Fleming wins golf Open
Crossfield teen makes late charge to post ‘crazy’ three-shot victory
“Crazy,” said Riley Fleming, succinctly summing up his victory in the two-day Alberta Open golf championship. “Real crazy.” It was a pretty good word choice, given that the Crossfield, Alta., golfer’s chances weren’t looking very good when he staggered away from the par-5 11th hole at the RedTail Landing Golf Club with a snowman, triple-bogey eight.
“I thought it was a hole I could easily make birdie on. No problem. Instead, I hit it in the water. I hit a high fade and the wind just knocked it down and bled it into the water. And then I just made mistake after mistake.
“I thought I might have lost the tournament there.”
Instead Fleming, just a 19-year-old amateur, rebounded with a ton of poise, birdieing four of his last five holes to post a three-shot victory over Calgary teaching professional Darryl James, who finished alone in second after chipping in with a flop shot on the final hole.
Four golfers — Edmonton’s Andrew Funk, Broadmoor’s Danny Sahl, and Calgary’s Sang Gyun Lee and first-round leader Jesse Galvon — tied for third.
“I owe a lot to my caddie Austin Cruickshank. He kept me calm. Especially after what I did on No. 11. He told me to forget about it and move on. I wouldn’t have won it without him.
“Every swing, every shot, every putt he kept telling me, ‘Smooth and slow.’
“Austin and I played junior golf together. He’s a great friend and he knows plenty about golf. It was just nice to have someone to talk to.”
A tall, strapping, long hitter, Fleming started his comeback and birdie barrage with a two-putt birdie on the long, 602-yard, par-5 14th hole.
“I bombed a driver over the corner and had 220 yards in. I ripped a four-iron to 20 feet and just about made the eagle putt.”
Then after needing to make a lengthy par putt on 15, he drove the green — cutting off the dogleg and flying all the greenside bunkers — on the 335-yard, 16th hole and twoputted for another birdie.
Still not done, Fleming sank a 25-foot putt — pumping his arm in glee — on No. 17 and then finished it off hitting a seven-iron — into the wind — from 162 yards to a foot.
“I can’t think of a better way to finish off the round and the tournament. Pretty sweet.
“I really lit it up coming home.”
With no scoreboards, none of the golfers really knew where they stood.
“I kept asking people if they had any idea what was going on behind and in front of me,” said Fleming, who started the final round in the secondlast grouping. “But I just kept playing aggressive. It’s the way I play. I figured I should stick to my game and — win or lose — I’d rather at least do what I like doing. Live by the sword. Die by the sword. I guess it worked out.” Did it ever. “I made some really good putts and I chipped really well. I hit a lot of greens, but when I didn’t, I was able to chip it up close. Except for No. 11 I think I got all of my ups and downs,” said Fleming, who started Thursday’s final round with consecutive birdies on the first two holes.
The winner of both the Alberta and B.C. amateur championships in a span of just nine days last year, Fleming now has a decision to make: when to turn professional.
“I probably won’t turn pro until next year. I’m still in school; I just finished my freshman year at Texas Arlington.
“Winning amateur events is one thing. But to win a professional event is something else. To back up the two provincial Amateurs with this is pretty cool. Pretty unbelievable.
“I know I can play with professionals now. There were unbelievable players in this tournament. ... It gives me a lot of confidence.
“I couldn’t be happier to win this thing. But it was so crazy.” STOCK REPORT: As the low professional, James picked up the $5,000 first-place cheque. “Would I have liked to win the tournament? Absolutely. But it’s the money that we play for so this was really good,” said James, a six-time Willingdon Cup team member, four-time Alberta Amateur champion and the leader of the PGA’s Order of Merit three times.