Amateur defends title
Riley Fleming and his caddie Austin Cruickshank spent the 40-minute drive from Fleming’s house to Sundre Golf Club talking about what it was going to take to defend his Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship.
The plan worked to perfection, as the Collicutt Siding Golf Club product raised the trophy on Friday afternoon after a remarkable comeback from nine strokes down at the start of the final round.
“We just figured that every look I had (at birdie) I had to try to make the putt, and we just had to go at it really hard to give myself a chance going into the last few holes,” said Fleming, who won the title on the last day of his 19th year.
“That’s all I could ask for ... I didn’t like the thought of giving up my title. I quite like being the Alberta (Amateur) champion, and today it all just worked in my favour and I played one of the best rounds I’ve ever played.”
Fleming made good on his quest to make birdie putts as he collected nine of them en route to a 5-under 67 on Friday to grab the one stroke win over Evan Holmes (Earl Grey) — the tournament’s leader after Rounds 1, 2 and 3.
The summer of 2013 has been good to the golfer from Airdrie, who also captured the Alberta Open Championship title in late June at Edmonton’s RedTail Landing Golf Club.
The tournament looked all but wrapped up Thursday night when Holmes extended his lead to nine shots. However, the 18-year-old shot his worst round of the 72-hole event on Friday, carding a 5-over 77 to finish in second place. His day started with a double bogey on the Par 3 second hole that was followed up with another bogey on No. 9. On the back, a birdie on No. 11 seemed to turn things around for him, but three bogeys in his final six holes opened the door for Fleming.
“He’s one of the most class acts I’ve ever met,” Fleming said of Holmes. “You never want to wish bad on anybody, but the only way I was going to win was if it all worked in my favour (Friday), and unfortunately for him, it did.”
On the flip side, Fleming came out hot and notched birdies on five of his first six holes to shoot 32 on the front. He rebounded from a double bogey on No. 10 with backto-back birdies on his next two holes.
A bogey on No. 17 left Fleming needing a birdie for the win on the final hole and he did just that to become the first repeat winner since Brent Osachoff (Country Hills) won in 1998 and 1999.
“It kind of freed me up a little bit,” said the University of Texas-Arlington athlete of the hot start. “You go 5-under through six (holes), you’re like, ‘Whoa, this is pretty low.’ I was able to let myself keep chasing instead of getting really caught up in what I was doing.”
Last year, Fleming needed a playoff to win at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club. He admits he was thinking about that while stepping on the final tee box of the day.
“I was shaking and pretty pumped up,” said Fleming of his reaction when he made birdie on No. 18. “Once I took a few breaths and Evan lined his putt up, then that’s when I realized he had to make this for a playoff now, and if he didn’t make it, it’s over, it’s done.”
Heritage Pointe’s Jesse Galvon finished in third place at a combined 2-under par. Fleming, Holmes and Galvon will now team up to represent Alberta at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship from Aug. 6 to 9 at the Royal Col- wood Golf Club in Victoria, B.C.
NOTES: Calgary Jennifer Ha captured the 112th Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur Championship Friday afternoon at the Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash.
Ha, the No. 19 seed in the event, defeated Caroline Inglis of Eugene, Ore., in the final 36-hole match play event, winning 2 and 1.
The Glencoe Golf and Country Club member started out the event with an easy win in the round of 32, before beating the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Kendell Prince, in the round of 16. She then captured her quarter-final (6 and 4 over Aubrie Street) and semifinal (19 holes, Morgan Thompson) match to earn a trip to the final against Inglis.