THUNDER BAY -- Brett Shewchuk is a back-to-back champion at the Strathcona Invitational.
The Thunder Bay golfer captured the second local major of the season, winning the championship flight 1-up over runner-up Jeremy Kirk on Monday, a roller coaster ride that saw Shewchuk 1-down after 15 holes.
But he made a chip shot to a foot on the par 5 16th and drained the birdie putt to even the match, then took the lead for good on the 17th when Kirk made a two-putt bogey and Shewchuk made par.
Shewchuk then dropped a seven-footer on 18 for birdie to clinch the match.
“It was hard work today. I had two great matches today against Evan DeGrazia and Jeremy Kirk, just as close as it gets,” Shewchuk said.
“I needed to make a putt on 18 to win both of them.”
The flat stick came through in the crunch, especially on the final hole.
Both Kirk and Shewchuk nailed drives that landed in the fringe.
Kirk chose to putt from about 10 feet off the green, Shewchuk electing to chip.
“It wasn’t a very good chip,” Shewchuk said. “I did crush the drive. I hit the driver well all weekend. I just made the putt when I needed to.”
Both golfers struggled on the front, but they made the turn all square.
Shewchuk went up one on 10, but the 19-year-old Kirk answered back, taking the 11th with a par.
He’d do it again on 13, after a birdie on 12 gave his opponent a 1-up lead once again.
Kirk took a 1-up lead of his own on 15, landing his second shot on par 5 hole’s green and two-putting for birdie, while Shewchuk settled for par.
He just couldn’t hang on over the final three holes.
Kirk, who plays at the University of North Dakota, said it was a good run, but his work on the green let him down.
“It turned into a putting contest there. We both didn’t hit it quite as well as we had in previous rounds and matches, but he made some clutch putts coming down the stretch, so he deserves it,” said Kirk, who knocked off Mark Willianen in the semifinal earlier in the day.
In the senior division, Randy Fossum edged Peter Danielsson to take the crown. Ron Kehl downed Kim Hutch in the super senior category and Tuevo Aapro took the masters’s division with a win over Doug Kukko.
