Ladies brave weather, delay at Poplar Ridge
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/08/2023 (820 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
ONANOLE — When the Tamarack golf tournament committee approached the folks at Poplar Ridge Golf Course with plans to bring matches over, it was an easy “yes.”
The Onanole course welcomed the senior men’s quarterfinals on Tuesday and ladies’ scramble quarters on Wednesday, with the 1-2 Barbecue scramble set for Friday for those eliminated from the men’s event today.
“It’s great, it’s fantastic,” said Lavern Popple, Poplar Ridge director of golf. “We’re excited that the Tamarack committee decided to utilize the course to free up some time for them on Friday. We’re excited to host the ladies, the seniors, the cubs. It’s been very good.”
Alexa Hutsal hits an approach shot in the rain during the Tamarack golf tournament ladies scramble quarterfinals at Poplar Ridge Golf Course on Wednesday. (Photos by Thomas Friesen/The Brandon Sun)
The course supplied breakfast and lunch for the seniors before and after their matches and held a wine mixer, sponsored by Jones and Co. for the ladies.
“Both the seniors and ladies from the COVID year hadn’t had anything special for their groups so it was nice to be able to have them here and do something specifically for them,” Popple said.
The change has drawn some frustration — as change almost always does — since it’s the first time in 90 years that the entire event hasn’t taken place at Clear Lake Golf Course.
This year, Poplar Ridge has seen a bump in play while it hasn’t been easier time-wise or harder financially to secure a tee time at Clear Lake. A price difference of $102 and $70 to ride the two tracks will do that, especially with the always-lush Poplar Ridge fairways.
“Poplar’s a fun course to play, no complaints at all. I always love Clear Lake Golf Course but it was nice to mix it up and made for a fun day,” Tia Coulter said after a 3-and-2 win over Sheri Forsythe-Hohm and Louise Meier.
“It’s a fun idea and the shotgun idea was nice because we all get to finish at the same time and have a little chat with everybody.”
Coulter and Alexa Hutsal took the No. 2 seed for the championship flight and were among the last ones on the course as their match nearly went the distance.
They started at 1 p.m., and finished more than five hours later, due to a 40-minute weather delay. The ladies played through rain until the course became unplayable. The delay was much shorter than the one at Clear Lake, since its staff had to squeegee greens while it was like water rolling off a turtle’s back at Poplar.
It was still wet, no doubt, the kind of day most would only play in with something to play for.
“Mixed bag of weather out there, mixed bag of shots but it was fun,” Coulter said.
“I don’t really play enough during the year in multiple conditions, I’m a pretty 20 and sunny kind of player but once we just putted a few, had a few go in, it was fine.”
Added Hutsal: “It did take a few holes for us to adjust. We were chunking some shots, some bad ones but it wasn’t too bad.”
The youngsters took advantage of their length, especially Hutsal’s driver reaching over 230 yards, even as moisture prevented the ball from rolling much. But Forsythe-Hohm and Meier hung around with a handful of clutch putts, and hit the cup on multiple chips in the last few holes.
Chanda Rauch hits a shot while teammate Theresa Snyder looks on. The Tamarack held matches at Poplar Ridge for the first time this year, shifting the senior men’s and ladies’ scramble quarters to the Onanole track.
The other matches went by quickly Joan Johns and Kelly Sheard defeated Chanda Rauch and Theresa Snyder to earn a semifinal against Coulter and Hutsal.
On the other side of the draw, medallists Jody Bieber and Pam Burneski knocked off Rita and Stephanie Dornn, while Leslie Olson and Tracy Rutledge defeated Sherri Ferguson and April Popple.
While they were out, the Poplar Ridge staff was buzzing around to get every last detail in place for the evening.
“Staff was fantastic. Everybody pulled the rope together,” Popple said. “The ladies were troopers. It was terrible out there for a little while but they stayed with it and finished their matches and now we’ve got what looks like a pretty nice evening going.
“We’re excited to be … a bigger part of the Tamarack.”
• • •
In masters men’s action, No. 8 seed Kevin Ziolkowski upset medallist and defending champ Dale Murray to earn a semifinal on Friday against Ron Cornell, who beat Darren Graves.
Second seed Bruce North took down Rod Klassen and will play Jack McDiarmid in a clash of Tamarack legends. McDiarmid beat No. 3 seed Bryan Letain.
» tfriesen@brandonsun.com
» X: @thomasmfriesen