THUNDER BAY – Opening the day with a five-shot lead, Brett Shewchuk was still nervous about his position atop the Teleco District Amateur leader board.
The wind was howling Monday at Whitewater Golf Club, which can lead to crooked numbers in a hurry with a wayward shot or two.
It didn’t help that he opened with a double-bogey at the first.
But Shewchuk quickly showed the mettle of a champion, birdying the second hole to right the ship, and despite a little shaky play on his final nine, easily cruised to a seven-shot win over two-time defending champion Colin Sobey and Jeremy Kirk.
It was the third District Amateur championship for Shewchuk, who punctuated his round with an uphill putt for eagle on his final hole and finished the day with a hard-fought, 2-over 74, winding up with a three-day total of 211 at the final local major of the season.
“To save double on one was actually great, because I played three off the tee and then I hit it over the green and managed to get up and down from behind the green, which is kind of nuts,” said Shewchuk, also a three-time winner at the Strathcona Invitational.
“I almost drove the green on two, so that was just a chip and a putt for a birdie to bounce back and kind of settle in.”
Despite the distance between Shewchuk and second place, there was a time the final result was in doubt.
After hitting his tee shot on 12 into the woods, the 28-year-old was forced to scramble to save a bogey on the tricky par 5, while Sobey, playing in the group ahead, sank a 10-footer for birdie to cut his deficit to four.
Nathanael Moulson, who shot his way out of second flight to enter the final round of the 54-hole tournament five back of the lead, was only three back at the time.
Shewchuk took the conservative approach the rest of the way.
He barely missed a nine-foot birdie putt on the par 3 13th, then played fairway to green on the final five holes, a three-putt bogey on No. 16 the only blemish as he made his way home.
“When it’s windy like this, you’re always worried about hitting one up into the air and trying to keep it in play between the trees out here. A lot of times I’d think like that, if I thought I could get to the bush with one club or if I couldn’t I’d hit another one,” Shewchuk said.
Any thoughts of a final round comeback were quickly dashed, Kirk said. Shewchuk made sure of that.
“Today was obviously tough with the wind. It was hard to get the ball close and Brett made some really big putts. He putted great and he deserves every bit of it because he played so well,” Kirk said.
Moulson finished solo first after a 5-over 77, for a three-day total of 219. Jack Moro wrapped up the top five with a 9-over 224 total.
Only six of the 55 golfers scored in the 70s on Monday.
