Chapdelaine wins South Zone, McCoy boys also gold
With scores that can range from under par to double par, high school golf tournaments can be an odd beast.
On Tuesday, the top players at the South Zone event in Lethbridge put on quite a show.
Hat High’s Matt Chapdelaine fired a 5-under 66 at Paradise Canyon, eagling the par 5 18th hole to beat Pincher Creek’s Ethan Choi of St. Michael’s by a stroke.
“Going into 18 I was just trying to make a birdie, hit a good drive and had a 6-iron (to the green),” said Chapdelaine. “I hit that to five feet and made the putt.”
Chapdelaine finished birdiepar-birdie-eagle to take the win and secure his spot at provincials in Calgary next week.
“I knew it was pretty good,” said the Grade 12 student. “It’s cool, I haven’t won a lot of tournaments so it’s good to win that one.”
Plenty of other Hat players advanced as well. Monsignor McCoy’s boys team of Caleb Kinch, Ryan Hodgins, Nolan Burzminski and Sam Bratvold won the 3A-4A division, combining to shoot a 2-over par 215 where their three best individual scores from each hole counted to the team. Kinch and Hodgins tied for third individually with evenpar 71’s, while Burzminski shot an 80 and Bratvold an 87. The whole team moves on to provincials.
“This was the first time in a team thing all four of us played together,” said Kinch, noting that Hodgins closed with a 30 on the back nine. “It’s fun, good playing with everybody.”
Chinook was second behind McCoy at 221, followed by Medicine Hat in third at 230. Magrath took the 1A-2A boys title by 15 strokes over St. Michael’s.
No Hat-area girls players advanced, as only two players broke 100 on the day. WR Myers’ Alanna Makarchuk won with an 80, followed by Chinook’s Chelsea Joseph at 85. Only three schools sent enough female players to be eligible for the team event, won by Catholic Central at the 3A-4A level and County Central at 1A2A.
Provincials are a 36-hole event, played this year at Springbank Links and River Spirit Sept. 24 and 25.