It is with great sadness that Golf Manitoba mourns the loss of volunteer, colleague and friend, Mr. Phil Guenther, who passed away on July 29, 2022, following a brief illness. He was 61 years old.

Phil was a member of the board of directors for both Golf Manitoba and the Golf Manitoba Scholarship Fund since 2020, where he gave generously of his both his time and expertise. He was also a long-time member and past president of the Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club in Steinbach, Manitoba.

To view Mr. Guenther’s obituary, please click here.

A celebration of the life of Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame inductee Mrs. Peggy Colonello, will be held on Monday, August 8, 2022 from 6 to 8pm at the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame at 145 Pacific Avenue. Guests wishing to attend the come and go celebration, are asked to RSVP with the Golf Manitoba office by contact Amy Coggan at amy@golfmb.ca.

Peggy Colonello made a huge impact on women’s golf in Manitoba and Canada as an administrator.  Her volunteerism spanned decades and started in 1974 where she served as president of the Manitoba Ladies’ Golf Association until 1976. Peggy continued her administrative work in golf serving a two-year term as president of the Canadian Ladies’ Golf Association from 1982-83. During her time on the national executive, Peggy attended World and Commonwealth championships in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Columbia, Britain and Switzerland, including the various Canadian events in which she participated. Peggy, for her contributions to the sport, was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and was an inaugural inductee into the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame on September 29, 2003.

The Colonello name was well known in golf and not only for Peggy’s contributions. Her husband Alex Colonello first moved to Winnipeg in 1941. In 1973, Alex purchased and become president of the Bay Bronze company and eventually acquired the golf accessory line from Bayco Industries to form Bayco Golf Inc. Bayco golf ball washers can still be found on the tee boxes of golf courses all over the world. Alex Colonello passed away in 2013 at the age of 93.

In 2018 and at the age of 94, Peggy Colonello established the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation with a mandate to support junior golf in the province of Manitoba. The Foundation established an unprecedented endowment of $3 million dollars that supports the development of new generations of golfers through grassroots golf initiatives and high-performance programming. Since 2019, the Foundation has supported junior golf programs including the Golf in Schools initiative, provincial junior team development and the University of Manitoba Bisons golf program. The annual induction ceremony for the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame is also sponsored by the Foundation.

Peggy Colonello passed away on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at the age of 97. To read Mrs. Colonello’s obituary, please click here.

A look at the Oakview Golf & Country Club with President Delwyn Doerksen.

For more details on Oakview Golf & Country Club, click here.

Braxton Kuntz of Breezy Bend Country Club earned his second consecutive Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Championship Saturday night.

Kuntz shot a 4 over 75 in his final round to finish at 209, good for a two stroke victory over Marco Trstenjak of the host Elmhurst Golf & Country Club.

Along with his pair of Amateur victories, Kuntz is the first player in Golf Manitoba history to win back to back Junior Boys Championships. During those 4 combined events, he finished at -30 under par.

Trstenjak carded an even par 71 in his final round to finish at 211.

For the complete Manitoba Blue Cross leaderboard, click here.

In claiming the Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Championship, Kuntz receives a sponsors exemption to complete in the CentrePort Canada Railpark Manitoba Open August 18-21 at Southwood Golf & Country Club

Braxton Kuntz of Breezy Bend Country Club carded his second consecutive 4 under par 67 and has a 6 stroke lead on Marco Trstenjak of the host Elmhurst Golf & Country Club entering Saturday’s final round of the Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Championship.

Trstenjak shot a 3 under par 68 Friday.

Justin McDonald, also of Breezy Bend, who sits third on the leaderboard, tied Kuntz’s low round of the day at 67.

For the complete Manitoba Blue Cross leaderboard, click here.

For Saturday’s final round tee times, click here.

Golf Manitoba Public Players Club member Cala Korman shot an 84 on Friday in her final round of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship presented by BDO Wednesday in Kitchener, Ontario.

Her tournament total 326 placed her 70th on the leaderboard.

Korman is a member of Team Manitoba’s Development Program.

For the complete Canadian Women’s Amateur leaderboard, click here.

Defending Champion Braxton Kuntz, of Breezy Bend Country Club, opened with back to back birdies on his scorecard at Elmhurst Golf & Country Club and went on to shoot a 4 under par 67 in the Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Championship.

Kuntz shot a 3 under 32 on the front nine and followed it up with a 1 under par 35 on the back.

Two strokes back on the Manitoba Blue Cross leaderboard is Nathan Wazney, of the host course, who went 36-33 for a 2 under par 69.

Breezy Bend’s Eric Johnson was the only other player to break par at 1 under 70.

For the complete Manitoba Blue Cross leaderboard, click here.

For Friday’s second round tee times, click here.

Golf Manitoba Public Players Club member Cala Korman shot an 83 on Thursday in her third round of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship presented by BDO Wednesday in Kitchener, Ontario.

Korman’s round was highlighted by a birdie on the par 5 seventh hole and back to back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.

Korman is a member of Team Manitoba’s Development Program.

For the complete Canadian Women’s Amateur leaderboard, click here.

Golf Manitoba Public Players Club member Cala Korman shot a 6 over par 78 in her second round of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship presented by BDO Wednesday in Kitchener, Ontario.

Korman’s two day 159 total has her tied for 63rd on the leaderboard. She is the lone Manitoban to make the cut advancing to play Thursday and Friday.

Also representing Manitoba were:

Golf Manitoba Public Players Club member Clara Peake 79-85-164
Charmaine Mackid of Breezy Bend Country Club 83-84-167
Addison Kartusch of St. Charles Country Club 83-86-169
Rhonda Orr of Southwood Golf & Country Club 87-83-170
Jeri Lafleche of Clear Lake Golf Course 82-89-171

Kartusch, Korman, Lafleche and Peake are members of Team Manitoba’s Development Program.

Team Manitoba finished fifth in the 36 hole Inter-Provincial Team Competition at +40. British Columbia placed first at even par.

For the complete leaderboard, click here.

One of the largest fields in recent history is set to tee off Thursday morning at Elmhurst Golf & Country Club.

147 competitors are registered in the 111th playing of the Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Championship.

Defending champion, and two time Junior Boys Champion Braxton Kuntz of Breezy Bend Country Club will be in the opening group to tee off at 7:00.

Kuntz, coming off an 11 stroke victory last week at St. Charles Country Club in the Junior Boys Championship presented by the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation, edged fellow Breezy Bend member Ryan Sholdice by 1 stroke last year at the Neepawa Golf & Country Club.

With this year’s championship decided over 54 holes, the field will be cut following two rounds to the low 60 and ties as well as any players within 10 strokes of first place.

The 2022 Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur Champion will also be given an exemption into the Manitoba Open, August 18-21 at Southwood Golf & Country Club.

For the Nott Autocorp Men’s Amateur opening round tee times, click here.