Barry Wright
He would have preferred hoisting the trophy at the conclusion of the Ping Canadian College Athletic Association Golf Championships.
But Steve Brown of Lambton College says his second place finish at the Chilliwack, B.C. event was a nice way to cap off his college golf career.
“I was glad to represent the school well with a silver medal,” he said.
The medal is the first ever won by a Lambton athlete in golf on a national stage.
The 26-year-old, who qualified for the national event by tying for fifth at the Ontario College Championships in Welland last month, took a two-shot lead into the final round of the tournament, but his even par 72 wasn’t enough as he finished two shots behind Quebec's Etienne Papineau.
Papineau finished in a tie for tenth at the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup earlier this season.
After opening with rounds of 69 and 67, Brown says the difference in the third round was his putter.
“The putts that fell yesterday (in the second round), today they just burned some edges and didn't fall.”
He had five birdies and an eagle on the par 5 holes in the first two rounds to sit atop the leaderboard, but only two birdies late in his round on the third day.
“These type of tournaments typically save the more difficult pin positions for the final round. They put some tricky pins on the par 5's today, so you had to be a little more cautious which pins you tried to get really close to,” said Brown, who noted he had birdie chances, and even an eagle opportunity on the other three par 5's in the third round, but wasn't able to convert them.
“It's just about managing mistakes and trying to minimize them and taking advantage of the chances you do provide yourself,” he added. “I would have like to have had couple more (birdies), but that's golf and that's how it goes sometimes.”
Following some down time from the sport over the winter months, Brown hopes he can wear the Lions' green one more time at the Canadian University/College Championship in B.C. next spring.
Though not cast in stone, Brown believes his strong finish last weekend will give him a leg up in being chosen to compete at the event from May 31-June 3 next year on Vancouver Island.