Cornell claims men’s medal at Tamarack

WASAGAMING — Ron Cornell wanted to see if he could keep up with the big hitters at the Tamarack golf tournament.

He didn’t expect it to be the other way around.

But the 60-year-old shot the only sub-70 round of the weekend at Clear Lake Golf Course on Saturday with a 3-under 69, then kept it together to shoot 74 on Sunday.

Cornell not only made the men’s championship flight for the first time but is also the medallist and top seed.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said Cornell, a member of the host club. “First, I’d like to say (superintendent) Craig Atkinson, Grady (Manson), and those guys have done a great job with this golf course. It’s the best I’ve seen it in the last 10 years … The greens are perfect, it was lots of fun to play.”

“I’m just happy to make championship flight. Got a little lucky (Saturday), made some putts. (Sunday) was more what I’ve been playing like but it was a fun day, had a great group of guys to play with.”

Scores were unusually high for qualifying at the 92-year-old tournament, due in part to windy conditions on Saturday and a handful of tough pin placements on Sunday.

But Cornell’s low, steady ball flight and terrific short game were perfect to battle his way in.

He essentially made just one big mistake while nursing a multi-shot lead, firing a tee shot right on the tough par-4 15th hole.

“For some reason, I get on that tee, and it’s either the alignment of the tee or all the bad nightmares of how I’ve hit that shot off the tee, and it wasn’t even close,” he said, adding he was pleased with the way he bounced back.

Cornell made a solid par putt on the 17th hole to stay up one, then stuffed his approach on the last hole for an easy two-putt, finishing one shot ahead of 2023 champ Josh McPhail and Nolan Tutkaluk.

“This is fun. This is why I went back down, to try and make championship flight,” said Cornell, a two-time Tamarack masters men’s champion.

“I have less pressure on myself in match play. I’m just playing one person, I’m not playing the field, not trying to do something, just playing one shot at a time, make a bunch of pars.

“I’m not going to overswing because guys are hitting it 60 yards by me, but they will, and that’s fine.”

TUTKALUK, McPHAIL

ONE SHOT BACK

Tutkaluk had a classic walk around Clear Lake, taking advantage of the easy holes enough to overcome a few bogeys on the hardest ones.

With his 14-year-old son Austin caddying, he made six birdies and carded a 2-under 70 on Sunday to slide up to a tie for second.

“He caddied for me in the am and it was the best day I’d played all season for tournament golf, and we had fun,” Tutkaluk said.

“He did very well. He kept my head in the game and gave me some good numbers, and I was happy to have him.”

While many golfers don’t want to watch leaderboards mid-round, Tutlakluk knew exactly where he stood after a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole. He missed the last green but hit a perfect chip within a foot of the cup for a tap-in par.

“That was nice,” Tutkaluk said. “That’s a confidence builder for the week as medallist or not, you’re going to have to hit shots like that to save holes in match play.”

The Brandonite has been in the championship flight a handful of times and reached the semifinals thrice, losing each time. His recipe for success is simple.

“Clear Lake is all about keeping the ball in play, chip and putt well. That’s what I’ve done for two days,” he said.

McPhail played two fairly steady rounds, pouring in five birdies each day to shoot a pair of 72s.

He said since winning in 2023, he feels a little bit less pressure going into the week in terms of the expectations he places on his game.

“I always wanted to win the tournament, and for me it was always just trying to win. Having won, everything else is just gravy,” McPhail said.

“Obviously, I have other priorities in my life too.”

McPhail bought the Rona in Portage la Prairie this year and moved to the city between Brandon and Winnipeg.

His golf now consists of his regular early-morning rounds at Clear Lake on weekends at the cabin and a nine-hole men’s league at Portage Golf Club. He said those five- to six-hour days on the course simply don’t work as a man with two young kids at home.

But he’s still as comfortable as anyone at the Tamarack, and one of the guys in the mix just about every year these days.

The championship flight cut was 8-over 152, with Mark Schneider beating Joel Baron and Brad Pardy for the last spot in a playoff. Schneider drove the first green and two-putted for birdie to win.

Greg Misener bounced back from a double bogey on Hole No. 17 with a birdie on the 18th to avoid the playoff by one shot.

CRANE, LUDWIG TAKE TOP

SPOT IN MEN’S SCRAMBLE

Jarod Crane and Jordan Ludwig followed their 8-under 64 with a 62 on Sunday to take the top seed for the men’s scramble event in its second year of existence.

One of three teams at 2 under made the flight on a countback.

JUNIOR, SENIOR, LADIES

QUALIFYING BEGINS TODAY

The one-round qualifiers for the junior, senior men’s, and ladies scramble divisions begin today.

Meanwhile, the second round of masters men’s qualifying takes place with Dale Murray (-1) leading by one shot over Chris Patrick with a projected cut of 12 over for the top eight.

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