McDiarmid back in hunt for a Tamarack title

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This article was published 23/08/2022 (757 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WASAGAMING — Two precise hops and a gentle roll over the false front of the 14th green, it’s like Jack McDiarmid’s ball has eyes.

Even from a less than ideal spot near the left trees, the Tamarack golf tournament veteran does exactly what he needs to close out Rod Lindenberg 5 and 4 and reach the masters men’s championship flight semifinals.

“That comes with playing this golf course for 60 years. I know when I’m approaching the greens or putting on the greens I know where to hit it with confidence,” the four-time men’s champ said at Clear Lake Golf Course on Wednesday.

“… It feels amazing. I love the competition and it’s good to be back in a championship flight. Everybody in this flight is a good player.”

McDiarmid would have a strong case to be on the 89-year-old match-play tournament’s Mount Rushmore. He won his first in 1979, then followed up with victories in ’81, ’83 and ’87.

Until this year, the 68-year-old remained stubborn and teed it up in the men’s event. While he was 2 under through 14 holes on Wednesday and shot his age — 6-under 66 — in 2020, he feels masters is the right place for him.

“I walked around with Kody (Fawcett) and Jay (Thiesen) and Jarod (Crane) (Tuesday),” McDiarmid said, “and boy, they play a different game than even guys like me and my peers when we were playing here … so I’m right where I belong right now.”

McDiarmid was 25 when he won the first time, nearly two decades after he started learning the game from late Clear Lake pro Johnnie Lawrence. McDiarmid chuckles about how frustrating those lessons were for the kids since he wouldn’t let them hit a single real golf ball, only whacking plastic practice balls around.

There was, of course, a method to the madness. Lawrence made sure the kids were focused on making a good swing, not hitting the ball as hard as possible.

“I go back to my Johnnie Lawrence thoughts, one, two or three of them often to get myself back on track if I’m having a bad day or a bad stretch,” said McDiarmid, who grew up in Brandon and lives in Calgary.

McDiarmid will see a familiar face in Friday’s semifinals. He used to watch a young Ron Cornell chase his dad, Bob, around during their big Tamarack matches in the 1980s. Jack and Bob clashed in the ’83 final and now, following a dominant 7-and-6 triumph over Gerry Gourlay, Ron gets a dream match.

“I’ve idolized Jack my whole life,” said the defending masters men’s winner. “I was a junior when he was winning this thing and he’s one of my favourite people so I’m looking forward to playing with him.”

“It’s very, very cool because … some of the toughest matches I ever had were against his dad,” McDiarmid added. “His dad and I had a lot of really good matches. He was a hell of a competitor.”

In the other half of the draw, medallist Darren Graves dropped Kevin Ziolkowski 5 and 4 while Dale Murray ousted Keith Fawcett 4 and 3.

McDiarmid has nothing left to prove out here. His name etched all over the trophy in the Clear Lake pro shop proves that, but his drive to be his best every shot hasn’t faded one bit.

“I’m the hardest person on myself,” McDiarmid said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself because of the history I’ve had.”

“… For me, it’s good to get the competitive juices flowing again and having to make shots and bear down and concentrate, it’s kind of fun to do that again.”

• • •

In women’s scramble championship flight action, all the top seeds advanced.

Jayne Troop and Jody Bieber beat Lois Fowler and Laurie Hooke and will play April Popple and Sherri Ferguson, who downed Louise Meier and Shari Forsythe-Hohm.

Kaitlin Troop and Julia Reimer defeated Cathi Bowd and Rhonda Williams and take on Leslie Olson and Tracy Rutledge, who took down Becki and Mona Kille.

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