Defending scramble champs survive scare

WASAGAMING — Jayne Troop and Jody Bieber aren’t ready for a changing of the guard just yet.

They’ve been watching the youngsters in the Tamarack golf tournament ladies scramble division bomb the ball past them for a few years now, but time and time again, the sisters prove they have the game to overcome it.

Troop and Bieber kept their title defence alive on Wednesday, coming back to beat Lana Dubois and Jen Thiessen 1 up at Clear Lake Golf Course.

“They are tough competition for whoever gets them. They’re big-ball hitters and great players. They were great to play with, too,” Bieber said.

“Whoever lost today, it was a hard loss because we were all playing really hard for that win.”

Dubois and Thiessen birdied the 12th and 16th holes to lead by two, but dropped a shot on the signature par-3 17th to open the door.

Troop and Bieber tied it up when they moved to the front nine, then fell behind again after Thiessen hit a perfect pitch over a green-side bunker to set up a birdie on the fifth hole.

They halved the seventh with birdies and then played the eighth hole perfectly by rolling in another to square it up.

On the treacherous ninth green, experience paid off when Troop rolled in a 12-footer for par and their opponents came up short.

Now that it’s over, Troop and Bieber are glad to have been in a tight battle that sets them up for success moving forward.

“It’s great to go to 18 and it’s almost great to be down, to really have to dig in,” Bieber said.

Troop noted they have a few things to clean up before their upcoming match with Rhonda Ritchie and Nadine Falk, who also went the distance to beat Karla Dane and Cindy Nylen.

“We definitely would take more to get to the green than they did,” Troop said. “And our short game, our putting to start with was not great.

“Lots of opportunity for us to improve there.”

The other semifinal features Tia Coulter and Alexa Hutsal, who defeated Cheryl Bartel and Andrea Guthrie 4 and 3, and Dorelle Fulton and Kandis Matthews after their win over Lynda Lowry and Janice Meadows.

MILNE MOVES ON IN JUNIOR

Soren Milne watched absolute fireworks go off around him but wasn’t fazed. No matter how many birdies rolled in during an electric afternoon of junior quarterfinals, he stuck to his process.

In the end, that resulted in one birdie, one bogey and a 5-and-4 victory over Connor O’Greysik to reach the championship flight semifinals in his first trip to the top eight.

“I know I’m a pretty steady player so I’m just going to try to do that,” said the Clear Lake staffer, adding that head professional Matt Nylen has helped him make big strides in his game this year.

“He’s a huge part of it. He’s taught me a bunch of things, how to keep the ball in play and not only going for shots but play it safe.”

The other match in the group featured medallist Hunter Oakden, who lost the first hole to Brody Pomeroy’s birdie but bounced back immediately, rolling a handful of birdies to win 6 and 5.

He’ll face Brayden Hamm, who raced out to 4 under through seven holes, leading Jewel Lafleche 3 up. Hamm kept going, finishing the match 7 and 6 at 5-under par.

Astonishingly, that wasn’t even the low round going on.

Jaxon Jacobson shot the lights out, sitting at 6 under through 11 holes to dispatch Cash McCallum 8 and 7. He’ll be Milne’s semifinal matchup today at 7 a.m.

“Jaxon Jacobson, great player, six under today through 11. I’m hoping I can play my game and just have fun,” Milne said.

“This is a ton of fun. It’s a great course, great people and glad to have a good round in champ flight this year.”

In the senior men’s division, medallist George Panagiotou beat Paul Crane, and will face Eugene Hodgson, who defeated Emmett Elives, in the semifinals.

Glen Parker knocked off Phil Cels, while Larrie Kidd downed Dean Murray to reach the other semifinal taking place on Friday.

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com