Joey Payeur
An old Duke Ellington song says “it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.”
And with his back out of sorts, Tyson Morrisseau never could get that swing.
The two-time NWOSSAA silver-medalist said he was much less than 100 percent for his second-straight appearance at the OFSAA boys’ golf championship in Port Elgin last week, where he finished tied with three others for 76th in the 120-player field with a two-round total of 23-over 167.
“I hurt my back in the practice round when I took a real awkward swing and something slipped in there,” Morrisseau noted after carding rounds of 84 and 83 on the par-72 course at the Saugeen Golf Club.
“I’m not sure what went wrong back there but being that I was already at OFSAA, nothing was going to stop me,” he stressed.
“I was just happy to get out there for the week.”
Morrisseau, part of the Fort High’s first-ever NorWOSSA gold medal-winning team in boys’ golf this season, played steady through his first nine holes last Wednesday with five pars and four bogeys to sit at four-over.
But a par on No. 10 was his last high note until another par-four on No. 18.
In between, he had a double-bogey and five-straight bogeys that pulled the rug out from under his round and left him in a six-way tie for 76th.
“It was a rough one,” Morrisseau said wearily after the first day was over.
“We’re right by Lake Huron and once that wind got going, it was hard,” he added.
“When the wind picked up, everybody’s scores skyrocketed.”
Then in the second round last Thursday, Morrisseau adjusted his swing to compensate for his back trouble well enough to overcome a bogey-double bogey start on Nos. 12 and 13 to par the next two holes.
He then bogeyed Nos. 16 and 17 and double-bogeyed No. 18 before looking more like his old self upon moving to No. 1.
Two pars were followed by Morrisseau’s lone birdie of the week on the par-four third.
“I hit a five-iron off the tee and had 120 yards to the hole and hit a decent wedge,” he recalled.
“Then I just made the putt,” he added. “I think it was the only hole I played well all week.”
Another par on No. 4 ended his best stretch of the week before Morrisseau’s injury got the better of him as he bogeyed the next four holes before a par-par-bogey finish to his round.
“Near the end of the round, my back started giving out,” he admitted. “I was taking half-swings all day and it’s hard to shoot low when you can’t hit the ball good.
“It’s the way it works,” Morrisseau added. “I can’t be down on myself.
“I did the best I could.”
Luke Gavin of the St. Peter’s Panthers (Barrie) captured OFSAA gold—the only golfer to break par with a 36-hole total of two-under 142.
Meanwhile, just making it to the all-Ontarios made coming back for a “victory lap” year worth the effort for Morrisseau.
“OFSAA is always a good experience and when you make one, you want to keep doing it,” he remarked.
“It’s definitely the way I wanted to end my high school golf career.”
Morrisseau plans to participate in college prep tour events across Manitoba and the northern U.S. starting next spring in an attempt to gain attention from university coaches on the lookout to bolster their rosters come the fall.
“I definitely am aiming for a golf scholarship and there’s a better chance to get scouted doing the prep tour because there’s more college coaches there,” he reasoned.
Morrisseau also believes the Muskie golf program is in good hands with those he leaves behind, including his NorWOSSA title-winning teammates from this season.
“They’ve got kids playing who love the game and that’s good enough to keep them strong into the future,” he said.
Morrisseau also mused about the possibility of the Muskies ever being able to field a girls’ golf team.
“That’s a tough one because the sport is not as popular with females in this area as it is with males,” he conceded.
“Hopefully, we’ll see it there one day.”
As for the most important lesson he will take from his days as a Muskie golfer, Morrisseau kept it short and sweet.
“Just keep working and don’t ever give up.”
