THUNDER BAY -- Two weeks ago, Matt Marshall almost gave up the game of golf.
Mired in a season-long slump, the Reno, Nev. native called his closest friends and confidantes, asking advice on what he should do.
They encouraged him to keep going.
But it wasn’t enough.
Oddly enough, he found his inspiration while sleeping.
“To be here right now is really quite a 180 for me,” said Marshall, who sits tied atop the opening-round leaderboard with Canadian Michael Gligic at the Staal Foundation Open at Whitewater Golf.
“But after Saskatoon I literally had a dream that I need to switch to a Scotty Cameron putter. So I bought one the next day and since then I’ve been making a lot of putts.”
Thank you Golf Town.
It’s been a frustrating year for Marshall, who has made just one cut in five Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada events this season, winning just $1,335, all of it coming last weekend in Winnipeg at the Players Cup.
“It was just a bad year overall, the start. There’s a lot going on, just been grinding it out for a while now. It kind of all hit me in Saskatoon. I was almost over it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep playing.”
He had it all together on Day 1 in Thunder Bay.
Marshall fired five birdies on the front nine and four more on the back in a five-hole stretch to close out the round.
A bogey on 16 was all the inspiration he needed for the birdie-birdie finish.
“I three-putted 16, which was frustrating. I hit a good putt, but put myself in an awkward position and I really wanted to get it back. Birdying 17 was great and making the one on 18 was just kind of the icing on the cake.”
Burlington, Ont.’s Gligic and Elk River, Minn.’s Rask learned their lesson on the course on Thursday, each running into trouble on the tricky par 4 11th hole.
Both found the bush, Gligic settling for bogey and Rask digging a deep trench two holes into his round with an ugly triple.
Both put their mistake behind them, Gligic roaring back for a share of the lead and Rask making 10 birdies on his final 16 holes to sit a shot back.
It’s a good feeling, said Gligic.
“I haven’t been here since last year,” said Gligic, a native of Burlington, Ont., on topping the field on Day 1 at Whitewater Golf Club.
“I’m just going to treat it like another day and tomorrow’s just another round of golf and there’s still 54 holes left with a hell of a lot of good players behind me. I can’t let off the gas by any means. I need to keep going and hopefully keep making birdies tomorrow.”
Gligic’s card contained 10 birdies and just two bogeys on the day, including two separate three-straight stretches, one on each nine.
He’ll need to keep going low, if Round 1 is any indication.
There are seven golfers tied for third at six-under par, four more at five-under par, including Masters participant Corey Conners, and 16 more four shots off the lead at -4.
Rask took a simplified approach to his start.
“The way I look at it, it’s the same as making three bogeys throughout the round and I’ve done that before and gotten it to three or four under,” Rask said.
“I just told myself it’s just a little deeper hole early, but there are lots of chances out here. The course is awesome, so you get it on the green and give yourself opportunities.”
Thursday’s tee times were pushed back an hour because of heavy rains that hit the area.
