Friess shoots 69 to win Tamarack medal

WASAGAMING — The first Tamarack memory for Marcus Friess was how the tournament prevented him from playing Clear Lake Golf Course on family trips.

His favourite Tamarack memory? He may have just made it on Sunday.

Friess carded a 3-under 69 to finish qualifying at 4 under, claiming medallist honours by three strokes.

“Coming here at four, five, six years old and knowing we couldn’t golf at Clear Lake because the Tamarack was happening, all I ever wanted to do was play in this tournament,” Friess said.

“Now that I do on a regular basis, it’s just a blast. It’s pretty cool. It’s a good feeling today.”

Despite making just one bogey on Sunday after sitting near the top of the leaderboard through Round 1, he had no idea he had secured the No. 1 seed when he walked off the 18th green after a gritty par save.

It wasn’t until three-time champion Kody Fawcett reached out to shake his hand with a “Congrats, medallist,” that it hit the Estevan, Sask., native.

“It was kind of funny; I didn’t realize where I was at,” Friess said. “I don’t pay attention to that stuff when I’m on the course.

“I hit it better today than I was (Saturday), for sure, and I was putting well again. The putter’s working well and that’s what I’m happiest about, for sure.”

Since Friess didn’t know he was leading, he didn’t know the man battling for medallist honours was the one riding in his cart, Lars Johnston. The former Brandonite made three birdies and an eagle on the par-4 eighth hole, but bogeyed three of the last six holes to slide back to a tie for second at 1 under after an even-par 72 on Sunday.

The two talked through shots like a player and caddie throughout the round, which was big for Friess.

He likened it to his run at the Golf Saskatchewan men’s amateur championship last month at Kenosee Golf, when he posted a 3-under 69 with his dad on the bag in the third round, moving up to a tie for 12th and making the cut, which included just the top 25 for the final round.

That earned him a trip to the Golf Canada mid-amateur championship, which he missed Tamarack to compete in last year.

“If I can talk through a shot and have confidence walking up to the ball, stepping into my stance and hitting it, it’s irreplaceable,” Friess said.

“I had such a good group to play with for qualifying. Lars played awesome and so did Dusty (Dustin Schneider) and it was a blast.”

Johnston ended up in a four-way tie for second with 2024 champion Chris Knoop, Fawcett and 2023 winner Josh McPhail.

Fawcett missed out on the championship flight last year, so he was certainly happy to make it in comfortably this time around.

“It’s a fun week all the time, but it’s way more fun if you’re playing well in the champ flight,” Fawcett said, adding that even though he’s the No. 3 seed, he doesn’t expect any easy victories.

“Maybe 10 years ago it used to matter, but now everybody who’s in the first flight has often been in champ flight. Everybody you’re playing against is good. I don’t think it makes a difference.”

McPhail agrees.

“A few guys are really good players, Kody, Chris Knoop, but there’s so many guys that can go out and shoot par or better. If you don’t do that, you’re going to be in trouble,” McPhail said.

He did that on Saturday, taking the lead with a 69, but said he didn’t have his best stuff from tee to green on Sunday. McPhail found himself in a few ugly situations, but limited the damage to bogey at worst to get the job done.

“It was a little more stressful than it needed to be. I scored OK both days but haven’t been hitting it as good as some other years,” he said.

“I just try to stay in every hole and grind. I have a lot of confidence in my short game out here, always have. Even on days you’re not hitting it great, just try to come back.”

While Friess will have his name engraved on the medallist trophy, his reward in the bracket is one of the toughest No. 16 seeds in recent history — defending champion Grady Chuback.

The two-time junior champ, who won the men’s event in his first attempt last year, stumbled a bit on the back nine on Sunday, finishing in a three-way tie for 14th at 3 over, with the highest back-nine score of the three.

Still, Friess is glad to be a higher seed, having been caught on Knoop’s war path in 2024.

“I would normally say they don’t matter that much, but I remember two years ago I didn’t play my best and got into the championship flight and ended up playing Chris Knoop. He went on to win and I took him to 18,” Friess said.

“He’s an absolute player. If you can dodge someone like Chris, Josh (McPhail) or Kody, that’s pretty huge.

“I’m not taking anything away from Grady. He won last year and he’s got a very tidy game. If that’s who I play, I look forward to it.”

NOTES: Four players were left on the outside looking in at 5 over … The cut for the first flight was 9 over … Tamarack president Dave Newman and Scott Kozoroski won the men’s scramble medal, shooting 61 on Sunday to finish 16 under for the weekend, one better than Steve Desroches and Jake Wiens … Don Curtis made the second hole-in-one of his life on the 17th hole with a seven-iron during men’s scramble qualifying, with his son Jason and other family members witnessing the shot … Today is the second round of master’s men’s qualifying, along with the lone qualifying round in the ladies scramble, junior and senior divisions.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com