layout than anybody else competing there tomorrow.
“There’s not a lot of golfers who get to play on greens with the speeds or consistency of ours,” he stressed.
But Johnstone won’t be able to watch his troops perform in person.
“The rules state there’s no on-course coaching so I’ll be assigned to another group of golfers,” he explained.
“It’ll be a little weird,” he conceded. “But at certain points, I’ll still be able to look out over the course and keep my eyes on where people are.”
The Muskie golf program has fluctuated from its glory days in the early part of the decade to almost collapsing completely a couple of years later.
Johnstone is proud to have been part of the rebuilding process to the point where the Muskies now stand just one step away from a return to OFSAA.
“It’s one more opportunity for kids,” he reasoned.
“Everything is so based on hockey around here, it’s nice to have another sport where there’s promise for youth,” Johnstone added.
“We’re a long way from going to OFSAA and winning,” he stressed.
“But the young guys can see how the grade before them did, and will want to keep it going and see where it leads.”
