TEEING OFF: Shilo set to host province’s top juniors

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This article was published 02/07/2021 (1646 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Junior golfers in western Manitoba are accustomed to plenty of long road trips for tournaments.

On Monday, their biggest one comes to them at Shilo Country Club.

For the first time in event history, the provincial junior men’s and women’s golf championships are in Westman. Shilo head professional Dave Scinocca, who grew up in Brandon and enjoyed a solid junior golf career, is naturally excited.

“We’ve never had the Manitoba junior anywhere close to Brandon that I remember. So to have it in Shilo, to be the head pro there I’m really excited about it and can’t wait for next week,” Scinocca said, adding a bunch of players have made their way out for practice rounds in recent weeks.

“It’s really important for these kids to get out and get some rounds under their belts out there because it’s not just a pound-the-ball-anywhere type of course. You got to control your ball off the tee, you got to be very careful where you place your ball around the greens and respect the speed and slope of all the greens at Shilo, that’s the key.”

Players looking to get a practice round in over the next few days can call the pro shop at 204-765-3623 to book for $21.

Few will be as familiar with the 6,205-yard, par-72 layout as Zostrianos Giordani-Gross. The 15-year-old, who lives a few kilometres south of Brandon, has been a Shilo member for four years.

“It’s nice to have it at a home course. Usually it’s not out in rural areas so it’s nice for us out in the country too, so it’s good,” said the Crocus Plains student.

Giordani-Gross only started playing five or six years ago, when he lived in Souris. He spent the summer lapping the unique, picturesque Souris-Glenwood Community Golf Course. The undulated and demanding nine-hole track had him hooked, and he’s been playing more and more competitive events as of late.

Giordani-Gross captured the Westman Junior Golf Tour 18-and-under title at Oak Island last August, and played in the provincial junior at Selkirk last year. While he finished 50th and posted three mid-80s rounds, the experience was valuable moving forward.

“It’s different, for sure. You’re more competitive, there’s a bit more pressure but … I try to keep it the same as when I play with friends so I don’t have as much pressure on myself,” Giordani-Gross said of tournament play.

“Just focus on keeping the ball in play, go shot by shot, don’t really look at the big picture too much during the round. You’re not going to win a tournament with one shot, you’re not going to lose it (with one).”

He also started playing in Shilo’s Monday night men’s league, taking on some of the area’s best players.

Giordani-Gross said he’s learned a lot from the veterans, noting their course management.

“They don’t take a lot of risks out there. They keep it in play, get it on the green and hit a couple of putts. Just keep it simple,” he said.

“I’ve learned that around Shilo if it gets windy, you don’t need to be hitting the big ball really. You need to be keeping it in play because you don’t want to go in the bush.”

He certainly has a point. Prizes for wayward tee shots at Shilo vary from penalty strokes to poison ivy rashes, placing a premium on ball striking after a forgiving opening stretch of five holes.

After a short, but deceivingly tricky, par-3 sixth hole, the real fun starts.

Scinocca may be too busy these days to play as much as he used to but knows every shot Shilo demands. He says taking advantage of Hole Nos. 2-5 is big, because 7-12 — unofficially dubbed “The gauntlet” — is as tough as it gets.

“And if the wind’s blowing, it makes it so much tougher. You got to keep your ball in play, you got to be below the hole on a lot of those holes and on some of them you just got to accept a par and move on, or accept a bogey,” Scinocca said. “You can take a big number pretty quick on some of them.”

Scinocca broke down the gruesome third of the course hole-by-hole:

Hole 7 — 360-yard par 4 (from the blue tees): “You get to Hole 7 and it’s tempting to hit driver over the corner but if you don’t know exactly how far you got to carry it or cut too much, you won’t make it. It’s no easy second shot in there either.”

Hole 8 — 185-yard par 3: “Eight can play very long … so you could be into the wind there with a longer iron and can easily miss right or left and there’s some thick bush on both sides, so it’s tricky.”

Hole 9 — 505-yard par 5: “Nine’s another hole you can gamble, it’s a risk-reward. I like to hit driver but I’ve played there a lot so I kind of know the line. If you’re not familiar with it, a long iron or hybrid off the tee is probably safer.”

Hole 10 — 385-yard par 4: “You can take a big number quick. You got to be careful off the tee, you got to play short, left into the green and sometimes bogey’s a pretty good score.”

Hole 11 — 400-yard par 4: “Eleven’s not as bad. You got to find the fairway but it’s a little shorter hole.”

Hole 12 — 335-yard par 4: “The second shot on 12’s a little tricky, going uphill into a fairly narrow green. Placement off the tee is crucial and watching your placement on the green, trying to stay below the hole is very helpful.”

Once through that stretch, however, it’s go time. Two short par 3s bookend a pair of drivable par 4s. The course closes with back-to-back par 5s many among the 45-player men’s and 11-player women’s fields can reach in two shots.

“Absolutely that last stretch, if it’s calm, there’s a good chance you can make some birdies, maybe even an eagle coming home so it could really change the dynamics of the tournament those last four or five holes,” Scinocca said.

BIRDIES: Tee times range from 8 to 10:32 a.m., on Monday. Pairings for the second and third rounds are based on score and will come out following play each day. Last year’s men’s winner, Neel Soni, aged out of junior golf. Runner-up and multi-time Tamarack junior champ Braxton Kuntz headlines a talented field … The WJGT season opened Wednesday at Minnedosa and continues July 6 at Pleasant Valley, with events each Tuesday following through the final Aug. 17 at Oak Island … The Westman Communications Group Summer Tour (14U) opens July 14 at Deer Ridge. Contact Dean Oakden at 204-761-1799 to register.

 

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