KRUG CRAWFORD AWARD: Dobrescu takes off in 2020

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This article was published 05/01/2021 (1231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Austin Dobrescu knows the euphoric highs and downright demoralizing lows of competitive golf. 

The Brandonite feels he has what it takes to make the game his life, so he’s betting on himself.

Following the best stretch of golf by any Manitoba amateur over the past two seasons, Dobrescu turned professional in late August and posted a top-30 finish on the Mackenzie Tour (PGA Tour Canada) in his debut.

In a year full of uncertainty, Dobrescu is sure about one thing: He’s all-in on the sport he has already poured countless hours into with hopes of making it big.

If he hits his lofty goals, this certainly won’t be the first time this happens. Dobrescu is the winner of 63rd annual H.L. (Krug) Crawford Award as The Brandon Sun’s Westman sportsperson of the year. He’s the third golfer on the list, joining Jack Matheson (1958) and Dan Halldorson (1977, 1980).

The late Halldorson is the lone Westman golfer to ever win a PGA Tour event when he captured the Pensacola Open title in 1980. It’s safe to say the odds are stacked against anyone, let alone a Canadian prairie kid, from following suit.

“If you’re scared of failure you’re probably not going to try to be a pro golfer because it’s pretty slim … But if you’re not scared, put yourself out there and make it to the top, it’s well worth it,” Dobrescu said.

“That’s something I’ve been dreaming about, something that I want to make happen and I’m going to keep working for it.

“… I’m not going to stop. I’m 23, I’m not going to stop. Hopefully I can keep getting better the next few years and climbing the ranks. If I continue on a good track, hopefully I’m going to be able to make it.”

In 2020, Dobrescu defended his provincial match play championship. He became the first to do so since Aaron Cockerill (2013), who recently finished fourth at a European Tour event.

Dobrescu qualified as the No. 2 seed in Winkler with a pair of 1-under 70s, then never had to complete another round. He ripped through one tough opponent after another at St. Charles Country Club, finishing with a 4-and-2 win over Jack Werhun in the 36-hole final.

Since national events were cancelled due to COVID-19, the men’s amateur was his final amateur event. The 23-year-old started strong at Minnewasta in Morden, but made a triple-bogey 7 on the 18th on Day 1 to fire a 76, following with a 74. He made the cut easily, then carded a steady 2-under 70 when the tournament shifted to Glendale in Winnipeg.

Starting the day six strokes back of eventual winner Marco Trstenjak, Dobrescu played aggressively and ended up with a 75 to lose by nine but still in a tie for fourth.

The real confidence boost, however, came after a whirlwind of a week in September. Dobrescu turned pro on Aug. 31, then flew to Toronto the following day after getting into the Mackenzie Tour’s Canada Life Series event at TPC Toronto as an alternate. He played an abbreviated practice round, then let natural instincts take over. He completed the three-day event at 1-over 214, good for a tie for 29th and still felt he left a lot of shots out there.

“The pro events I’ve played so far, playing in those has kind of helped me to believe I deserve to be there and I’m going to be able to actually be dominant and compete at that level, just to believe in myself and continue working hard, I know I’m going to continue to get where I want to be,” Dobrescu said.

“It’s happened fast but I’ve been able to continue to get better and hope that’ll keep trending up. I’m on the path to where I’m trying to get to and think I’m on the right path.

“… If you believe you can win, you’re the only one that really matters. If you believe in yourself and think it’s possible, then it might (happen).”

The thought of playing golf for a living one day is still relatively fresh in Dobrescu’s mind. He simply started playing the game with his father, Jay, as a young kid.

When he was 11 or 12, he started playing with his friends in Estevan, Sask., before the family moved back to the Wheat City a few years later. At 14, he joined the Westman Junior Golf Tour, then entered a few Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour tournaments, which feature most of the best players in the province.

He wasn’t one of them, not right away at least.

“I was never really a dominant player growing up, always kind of middle of the pack … I never won a bunch as a kid,” Dobrescu said.

He made Team Westman for the 2012 Manitoba Games in Swan River and says that’s when he started taking the game more seriously.

In 2016, he headed to College of the Canyons in California before securing a full-ride NCAA Division I scholarship at Chicago State, where he played three years.

But midway through his first season there he hit a slump that lasted through half his junior year.

“I was still working hard, still training hard but didn’t have a good gauge of my golf swing at that point. I had a two-way miss going. Playing college golf, playing back-to-back weeks, I sometimes wasn’t getting that much time to work on my game between tournaments.” Dobrescu said.

“I was shooting some high numbers, playing some tough courses. Being scared on the tee of if you’re going to either hit it in a hazard or out of bounds is not a fun way to play the game.”

A Division I golfer and the average hacker have different definitions of “shooting some high numbers,” but the pressure on the former is significantly higher. When you’ve been handpicked to help a school win events and have teammates counting on you, the mental strain surrounding swing struggles is amplified.

“It wasn’t good. It’s a really draining game when it’s down, it’s hard to keep it on the golf course and not in your personal life,” Dobrescu said.

“We’re always on the road. Teammates are huge, just being able to enjoy time off the course is what helps a guy when he’s not playing well. It was nice, getting to travel to nice places, eating in nice places, that helps but when you’re a serious golfer and not playing well, it’s hard to block that out … and it definitely weighed on me.”

Dobrescu spent a week back in Brandon in April 2018 to work things out with Shilo Country Club pro Dave Scinocca, who gave him some much-needed pointers.

Dobrescu finished the season strong and qualified for the Canadian amateur for the first time that summer. He returned to Chicago for his senior year with confidence and took his game to the next level that winter when he regularly visited coach Mike Mandakas, who trains numerous playing professionals.

“He just helped me totally changed my routines, started getting in the gym more, eating better and realizing what it takes to be a pro,” Dobrescu said.

“I always knew I had the work ethic, I’ve always been willing to put in the time but him steering me in the right direction made the hugest difference.”

It paid off fast. The six-foot-two righty won his first DI event following the break in Alabama.

“It was almost overwhelming it came so fast. It was four months of hard work, then I won pretty much my first big tournament ever,” he said.

“After that I found success, I knew what I was doing was working and stuck with the process, kept doing it.”

Dobrescu closed the book on college golf and came back to Brandon a wildly better player, both physically and mentally, to say the least. You’d be hard-pressed to find a golfer who keeps their emotions in check better. Whether he’s 9 over or 9 under — his low competitive round in 2020, to win a tournament at his old home track in Estevan — his demeanour stays the same.

“I learned pretty quickly that your attitude attributes to how you’re going to play out on the golf course. I just try to keep myself level-headed. I learned pretty quick that slamming clubs and getting mad didn’t help, so just try to stay level-headed as much as possible,” Dobrescu said, adding the highs and lows of his college experience help a lot.

“I feel like I’ve gone through some bad golf. I’ve seen the worst.

“I’ve done a good job of controlling myself and no matter how bad it gets, always striving for a little bit more, one hole at a time, always trying to make another birdie … No matter how bad the round is, it can always get worse, so why not focus hard, put everything behind you and put up a score.”

Dobrescu knows his journey is just getting started, and it’s a long and incredibly tough one to achieve his ultimate dream of donning a Masters’ Green Jacket or hoisting the U.S. Open trophy at Pebble Beach. He says his entire game needs to improve, but especially his driving and putting.

Dobrescu strikes his irons and wedges pure and developed a tremendous short game — a blessing in disguise from his sophomore slump when he didn’t hit many greens. But finding fairways and holing putts are essential to making cuts and putting food on the table.

At the same time, he learned just how important fitness is in golf. Those scoffing at the fact that those two words are in the same sentence can look no further than Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, all of whom have used superb strength to their advantage in more ways than driving distance.

“I’ve been able to put on the weight, get stronger and that’s definitely helped me with my golf swing. I’ve been able to control my swing … stay more balanced, more solid centre of gravity and able to get back to the ball a lot easier,” said Dobrescu, who added about 20 pounds of muscle over the past few years.

“It made a huge difference in being able to control my club throughout the swing and get it back to impact and be square at impact, and also to be able to swing it hard you need to have control.”

Dobrescu spent last winter and part of this one training in Arizona, where he’d hit the gym and practise every morning and play in afternoons, spending well over 40 hours on his craft every week.

“I’m happy to be able to continue on that path and treat it like a job every day, act like a pro every day, just the way you live, practise, train, eat, every sport nowadays the guys coming up are no joke. It’s the ones that treat their entire lifestyle like they’re a professional (that make it),” Dobrescu said.

“It’s really cool. Everyone that’s helped me get into the game is a huge part of it, all the support I’ve had along the way, all the support I get from here on out, I’ve got tons, it makes a huge difference and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the people around me.”

Dobrescu hasn’t made it yet, and the process is nothing like most professional sports. The decision to turn pro isn’t made by the team that drafts you and salaries don’t exist. Golfers earn every cent by qualifying for events and making cuts, and the paydays aren’t big outside of the game’s top few tiers.

Dobrescu is moving to Vancouver this month to join the Vancouver Golf Tour and plans to go through Mackenzie Tour Q School in the spring if it takes place.

Every step is tough and extremely competitive, but Dobrescu wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I think the process of starting to get better at something is very rewarding. Being able to start at the bottom and keep climbing the mountain is something that I strive to,” he said.

“I continue to get better every day and to see myself compete against the best is something that would be a dream come true to be out there. I’m willing to go through the grind and keep striving for more … I’m addicted to the process and hope I can keep going on that trend.

“If I put all my time in right now and go for it, then I might be able to make it happen.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

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PAST WINNERS:

2020 — Austin Dobrescu, golf

2019 — Kristen Campbell, hockey

2018 — Lara Denbow, track and field

2017 — Pat Lamont, trapshooting

2016 — Isabela Onyshko and Lorie Henderson, gymnastics

2015 — Braden Calvert, curling

2014 — Isabela Onyshko, gymnastics

2013 — Halli Krzyzaniak, hockey

2012 — Rob Fowler, curling

2011 — Mark Stone, hockey

2010 — Paul Sanderson, volleyball

2009 — Lisa Barclay, volleyball

2008 — Brayden Schenn, hockey

2007 — Mark Derlago, hockey

2006 — Jenna Kerbis, gymnastics

2005 — Eric Fehr, hockey

2004 — Neil Andrews, curling, baseball

2003 — Jordin Tootoo, hockey

2002 — Israel Idonije, football

2001 — Jerry Hemmings, basketball

2000 — Shane Moffatt, baseball

1999 — Reed Eastley, baseball, volleyball

1998 — Cory Cyrenne, hockey

1997 — Grady Manson, hockey

1996 — Carmen Hurd, track and field

1995 — Kelly McCrimmon, hockey

1994 — Pam Flick, basketball

1993 — Marty Murray, hockey

1992 — Sandra Hamilton, basketball

1991 — Joey Vickery, basketball

1990 — Trevor Kidd, hockey

1989 — Shirley Bray, curling

1988 — Patrick Jebbison, basketball

1987 — Mabel Mitchell, curling

1986 — John Carson, basketball

1985 — Al Robertson, baseball

1984 — Ray Ferraro, hockey

1983 — Cathy Woodmass, water skiing

1982 — Jerry Hemmings, basketball

1981 — Diane Ogibowski, figure skating

1980 — Dan Halldorson, golf

1979 — Dunc McCallum, hockey

1978 — Glen Hanlon, hockey

1977 — Dan Halldorson, golf

1976 — Bob Thompson, baseball, hockey

1975 — Karen Anderson, curling, fastball

1974 — Jack Brockest, hockey

1973 — Ron Chipperfield, hockey

1972 — Lawrie Lewis, track and field

1971 — Gary Howard, basketball

1970 — Don Sumner, baseball, curling

1969 — Vailla Hoggan, water skiing

1968 — Buck Matiowski, recreation

1967 — Gerry MacKay, baseball, curling

1966 — Juha Widing, hockey

1965 — Bill Robinson, gymnastics

1964 — Lynda Kidd, basketball, softball

1963 — Earl Dawson, hockey

1962 — Fred Pilcher, curling

1961 — Ron Maxwell, hockey

1960 — Jake Milford, hockey

1959 — Mike Doig, shooting

1958 — Jack Matheson, hockey, golf