Joey Payeur
Early last month, Tyson Morrisseau wasn’t even sure he wanted to take his clubs out of the bag in a competitive vein anymore.
Now he’ll be packing that bag for a trip to the all-Ontario championships.
Morrisseau is heading back to the OFSAA boys’ golf championship after earning his second-straight NWOSSAA silver medal Friday in Geraldton, to go along with consecutive runner-up finishes at the event for the Muskie team.
The “victory lap” athlete carded a 79 to wind up two shots behind Jacob Lugli (Dryden Eagles), who captured gold with a 77 to join Morrisseau as the top two finishers in the 53-player field not associated with the first-place winners in the team competition (the St. Ignatius Falcons of Thunder Bay).
This year’s all-Ontarios are taking place in Port Elgin, with practice rounds set for Tuesday before the 36-hole event goes Wednesday and Thursday (Oct. 12-13).
Unlike last year’s NWOSSAA experience, when he lost on his home course of Heron Landing at Couchiching in a playoff to Cameron Baird (St. Ignatius), Morrisseau found this time around much more satisfying.
“It feels a lot better, especially not losing in a playoff,” he remarked.
“I was pretty happy although I didn’t play the greatest on the back nine,” Morrisseau added.
“There was definitely a sense of relief that I did it again, especially with this being my last year playing [for the Muskies].”
Morrisseau missed the season-opening tournament in Dryden in early September as he tried to evaluate how much he wanted back in the game.
“I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to play. I had a lot on my mind at the time,” he recalled.
“But I played a few rounds and made the decision to come back.
“I just missed the team and being able to play with friends, and I thought it would also be good to go back if I wanted to try for a golf scholarship,” he added.
Morrisseau was just one shot back of Lugli after a front-nine 40, then fell three behind after bogeying the 10th and 11th holes.
A birdie on the par-three 13th and a par at the 16th, coupled with Lugli’s bogey, had Morrisseau back within one with two holes to play.
But Lugli delivered a clutch birdie on the par-three 17th while Morrisseau settled for a bogey to once again trail by three and effectively end his shot at NWOSSAA gold.
With plenty of pursuers hot on his heels, the Muskie veteran knuckled down and parred the 18th hole to finish one stroke ahead of Fletcher Anderson (Churchill Bulldogs) and Devin Lawson (St. Ignatius).
“Tyson really played excellent,” said Chris Sinclair, who filled in for regular coach Jonny Lundon, who was unable to make the trip to Geraldton due to work obligations.
“We went down the day before to play a practice round and Tyson had been there before, so he knew the course,” Sinclair noted.
“He hit the ball really well and was good off the tee.”
Morrisseau’s performance anchored the Muskies’ combined score of 342, which tied them for second with Churchill, three shots behind defending champion St. Ignatius (339).
His only regret is that he won’t have his NorWOSSA championship team along with him in Port Elgin.
“I thought they did really well, a little nervous, although that comes with any sport,” Morrisseau remarked.
“They did the best they could and that’s all that matters to me.”
Sheldon Kelly Jr., in just his Grade 10 year, carded an 86 on Friday to tie for 10th overall with Justin Reguly of the St. Patrick Saints (Thunder Bay) and Dryden’s Keith Wrolstad.
Kelly battled back to crack the top 10 after a devastating quadruple-bogey on the par-five second hole.
“He hit a good drive, but it’s a game of bounces and he ended up with an unplayable lie and it just grew from there,” noted Sinclair.
“It’s easy to say that that hole cost the team first place, but three other teams could say the same thing,” he reasoned.
“All four other guys could have dropped shots off their score, too, so it’s not like one hole was the defining point.”
Kendyn Faragher was right behind Kelly in a four-way tie for 13th at 87 with Cortez Favot (Sioux Lookout Warriors), Nodin Carlson (St. Thomas Aquinas Saints), and Ben Erwin (Hammarskjold Vikings).
“[Faragher] was a little disappointed with his round but not unhappy,” said Sinclair.
“After he played his practice round Thursday, he felt he could have been lower on Friday, but an 87 is nothing to be ashamed about.”
Muskie Cole Kowalski was another three shots back at 90 in a three-way dead heat for 17th with Richard Crupi (St. Patrick’s) and Dylan Intini (Nipigion-Red Rock Lakers).
“[Kowalski] said he hit the ball really well and his approaches were good, but the greens were tough to figure out,” Sinclair recounted.
Kaleb Bruyere rounded out the Muskies’ scores with a 97 to tie for 30th with Dawson Grouette-McDougall (Marathon Falcons).
“[Bruyere] thought he came in at over 100 and 97 is not a terrible score for him,” noted Sinclair.
“It just wasn’t his day but he hits a really nice ball.”
Meanwhile, Sinclair wasn’t sure as of press time if he or Eagles’ coach Al Markowski would end up travelling with Morrisseau and Lugli to Port Elgin.
But whoever is in the supervisory capacity, Morrisseau knows he can rely on his experience of finishing in a three-way tie for 54th at OFSAA last year to carry him at this season’s showdown.
“I definitely can use more strategy this time playing OFSAA,” he remarked.
“Last year, I played it like a NorWOSSA or NWOSSAA tournament where I just smashed the ball,” Morrisseau admitted.
“This year, I have to work more on positioning the ball if I want to score better.
“A successful week for me would be finishing anywhere in the top 10, but a win is what I’m hoping for,” he stressed.
“It’s always a big advantage to being older since you have more experience in tournament play, especially at the provincial level.”
