Lepine claims first men’s city golf championship

Runner-up in 2018 cards one of four 69s at Lynbrook to edge Bearchell by single stroke

Nick Lepine came close to winning the Moose Jaw men’s city golf championship last year without actually claiming the title – a loss in a playoff to Trevor Benson saw the Lynbrook Golf Club standout landing in second place in the closest of fashions.

And sure enough, the first-round leader in the 2019 championship found himself in another battle on Sunday afternoon at the Lynbrook as former provincial junior champion Leighton Bearchell gave chase. Lepine went into the second round with a one-shot lead after an opening round 71 at the Hillcrest Sports Centre Saturday, with Bearchell a single shot back. In the end, Lepine would be up to the task as he and Bearchell each carded two-under par 69s, giving Lepine his first men’s city championship.

“It was a really good round; we were all playing well and it was good to get the win,” Lepine said shortly after accepting the championship trophy from The Sweet Spot’s Carlo Berardi. “The first two holes I eagle-birdied and put a bit of space between us, but then a few misses by me and good shots by him and he capitalized on some opportunities. Before you knew it, we were right neck-and-neck again.” Lepine wasted little time getting things going on Sunday, eagling the 462-yard par five first hole and following with a birdie on the second. Bearchell went birdie-par to start, giving Lepine a three-shot cushion right off the bat. Bearchell wouldn’t go quietly, though, and with Lepine recording bogeys on six, seven and nine, he responded back-toback birdies on the final two holes of the front nine to see both players record 35s and right back at square one.

“It makes you think a lot more, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Lepine said of the close battle. “It doesn’t make you focus on the shot so much, kind of takes your mind away from it, but it all worked out.”

Things became very interesting when Bearchell birdied the 11th to Lepine’s par, tying things up with seven holes to play. Two holes later, Lepine was once again up by a pair after taking a birdie on the 13th to Bearchell’s bogey.

A birdie on 17 saw Bearchell once again close to within one, setting up a tense final hole that saw both players with long putts after dropping their approach shots 20 feet out on the left side of the green. Both two-putted to card identical 69s and give Lepine the title.

Defending champion Trevor Benson finished four shots back at 75-69-144 to take third place, while Shawn Loney had the fourth 69 of the day to finish 76-69-145. The win marked the latest golf milestone for Lepine this season, as earlier this summer he shot a 63 to set a new course record at the Lynbrook.

“I know when I hit the record there, I credited to Craig and Trevor (Benson), I can’t thank them enough for how much they’ve helped me,” Lepine said. “Then just coming out here to the Lynbrook, it’s nothing but good people out here, I golf with boys like Alf Paul, Brett Sentes, Shawn Muchowski, it makes it fun coming out all the time and when you’re enjoying yourself you’re going to get better and better playing the game. So I just love coming out here and it’s nice to get this win.” Chris Knopp followed an opening round 80 with a 70 on Sunday to finish with a 150 total and take first place in the first flight while Doug Maes (92-79-171) took top spot in the second flight.

Alexandr Pashin scored the eventual game-winning goal 8:38 into the third period to give Russia a 3-2 victory over Moose Jaw Warriors defenceman Daemon Hunt and Team Canada in the final of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup on Saturday, Aug. 10. The goal was Pashin’s second of the game after he gave Russia a 1-0 lead with the lone goal of the first period 3:45 into the contest. Quinton Byfield of the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves got Canada on the board with a power play marker 3:03 into the second, but the 1-1 tie would barely last five minutes before Vasili Ponomaryov gave Russia back the lead at the 8:09 mark.

Pashin then added his game winner midway through the final frame before Jean-Luc Foudy of the Windsor Spitfires pulled Canada within one with 4:59 to play. Despite the final score, Canada dominated play, outshooting Russia 37-13 in the contest, including 10-3 in the second period and 13-3 in the third. Russia’s Yaroslav Askarov was more than up to the task, though, with his 35 save performance including a handful of highlight reel stops in the two minutes as Canada pressed for the tying goal with their net empty.

Dylan Garand of the Kamloops Blazers turned aside 19 shots in the Team Canada goal. Canada was undefeated heading into the final, having defeated Finland 6-0, Switzerland 8-0 and Czech Republic 7-1 in the round robin before edging Sweden 3-2 in the semifinal.

Hunt saw action in each of Canada’s five games at the tournament in Piestany, Slovakia but was held off the scoresheet offensively and didn’t take a penalty.

Canada has now won 26 medals in the 29-year history of the tournament, with 22 gold, three silver and one bronze.

Earlier on Aug. 10, Team Sweden and Moose Jaw Warriors prospect Jesper Wallstedt won bronze with a 5-1 win over Finland.