Joey Payeur
How would the Muskie golf team fare without their best player from the last few years around anymore?
Pretty well, thanks.
The contingent served notice they’ll be a force to be reckoned with this season as they wound up in first in the team division of the NorWOSSA regular-season opener Friday in Sioux Lookout.
With the team’s top four individual scores counting, the Muskies ended up with a combined total of 361 to edge out the second-place St. Thomas Aquinas Saints by three strokes (364).
None of the other four teams were close, with the host Warriors were well back in third (383).
They were followed by the Dryden Eagles (386) and Kenora Broncos (424), with the Red Lake Rams not having enough golfers to qualify for the team competition.
With multiple-time OFSAA participant Tyson Morrisseau having graduated, it was Muskie veterans stepping up to fill the void.
“I think finishing first in the first tournament gives the kids a tremendous amount of confidence,” said Muskie teacher rep Chris Sinclair, who accompanied the team in the absence of coach Jonny Lundon due to work obligations.
“It allows them to go into the next competition knowing how they have to play in order to stay at the top,” he noted.
“You never expect to finish first because you don’t really know what other schools have to bring,” Sinclair added.
“But it didn’t surprise me as the majority of our team played last year and I know what they are all capable of.”
Cole Kowalski led the Muskies by finishing fourth in the individual category with a round of 86, behind Dryden’s Jacob Lugli (81), Carlson Nodin from St. Thomas Aquinas (82), and Cortez Favot of Sioux Lookout (85).
Muskie teammate Kendyn Faragher was right behind in fifth spot with an 87.
“Coaches don’t really get to see much of their golfers’ game,” conceded Sinclair.
“However, talking to the kids afterwards, I would say their strongest part of both their games was their perseverance.
“I know Cole was struggling early and wasn’t happy about how he was playing, but [he] was able to stay mentally tough through the round to shoot a pretty good score,” he noted.
“Same thing with Kendyn as he struggled at times throughout the day, but kept with it and was able to forget about his bad shots.”
Muskie veteran Kaleb Bruyere and Grade 9 newcomer Matthew Gerstner both shot 94 on Friday to tie for 10th place.
As for the other three members whose scores did not factor into the team total, veteran Mikel Ward and rookie Aiden Wielinga tied for 15th with rounds of 98.
Veteran Gordy Scott carded a 113 on what was an ideal day for golf.
“The weather was perfect so you can’t put any blame there,” said Sinclair.
“We’re very fortunate to have weather like this for September golf,” he acknowledged.
“The course was in good shape, the greens were rolling very nicely.
“I thought there were a couple of very challenging pin locations,” added Sinclair. “But other than that, the course was nice.
“It’s always difficult going to a course that you’ve never played, though, and most of our team hadn’t played there before.”
Fort High was back in action yesterday in Kenora for the second event of the NorWOSSA season (scores unavailable at press time).
The Muskies then will host the regular-season finale Sept. 22 at Kitchen Creek after not having had a home tourney last year due to a labour dispute between local high school teachers and the Rainy River District Public School Board.
“Last time the Fort hosted a golf event, it was played at Heron Landing, so we thought we would rotate,” Sinclair said about the venue switch.
“Both Ashley [Bruyere] at Heron and Glen [Kellar] at Kitchen Creek have been very accommodating for our high school team, and we are very thankful to them and fortunate to have both courses helping us out.
“It’s too bad we couldn’t do a two-day competition at both courses but that’s out of our control,” Sinclair noted.
“Obviously, it’s a huge advantage playing at your home course,” he added.
“You’re more familiar with the layout and yardages of the course, and it is a huge advantage on the greens in terms of just being more familiar with how they break and especially how they roll.”
