Salmon Arm’s Jeremy Osborne hit the range last Thursday with a buddy to work on a glitch in his golf game.
The 33-year-old real estate agent owes his friend dinner after earning a 50-inch plasma TV as champion of the $10,000 Canada Goose Coca-Cola Invitational last weekend at the Spallumcheen Golf & Country Club.
“We worked on my positioning and we made two changes, which made a huge difference,” said the amiable Osborne, who was runner-up in the Goose a year ago. “I’ve used three different drivers and five different shafts the last while and I drove the ball well (using a Titleist driver).”
Osborne, who ruled the Revelstoke Open two weeks ago, posted runner-up finishes in the Rivershore (Kamloops) Open and the Ogopogo (Kelowna) earlier this season. He also held the early lead at the B.C. Amateur in Kamloops with a 68 before finishing 43rd.
He carded rounds of 1-under 70 and 68 in the Goose, one shot better than Gord McGarva of Kelowna. There was a field of 107.
“I had a run (birdie) on 14 and 15 the second day, but I struggled with the putter Saturday,” said Osborne, who missed canning a handful of relatively short birdie attempts in the first round.
McGarva was up a deuce after a dozen holes Sunday but got into tree trouble on the par-4 14th hole, taking an unplayable and scoring a triple-bogey seven. McGarva birdied the 15th and 17th holes and tied Osborne for 68 on the day.
“That was an unfortunate triple,” said Osborne. “I’ve played with Gord before and he is one of the most genuine players out there. It’s fun, but you have to stay focused.”
Osborne, a +1 handicap who took up the game at age 12 at the Salmon Arm Golf and Country Club with his father and brother, doesn’t have room for the TV so will trade it in or put it up for sale.
Runner-up low gross finishers by flight were Doug Engbrecht of Kelowna, at 147, Jeff Mushaluk of Salmon Arm, at 155, Ken Robertson of Spall, at 163 (retro) and Mike Evanishen of Spall, at 175.