TEEING OFF: Cornell takes steady game into match play

Ron Cornell is fully committed to playing his own way, not worrying about what anyone else does.

He has more than enough proof that it works, and not only at Clear Lake Golf Course, but also his home track.

Cornell has earned trips to two Golf Canada senior men’s championships and will vie for a provincial title as the senior men’s match play begins at the Whispering Winds of Warren today.

“I’ve had a good little run the last couple of years against these guys. They all bomb it out there and it’s a bomber course … so they’ve got a bit of an advantage, for sure, on me. But I’m confident I can hopefully win one or two matches and be respectable,” Cornell said.

“I really enjoy match play. I try and par guys to death and not make any big mistakes. I can be frustrating to play that way, but the experience of 40 Tamaracks definitely helps me when I go into these.”

Cornell shot an 8-over 78 at Scotswood Links in Saturday’s qualifier to earn the No. 14 seed, and will play Ben Bandura in the round of 32.

Both are shorter hitters, but both are more accurate with a hybrid in hand than the average golfer is with a wedge. For Cornell, the game is all about keeping it simple and staying steady, letting the other guy make mistakes and taking advantage of a strong short game.

He earned medallist honours at last year’s Tamarack, after winning multiple masters men’s division titles and stepping back into the main field at 60 years old.

It’s just his second time in the provincial match play, where he reached the second round last year but fell to Brad Moore, who was the defending provincial senior men’s champion.

While he’s gaining experience with each event, senior men’s golf is ironically still a young man’s game, to some degree. Each year, new guys turn 55 and become eligible, while the others get another year older and maybe a mile per hour slower.

Cornell noted that two strong Brandon guys, Jason Thorpe and Dave Unger, have joined that group, along with a handful of strong Winnipeg players.

He’s been fortunate to travel to Ontario and Nova Scotia for the past two national championships, and a trip to a third straight would be a short drive to Niakwa Country Club in the south end of Winnipeg this fall.

“To finish top (seven) in the Manitoba senior and get to the quota — I’d love to get there because it’s at Niakwa this year … — but I’d have to have a really exceptional three days,” Cornell said.

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Cornell’s good friend Keith Fawcett is in the super senior division, which begins on Friday.

Fawcett is the No. 14 seed, taking on No. 3 Don Loewen in the round of 16.

In the main men’s event, all of the Westman players are on the bottom half of the draw, with No. 2 Evan Nachtigall of Brandon taking on Ryder St. Laurent.

The winner plays the winner of Brandon’s Hunter Oakden (18) and Liam Silvaggio.

Brandon’s Ross Sheard withdrew due to injury, sending Kaleb Lambert through to the second round.

Brandon’s Nolan Tutkaluk (27) takes on defending champion Jordy Lutz.

The round of 16 is on Friday, with the quarterfinals on Saturday.

The semifinals and final for each division are on Sunday.

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Cornell has already had cause for on-course celebration this year, though he didn’t realize it in the moment.

He aced the signature par-3 17th hole at Clear Lake for the third time on Monday.

He hit his 54-degree wedge and didn’t see it bounce in, nor did his playing partners in the men’s club.

But he knew it was good and didn’t see a ball when they drove down the hill. Sure enough, his seventh-career hole-in-one is Clear Lake’s first of 2026.

“You just never expect one to go in, so when it does, it’s good,” he said, like someone who’s been there before. “It’s like, ‘Oh my God, another one.’ Especially on 17.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com