Killarney kid shines Bright in quarters

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This article was published 19/08/2020 (2087 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASAGAMING — Ethan Bright almost let a sure thing slip away on Wednesday, but got by with a little help from his best friend.

After going 3 up with three holes to play in his Tamarack golf tournament junior semifinal against Hayden Delaloye, the Killarney native gave back two holes in a row and needed one good wedge into the tricky ninth green to seal it.

Playing alongside Eric Prokopowich — until the Dauphinite lost 3 and 2 to Jordon McDonald — Bright borrowed his laser rangefinder to dial in the perfect shot.

“From 77 yards to three feet, just missed the putt but got it done,” Bright said after winning 2 up to punch his ticket to the semifinals at Clear Lake Golf Course.

Bright doesn’t appear tired of being on the golf course, even though Killarney Lakeside Golf Club doubles as his office. The 16-year-old works on the grounds crew, practising for hours after he’s off the clock and playing almost every day.

He had a little scare when the face cracked on his TaylorMade M5 driver three days before the Tamarack, but the company promptly supplied him with a free upgrade to the new SIM driver.

“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Bright said with a laugh.

He was on cruise control most of the second nine, but once Prokopowich lost on his 15th hole, however, the wheels almost fell off.

“(Those) two holes I was a little bit nervous. On (the 16th) there I got kind of unlucky, I found a wet area and chunked a wedge from 145 (yards),” Bright said.

“Then kind of toe-dipped my chip there and just missed the putt. On 17, he just hit an incredible shot — that’s the best shot I’ve seen out of our whole group today — just missed the eagle putt and birdied it, props to him.”

All round Bright was pulling for Prokopowich but cheering on everyone’s good shots. He certainly didn’t receive much love from his opponent when he stuffed the final dagger into the ninth green. Delaloye was too busy leaving dents in greens and his golf bag, slamming clubs into both after poor shots or Bright’s good ones.

Bright knew he wouldn’t have to play perfect, but just avoid big mistakes to get the win.

“Playing par golf (is the key),” he said.

“You hit it up the middle. You don’t need to go for things in match play. If you get beat by birdie, good on him. That’s pretty much my mindset with all of it, you try and hit as many fairways as possible, pin hunting isn’t necessary.”

Bright was hoping to play Prokopowich, who has been one of his best friends since they competed together for Team Westman at the 2016 Manitoba Games in Steinbach.

But Bright will settle for a semifinal against a past champion in McDonald, who went bogey-free on the front nine to pull away.

“I just hung in there, made a couple of up and downs,” McDonald said. “I stole the momentum from him and it felt really good.”

On the other side of the bracket, medallist Grady Chuback beat Ryden Hargreaves while Brandon Wheat King Nolan Ritchie topped Scott Miner with mirroring 3-and-2 scores.

The juniors have already stolen the show, with Chuback posting the low qualifying round of the week at 4-under 68. The cutoff to reach the top eight was 75.

For McDonald, 17, it’s great to see.

“There’s a lot of kids that are a little younger than me and they’re really, really improving over the last couple of years,” McDonald said.

“It’s great because it’s making the field a lot stronger and the gap between the best players and the other players is getting smaller. It’s great for the sport.”

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