Misener comes up clutch on last hole

WASAGAMING — Deja vu hit Greg Misener at the worst time.

He missed a short putt on the 16th hole and felt his nerves get the best of him on the 17th. Suddenly, he went from comfortable to the brink of elimination at the Tamarack golf tournament.

But just like Sunday’s qualifying round, the Clear Lake Golf Course member made an ultra-tough breaking putt for birdie on the 18th hole to avoid a playoff.

On Tuesday, it was to beat No. 2 seed Nolan Tutkaluk 1 up in the first round of the championship flight, the biggest upset of the day.

“Right away, I started to think of Sunday and how I struggled coming in. Again, tough tee shot on 17. Ended up (near) the same bunker I had trouble with Sunday,” Misener said.

“(The putt) was definitely longer than the one on Sunday but just as intimidating. When he nestled his up nice for par, nerves got up a little more. I don’t think there’s a safe putt on 18, even if you’re coming up the hill. I’m happy I was able to, once again, get over this hump.”

It’s Misener’s third time in the championship flight at the 92-year-old tournament.

But it’s the first time he feels he has completely earned his place. The first time was 2021, when his poor second round was washed out due to heavy rain making the course unplayable following his Saturday round of 74.

The last time was a couple of years ago when he survived a playoff to sneak in.

This week feels different now.

“I’m not nervous anymore,” said Misener, who lives between the course and Onanole. “Now that I’m in it for the third time, there were no nerves (Tuesday) morning.”

Misener needed to be sharp in what was arguably the match of the day.

He opened with an eagle to beat Tutkaluk’s birdie, then played the rest of the course even par until dropping the bomb for birdie on the 18th, carding an unofficial 3-under 69.

Tutkaluk shot 70 and played well enough to beat almost anyone else in the 16-man flight.

“That might be my lowest round of the year,” Misener said. “I brought my best golf, and I played well today. I had a chance for birdie on probably 15 of the 18 holes.

“Nolan’s a heck of a player … It’s tough to be disappointed when you’re on the losing side of a match like that.”

Misener was on a crash course for a matchup with Kolby Day until Grady Chuback raced back from 4 down to win 2 up.

The clash between past junior champions didn’t disappoint, though it wasn’t pretty early for the guy who just moved into the men’s ranks.

“I did have some bad drives, and it is quite unlike me to miss so many fairways, but I knew it was coming,” Chuback said. “I love the back nine, so I was just staying patient and trying my best. I knew that something would happen.”

Chuback birdied the eighth hole to halve, then stuffed his approach to four feet on the ninth, taking the tee for the first time all match.

He hit it within a few inches of the cup on the 11th, then birdied the 12th and took the lead with a short birdie putt on the 16th.

Day pushed it to the 17th hole with a huge par save but was unable to push it to a playoff.

Chuback will look to start hot in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, the one day the men begin play on the back nine.

“Honestly, I like how much more challenging it seems,” Chuback said. “It’s not that much more challenging, but it seems a lot tighter than the front, and to me, that narrows my focus in on where exactly I need to hit the ball. That helps me dial in and hit some good shots.”

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