A local team out of the Carman Golf and Curling Club recently took home the 2024 Prairie Putter Championship in a playoff.
The Prairie Putter Golf League includes teams from Portage, Bridges, Carman, Scotswood, Morden, and Winkler. Each team plays a home and away game on Monday nights against the other teams throughout the summer. Each team has an 8-12 player roster, with six people playing each week.
The champion team from Carman featured Bobby McNair, Brock Vanderveen, Craig Johnston, Shawn Major, Ryan Orchard and Mike Hetherington (captain). Alternates on the team included Brook McGillivary, Reid North, Mason Metcalf, Jared Aubin, Blair Mutcher and Chris Swaenepoel.
In the Prairie Putter championship final, Carman played off against Morden at the Portage Golf Club in a tightly contested match that went the distance. Carman’s Craig Johnston sunk a ten-foot putt after the Morden team made par to make the birdie and win the final hole, which forced a playoff.
For the playoff, each team picked two players from their team and returned to the 18th hole to face off. Carman chose Ryan Orchard and Bobby McNair as their players.
“It was really dark at this time, to the point where the rest of the guys on each team were parked in the landing area off the tee to make sure we had eyes on where their shots ended up,” said Carman team captain Michael Hetherington. “Both of our players hit great drives in the middle; Morden lost one of theirs, and the other was in the rough, so from this point, it was essentially a two-on-one.”
Ryan Orchard then hit a great shot to have about 15 feet left for birdie. Morden’s remaining player missed their par putt, so Orchard had two putts for the win. Orchard nestled his first putt up to the hole with less than a foot remaining and proceeded to tap it in, clinching the win for Carman.
“It was fitting that it went to a playoff as Morden and us were separated by only one point in the season standings,” said Hetherington. “We were super excited to get our first Prairie Putter championship. Congratulations to Morden on a great season, as they’ve made the finals every year and have won it twice themselves.”
