Pinto teed it up in a real pro event this week at the Marshes Golf Club, testing his golf skills against elite professionals in a humbling tournament debut.
By weekend warrior standards, Senators centre Shane Pinto is an elite golfer.
But over the past two days, he got a good taste of just how different it is to go from playing with your buddies to competing in an official PGA Tour of Americas event with some of the best players in the world.
Pinto received a sponsor's exemption to play in this week's event, the Commissionaires Ottawa Open, held at the Marshes Golf Club in Kanata. He failed to make the cut, finishing dead last, which is what he fully expected. Teammate Claude Giroux, who has played in this event in the past, told him as much.
The duo teed it up together in the pro-am this week, and with Pinto designated as the group's pro, their foursome finished last there as well at -1.
What Pinto didn't know was how he'd play this week or what his score might be. After all, he had never played a tournament of any kind before, so this may be the first event he's played without hearing the word gimme.
"I should break 80, but I could easily not even break 90," Pinto told the media earlier this week. "I don't know what's going to happen, so I have no idea."
As it turns out, the hope of an 80 was pretty ambitious.
On the par-72 course, set up just shy of 7,100 yards, Pinto shot an 87 and an 82 and finished at +25, 16 strokes behind the rest of the field. By the time he made the turn on Friday in round two, he was +26 and probably feeling ready to walk off the course.
But to his credit, as he began to get comfortable, he finally settled in and showed what he could do.
Pinto finished with some great golf, going -1 on the back nine to close out the tournament. That's 47 on the front, 35 on the back. To put that in perspective, if he had put together three other nines like that, he would have been right on the cut line at -4.
Pinto put up a classic round on Friday, going 11 over on the front and minus 1 on the back.Also to his credit, the 25-year-old NHL star lent his name and profile to this event, which helped to support Soldier On. It's an important program of the Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group that contributes to the recovery of ill and injured members and veterans by providing opportunities and resources through sport, recreational, and creative activities.
Pinto may not be threatening anyone's tournament leaderboard anytime soon, but his appearance helped shine a spotlight on a great local event and a very worthwhile cause.
The PGA Tour Americas Commissionaires Ottawa Open continues on Saturday and Sunday at the Marshes Golf Club. Admission is free.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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