Coulter aims to soak in nationals experience

Dale Coulter gets to play his favourite golf course in the province next week.

That’s significant because only a select few have earned the right to tee it up at Niakwa Country Club, the host of the Canadian men’s senior championship.

Coulter jumped back into competitive golf this year and got hot at the Golf Manitoba men’s senior at Breezy Bend Country Club, finishing tied for fourth and earning one of seven quota spots for nationals.

“I really enjoy the atmosphere there. It’s in the city and you really don’t feel like you’re in the city,” Coulter said. “I think it’s a great facility, so I’m really pleased I get to go spend a couple of days there and enjoy it.

“I’ve got no expectations whatsoever. Kind of like the tournament at Breezy Bend, I just went to really go measure myself by myself.”

Coulter said he hadn’t played competitive golf outside of the Tamarack tournament in about 30 years, but at age 60, he felt he still had the game to compete at the provincial level.

Knowing the national championship was just a short drive away, and that the provincial tournament was shortened to three rounds without a cut a few years ago, he figured it was the perfect time to get back into it.

“Even if you finish 25th or last (at provincials), I don’t care; you get to play a good golf course with good golfers,” Coulter said, adding it was fun to play alongside his wife, Chris, in the women’s event as she finished in 14th place.

“I can honestly say we were both nervous, because I was and hadn’t played in a long time. It’s a totally different realm; it’s a real tournament and you’re there to play.”

Dale opened with a 3-over 75, then was 3 over through 13 holes on Day 2 before rolling in four birdies on the last five holes to shoot 72.

He played in the last group on Day 3, along with past champions Jay Doyle and Todd Fanning. Coulter was in position to join them on Team Manitoba until the final hole, when his tee shot headed towards the water left of the 18th fairway but no one saw it enter the penalty area, nor did they find his ball.

Since one has to see it enter the penalty area to take a drop where it entered, rather than simply assume it must have entered, Coulter had to hit another tee shot as his third stroke, and made a double-bogey to finish one shot back of the top three.

“It is what it is. You’ve still got to hit it good and I didn’t. You’re going to get two or three bad shots in a day and that was one of mine,” Coulter said.

“You’ve still got to stand up there and finish the hole with the next ball and make par to qualify for nationals. It’s all good.”

Coulter played in a skins game at Niakwa last week, and won a Golf Manitoba event on Wednesday as he and 2026 Tamarack champion Jason Thorpe shot 10-under 61 at the men’s senior four-ball championship at Killarney Lakeside Golf Club.

“Jason’s obviously been playing good after playing in the Tamarack. That’s a grind. Six rounds in the Tamarack in a week is crazy, so obviously he was playing good,” Coulter said. “I hit first all day too, which makes a big difference because I’m swinging away. When I hit a bad shot, the pressure’s definitely on Jason.

“We got lucky. I mean, you’ve got to make putts and Jason made three 40-foot putts that day. It was awesome. I had a front-row seat to some pretty awesome golf.”

Tee times for the national tournament were not released by Friday, but Coulter will play a practice round on Monday, then the first two rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The top 70 players and ties make the cut and earn two more rounds on Thursday and Friday.

Fanning, Doyle and David White will represent Manitoba in the inter-provincial team event, while other Manitobans in the field include Mike Walker, the super senior champion, Dan Scanlon, Cornell Ruddock, David Kuik, Blair Neal, John Mackinnon and Ben Bandura.

Coulter’s bringing Ron Cornell, who has qualified for the Canadian senior in recent years, to caddie for the first couple of rounds.

“Ron is a good player and a very good green reader, and nothing wrong with having a buddy on the bag,” Coulter said.

“Everybody coming would have a different mindset. You have guys that play senior golf all over North America … that’s what they do.

“I’m definitely in the mindset of I’m going to go Monday, enjoy the practice round, play Tuesday, Wednesday and enjoy the golf course in front of me.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com