North Battleford golfers represent at NextGen Prairie Championship

Maunula shot a 73 in the final round and nearly achieved what every golfer dreams of.

“Par three, I almost got a hole in one. I was about two inches from the hole. That was probably one of the shots the weekend,” he said, mentioning that another player also hit their tee shot within six inches of the same hole.

It would not have been Maunula’s first hole-in-one, as he previously hit one on the third hole at NBGCC a couple of years ago.

While this was Maunula’s highest finish at the NextGen Prairie Championship in his fourth time playing in the tournament, it was not his best score. The result gives him confidence that he can contend for and possibly win future events of this calibre.

“I know that I can do this. So, you just play golf and you don’t have to really force anything. It just kind of comes more naturally.”

The only other golfer from North Battleford who made the cut was Finn Silver, who tied for 33rd place.

“It was a good time there, a big tournament and really nice course,” said Silver.

“I played decent the first two days and made the cut and then struggled on the last day. But it was a fun time playing that big tournament with Golf Canada.”

Silver said he was playing well through the front nine of the final round, but nerves got to him during the back nine.

“I knew that if I wanted to get up like in the top ten, I’d have to shoot really low. I think I got nervous and then my putting was really bad the last eight holes.”

For future tournaments, Silver mentioned the importance of taking things one shot at a time.

“I just got to learn to handle my nerves better and not get too ahead of myself and more focused on each shot and not so much my score.”

Silver and Maunula will play in the Golf Saskatchewan junior championships at The Legends Golf Club in Warman from July 7 to 9, as well as the amateur and mid-amateur championships at Golf Kenosee in Kenosee Lake from July 14 to 17.

The Canadian Junior Boys Championship is also in Regina from Aug. 11 to 14, which Maunula said he hopes to qualify for to represent Saskatchewan.

“There’s a couple of us juniors from North Battleford for that of a very good chance. So, it’d be awesome to have a couple of us be able to play in that tournament.”

Alongside Maunula and Silver, the following golfers also represented the Battlefords at the tournament but did not make the cut:

Braxton Lavertu

Hayden Solomko

Josh Iverson

Natalie Maunula

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Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com

by Ryan Lambert

North Battleford golfers represent at NextGen Prairie Championship

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