08-07-2025
Even par for Wood on opening day of Junior Boys tournament
History would say Payne Wood is due for a breakout.
His opening round at the provincial Junior Boys Championship supported that notion.
An even-par 72 has the Winnipeg teen tied for second place after Monday's first round at Quarry Oaks.
GOLF MANITOBA PHOTO
Payne Wood had the cleanest scorecard on the first day of the Junior Boys Championship golf tournament, recording 18 straight pars Monday at Quarry Oaks.
It's not his first time near the top of the leaderboard. Wood played in the final pairing en route to a solo-second finish in last year's event.
The St. Boniface member has also improved in each of his last three outings in this tournament, finishing tied-28th in 2022 and tied-14th in 2023 before ending one shot away from the winner's circle in 2024.
Entering Tuesday's second round tied with Liam Comaskey and Ryder St. Laurent, and one stroke off the lead held by Shilo's Spence Mott, Wood has all the experience he needs to stay in contention for another provincial title.
'A little bit, yeah,' Wood said about whether he's thought about how he's been improving his finishes in this tournament. 'I don't try to think too much of where I'm at, but I know what I'm capable of doing, and if I do that, I know I'm gonna be pretty high on the leaderboard. So it's mainly just sticking to a game plan and not worrying about what other people are doing around me, because I know if I play good golf, I'll be right up there.'
Close behind the four golfers who stayed out of plus numbers is Gavin Carver, who shot a 1-over 73; Nathan Hoogsteen, who recorded a 2-over 74; and a five-way tie for seventh place at 3-over between Ty Brewster, Terence Rafferty, Ethan Bayluk, Brady Comaskey and Tanner Gross.
No one finished with a cleaner scorecard in the opening round than Wood, who recorded 18 straight pars on the Oak and Desert nines of the 27-hole track. Like any round, there were a few putts he wished he could have back, but he also holed a few crucial par saves to maintain a solid score.
'There's some holes where I definitely could have made a putt for birdie, but other holes I had to fight for par a little bit, like those testers — five, six footers — that I had to make kind of kept me in it and kept the momentum going, too,' he said.
'But I didn't really give myself any short birdie putts where I should have capitalized on. So obviously I can't be mad with making 18 pars — even par, that's a good spot after the first day, but going into tomorrow, I know I can make more putts.'
The three-day event wraps up on Wednesday in Steinbach.
Mott fired a 1-under 71 on the strength of three birdies and a chip-in eagle on the par-5 seventh hole.
'It went good. I played really solid,' said the Westman teen. 'I started making a lot of putts. Just kept it in play, I didn't really give myself any chance of making big numbers.'
The 18-year-old admitted he's had a rough start to his summer that included failing to qualify for the Match Play Championship and missing the cut at the NextGen Western Championship.
His putting in particular has been, in his words, horrendous, which led him to buy a new flat iron recently in search of results. The new stick is already paying dividends.
What has also helped is managing his expectations. Mott enters this week without any, despite being one of the most experienced players in the field. Like Wood, he returns to the Junior Championship after a career-best finish in 2024, when he finished 12th.
'I definitely didn't have the most confidence, especially with the driver and the putter, which were the two main ones that kind of kept my scores back a bit,' he said. 'And I was also chasing birdies, like trying to force them, and today I just tried letting them come to me instead of forcing something good to happen, and it just kind of kept the big numbers away.'
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS FILES
Jeri Lafleche navigated a turbulent front nine to take a 1-under lead on the first day of the Junior Girls Championship golf tournament at Quarry Oaks.
Meanwhile, Niakwa's Jeri Lafleche navigated a turbulent front nine to a 1-under 71 and the lead in the Junior Girls Championship.
Lafleche recorded two pars, three birdies and four bogeys on the opening nine but found some consistency on the way in with seven pars and a pair of birdies.
'I'm happy with the way things ended,' she said. 'I think my game plan was good. I'm gonna try to change a few things going into tomorrow, but it was a good start.'
Lafleche trailed reigning champion Addison Kartusch for most of the day, but a double-bogey, bogey finish ended the St. Charles teen's round on a sour note as she carded a 1-over 73. The two golfers hold a sizeable lead over the rest of the field heading into Tuesday's second round.
Camryn Thomas is the closest at 8-over.
Lafleche, a junior bantam champion and two-time women's amateur winner, is seeking her first Junior Championship title. She has finished solo second in the event in each of the last two years, her closest call coming last year when she ended three shots back of Kartusch, whom she also lost to in this year's match play event.
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A win in her final crack at the junior title is weighing on her mind this week.
'I think with it being my last year to play, I definitely want to finish on a high note,' said Lafleche.
'I know my finishes in the past have been decent, but there's been some unforced mistakes that have maybe cost me it. But yeah, it's definitely a thought in my mind that I want to make sure I win this one before time runs out.'
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Joshua Frey-SamReporter
Josh Frey-Sam reports on sports and business at the Free Press. Josh got his start at the paper in 2022, just weeks after graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College. He reports primarily on amateur teams and athletes in sports. Read more about Josh.
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