Jay Thiesen has some elite company at The Grey Owl. The Russell resident roared back from a three-stroke deficit at the start of the round to win his third title in the 61st annual edition of the 36-hole men’s golf tournament at Clear Lake Golf Course, which is presented by IG Wealth Management. Thiesen is just the fifth player to win three times, the others being Garth Collings (11), Jim Scissons (7), Jimmy Doyle (4) and Jamie Stone (3). Thiesen fired a bogey-free 69 to finish with a 5-under 139 total after an opening-round 70. That was two strokes clear of St. Charles’ Steven Young (69-72) and Brandon’s Kolby Day (67-74), who both finished at 3 under 141. “It’s pretty cool, I guess,” the laid-back Thiesen said after receiving the Cactus Jack Wells Memorial Trophy. “It was nice to see Garth out there again playing in the last couple groups there. I don’t know if I’ll be able to catch him. That’ll be pretty tough, but it feels really good.” Young came out on fire, birdieing four of his first five holes to grab the lead from Day, the 18-hole leader. Young was 4 under on the front and was three strokes ahead of Thiesen with nine to play. Young ran into trouble early on the back, however, bogeying the 12th, 13th and 14th holes, and the two were tied standing on the 15th tee. Thiesen grabbed the lead for the first time with an up-and-down birdie on the par-4 16th and didn’t look back. “That was one of my best rounds at this tournament,” Thiesen said. “I think I’ve shot 68s, but I went bogey-free today, so it was just a solid round.” Onanole’s Cal Vanderschuit, who was one shot back of Day going into Sunday, carded a 74 to finish fourth with a 2- under 142 aggregate. Collings competed in the championship flight once again, finishing sixth overall, and his 72-74—146 total was good enough for a four-shot victory over St. Charles’ Ken Mould (77-73—150) in the Greyer Owl for those age 60 and over. It is Collings’ third Greyer Owl crown. Brandon Sun sports reporter Thomas Friesen, who was covering the tournament for the paper, captured the Media Flight title in his first Grey Owl appearance. Friesen fired 77-74—151, and his net total of 141 was the best of the 11-player field. More information and all scores can be found at thegreyowl.ca. FINAL SCORES Jay Thiesen, Russell 70-69—139 Steven Young, St. Charles 69-72—141 Kolby Day, Wheat City 67-74—141 Cal Vanderschuit, Onanole 68-74—142

WASAGAMING — Brandon’s Kolby Day had himself a day on Saturday at the 61st annual Grey Owl men’s golf tournament, presented by IG Wealth Management. The Wheat City Golf Course member fired a blistering 5-under-par 31 on the front nine at sunny and beautiful Clear Lake Golf Course and cruised in at even par for a 5-under 67. That gives him a one-stroke lead over Onanole’s Cal Vanderschuit, who carded a 68, and a two-shot edge over Winnipeg’s Steven Young, who plays out of St. Charles. The second and final round of the tournament will be played on Sunday. Day was 4 under through five holes on Saturday, birdieing the first and fourth holes before recording an eagle on the par-5 fourth. He tacked on a birdie at the drivable par-4 eighth to go out in 31. Day had two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine and signed for a 67. Vanderschuit, who is the driving force behind IG Wealth Management’s title sponsorship of The Grey Owl, shot 35 on the front nine and then toured the much tougher back nine in 3-under 33 for his 4-under total. Young, meanwhile, carded nine of 34 and 35. The top three players will need to bring their best on Sunday, as two-time champion Jay Thiesen of Russell shot an opening-round 70 on Saturday. He will join Day, Vanderschuit and Young in the final championship flight group. The score to qualify for the championship flight was 4-over 76, which means 16 players will vie for the crown. Breezy Bend’s Collings, who has won 11 Grey Owl titles, leads the Greyer Owl division by five strokes over five players: Brandon’s Dwight Kearns, Rivers’ Gerry Gourlay, St. Charles’ Ken Mould, and Clear Lake’s Brad Clement and Murray Lindenberg. There is a new twist this year, as the Media Flight is now a net event. Brandon Sun sports reporter Thomas Friesen has the best round through 18 holes, carding a 5-over-par 77 on Saturday. Sunday’s tee times and more information can be found at thegreyowl.ca. DAY 1 TOP SCORES Kolby Day, Wheat City 31-36—67 Cal Vanderschuit, Onanole 35-33—68 Steven Young, St. Charles 34-35—69 Jay Thiesen, Russell 33-37—70 Garth Collings, Breezy Bend 35-37—72 Joel Baron, Carberry 38-34—72 Matt LePage, Plymouth, Minn. 37-35—72 (submitted)

A familiar name sits tied atop the leaderboard after Day 1 of action at the 61st annual Grey Owl, presented by IG Wealth Management. Breezy Bend’s Garth Collings, who has won a record 11 Grey Owl titles, fired an even-par 72 on the picturesque Clear Lake Golf Course in the opening round of the 36-hole tournament, which puts him in a tie with Carberry’s Joel Baron. Collings carded nines of 35 and 37 on the 6,102-yard layout, while Baron, who plays out of Carberry Sandhills Golf and Country Club, went out in 38 but came back with a solid two-under 34 on the tougher back nine in his first Grey Owl appearance. It was an up-and-down front nine for Baron, who eagled the par-4 first hole and birdied the par-3 third before suffering a quadruple-bogey nine on the par-five fourth. Collings had a much more smooth afternoon, registering two birdies, an eagle and four bogeys en route to his even-par round. Collings last won the Grey Owl in 2016, and since then has added Greyer Owl crowns, for those age 60 and over, in 2018 and 2019. Defending champion Jared Jacobson of Brandon is two shots back after an opening-round 74, while Russell’s Braden Clement, the son of 1996 tournament winner Brad Clement, and MacGregor’s Darcy Howarth both shot 4-over 76s. The rest of the field will play its opening rounds on Saturday. That includes two-time champion Jay Thiesen of Russell. The tournament consists of 36 holes over three days. The low 16 or so and ties after the first round will make up the championship flight, which will tee off on Sunday morning. Saturday’s tee times and more information can be found at thegreyowl.ca. DAY 1 TOP SCORES Garth Collings, Breezy Bend 35-37—72 Joel Baron, Carberry 38-34—72 Jared Jacobson, Brandon 36-38—74 Darcy Howarth, MacGregor 35-41—76 Braden Clement, Russell 39-37—76 Dwight Kearns, Brandon 38-39—77 Keaton Jameson, Shilo 39-38—77 (Submitted)

City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services is advising that the Sportsplex Arena ice plant will not be operational for the Summer 2023 and Fall 2023/Winter 2024 hockey and skating seasons. Background: The Sportsplex Arena was closed on March 2nd due to safety concerns with the ammonia ice plant. Since that time, Administration has worked with Safety and Health, and Contractors to perform an assessment of the plant. They identified deficiencies and proposed repairs that would be required to safely operate the plant. A planned recreation needs assessment and conceptual design for the Sportsplex Arena will be taking place throughout the summer and fall months. The assessment will determine whether community need is for a renewed ice plant and arena, or an alternate redevelopment, such as indoor turf and sport court. Update: A bid opportunity for repairs and replacements of the ice plant has recently closed, and Administration now has a better understanding of the cost and timeline for these repairs. Initially, it was anticipated that the repairs would be completed by the end of August. However, a further deficiency in the ice plant has been identified and, as such, the date for the completion of repairs has been delayed. At best, repairs would be completed in January 2024, and would carry a significant cost. In addition, the RFP for the recreation needs assessment and conceptual design for the Sportsplex Arena has recently closed and has been awarded. Phase 1 of the assessment includes research, community and stakeholder engagement as well as costing which will determine the direction of future development. Phase 1 is set to be completed in September 2023. In Phase 2, consultants will complete conceptual design and further costing analysis. Due to the lengthy timeline for completing ice plant repairs, and the conflicting needs assessment timeline, it was concluded that we will postpone repairs to the ice plant until at least September 2023 when phase 1 of the needs assessment has been completed. At that time, we will re-evaluate the business case for repairing the current ice plant taking into consideration the outcome of the needs assessment (fully new ice plant, or alternate recreation amenity). *Stay tuned to brandon.ca or follow the City of Brandon’s Parks & Recreation Services Facebook and Instagram accounts for updates (City of Brandon PSA)

Westoba was honoured to host a grand opening of the Westoba Cricket Practice Pitch in partnership with the Westman Cricket Association on June 7th. Westman Cricket Association receive $9000.00 from the Westoba Inspire Program in the fall of 2022 to install the practice pitch at the J&G Homes Cricket Field. Westman Cricket Association President, Kushang Patel said the Westoba Practice Pitch is a first for Brandon and will have a significant impact on attracting more cricket enthusiasts, high-level competitions as well as building the skills of existing and new players. “Cricket is a growing sport in Brandon, for adults and kids,” said Patel,” The Westoba Practice Pitch is the piece we needed to create a proper facility and limit expensive travel to Winnipeg for skill training.” Westoba’s VP of Risk Management, Zarrar Lodhi expressed his happiness for the project and Westoba’s involvement. “Working for an organization that supports community and promotes healthy activities such as cricket brings me joy,” said Lodhi. “I grew up playing cricket and have many fond memories of my time on the field, it gives me great pleasure to see the sport of cricket flourishing in the city of Brandon and the Westman region. Construction of the Pitch was completed early last week with a few last-minute touches to be added in the coming days as weather allows. Patel said there have been several inquiries already to use the Pitch and expects it to be a busy spot this summer and long into the future.