Thorpe, Fawcett through to men’s final

WASAGAMING — When Kody Fawcett and Jason Thorpe shook hands on Friday after realizing they would meet in today’s Tamarack golf tournament final, Thorpe had a quick message for the three-time champ.

“We can’t go to a playoff; I can’t take any more,” Thorpe chuckled after surviving his second-straight extra-holes match at Clear Lake Golf Course.

Thorpe edged Dustin Dyck on the third playoff hole, about 45 minutes after Fawcett defeated Kurt Martin 1 up.

But if the championship match today at 1:09 p.m., is anything like Fawcett’s last two, it’ll be tight.

Fawcett looked on track to run away with it early against the 61-year-old on a perfectly calm Friday morning, making two birdies to lead 3 up after four.

But Martin birdied the par-5 fifth and Fawcett bogeyed the following hole to narrow the gap. They traded miscues on the eighth and 10th holes as Martin chunked a few chips before Fawcett conceded one to start the back nine.

Martin nearly tied it when Fawcett found the right trees on 11, but he chipped out then stuffed a wedge to four feet and saved par.

The Selkirk native opened the gap to three with a par on 12 and a birdie on 13 but it was far from over there.

“It was just stupid, man, just made some dumb mistakes,” Fawcett said of the next stretch of holes.

He launched a tee shot right into the trees on the 14th hole to give it away, then overcorrected and missed left on 15.

The following hole, he admitted he felt some nerves and hooked it into the bush. He made another remarkable par save, but Martin knocked in a short birdie putt to square the match for the first time.

“Honestly, making the putt on 16 was big for my nerves too,” Fawcett said. “Like ‘OK, I just played the worst hole I’ve played all day and I still made par.’”

And as it often does, experience proved critical on the last two holes.

Fawcett watched Martin seemingly hit a perfect shot on the downhill par-3 17th, only for it to soar over the pin tucked in the back-right corner of the green.

Fawcett calmly took 10 yards off his intended shot and hit one to the fringe for a par Martin couldn’t match.

Knowing par was likely enough to end it on 18, Fawcett left himself below the hole and made a perfect chip to within tap-in range, then watched Martin narrowly miss forcing a playoff.

“My main thought process was just get it to the hole, snuggled it up there and it was really, really nice,” said Fawcett, who will play his first final since winning his third title in four years in 2018.

“It’s nice to be back.”

Thorpe is “back” in the final group, but playing in the big match for the first time. He has been in the consolation final before, and certainly knows what it takes to win here.

Now at 55 years old, he has a chance to become the oldest Tamarack winner since Bob Cornell pulled it off at age 60 in 1998.

Thorpe went 1 down on the first hole, but tied it with a par on four and went ahead with a great up-and-down for birdie on five.

He birdied the eighth to start a run to a 3-up lead, but gave one away on 13 before Dyck birdied 14 to close the gap.

“I had a three-shot lead for a while so I was kind of comfortable there but I know Dustin’s a great player so I knew he’d be coming back,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe missed a short birdie putt on 16, then made a poor swing on 17 to let Dyck tie it up.

They headed to the eighth for the playoff, and both drove it near the green and got up and down. They parred the ninth hole, then moved over to 18, where Dyck failed to hit the green with his approach shot and hammered a chip long.

Thorpe nestled a putt close and tapped it in to win a rare championship flight match with both players over par.

“You get into the final four and there’s pressure on everybody, so it’s a little harder to shoot those numbers in tournament golf,” Thorpe said.

“My strategy all along has just been try and keep it in play, get it on the green, give yourself a putt.”

While Fawcett has been in this position more often, Thorpe is excited about the challenge ahead.

“I’m pretty comfortable with the crowds; that doesn’t bug me too much,” Thorpe said. “I actually enjoy it. It helps me concentrate better and focus.”

MASTER’S FINAL

Dale Murray may have been the sharpest player on the course Friday.

He poured in three birdies on the front nine and three more on the next four holes to oust Jack McDiarmid 6 and 5 in the master’s men’s semifinals.

Impressively, the 2024 champion and 2025 runner-up made 2s on all the par-3s he played.

“I was finally making some putts,” he said. “It always takes me to get going on the greens because I don’t play here enough.”

He’ll face Murray Lindenberg today after he nearly ended the match early but ended up going right to the 18th hole with Darren Graves.

Lindenberg was 3 up with five to go when Graves birdied the 14th, parred the 15th to win and pitched his ball over a bunker and down to a couple of feet from the pin on the 16th to suddenly tie the match.

But Lindenberg gutted it out, and Murray is expecting a tough one again today at 12:42 p.m.

“I’m going to have to play solid again because (Murray) is a good player, just like Jack,” Murray said. “He could beat anybody.”

• • •

In the men’s scramble, P.J. and Jarod Crane beat Dave Newman and Scott Kozoroski to reach the final against Riese Gaber and Scott McCallum, who downed Chris Bridges and Derek Cantlon. They tee off at 12:51 p.m.

In the senior men’s division, medallist George Panagiotou beat Eugene Hodgson 7 and 6 while Larrie Kidd dropped Glen Parker 6 and 5.

Panagiotou and Kidd meet today at 12:33 p.m.

Jaxon Jacobson and Hunter Oakden play in the junior final at 12:06 p.m.

In the ladies’ scramble division, Jody Bieber and Jayne Troop beat Rhonda Ritchie and Nadine Falk 4 and 3.

Dorelle Fulton and Kandis Matthews dropped Tia Coulter and Alexa Hutsal 5 and 3 in the other semifinal to reach the title match today at 12:15 p.m.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com