Kelowna’s Norm Bradley Carries One-Shot Lead Into Final Round Of B.C. Senior Men’s Championship

Norm Bradley Will Be Trying To Win His First BC Golf Championship On Thursday At Sunshine Coast G&CC - Image Credit Brad Ziemer/BC Golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

ROBERTS CREEK -- Norm Bradley figures he has two things he needs to manage in Thursday’s final round of the B.C. Senior Men’s Championship. The golf course and himself.

Bradley fired a bogey-free three-under 69 in Wednesday’s second round at Sunshine Coast Golf & Country Club. At four-under par through 36 holes, the 62-year-old Kelowna Golf Club member has a one-shot lead on Mike Mannion of Gibsons.

Harry Ferguson of Invermere and Greg Bismeyer of Mission are another shot back at two-under.

“I need to manage myself tomorrow mentally and I have to think myself around this golf course,” said Bradley, a retired teacher. “I have to hit the ball in the right places and I have to manage myself. Whatever happens happens, but those are the two things I have to do.”

Bradley has been a very good amateur golfer for a long time in British Columbia. He’s played on provincial teams and represented the province in the annual PNGA Cup competition, but he has never won a British Columbia Golf championship. 

“It is a great opportunity,” he said. “Any time you get to tee it up under those conditions with that opportunity, that is why I practise, that is why I play, just to have that opportunity.”

Bradley closed his round with a clutch up-and-down par on the tough par 4 finishing hole at Sunshine Coast. He double-bogeyed that hole in his opening round. “I made a great up and down and that kind of evens it out for the two days in my mind,” he said.

“I am really happy with the way I responded to my finish yesterday. You have two ways to go with it at that point. I was very happy with the way I came out and played on the front nine. I was three-under on the front, made some putts and hit some good shots and kind of hung on on the back nine because anything can happen back there. I had a clean card. That doesn’t happen often.”

Mannion finished his round strong, birdieing two of his final three holes to shoot a two-under 70. He rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to get to three-under for the tournament.
Mannion is the reigning club and senior club champion at Sunshine Coast and hopes he can use that home-course advantage in Thursday’s final round.

“I got off to a fairly strong start, but didn’t make the putts,” Mannion said. “I could have been three- or four-under early. Then I had a tough middle stretch. I hit bad tee shots on 8, 9 and 10. I got away with 8 but didn’t get away with 9 and 10. “There were a little bit of nerves happening. There was actually a shank on 14 but I made an amazing up and down from over in front of the 13th tee. My putting at the end was really strong.”

Ferguson, the 2016 B.C. Senior Men’s champion, birdied his final three holes to shoot a two-under 70 and grab a share of third place at two-under. “All you are trying to do is put yourself in position and you try to get better every day,” Ferguson said. “Tomorrow is all about the pressure and who is going to be able to bring it because some people always fold.”

Ferguson thinks having won the tournament four years ago will help him deal with those nerves in Thursday’s final round. “You just have to play for the moment,” he said. “You can’t be standing on the 15th tee thinking about holding a trophy. That just doesn’t work.”

Bismeyer shot his second straight one-under 71 and is relishing the opportunity to play for the championship. “It is always fun to play in the last group,” he said. “We all play for that. At the end of the day, all you can do is golf your own ball. If you go out and play well and somebody else shoots 66 and beats you, that’s okay.”

Three-time defending champion Doug Roxburgh shot his second straight two-over 74 and enters the final day eight shots back of the lead in sixth spot. “I just have got nothing going,” Roxburgh said. “I missed two short putts early and then got back to even and just gave it away hitting crummy shots. It’s another day tomorrow and we’ll go out and see what happens.”

Roxburgh, at four-over par, is leading the Super-Senior division for players aged 65 and over. He has a one-shot lead on Pemberton’s Lance Lundy. Bill MacPherson of Victoria is third at six-over. 

Victoria’s Len Carlow is alone in fifth place at one-under par after shooting a two-under 70 on Wednesday. “I had six birdies and four bogeys,” Carlow said. “It was a little bit of a roller-coaster. It was up and down, but every time I made a bogey I’d make another birdie. I just rolled with it.”

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