There were two distinctly different finishes, about an hour apart, to cap off the Diamond Athletic Golf Manitoba Men’s Mid-Amateur and Women’s Amateur Championship Tournaments, which were won by Allan McDonald of Breezy Bend and Kingswood’s Veronica Vetesnik Wednesday at Bel Acres.
The men were away first, and Breezy Bend’s Justin McDonald appeared to be well-positioned to capture his second title in three years with a three-shot lead and seven holes to play when disaster struck. McDonald endured massive trouble on the par five, 554-yard 12th hole — taking an eventual 13.
And that completely changed club mate Allan McDonald’s approach while he was waiting on the 15th tee box.
“Once I saw a bunch of commotion going down on 12, I started getting curious – and then it was just fairways, middle greens, and two putting after that,” said the great-nephew of the late Ab McDonald, the first-ever captain of the Winnipeg Jets.
Allan McDonald, who is not related to Justin, shot a final-round one over par 73 to finish at three over, 219 for the tournament. It was good enough for a five-stroke margin of victory over Justin McDonald and another Breezy Bend club mate — Eric Johnson — who was the defending champ and Allan’s playing partner for the final two rounds and offered some sound advice down the stretch.
“He said it’s easy to make a big number out here so play it smart, and that’s what I did,” said McDonald, who has overcome three shot deficits for his last three tournament wins. “So on 15, I was thinking, 17 and 18 are birdie holes and if I can birdie those two I’ll have a good chance. Even if just birdie one I’ll have a good chance. And then after I saw what happened on 12, I was honestly pretty surprised by it. So it was no dumb plays, no mistakes and I’ll get it done.”
The battle to decide the Women’s Amateur title went right down to the wire between Vetesnik and Shilo’s Bobbi Uhl, both former two-time Provincial Junior Champs. They began the day separated by just one stroke, and that’s how they finished with both golfers shooting three over 76’s.
Marissa Naylor of Pineridge was actually in the lead by one stroke over Vetesnik and Uhl after 10 holes. But the 2017 champ took an eight on the par four, 14th hole to fall out of contention and turn it into a two-horse race down the stretch.
“Towards the end, you could tell everyone was starting to feel the pressure, no one had a comfortable lead going into the last few holes. Seventeen and 18 were tense,” said Vetesnik, who wished there could have been spectators to watch the dramatic finish.
“Off the tee, Bobbi hit a beautiful, risky drive over the trees. I played it safe with a hybrid but unfortunately hit it bad into the right trees. As I walked up I noticed Bobbi was 10 feet off the green with her drive and all I could think was she’s got this one. She’s almost on the green and I’m in the bushes. But I didn’t give up, punched out, and made a nice up and down for 60 yards to save par.”
So that left Vetesnik with a one-shot lead to protect on the 476 yard, par five, 18th hole.
After both women hit beautiful drives, Vetesnik says it was almost a replay of what happened the hole before.
“Bobbi yet again went for the green and I laid up. Bobbi was a few ft off the green and I had a 60-yard chip. We both ended up parring, luckily with my one-shot lead from the day before I was able to take the win,” said the former U of M Bison star.
“It felt so good to finally win the women’s amateur, I’ve won a lot of junior events and junior championships but not yet the women’s. With everything going on this year it feels good to have this accomplishment. I’ve worked hard and put the practice in so it feels good to have paid off.”
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