Hercun wins Kitchen Creek Classic

After tabulating and marking 204 scores at the Kitchen Creek Classic, Fort Frances resident Gerry Hercun beat the best to be the best.
Hercun carded a 142 total for 36 holes as 102 golfers competed in the annual Kitchen Creek Classic on Saturday and Sunday.
“It hasn’t been a long two days, but today [Sunday] was very long,” said Hercun, whose opening round score of 68 was a career best.
“I had no sleep last night and today was just a hugely long day.”
Finishing second was Hercun’s playing partner, “Snake” Krawchuk, who had won the Senior Open earlier this summer.
“The past couple of days, everything went well but the putting,” noted Krawchuk, who has been a playing partner of Hercun for the past three years.
“If I could’ve putted, I think I could’ve won, but that’s my opinion and everyone is entitled to it,” he added.
Krawchuk finished with a 146 total to wind up four strokes behind Hercun. This defeat was one of only a handful he has suffered at the hands of his co-worker at the mill.
“Any given day, anybody can beat anybody, but overall, I’m not trying to brag or nothing, I’ll beat Gerry more than he will beat me,” said Krawchuk, who sports a one-handicap.
The win, which was a surprise to Hercun because of the trouble he was having with this game leading up to the event, was his first-ever tournament victory.
It also was a highlight for the 43-year-old golfer who has been playing the game regularly for the past 12 years.
“I came into this not expecting a thing,” said Hercun. “I’ve been playing lousy so there were no expectations and I shot really well yesterday [Saturday] and that’s when all the expectations came.”
Hercun handled the pressure like a veteran as he staged off Krawchuk—his biggest threat—and the rest of the Classic field.
“This is a big-time confidence booster for me,” said Hercun. “I know I can play with these guys.
“Most of these guys I play against hit the ball a lot farther than me, and for me to keep up with them and play them is really big for my confidence,” added the two-handicapper.
“But really, having fun out there is what this is all about,” Hercun reasoned. “Really, who cares about your score? I could care less if I won or ‘Snake’ won or somebody else won, let’s just play good.”
Ross Desserre took top honours in the first flight with a 147 total, followed by Sheldon Kelly (153) and Jim Ballard (153).
Brian Melville topped the second flight with a 158, followed by Terry Ellwood (158) and Moe Semeniuk (161), with the top three in the third flight being Mark Kleven (158), Monte Ross (163), and Dave Lloyd (164).
Mark LaBoissierre won the fourth flight (155), followed by Larry Bailey (164) and Arnie Daoust (165), with the top three in the fifth flight being Gus MacDonell (169), Jeromy Wensley (170), and Jack Kendall (170).
The top three in the sixth flight were John McLeod (168), John O’Brien (173), and Frank McComb (173) while Shane McCormack topped the seventh flight (173), followed by Ron Kelly (187).