The state of Canadian men’s pro golf has never been better, with no shortage of star swingers competing on the big stage.
So why hasn’t a homegrown product been able to capture the CentrePort Canada Rail Park Manitoba Open since way back in 2009 when Graham DeLaet accomplished the feat?
A mystery, for sure, especially since plenty of Canadian players have won other events north of the border — most recently A.J. Ewart of British Columbia just last week at the PGA Tour Americas stop in Saskatchewan.
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Four-time Manitoba amateur champ Braxton Kuntz is one of the many Canadians teeing it up at this week’s Manitoba Open.
Perhaps this could be the year. Noah Steele of Kingston, Ont., is off to a strong start after a six-under 66 on Thursday at Southwood Golf & Country Club. That has the 26-year-old graduate of Sam Houston State University three shots off the lead, held by a trio of American players, and tied for top score among the 21 Canadians in the field this week.
A pair of Alberta-born players, Max Sekulic and Piercen Hunt, joined Steele at six-under.
“I just did a good job of being in position. I think I read the wind, the conditions well,” said Steele, who was in the first group of the day to tee off.
That was originally supposed to be at 7:30 a.m., but morning rain and storms pushed it back two hours.
“My alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. I pulled into the (golf course) parking lot at 6:15 to see a 6:14 update that we were delayed,” said Steele. “I quickly left and went over to Starbucks and sat down for a bit and had an extra coffee.”
Perhaps the jolt of caffeine was the boost he needed.
Steele, a member of the national team who is coached by Winnipeg’s Derek Ingram, has played in 42 career events and is still looking for his first top-three finish. He’s missed the cut in six out of 13 tournaments this year, including the past two weeks, and sits 110th on the points list.
“This season has been challenging. I’ve been learning a lot and working really hard. Things have been getting closer but haven’t been seeing a ton of results,” said Steele.
“I’m not trying to look ahead too much. Just be where I’m at, play hard and try to keep doing that.”
Steele’s week so far has also included a visit to Camp Manitou as part of the True North Youth Foundation, which is the charitable arm of this golf tournament.
“It was refreshing to see a lot of happy kids having a great opportunity to enjoy a lot of great activities that we got to be a part of,” said Steele, listing rock climbing, canoeing and archery among them.
“I told one of the volunteers I would consider coming up a day early if I’m here again to spend a full day at the camp. It was awesome.”
Steele has watched the likes of countrymen Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor and Taylor Pendrith become household names on the PGA Tour and would likely to eventually add his to that list.
“Canada golf is really, really strong. We’ve got an incredible support system with Golf Canada and the national team,” he said.
“We’ve got a really deep group of guys that are capable of playing great golf.”
Other top Canadians through 18 holes at Southwood include Thomas Giroux (Ontario), Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver) and Joey Savoie (Quebec), who all posted 67s. Two others — Jake Lane (Vancouver) and Lawren Rowe (Victoria) — were five-under par through 17 holes when play was halted due to darkness.
Matthew Anderson of Ontario, who entered play this week No. 1 on PGA Tour Americas points list, fired a four-under 68. Ewart shot an even-par 72 in his attempt to win back-to-back events.
“It’s crazy that it’s been 15 years (since a Canadian won in Manitoba),” said Steele. “Hopefully we can update that at some point here.”
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Mike McIntyre
Sports reporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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