Oakden wins junior crown in playoff
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Golf rarely gives you a second chance, but Hunter Oakden took full advantage of his.
After missing a six-foot putt to win the Golf Manitoba junior boys’ championship, the Brandonite hit one of the best shots of his life. He knocked a four-iron from 238 yards within eight feet of the pin and drained his eagle putt on the first playoff hole to claim the title at Pine Ridge Golf Club on Thursday.
While his head could have been spinning, he settled on one thought.
Brandon’s Hunter Oakden won the Golf Manitoba junior boys’ championship at Pine Ridge Golf Club on Thursday. (Winnipeg Free Press)
“Just hit the right line,” Oakden said. “I knew I deserved that one.
“I was pretty happy. It was a long week just to see one putt drop to win … Especially the last two years, I fell out of the top 20 last year and fell out of the top 10 the year before, so it was good.”
Oakden, Adam Blair and Gavin Carver took three completely different routes to hit a total of 3-over 219 for the three-day championship.
Blair was the Day 1 leader with a 2-under 70, but fell out of the final group with a 77 on Day 2.
Carver opened with a 75, then shot 29 on the back nine to post 69 on Wednesday, good for a share of the lead with Brady Comaskey.
Oakden was the only one not to shoot below par, but the only player in the field to break 75 all three days.
While he had a few highs and lows, his seven straight pars on the back nine on Thursday summed up the steadiness with which he approached the tournament.
“I stayed steady all day,” Oakden said. I made a double on hole four … came back with a birdie on five. Bogeyed six but came back with a birdie on seven.
“The greens were tricky. They put the pins in the hardest spots and I just knew if I stuck to my game plan and hit it in the right spots, it would be a good day.”
He felt good on the greens, lining up his putts with his “lucky ball marker,” a Pokémon pin his friend Tanner Grose gave him before the Golf Canada NextGen Prairie Championship at Neepawa Golf and Country Club last month.
He has used it since then, and said it has helped him putt the best he has all year.
His birdies on the third and fifth holes were both about 30-foot putts.
Hunter Oakden poses with the provincial junior boys’ championship trophy. (Photo courtesy Golf Manitoba)
“I knew I didn’t need to be inside 10 feet to make a birdie. I knew they could come in other ways,” Oakden said.
Oakden trailed until late, but didn’t start forcing anything. He took the lead when Carver made a double-bogey on the par-5 15th, and needed a par on the finishing hole to seal it. However, he had to punch out of the trees, then nearly saved par by sticking a 90-yard wedge shot to six feet.
Though he missed that one, he more than made up for it.
The 15-year-old is one of the youngest players to win the title, behind Teerawut Boonseeor, who won at Teulon Golf and Country Club in 2023 at age 14. The Thailand native is committed to join the Texas Tech golf team in 2027.
Oakden will now compete for Team Manitoba at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship at Regina’s Wascana Country Club on Aug. 11-14.
Brandon’s Brayden Hamm carded an even-par 72 with just one birdie and one bogey on Thursday, climbing up five spots to solo sixth place.
Camryn Thomas won the junior girls’ title with rounds of 76, 82 and 81 to finish 23 over, one shot ahead of Jewel Lafleche, who fired 80 all three days.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com