Brandon Ng wins his second OFSAA title by an easy 10 strokes
Becoming a two-time OFSAA champ came down to Brandon Ng’s short game on the links.
The Upper Canada College student travelled to Barrie Country Club Oct. 23-24 and shot a 67 in round 1 and a 71 in round two to finish six under par.
But it wasn’t the fairway that was his forte. It was sizing up the pin to sink the ball.
“On the first hole in the second round I made a 30-foot putt from off the green, which kind of helped because it made the guys who were chasing me feel bad going into the rest of the day,” he said.
Indeed, as Ng finished a whole 10 strokes ahead of his nearest competitor, Kevin Fawcett of London, Ont.
It was the perfect way to end the season, given Ng finished in a tie for 33rd at RCGA Men’s Amateur at the London Hunt and Country Club Aug. 12-15.
“It felt pretty good to win another (OFSAA) tournament but I guess it helped that our team won this year too,” he said.
Though he doesn’t have a favourite golfer, he said he shares Tiger Woods’ career start: Ng’s father encouraged golf.
“Not in the same degree as Woods because he started at 18 months but his dad started him and my dad started me,” he said. “I think that’s the same for a lot of people though.”
It’s been nine years since the 17-year-old picked up the irons and it’s been a relaxing, albeit testing, experience.
“It’s pretty peaceful but stressful mentally,” he said. “When you’re playing you really have to think and you can’t slip up for too long.
“It tests pretty much everything about you.”
Even with all the experience behind him, Ng kept it simple while competing up in Barrie.
“I didn’t really have a strategy, I just wanted play smart and I hadn’t been practising too much, because of school, going into it,” he said.
The end of OFSAA does not mean the end of golf. Once Ng graduates from Upper Canada College, the Blue will have a scholarship waiting for him at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Not just teeing off, he’ll be taking business and economics.
As for his family, once he’s off to the Carolinas his sister will swing the clubs in his stead.
Save for his mother, golf is the family sport.
“I guess it’s a pretty big part of my family,” he said.