Curtis upsets Fawcett to reach first Tamarack semi

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This article was published 24/08/2022 (756 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASAGAMING — The hole Jason Curtis punched his ticket to the Tamarack golf tournament semifinals with sums up his game plan perfectly.

Kody Fawcett leaked a hook left of the eighth green, then the Brandonite knocked one out short of the green on the 288-yard hole. He hit a low pitch that trickled down the long, front-to-back sloped green, nestling three feet short of the cup.

Fawcett’s fantastic sand save after he dumped his second into the bunker wasn’t enough as Curtis calmly poured in a birdie to win the hole and the men’s championship flight quarterfinal match, 2 and 1 at Clear Lake Golf Course on Thursday.

Curtis was 3-under par on the day to earn a semifinal match against medallist Nolan Ritchie this morning, with Jarod Crane and Evan Nachtigall in the other semifinal.

“My driver’s working really well,” Curtis said. “It wasn’t like (Fawcett) was spanking me off the tee. I was keeping it in play, that was my game plan.

“Keep it in play, make a few putts. He made a few mistakes and that’s what it came down to. He didn’t take advantage of his length on 4 so that’s what it came down to.”

The slight edge Curtis needed came when Fawcett three-putted the third hole — they started on Hole No. 10 — then had to chip out of the left trees the following hole. Fawcett hit a phenomenal third from 260 out to about 35 feet but couldn’t save par.

Curtis made a rare mistake on the seventh to keep Fawcett alive but avoided a playoff.

The three-time Tamarack champ hit the shot of the day, however, a perfect wedge into the downhill par-3 17th that hopped and spun back for an ace. He immediately ran to his dad, Keith, to celebrate before high-fiving the rest of the group.

“That was sweet,” Curtis said of Fawcett’s fifth career ace and first at Clear Lake.

“When he hit it we were like ‘Be the club,’ and then it went in and it was a great celebration. Even though he lost, he’s got a hole-in-one. He’s got a memory for a lifetime.”

Curtis might have his toughest test yet in Ritchie, who has birdied 10 holes in two matches, neither of which were ever in doubt.

Ritchie bounced Chris Knoop 4 and 2, shaking off a few early bogeys and a one-hole deficit to lead from their fifth hole on.

“It definitely helps a lot when you can hit first and dictate play, keeping the ball in play always helps,” said Ritchie, who’s had his gallery grow each day.

“I kind of like the crowd … It doesn’t matter who I’m playing or who’s watching, I just try to play the best I can.”

On the other side of the draw, Crane got off to a hot start, leading Josh McPhail 3 up after four holes. McPhail battled back, however, coming up with massive par saves from brutal positions on Hole Nos. 1 and 2, then taking the third on a Crane three-put and fourth with a birdie.

But McPhail gave them back quickly and Crane iced it 3 and 1 with a long bunker shot he flawlessly blasted to a foot.

The other match wasn’t pretty. Nachtigall struggled early and Kolby Day chipped in for eagle on the 16th to go 2 up, then gave one back before Nachitgall stuffed one and birdied the 18th to tie it up.

Nachtigall pulled ahead with a birdie from the right bunker on the fourth, another circle on the fifth and a mistake by Day on the sixth.

Nachtigall birdied four of his last eight holes to get a shot at Crane, one of the most experienced players in the field.

“Definitely wasn’t my best stuff,” Nachtigall said. “It was ugly but that’s the beauty of match play. If both guys are struggling, it’s just whoever’s better and I was a bit better than Kolby (Thursday) … I’m glad it’s done, over with and moving on to (today).”

“I was definitely a lot better,” he added of the closing stretch. “I found a bit of a rhythm there, putts were starting to fall and short game was really good to get out of bunkers.”

Both matches feature a Wheat City Golf Course regular and a savvy veteran of architect Stanley Thompson’s undulating fairways and greens at Clear Lake.

It’s an evergreen storyline at the Tamarack as it’s revealed who’s good at Clear Lake and who’s flat-out good.

They aren’t quite the same — though Crane and Ritchie are 100 per cent both.

“This is the only time every year I play (at Clear Lake) so I’m not too familiar with the course,” Nachtigall said. “But I just got to be confident with my abilities. I know I can go out and play, I play lots of tournaments … I got to play the way I know I can and I’ll be fine.”

The semifinals begin on Hole No. 1 today at 8:12 a.m.

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