Birdies scare off The Bogeyman
Six-year Niagara junior tour veteran earns her first victory
For once The Bogeyman made only a cameo appearance when Sasha Baker competed on the Niagara District Junior Golf Tour.
Instead of sharing equal billing, as he did Monday at Lookout Point, four double bogeys, four bogeys; and a day later at Legends on the Niagara, three double bogeys, three bogeys; he was practically a no-show when the tour visited Twenty Valley on Wednesday.
Only a one over on par-5 No. 15 marred an otherwise remarkable round for Baker at the par-72 course in Vineland.
Four birdies more than made up for the lone bogey as she finished with a 3-under 69 for her first victory in six years on the tour.
Bogeys have been bane of the 17-year-old Dunnville native’s game for as long as she can remember. “I usually have quite a few,” she said. “The birdies just kind of even it out for me.
“But today I guess they just evened out to go under par.”
Her putting came up big at Twenty Valley, the Dunnville
Golf Club member’s 18-hole home away from home.
“I had a few very long putts for par.”
On Wednesday, instead of requiring a tap-in, resulting in a bogey, they ended up going in.
Baker said she started thinking about finishing with par or better on every hole when she was 3under-par through 15 holes.
“I thought if we just par these next three holes, it’s fine, we’ll be good,” she said. “I wasn’t really focusing on my score, I just knew I was playing well.
“It’s easy to keep track of when you’re playing and you know you’re under par.”
Baker made a conscious effort not to think about her game too much.
“I was trying to not let it get into my head, and I think that’s
what helped.”
Emily White, who wound up seventh in the under-19 girls flight with an 95, kept encouraging Baker, her playing partner.
“She kept saying, ‘Keep it up,’ that support helped me a lot today.”
For Baker, striking the right balance between the physical and the mental aspects of golf is “so important.”
“I think that when I overthink too much, I think the wrong thing, that’s when it goes wrong,” she said. “Today, I just tried to keep level-headed, and I think that went well for me.”
On Tuesday, she shot 80 at Legends — the result of a “bad stretch” in which she went a combined seven over on three holes — after starting the week carding 84 at the Lookout Point tour stop.
Green power
What a difference a day makes.
After finishing fifth Tuesday at Legends, eight over with an 80, Mike Athoe set the pace the very next day when the tour visited Twenty Valley.
“Today I was hitting a lot more greens, my irons were a lot more solid,” the 18-year-old Fort Erie native and Bridgewater Country Club member said. “I decided to think more on the temple of my swing, get it down pat and make sure I was doing well.
“My tee shots were a lot different, too, making sure I was inside the fairway getting myself into good position.”
The strength of the Niagara College electrical engineering student’s game is “all about putting.”
“You can go up and down, but you have to make those puts to make par,” he said. “If you’re not making par, you’re making big numbers.
“If I’m on the green putting for bird, then I know I am in.”
So is Mike (Skip) Athoe a consistent golfer?
“I would like to say I am, but my game would say no,” he answered with a chuckle.
“It’s usually my driving that’s my downfall.
“If that’s good all day, then I’m doing pretty good.”