Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads
Justin Wood of Unity and Jehremy Ryde of Eston have qualified for national amateur tournaments after strong play in a provincial amateur championship.
Wood and Ryde played in the 107th Saskatchewan Amateur Men’s Championship held from July 17 to 19 at Dakota Dunes Golf Links just south of Saskatoon. Wood finished at 4-under par to end up tied in fourth place with four other golfers, and Ryde finished at 3-under par to end up all alone in ninth place.
Justin Wood of Unity.
The top nine golfers qualify for the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship to be played on Aug. 6-9 at Duncan Meadows Golf Course and Pheasant Glen Golf Resourt in British Columbia. The two golfers qualified, but only one is able to make it.
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Wood will be making the trip to B.C. next week to play in the tournament. Ryde, who has played in a national amateur championship four times in the past, has suffered a leg injury and will not be playing. Ryde had also qualified for the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at the Victoria Golf Club later in August.
Three other golfers from the area played in the Saskatchewan Amateur Men’s Championship. Kyle Wiebe of Madison finished tied for 47th with a score of 14-over par while Brody Istace of Kindersley finished tied for 51st with a score of 15-over par and Connor Tate of Kindersley finished tied for 71st with a score of 22-over par. There were 100 golfers total, but three golfers withdrew after the first round.
Wood shot a 1-under par 71 on the first day, an even par 72 on the second day and a 3-under par 69 on day three. He recognized that his first two rounds were inconsistent with several birdies and bogeys on the scorecard. He said he got back to his comfort zone in the final round.
The Unity resident said he tends to play a safe game because he does not hit the ball as far as other guys, but he was more aggressive than normal in the first two rounds and while he ended up with several birdies on the card, he also had several bogeys.
He noted that he made several excellent shots over the first two rounds, but he mixed in several bad shots at the same time. He got back to playing a consistent game on the third day, and it paid off to produce his lowest round of the week.
Wood said the national amateur championship has been in Ontario the past three years, so he is excited to go to B.C. for this year’s edition. He said he has plans to get some practice rounds in on the courses he will be playing next week. The golfer is travelling with a fellow qualifier from Saskatoon.
The Unity golfer has also played in the national amateur four times. There will be more than 250 amateur golfers at the tournament and the field gets cut to 70 golfers after the first two rounds, so Wood knows he has to be aggressive early in the tournament.
“The last three years I’ve missed the cut by two (strokes),” he said, noting that he played reasonably well at those tournaments. “I’m going to come at it and try to play aggressively this year. I need to make the cut. That’s the number one goal, but if you start thinking about making cuts, you’re not going to play well.”
He said the key to doing well next week is to hit as many fairways as possible, and make his putts. He added that the rough is kept longer for the championship, so he has been working hard on chipping around the greens.
Ryde shot an opening round Even par in the provincial amateur on July 17, and he followed it up with scores of 2-under par on July 18 and 1-under par on July 19. In an interview after the tournament, he said it was an exciting result for him at an awesome golf course.
“It was really nice to shoot three rounds at par or better,” he said, adding that Dakota Dunes has hosted a Canadian professional tour event in the past and it is a great spot for the provincial amateur. “It seems to bring out the best players.”
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