Shane Pinto doesn’t have the expectation of competing with most of the 156-player field at the Commissionaires Ottawa Open presented by Lépine Apartments, which begins Thursday morning at The Marshes Golf Club in Kanata.
Rather, his goal is to beat a player not included in the field — Senators teammate Claude Giroux, who shot 79-80 (+17) in 2023 and 81-78 (+15) in 2024 when he competed at the event while it was hosted at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Dunrobin.
“I just don’t want to embarrass myself. I mean, I’ll probably finish dead last, but I just want a respectable score,” Pinto told assembled media at the course’s clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon before he went out for a practice round.
“I’ve got to beat [Giroux’s score], [although] it was a different course. But he even told me I’m going to finish dead last, so I just want to not embarrass myself… I have no chance, but it’s going to be fun, and hopefully I just put up respectable scores.”
Coincidentally, Giroux spoke to the media via Zoom about his new contract extension with Ottawa shortly after Pinto’s availability.
“Pints is a great golf player, he can crush the ball, he’s fun to watch, for sure. He’s going to do well this weekend, I’m sure,” said Giroux, who made his first-ever hole-in-one at The Marshes back in June — on the par 4 seventh hole, nonetheless.
Pinto is used to playing in front of 18,000-20,000 fans in NHL arenas, but his rounds on Thursday and Friday will also serve as the first time he’s golfed in front of any kind of crowd.
“It’s definitely not going to be like playing golf with my buddies on Long Island, so yeah, the first tee jitters will be real. But hopefully, these next two days, I can get prepared and do my best,” said Pinto.
“I've been playing a good amount. I've been trying to practice, but like, I really don't know how to practice like professional. But I've definitely been practicing, so my game's trending in somewhat the right direction. But this is going to be a totally different atmosphere, so I have no idea what's going to happen.”
Pinto said he’s never even played in as much as a club championship back home. As for his caddy, he’s tapped his father, Frank, with carrying and cleaning his clubs, though he’ll probably read his own putts.
“I’m not going to ask for many reads from him, I think. He’s not too good at reading greens. But it’ll just be a fun experience for us. I’ll probably get competitive out there, but I won’t be asking him for too many reads.”
When asked what he thought he’d shoot, Pinto wasn’t sure how long The Marshes was playing at (its Gold tees have been lengthened slightly from 7,026 yards to 7,092 yards for the week), so didn’t guess. He’s played at as high as a plus-one handicap (meaning he shoots near par or better most rounds) in the past.
“Even if I break 80 both days, that’s good… I should break 80, but I could easily not even break 90, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Pinto.
“My driver's feeling good. I don't know what's going on with my irons. Chipping's alright. Then my putting's been awful, so I'm going to work on a lot of putting today, short game, and hopefully it shows up on Thursday.”
Following Pinto around the course will be his girlfriend Sydney, and a few of his friends from home.
“I’m sure they’re going to have a few drinks and enjoy, and I’m going to be stressing out there, so it should be fun.”
Pinto will tee off alongside Strongsville, Ohio’s Jake Scott and Fort Riley, Kansas’s Zach Mandry at 2:27 p.m. on the back nine on Thursday. On Friday, the grouping will tee it up on the front nine at 8:57 a.m.
Entry to this year’s tournament is complimentary, thanks to Commissionaires Ottawa.
