Manitoba Amateur Golfing Champ
Brad Kirton captured the Labatt’s Manitoba amateur golfer of the year award last night at St. Boniface Golf Club, and it’s an honour he hopes he never wins again.
The 25-year-old Pine Ridge member won both the Manitoba men’s amateur and mid-amateur tournaments this year, and he is hoping to ride that momentum into the pro ranks next year.
“I definitely want to give it a shot,” Kirton said. “It’s something I think I have to do for my conscience, so I don’t always say, ‘What if?’
“I gotta give it a shot and say, ‘I did it. I gave it all I had.’ If that doesn’t turn out, then I’ll go back to school and work my ass off after that and go out in the so-called real world.”
The other award finalists were four-time winner Garth Collings of Breezy Bend, Matt Johnston of St. Charles and Kaitlin Troop of Brandon.
If things go according to plan, Kirton will attempt to qualify for the Canadian Tour at its annual spring qualifying school in May.
And if he plays as well in that pressure cooker as he did this past summer, he has a bright future. He had a two-shot win in the amateur and followed it up with a nine-shot triumph in the mid-amateur a week later.
Kirton was also the runner-up in the match play tournament, he guided Pine Ridge to the provincial interclub championship, he made to the second round of match play at the Canadian amateur, and he finished 15th in the national mid-amateur.
Could it have been any better?
“I could probably say yes and no,” Kirton said. “You can always wish for bigger and better things and playing a little bit better, but there’s also a lot of great things that happened that I never thought would have happened.”
Kirton’s acceptance speech last night was an emotional one, as his good friend Scotty Loewen’s father, Ernie, passed away last Thursday after a battle with a brain tumor.
Kirton vowed to take Ernie Loewen’s advice to heart as he embarks on a pro career.
“Ernie always said, ‘You got the tools, but you need the toolbox,’ ” Kirton said. “That maybe tweaked my perspective about it and made me realize you gotta be more mentally tough than you really think.
“So this award is dedicated to him. He was a good man, and he left a good legacy.”
http://winnipegsun.com/Sports/Golf/2007/10/23/4597741-sun.html
Sphere: Related Content