TEEING OFF: Oak Island primed for province’s best

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (906 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OAK LAKE — Oak Island Resort is about to become a much less-hidden gem.

Manitoba’s top male golfers have spent the past few days at the stunning course 50 kilometres west of Brandon, gearing up for the Golf Manitoba men’s amateur beginning today.

Some made the weekend trip on Saturday, others have been playing it all week like PGA Tour professionals at a major championship venue.

Jordy Lutz got his first taste on Wednesday and, like just about everyone, raved about it.

“Honestly, if it was closer to Winnipeg this place would be so busy all the time,” said Lutz, an Elmhurst Golf and Country Club member.

“It’s a little tricky in spots, pretty forgiving off the tee. The greens are phenomenal, nice and slopy and fast, fairways are pretty mint.

“I think there’s a lot of birdie holes but (you’re) one swing away from a big number.”

The 6,626-yard Les Furber design opened in 2008 and joined Golf Manitoba as a member club in 2020, making it eligible to host this week’s 54-hole event featuring 105 players.

General manager Des Koop has been there for 18 years. No, your math isn’t off. He was there three years before it opened.

Golf courses like this don’t just build themselves, you know, though this one feels like the land was made for the game with every naturally rolling fairway and undulating green.

Koop is certainly excited to see it play host to its first major championship.

“It’s a special place when you’ve been there the whole time the course has been here. It’s exciting to see this event with a bunch of new faces that have never been here before,” Koop said.

Oak Island Resort isn’t just a fancy name, it’s the style of Furber’s layout. Resort means wider fairways and fewer penalizing areas off the tee.

Koop didn’t feel the need to alter that for one week, though the already-lush rough is a little longer and the already-slick greens are a little faster than usual.

“If you’re a foot in (the rough) it grabs the club. It’ll be interesting,” Koop said.

“A lot of our guys are going to see a lot of the subtle breaks that normally aren’t there. It’s going to be that extra six inches of slide and it’ll be good.”

The greens are around 11 on the stimpmeter and will get to 12 by Saturday, Koop hopes, barring heavy rainfall.

For the tournament, Golf Manitoba flipped the nines to start on Hole No. 10 to finish on the par-5 ninth, which is right in front of the clubhouse.

That means the opening tee ball flies through a narrow chute into a wide fairway, with a few of the more demanding tee shots on the course immediately following on the 11th to 13th holes.

The tournament front nine is tighter and more treed than the front, which is far more exposed to the wind but more forgiving.

The front also has as many left turns (doglegs) as a NASCAR track, favouring draws — or fades for those backwards golfers — but long hitters can simply launch straight balls or fades over corners if they so please.

It won’t play as tough as some of Winnipeg’s punishing private clubs, and while some are predicting a shootout with the winner 13- to 15-under par, Lutz isn’t so sure.

“The nice thing is it’ll be a little softer here where you can land it a little closer to the flag, as opposed to Pine Ridge is a little bit more firm,” Lutz said.

“I think a couple of strokes under par is going to win here. It’s not going to change my game plan at all. It’s going to be fairway, green, roll some putts.”

TOURNEYS: Deer Ridge Golf Course is hosting a senior men’s open on July 31. It’s an 11 a.m. shotgun start for $50 per player, including a meal. The first 72 paid entries are in. Call the pro shop at 204-726-1545 to register.

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