Eastern Michigan Athletics
Former Eagle Derek East Wins Manitoba Men's Amateur
7/29/2013 11:29:00 AM | Men's Golf
East played for the Eagles from 2010-12
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Former Eastern Michigan University golfer Derek East took home the top prize at Golf Manitoba's Men's Amateur, July 22-25, at the Neepawa Golf and Country Club. East captured the championship in style by nearly acing the 18th hole and tapping in for birdie to finish at 13-under.
"It would have been icing on the cake to get a hole-in-one and walk off 18 without having to putt. Even having a foot, it was still pretty nerve wracking just to finish it off. It means so much to me to win, it didn't matter if it was a 10 shot lead or a one shot lead, I knew I was going to be nervous coming down the stretch," East told CKLQ's Tyler Crayston.
Runner-up Aaron Cockerill of Teulon finished six shots off the pace while Southwood's Charlie Boyechko placed third at four-under. 2012 champion Josh Wytinck of Glenboro finished fourth overall at three-under and shot even par in his final round.
"Going into it maybe I put a little too much pressure on wanting to win," said Wytinck. "Deep down of course you want to win. I think maybe once I was in a pretty good position after the first two days I might have just wanted it a little bit too much I think. I really wanted to win in Westman."
Wytinck was still able to secure a spot in next month's Canadian Men's Amateur in Victoria, B.C., while East, Cockerill and Boyechko will officially make up Team Manitoba for the tournament, which starts August 3rd.
Neepawa rolled out the red carpet for the province's top players this week as Westman hosted the tournament for the first time ever and the event's return to the local links is a lock.
"It's been a longtime coming for us. It is a little bit of a leap of faith, we have most of our events in and around Winnipeg, but we're Golf Manitoba, so we really need to be expanding and we're doing that," said Golf Manitoba executive director Dave Comaskey. "There are accommodations, player buy-in. We've spoiled the Winnipeg competitors for a number of years that they haven't had to travel a whole lot. We've really tried to educate people that we need to be doing it. It's important for us, it's important for the game that we get outside the city limits.
Final Standings Top Five
1. Derek East 68-68-68-71=275
2. Aaron Cockerill 71-73-70-67=281
3. Charlie Boyechko 68-72-70-74=284
4. Joshua Wytinck 71-69-73-72=285
5. Bobby Wiebe 72-73-67-74=286
"It would have been icing on the cake to get a hole-in-one and walk off 18 without having to putt. Even having a foot, it was still pretty nerve wracking just to finish it off. It means so much to me to win, it didn't matter if it was a 10 shot lead or a one shot lead, I knew I was going to be nervous coming down the stretch," East told CKLQ's Tyler Crayston.
Runner-up Aaron Cockerill of Teulon finished six shots off the pace while Southwood's Charlie Boyechko placed third at four-under. 2012 champion Josh Wytinck of Glenboro finished fourth overall at three-under and shot even par in his final round.
"Going into it maybe I put a little too much pressure on wanting to win," said Wytinck. "Deep down of course you want to win. I think maybe once I was in a pretty good position after the first two days I might have just wanted it a little bit too much I think. I really wanted to win in Westman."
Wytinck was still able to secure a spot in next month's Canadian Men's Amateur in Victoria, B.C., while East, Cockerill and Boyechko will officially make up Team Manitoba for the tournament, which starts August 3rd.
Neepawa rolled out the red carpet for the province's top players this week as Westman hosted the tournament for the first time ever and the event's return to the local links is a lock.
"It's been a longtime coming for us. It is a little bit of a leap of faith, we have most of our events in and around Winnipeg, but we're Golf Manitoba, so we really need to be expanding and we're doing that," said Golf Manitoba executive director Dave Comaskey. "There are accommodations, player buy-in. We've spoiled the Winnipeg competitors for a number of years that they haven't had to travel a whole lot. We've really tried to educate people that we need to be doing it. It's important for us, it's important for the game that we get outside the city limits.
Final Standings Top Five
1. Derek East 68-68-68-71=275
2. Aaron Cockerill 71-73-70-67=281
3. Charlie Boyechko 68-72-70-74=284
4. Joshua Wytinck 71-69-73-72=285
5. Bobby Wiebe 72-73-67-74=286
Charlie Box, Eastern Michigan | Interview | CGN
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