TEEING OFF: Steady-shooting Miner set for big match play test

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This article was published 02/06/2022 (1368 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wheat City Golf Course’s newest member played two shortened rounds at his home track before lighting up the provincial match play qualifier on Saturday.

Now Scotty Miner is off to represent the club as the No. 7 seed in the 32-man bracket with an opening-round matchup against Ryan Blair. The two know each other well as members of Golf Manitoba’s junior development team and just played a practice round at Quarry Oaks to prepare for the week. Blair, 18, fired an even-par 72 while Miner, 17, was three strokes worse. So while Blair is the No. 26 seed, calling him an underdog is simply inaccurate.

“A little scary to see but I still think I’m ready and I’m up for it,” Miner said. “I just stick to my game but because it’s match play, still read off of what he’s doing.

“For me, it’s just hitting the ball straight. I’ve never been known to hit it far, all of my peers and buddies know I don’t hit the ball far but they know I don’t miss a fairway. I’m known to just keep the ball in play, I never lose any balls really. My short game is good with that too. I make putts from deep, I don’t three-putt often.”

While Miner just moved to Brandon last week, his Westman connection started with golf. More specifically, the Tamarack tournament.

Miner teed it up at the famous match play event at Clear Lake Golf Course four years ago and admittedly struggled due to a lack of head-to-head golf experience. But his parents, Jodi and Brad, had a fantastic week. Scotty said they fell in love with Clear Lake and decided it’d be their retirement destination.

They sold their Winnipeg house and started building their retirement home at the lake while living in a Brandon apartment since November 2021.

“They’re really outdoorsy people and they loved being on the water and being able to have access to hiking trails, cross-country skiing in the winter and all that stuff,” said Miner, who improved over the next two Tamaracks and reached the championship flight in 2020 before taking last year off.

“I haven’t won but I won a few matches, which gained more confidence for me and it’s definitely going to help this weekend.”

In the meantime, Miner has been in Denver playing under-16 AAA hockey for the Colorado Thunderbirds. The five-foot-10, 177-pound defenceman put up four goals and 16 assists in 20 Tier 1 Elite Hockey League games while registering 17 goals and 49 assists for 66 points in 61 U16 AAA contests.

He previously suited up for Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg but wanted to gain exposure with NCAA programs.

Miner’s older brother, Ryan, went the college route. The goaltender played one year with Dakota College at Bottineau and two with Minot State in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.

Scotty was Prince Albert’s 132nd-overall pick in the 2020 WHL draft but knew his path lay elsewhere. He has signed a tender agreement with the NAHL’s Springfield Jr. Blues and will join the team this fall.

“I’ve always said I want to play college hockey,” Miner said. “Usually all the Winnipeg kids and western Canada hockey players want to go to the WHL but I’ve always wanted to play college because I saw my brother go to college and succeed.

“… Education’s always been first for my family and me, and that’s the route I’ve always been interested in.”

Colorado was good for his golf game this year. He was able to play into November and get back on the links in March, getting reps in for months while we impatiently waited for the Manitoba snow to melt, then fall, then melt, then fall, then melt in time for courses to flood.

So relatively speaking, Miner’s in mid-season form. His two 13-hole loops at Wheat City — while Hole Nos. 4-8 await a slowly declining river level to reopen — was enough of a tuneup to fire 3-over 74 at Carman Golf and Curling Club in the match play qualifier.

The Oak and Desert nines at Quarry Oaks, playing around 6,500 yards this week, will certainly put up a tougher fight than the sub-6,000-yard Carman track. But it’s the same course for everyone, and like being chased by an angry grizzly bear on a remote hiking trail, you just have to beat the guy beside you.

“You don’t have to worry about your actual score,” Miner said. “You can get a birdie and get a seven or eight and it doesn’t matter. You lost the hole but it doesn’t affect your overall game.”

The Westman contingent is as large as ever in the men’s field, accounting for a quarter of the draw.

No. 9 seed Evan Nachtigall of Wheat City plays Stonewall’s Matt Glowa.

Neepawa’s Hayden Delaloye (13) takes on former club professional Mark Di Ubaldo.

Shilo has two members in as Brad Pardy (18) drew Jamie Roy and Ryden Hargreaves (21) takes on Aiden Kleer. Dauphin’s Thomas Scott (22), who has played out of St. Charles in Winnipeg for the past two summers, plays fellow member Curtis Markusson.

Dauphin’s Eric Prokopowich (16) takes on Pilot Mound’s Will Hudson (17) for a possible second-round meeting with medallist Marco Trstenjak.

In the women’s round of 16 on Saturday, Binscarth’s Clara Peake (5) takes on India Young while Killarney’s Cala Korman (8) is against Veronica van der Meer.

In the bottom half of the draw, Swan River’s Crystal Zamzow (7) plays Clear Lake member Jeri Lafleche (10).

The semifinals and finals are on Sunday.

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