Joey Payeur
Jonny Lundon’s sheepish grin tells the story.
“I don’t know if I should be saying this but I’m a little surprised,” chuckled the first-year coach of the Muskie golf team.
The all-male crew has established itself as a serious contender this season—even moreso with its ace from last year back in the fold.
Defending NWOSSAA silver-medalist Tyson Morrisseau led the way as the Muskies won their first team title in recent memory by claiming the boys’ division crown at the NorWOSSA regular-season finale last Thursday in Red Lake.
Fort High carded a total of 361 to beat the St. Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) by five strokes (366).
The Muskies also took over the lead in the team points race with 17, two ahead of the Sioux Lookout Warriors, who slipped to second after finishing third in Red Lake (372).
Morrisseau, who missed the season-opener the previous week but did manage to return for his “victory lap” season after initially not being expected to play this year, was like an extra shot of belief for a squad that already was on the high of coming off a second-place finish in Dryden.
“Having Tyson back gave them kind of a boost,” said Lundon, whose team needed only to finish fifth or better at yesterday’s NorWOSSA finals in Kenora to qualify for the NWOSSAA championships Sept. 30 in Geraldton (scores were unavailable at press time).
“With him there, they were really thinking they could win,” he added.
“Everyone was extremely happy on the trip home, if not with their individual scores then certainly with the team result,” Lundon remarked.
Morrisseau shot a solid one-under on the front nine before having what Lundon called a couple of breakdowns on the back nine of what the coach deemed a very difficult course.
He wound up finishing one shot behind Sioux Lookout’s Tyler Baker, who carded an 84.
“There were some really sloped greens and that made it hard to putt,” Lundon recalled.
“But everyone shot better than they did in Dryden, which really says something.”
Kendyn Faragher wound up tied for sixth with Mitch Moncrief of the Kenora Broncos (89) while Cole Kowalski grabbed eighth place (91) to put three Muskies in the top 10 individually.
Kaleb Bruyere tied for 12th with Domonique Novelli of the Saints (96) while Mikel Ward was 19th (103).
Gord Scott rounded out the Muskies’ results by placing 27th in the 30-player field.
He finished with a 126—a remarkable 17-shot improvement from the opener in Dryden.
Lundon pegged the team’s confidence as through the roof heading into yesterday’s NorWOSSA final.
“They are definitely focusing on getting to Geraldton,” he said.
“This year, they want to go as a team to OFSAA.
“At this point, I’m not messing with anyone’s swing,” stressed Lundon, who only was able to hold his first full team practice on Monday due to player obligations.
“I’m just telling them to enjoy themselves, don’t put pressure on yourself, keep trying, and don’t give up,” he noted.
