The third time was the charm for Unity's Justin Wood.
After coming home in second place in 2014 and tying for 10th spot a year ago, Wood won the Saskatchewan Men's Amateur golf championship Thursday at The Legends Golf Course in Warman.
“It's just kind of starting to set in for me now,” Wood said. “I'm at my apartment here looking at the trophy and the medal and I've finally had some time to reflect on everything.
“It's awesome to be able to win the provincial title and to have all of the hard work that I've put in pay off.”
Despite his huge accomplishment Thursday, Wood did get a harsh dose of reality Friday morning as he returned to his day job at the Elmwood Golf Club in Swift Current.
“That was a bit of a rude awakening,” Wood laughed. “My alarm went off at 5:30 for my 6 a.m. shift, so it was back to the grind right away.
“I can't complain too much though. I'm working at a golf course during the summer.”
Although Wood had done well in his previous trips to the provincial tournament, he felt like the key to his success last week had more to do with his strong showing out on the course in recent weeks.
“I was hitting the ball really well and I knew that would be key to doing well in the tournament,” Wood said. “I was putting and chipping very well also, which is something I have really been focussing on.
“I would have to say my putting was the biggest difference during the tournament. I was able to limit my three-putts for the most part and I made a few longer putts to help out my overall score.”
After starting the tournament with a one-under par round of 71 on Monday to sit in a tie for seventh place, Wood fired off a three-under par round of 69 in the second round to take a two-shot lead over Prince Albert's Brett Henry.
A windy round Wednesday put Wood and Henry into a tie for the lead as they headed into the final round.
“It was awesome to play with Brett on all four days of the tournament, as we were back and forth for the entire time,” Wood said.
“We had a five-shot lead on the rest of the field going into Thursday but we knew that there would be someone behind us that would be making a charge. Jehremy (Ryde) did that and there were a couple of other guys there in the mix as well, which made it exciting.”
Wood shot a one-over par 73 to beat Ryde by two strokes, although there were a few anxious moments on the last hole as he double-bogeyed the par-five 18th.
“I made a mess of that one,” Wood said. “I made a couple of poor decisions and as a result I had a couple of bad shots.
“When I finally got on the green I had a 10-foot putt for a bogey so if I three-putted I would still be able to win by a shot. When I marked the ball on the green I knew I was going to win, but I had to still focus out there.”
While Wood's round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-five sixth hole, he felt that his most important shots came on the back nine.
“The 14th hole is a tough par three and I watched Jehremy make a bogey right in front of me,” Wood said. “I was able to make a 15-footer for par and that was huge for me.
“I made another great shot on the 16th hole as I used my pitching wedge to get the ball to about a foot and a half for a birdie. That gave me a four-shot lead, which turned out to be massive given what happened on the last hole.”
Wood, who is heading into his senior year on the golf team at the University of Montevallo in Alabama, will be heading to Ottawa, Ont. from Aug. 8-11 for the Canadian Men's Amateur Championship.
“This will be my third time there and it has such a different feel to the other events I've been at,” Wood said. “The top players in Canada are there and you have to play well in order to have a chance to win. You can't get away with poor ball striking or just get by on luck.
“For me the biggest goal is to make the cut, which I haven't done yet at that event. I'd love to have a shot to make it in the top 25, but the main goal is to do well in the first two rounds in order to have a shot at being there for the final two days.”
Kristan Houk of North Battleford also took part in the tournament last week and finished in 35th place.
Meanwhile, Battleford's Colby Friedrich turned in a strong performance in the Saskatchewan Junior Men's Under 15 and Under 13 championship, which also took place in Warman last week.
Friedrich, who plays at the North Battleford Golf and Country Club, finished in third place and shot a two-under par 74 in the second round.
