Pardy advances as past Tamarack champs fall

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2023 (881 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASAGAMING — You’d think a mirror was placed across the green anytime Brad Pardy and Jason Thorpe putted.

In the same navy blue sweater and pants with the same putting grip and stroke, the two went toe to toe and blow for blow in a Tamarack golf tournament championship flight match at Clear Lake Golf Course on Tuesday.

Pardy emerged with a 4-and-3 win and explained the similarities weren’t a coincidence.

“I still use the putter grip he showed me when I was 13 years old at his cabin,” Pardy said of Thorpe, who introduced him to golf when he was 11.

“I’ve been relying on my 60 (degree wedge) because of him … It was great to play against Jason, a good friend.”

Pardy, 30, used to be a regular name in the Tamarack’s top 16 but has been absent for a few years. His tournament season hadn’t gone the way he wanted with some high scores in the Golf Manitoba mid-amateur and men’s amateur in July, but he worked on a few things and pieced together two solid rounds to shoot 69 and 72 and claim the No. 5 seed.

“It was about managing expectations, that was huge,” Pardy said. “Understanding everyone’s going to make mistakes and not trying to be perfect. Staying with it one shot at a time was big.

“Making a bogey early used to be a detriment to my whole round and it would snowball from there.”

Pardy was shaky early, falling two holes behind the always-steady Thorpe.

But he roared back, winning the ninth, 10th and 11th and kept the pedal down.

The Brandonite is three wins away from overcoming a massive hump.

“It’s great,” Pardy said. “It adds confirmation to the work I’ve been doing all year and it’s nice to see it come to fruition at the right time.”

Pardy faces Dan O’Greysik, who overcame the worst possible start to upset Kody Fawcett 2 and 1.

O’Greysik lost the first three holes but stayed the course, not forcing anything and chipped away until a sudden 2-up lead on the 17th tee. He stuffed a wedge and should have been safe, but Fawcett chipped in and forced him to earn the win with a birdie.

“Not sure how to react to this one,” O’Greysik chuckled. “Pretty intimidating player to play against. Tough start but I just kept chiselling away and it worked out.”

He’s been in the championship flight before but never won his first match. How does he plan to handle uncharted territory?

“Just stay out of trouble. Keep it in the fairway, make my second shots,” O’Greysik said.

“(Pardy’s) a pretty steady player, you’ve seen that in the qualifying. Just stick to my game and play well.”

Fawcett wasn’t the only past champ bounced. Derek Cameron took on the red-hot Dustin Dyck, who fired a 67 to sneak back into the championship flight mix and birdied the first playoff hole to oust the 2019 and 2020 winner.

“I came in having a good weekend, playing some good golf so I just wanted to try and hit it straight because that’s what he was doing. He sure didn’t make it easy on me,” Cameron said.

The Minnedosa Golf and Country Club member is in just his second Tamarack since he competed as a junior.

He wasn’t necessarily expecting to have a crowd of 100-plus watch him hit a golf shot on Tuesday but thrived under pressure.

“You can’t explain it, it’s a different feeling but you just gotta get up there and hit the ball and see what happens,” Cameron said, adding he’s having a blast.

“The whole week, it’s such a well-run tournament, meeting some new people and everything about it so far has been lots of fun.”

Cameron faces the defending champ, Jarod Crane, on Thursday afternoon.

Crane defeated Greg Misener 4 and 3 in a terrific match with both players under par by the end.

On the other half of the draw, No. 15 seed Mitch Foster stuffed his approach to four feet on the 18th hole and birdied to defeat 2021 champ Derek Solman 1 up. He’ll play Jay Thiesen, who cruised to a 3-and-2 win over Ross Sheard.

Josh McPhail emerged from a back-and-forth battle to defeat Jason Curtis on the first playoff hole, earning a matchup with Evan Nachtigall, who birdied the 17th to close out Brian Clark 2 and 1. Nachtigall was bogey-free at 6 under, with Clark not far behind.

MOSTLY CHALK IN SENIOR MEN’S

Top seed George Panagiotou continued his senior men’s title defence by defeating Lorne Bacon, while No. 4 Bruce Ray downed Dean Murray over at Poplar Ridge Golf Course in Onanole.

No. 3 Alvin Mack got past Eugene Hodgson while seventh seed Emmett Elves had the lone upset of the day over Bill McArthur.

The junior quarterfinals are at Clear Lake this morning with the masters men’s quarters in the afternoon. Poplar Ridge is home to the ladies’ scramble quarterfinals in an afternoon shotgun today.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» X: @thomasmfriesen