Penner gets assist from 7-year-old son in Mid-Amateur win

Doug Penner had the benefit of experience on his side, and yet it was his far less seasoned caddy whom he credited for helping him capture the Golf Manitoba Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Quarry Oaks on Wednesday.

The Steinbach local’s tournament-low seven-under 65 in the final round to win by a pair of strokes was aided by his seven-year-old son, Liam, whose young eyes helped his father read some tricky greens as they enjoyed a high-stakes day on the links together.

“Surprisingly, he calms me down, gets me into the zone and made some good reads,” said Penner, who grew up playing at Quarry Oaks and now golfs out of the Steinbach Fly-In. “He helped quite a bit. He’s only seven, but he’s into golf, and he knows the game, so very special having him on the bag.”

The tournament was scheduled to take place in Gilbert Plains, but massive flooding forced a change to Quarry Oaks. That was a benefit for Penner, the former golf professional at La Broquerie Golf Course who grew up playing at Quarry and now owns Doener Grill Express.

“It’s target golf out here, so lots of four-iron off the tee box, mini driver, keeping the big driver in the bag and not pulling it out too much,” Penner told the Brandon Sun.

“When I did, it worked out well.”

Penner began the day four strokes back of Evan Nachtigall, and that deficit quickly became five after he bogeyed the opening hole. That was the only blip in his round, as Penner poured in eight birdies on the ensuing 17 holes to finish the 54-hole tournament 12-under par (204), two shots clear of Nachtigall and David Spurr.

“Very special. I shot really low, 65, and it’s hard to put into words actually. Started with a bogey and then just kind of coasted, stuck to my strategy and had a fun time out there,” said Penner, who maintained a simple game plan throughout the event.

“Keep it in play off the tee box and attack pins. Just do your best on every shot, commit to every shot and hopefully things turn out, and they did.”

Penner’s day was punctuated on the 16th hole when he drove the par-4 green. He missed the eagle putt but made no mistake in cleaning up for birdie to take his first lead of the tournament.

“I didn’t look at the leaderboard until after I hit my approach shot (on the 18th hole),” he said, “so I was just trying to stay right in the zone — each shot, fully committed.”

The result was surely disappointing for Nachtigall, who set the course ablaze with rounds of 68 and 67 during Tuesday’s 36-hole marathon, but the Elmhurst member can’t hang his head too much after carding a one-under 71 in the final round.

“I don’t really feel like I lost the tournament — Doug obviously played phenomenal so you can’t really do much about that,” Nachtigall told the Brandon Sun.

“There are a few shots here and there that kind of sting. I stuck to my game plan well, hit the ball awesome and couldn’t get any putts to fall, so that’s kind of frustrating.”

Spurr began the day three strokes back of Nachtigall and made an admirable run at the crown, firing a bogey-free five-under 67 in the final 18. Spurr didn’t go home empty-handed, winning the Mid-Masters Championship by a convincing 13 strokes.

It’s another medal for the Elmhurst member, who won the provincial men’s Match Play Championship earlier this summer.

“It was the main goal at the start of the year,” Spurr said of the Mid-Masters crown. “It was one that I felt was pretty achievable, so to get it done, I’m pretty happy. The match play was a bit of a surprise for myself. I didn’t expect to have this much of a lead in this one, but I was really happy with the way I played the last two days. Super thrilled to get another one.”

Jordy Lutz was fourth at 7-under (209), while Allan McDonald was the only other player to finish in red figures at 3-under 213.