TEEING OFF: Neepawa primed for Golf Canada event

Golf Canada returns to Neepawa Golf and Country Club today after a decade away.

For head professional and general manager Landon Cameron, it’s perfect timing for the NextGen Prairie Championship to arrive.

“We’re really excited to host,” Cameron said. “The golf course, it’s exceptional right now and we’re ready to go.

“It’s super exciting, looking forward to it, anxious, all of the above.”

Neepawa hosted the event in 2016, when it was known as the CN Future Links.

This year, it features some of the top juniors from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, with even one player from Quebec in the 100-player field.

Brandon’s Hunter Oakden and Brayden Hamm are playing in the 54-hole event, which concludes on Sunday following a 36-hole cut, which will remove about half of the competitors for the final round.

The boys play from the back tees at 6,538 yards, while the girls play it about 1,000 yards shorter.

For Cameron, having the club’s first national event in 10 years as another junior one means a lot.

After that event in 2016, he started a “Grow the Game” initiative with the help of sponsors to provide free golf to anyone under 16 years old.

“We decided we needed to do something on our side of things to grow the game so not only junior golf but golf in general survives,” Cameron said.

“COVID happened, which was unfortunate, but it was the best thing to happen to golf, where it was one of the only things you could do.

“The ‘Grow the Game’ initiative … has paid dividends.”

Cameron said superintendent Mark Kerkowich put in some extra work last fall, applying fungicide to some areas Neepawa normally doesn’t, to give the course a better chance of being tournament-ready this week. With enough rain and heat recently, Cameron feels it’s ready to go to test the best juniors around.

They’ll be among the first to take on the newly reopened sixth green, which Kerkowich took on the challenge of restoring over the past year.

He removed the front-left bunker and made a collection area for short misses to run down to, while expanding the top shelf and flattening the bottom portion of the big, two-tiered green.

“It changed the dynamic of the hole to make it more user-friendly, but also still a signature hole for us,” Cameron said, adding the rest of the club, from the course conditions to the clubhouse operations, are in mid-season form.

“Mark and his staff on the grounds crew, my pro shop staff and my food and beverage staff have been nothing but awesome to deal with, so kudos to them for having the golf course ready, food and beverage ready to go.

“Our pro shop staff are going above and beyond to make sure everything is getting done.”

Neepawa has a fairly full tournament schedule. The next one after the NextGen is a “6-6-6” tournament, where two players play six holes of scramble, six of alternate shot and six of best ball.

It has a senior men’s tournament on July 6, with a handful more to follow.

• • •

The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg.

In the same way, Mother Nature simultaneously helps and hurts different golf courses.

Wheat City Golf Course has been on the wrong end of heavy precipitation, but, more importantly, excess water flowing down the Assiniboine River from the Shellmouth Reservoir has led to significant issues on the holes closest to the river.

As a result, Wheat City has been forced to play the majority of the front nine as par 3s at times. Head professional Dave Scinocca is as frustrated as anyone playing the course.

“It’s just all this extra water coming from the Shellmouth that was really unexpected at the start of the year,” he said.

“When it hits a certain level, the river, we can’t even keep up with pumps because the water will come up from underneath.

“The river’s so much higher than the fairways that there’s nowhere for it to go.”

Scinocca said the river is expected to crest this weekend, then hopefully come down and eventually give the course a chance to dry out.

Until the 18-hole track is back to full operation, Wheat City is offering a reduced green fee of $35 plus tax, which works out to about $60 with a cart rental.

The club didn’t adjust pricing for members, though Scinocca said they have generally been understanding.

“Most of the members and patrons have been pretty good and supportive to be honest, and we want to thank them for being understanding through this difficult time. They’ve seen it before,” Scinocca said.

“When you’re members of the Wheat City, you’re always at the mercy of the Assiniboine River and runoff from northern towns. We’re doing the best we can.”

The back nine and holes elevated higher than the water level are in good shape, while the creek that developed on the 17th hole due to water runoff from the west end of the city is playing as ground under repair until it becomes a permanent penalty area, adding another level of difficulty to one of the toughest ones on the course.

“It still is a fun golf course to play,” Scinocca said. “There are a couple of short holes on the front, but that shouldn’t really deter you from coming down.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com