Locals in tough at MPGA championship

If you can’t putt, you can’t win in golf. Just ask Happy Gilmore—or Glen Mills.
A wonky putter on the second day of play caused the assistant pro at Kitchen Creek to fall out of contention after a strong opening round at last week’s Manitoba PGA championship at Larters at St. Andrews Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg.
“I certainly putted better the first day than the second,” said Mills, who shot a 69 last Wednesday to find himself tied for second, but then ballooned to a 76 on Thursday to finish in a tie for 16th.
“I made a couple of mistakes on the second day when I tried to make things happen on the back nine. I wanted to go for the win,” he remarked.
Mills didn’t lay any blame on the course conditions, which were noticeably rough in some areas.
“It wasn’t bad,” he said. “The greens had a little bump here and there, and the course didn’t come through the winter as great as others. Really, though, I’d like to blame the course, but I can’t.”
Kitchen Creek head pro Steve Wood, who’s led the MPGA Player of the Year points standings for most of the season, never got on track in Winnipeg last week, carding rounds of 75-76 to finish well back of the lead.
“I just didn’t get it going,” Wood stated simply. “My approach shots weren’t getting close enough, even though I was driving well and putting well.
“I couldn’t make birdies on the first day, and then when I got on a bit of a roll the second day, things went wrong and I got frustrated,” he noted.
Still, Wood is almost certain to make the Titleist Cup team for Manitoba, made up of the top eight head pros, two assistant pros, and two juniors from the MPGA Tour.
The squad will square off against a similar team from Saskatchewan for the Titleist Cup championship at the Hecla Golf Course at the Gull Harbour Resort in Riverton, Man. in mid-September.