Day one of the golf competition at the Tony Cote Summer Games in Meadow Lake is complete.

The two round event features a two-player scramble format under the Stableford scoring system. Players competing in the boy’s juvenile (under-17) and junior (under-19) age categories play 18 holes; the under-15 and under-13 boy’s age groups play nine holes. The girls, both under-17 and under-19 also play nine holes per day.

Leading the juvenile/junior category is Estyn Hyman and Hunter Paskemin with 65 points. Marcus Cameron and M. Ryder Cameron are tied with Teigan Wapass and Grant Gardiner in second place with 58 points.

In the under-13/under-15 category, Keston Gerard and Lebron Thunderchild have the lead with 26 points. Only one point back in second place is Payton Young and Tyson Naytowhow at 25. Chad Robert and Dade Barnatchez are in third with 24 points.

On the girl’s side, Avis Cook and Danica Daniels lead with 17 points.

All the results can be found here.

All 74 players will be back on the Meadow Lake Golf Course on Wednesday to complete the golf event of the Games.

For the next three days the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club will play host to over 100 of the top amateur golfers from the province and beyond the borders.

The 108^th Men’s Amateur Championship and 33^rd Mid-Amateur Championship will run from July 16 to 19 cohesively. The top-three players in each field will have a chance to represent the province at the national events. There is an extra six quota spots for the Canadian Amateur Championship in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia in August. There is nine quota spots up for grabs in the mid-amateur class, the mid-am field is golfers over 25 years of age. Their national championship is at the Summit Golf Club in Toronto, Ont. Players can enter both events or play in just one if they fall into the age bracket.

Players to watch:

Kade Johnson (Yorkton) – The reigning 2018 amateur champion is coming off a third-place finish at a US Amateur qualifier event last week. The Deer Park Municipal Golf Course member placed sixth at the Scotia Wealth Open in Nipawin. He was also sixth at the Glencoe Invitational in Calgary. He lost a six-hole playoff in the Reliance Gregg’s Central Amateur.

Roman Timmerman (Saskatoon) – Johnson’s college teammate at Southern Arkansas University won the Reliance Gregg’s Central Amateur in his first event back after dealing with an injury.

Danny Klughart (Prince Albert) – The Cooke Municipal Golf Course member is potentially the hottest player in the province. Klughart is coming off back-to-back wins. He outlasted the field at the Lobstick in Waskesiu and the Scotia Wealth Saskatoon Amateur Championship. He currently sits second in the Order of Merit race.

Ryan McNall (Regina) – McNall joins Klughart as the only two-time winner on the Order of Merit tour this year. McNall won the Regina Dental Group Men’s City Amateur and the Men’s Publinx Championship this year. The Wascana Country Club golfer hasn’t finished lower than third in any of his five starts. He leads the OMT tour standings.

Mike Herperger (Humboldt) – Herperger hasn’t played much competitive golf this year (20^th, Lobstick) but he is the 2018 mid-am champion and represented Saskatchewan at both the national championships last year.

Dave Stewart (Saskatoon) – The two-time amateur champion and 2015 mid-am winner is on his home track. He placed second last year in the mid-am behind Herperger and third in the amateur championship.

Other notables; Josh Nagy (2018 junior champion), Ty Campbell, Jehremy Ryde, Colin Coben, Brad Phelps, Liam Courtney, Rick Hallberg (2018 senior champion), Mitch Matichuk, Carson Harcourt, Marc Sweeney, Shawn McNall, Torrie Coghlin

The players begin teeing off at 7 a.m. each day. The champions will be crowned on Thursday, July 18.

Live scoring is available here.

Many small Saskatchewan communities don’t have the luxury of having a golf course to be the hub of summer activity, as for Birch Hills and their surrounding residents, not only do they have a fully serviced nine-hole facility, the track is one of the province’s hidden gems.

Located on Highway 3, just east of Prince Albert, the farming town features an almost 3,000-yard bush and water laden course that will make any trip worth the drive. Board secretary Lorisa Ganes said golfers that visit the course for the first time are always impressed with what the club offers.

“Personally I think they are pleasantly surprised,” she said to Golf Saskatchewan during a recent visit. “I think visitors think they aren’t going to get the services that they get here. We have a kitchen with homemade food, we have the events building, a driving range, and practice green. I personally think our course rivals any in the province, I think they are pleasantly surprised when they come.”

Established in 1926, Birch Hills has over 100 members including “social” and “corporate” packages. On Tuesday they host their ladies’ club and the men have their weekly event on Thursday evenings. The course plays well for all skill levels of golf. Hole five is the course’s claim to fame as it features a tricky island green. Ganes said the course isn’t really long but you will have your hands full.

“Even though it might be a shorter course I think it has some challenging aspects to it for sure. A lot of trees are in play,  fairways are fairly narrow, and the water is in play on four of the nine holes,” she said. “We don’t have any sand, but I think the course more than makes up for that with the challenge aspect of it.”

The community has four certified “community coaches” and is working hard to get a junior program up and running. Last year they had over 40 kids taking part in lessons. Time restraints for a couple of the coaches this year only allotted for 16 kids to take part, but plans are in the works for next season to get the number back up. Adam Morrison is the facility manager at the course, he’s also an avid golfer. He said Birch Hills is a great course for young golfers and top-notch players as well.

“The nice thing about this course, you tee off from the blue tees it can be difficult for anyone but it’s also very family friendly,” he said. “It’s a course that a family with two young kids can come out, enjoy nine holes and not be pushed from behind. It’s a very family friendly course which I love about it.  I think it offers all aspects to all golfers, from beginners to good amateurs.”

The course is adjacent to the Birch Hills airport, the Prince Albert Gliding and Soaring Club uses that as a base for their operations. Watching the gliders along hole two is a neat feature of the course according to the locals.

The town has several recreation facilities along with the course, they boast a curling and skating rink, basketball court, ball diamonds and campgrounds next to the course as well. Morrison said the town and volunteers work hard to give residents plenty to do highlighted by golf in the summer.

“I think in the summer the course is the place to be,” he said. “We have some unbelievable rec facilities here. The people that run them and the boards do a great job with all our facilities. Our town doesn’t have too many businesses, so our rec facilities are the centre of the town. A lot of people in town golf, it’s enjoyable.”

Over the past couple years the course has upgraded their maintenance equipment and purchased 10 new carts for their fleet. The number one goal now is their clubhouse and somehow getting a new one. The event building was donated by C. Ross Wheaton out of Saskatoon. It comfortably holds 60 people and has large windows with a view of the course.

The course has a full slate of tournaments ever season as well, their Town vs. Country Ryder Cup style event features town residents challenging area farmers in a match style tournament. On the first Wednesday in September the Ladies’ Club hosts their annual tournament that in the past has had over 100 players. All the prizes for that event are harvest related. The tournament fills up in a day.

Lastly, the club offers one of the best promotions you will find province wide, on Monday’s and Friday’s green fees are two-for-one. Two people can walk the course for $22. That promotion is all season long.

Birch Hills also partners with other Saskatchewan courses, if you are a member of theirs, Manitou Beach, St. Brieux, Hidden Hills of Shellbrook, Lanigan, LeRoy leisureland, Wynyard, Craik, or Davidson you pay 50 per cent green fees.

For more information on the Birch Hills course visit their website.

Nine Saskatchewan golfers will represent the province at next month’s Western Canada Summer Games (WCSG).

Five boys and four girls will make up Team Saskatchewan at the event that takes place at the Chinook Golf Course in Swift Current from Aug. 16 to 18.

Representing Saskatchewan on the boy’s side is Will Blake (Regina), TJ Baker (Prince Albert), Jackson Wingert (Saskatoon), Theoren West (Wawota), and Alex Swinnerton (Saskatoon).

Representing the girl’s team is junior women’s provincial champion Autumn Neiszner (Regina), Ella Kozak (Yorkton), Sarah Grieve (Saskatoon), and Symone Ripley (Saskatoon).

Golf Saskatchewan director of sport development Steve Ryde  said he’s excited for the event and the players making up the team.

“These kids have worked extremely hard to be named to this team,” he said. “The players that made the teams are in for a great experience both golf wise and life, we know they will represent Golf Saskatchewan to the best of their ability.”

Play begins on Friday, Aug. 16. The WCSG take place every other year.

All the details can be found here.

Monday – July 8^th, 2019 at Holiday Park GC, Saskatoon, SK

In this case, player A had a short, uphill putt (inside of four feet) on a par three for his third stroke. The player made a proper stroke at the ball but accidentally hit the ball a second time on the way to the hole, and the putt was holed. Was it a three or a four?

Rule 10.1a, if the player’s club accidentally hits the ball more than once during a single stroke there will be no penalty and the ball will be played as it lies. In this case, the ball was holed and player A records a three on his scorecard.

Again, we heavily emphasize, “accidentally!” This does not allow a player with a 30 foot putt to putt, run up 20 feet and hit it again while it is moving. There will be penalties involved and possibly a disqualification penalty in that situation.

Full Rule for 10.1

10.1  Making a Stroke

Purpose of Rule: Rule 10.1 covers how to make a stroke and several acts that are prohibited in doing so. A stroke is made by fairly striking at a ball with the head of a club. The fundamental challenge is for you to direct and control the movement of the entire club by freely swinging the club without anchoring it.

a. Fairly Striking the Ball

In making a stroke:

• You must fairly strike at the ball with the head of the club such that there is only momentary contact between the club and the ball and you must not push, scrape or scoop the ball.
• If your club accidentally hits the ball more than once, there has been only one stroke and there is no penalty.

Golf Saskatchewan has two new junior champions.

On Thursday at Nipawin’s Evergreen Golf Course, Estevan’s Jace Carlisle and Regina’s Autumn Neiszner won the Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s Championships respectively.

Carlisle, 17, was the start to finish leader of the 54-hole event that started on July 9. He fired a sparkling 69 on day one before the leaders struggled during round two. The TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club member’s second round of 82 kept him one stroke ahead of the field. He rebounded nicely on day three stroking a two-under, 70 to win the event by six shots. Carlisle said he reached out for help prior to the final round and now he’s a provincial champion.

“I phoned my coach, Kevin Dietz and we talked, he said just forget about it, that’s what I did,” he said after the win. “I just forgot about it, went to the range and got my swing back. It worked today. Yesterday I was feeling the nerves a little bit. I was being a little steep, I figured that out, I was feeling better with the swing today and the putter.”

Carlisle’s third round was steady all day, a birdie on the par five, first hole got his confidence back helping him earn his first provincial event. He posted five birdies during the round to go along with a couple bogeys, the rest he parred. He said going into the day with a one-shot lead, the tournament was open for the taking by several players.

“It was jam packed at the top, it was anybody’s tournament at the start of the day. I came out and made the birdie that got me going, I made a nice putt. I had a hiccup on two, but it didn’t really set in until I was on the 18^th fairway and I knew I had it,” Carlisle said.

He will now lead Team Saskatchewan into the Canadian Junior Boy’s Championship in Hartland, New Brunswick in August. Carlisle said he’s excited to finally get a chance to represent Saskatchewan on the national stage.

“I’ve never played a Canadian national tournament before, I am looking forward to getting out to New Brunswick,” he beamed. “I have never been out east, it should be fun. I wanted to win this so bad, I’ve worked so hard I wanted to win so bad.”

Joining Carlisle on Team Saskatchewan will be Saskatoon’s Steven Duchsher and Kindersley’s Cort Tunall who finished second and third respectively. Saskatchewan is allowed one alternate, that will be Brody Istace, also of Kindersley.

Juvenile Champion (Under-17) – Cort Tunall (Kindersley)

Bantam Champion (Under-15) – Alex Swinnerton (Saskatoon)

Under 13 Champion – Jayden Chernoff (Estevan)

Junior Women’s Championship

Unlike Carlisle, Autumn Neiszner had to fight back from a first-round deficit to win her first provincial championship.

The 15-year-old Wascana Country Club member was three shots behind reigning champion Brooklin Fry after the first round, but she strung together her best three career rounds of golf to become the 2019 winner. Neiszner said the victory is special.

“It feels really great,” she said. “I played some really good golf. To shoot my three best rounds ever in a tournament all in a row feels good. There was a competition, everyone played well, it definitely feels good.”

Neiszner was the only junior woman in the event to shoot in the 70’s every round, with her 54-hole score of 230 (78, 76, 76) she won by nine strokes over Lauren Fox of Creighton. Neiszner had already qualified for a spot at the Canadian Junior Girl’s Championship with her showing at the Future Links Prairie Championship in Yorkton. Coming into the provincial event she was hoping to perform well without the pressure.

“Winning wasn’t my goal, playing my best golf I could was and obviously I did, and I ended up winning which is great,” she said.

The majority of the junior women’s field participated in last week’s Amateur Women’s Championship in Saskatoon. Neiszner was nursing a little bit of an injury and skipped the event. She said that potentially helped her be fresher coming into Nipawin.

“I think just taking a break and practicing for a week was really helpful,” she said. “I just kept the ball in play, I hit greens, I putted well, I didn’t make any really big mistakes.”

Joining Neiszner at nationals in Lethbridge will be Fox, Fry, and Ella Kozak who edged Sarah Grieve in a six-hole playoff to decide the alternate member of Team Saskatchewan.

Under 15 Champion – Brooklin Fry (Shell Lake)

Regina’s Autumn Neiszner has taken over the lead at the 69^th Junior Women’s Championship.

The Wascana Country Club member was three shots back of Brooklin Fry after round one, but on Wednesday she tied for low round of the day at 76. Coupled with Fry’s 86, Neiszner will take a seven-stroke lead into the championship round Thursday at the Evergreen Golf Course in Nipawin. Neiszner now sits at plus-10 over 36 holes.

Creighton’s Lauren Fox also shot 76 on Wednesday to push herself into contention. Her career low round vaulted her into a tie with Fox, the reigning junior champion in second place.

Three other golfers will battle for the last spot at the Canadian National Championships on Thursday, Sarah Grieve (Saskatoon), Ella Kozak (Yorkton), and Carey McLean (Deer Valley) are all within two shots of each other. The top three players will make up Team Saskatchewan at the national junior event, plus one alternate will participate.

The complete leaderboard can be seen here.

Estevan’s Jace Carlisle managed to hold onto the lead he had after round one of the Junior Men’s Championship but the four shot comfort zone the Estevan product enjoyed is no longer in play.

Carlisle followed his 69 on day one with a 10-over, 82 during the middle round of the event to drop to seven-over for the tournament. He sits one stroke ahead of another TS&M Woodlawn golfer, Jayden Dudas. He fired his second straight round of four-over, 76 to sit in a tie for second at plus-eight. Griffin Wilson of Swift Current is also at eight-over after shooting a 79 on Wednesday.

There is a logjam of golfers tied for fourth place at plus-nine. Steven Duchscher (Saskatoon), Cole Jenkins (Prince Albert), Brody Istace (Kindersley), and Chase Gedak (Estevan) will all battle for one of the four national spots on the junior men’s side.

All the results can be found here.

The championships will decided on Thursday.

Reigning champion Brooklin Fry picked up where she left off last week at the Saskatchewan Women’s Amateur Championship during the opening round of the Junior Women’s provincials in Nipawin on Tuesday.

Fry, 14, carded an opening round plus-three, 75 to take a three-stroke lead over Autumn Neiszner at the Evergreen Golf Course. The Shell Lake product got her day started with a trio of pars before chipping in an eagle on hole four. She birdied hole six before running into trouble on seven and eight picking up a bogey and double bogey consecutively. Fry, who plays out of the Memorial Lake Regional Park Golf Course was even after the front nine. Another bogey on hole 10 dropped her to one-over for the day, she got that back with a birdie on 12. Four straight pars followed but trouble on 17 led to a triple bogey and the score of 75.

Neiszner’s round was the opposite, the Wascana Country Club member was five-over on the front before rebounding on the back nine going one-over par for a plus-six, 78.

Saskatoon’s Sarah Grieve sits in third place at plus-10. The leaderboard can be seen here. The junior women begin teeing off on Wednesday for their second of three rounds at 10:15 a.m.

On the junior men’s side, Estevan’s Jace Carlisle was the lone golfer to shoot under par. The TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club member stroked a solid three-under, 69 on day one of the three-day championship.

Carlisle was two-under on the front nine at the Evergreen thanks to the assistance of three birdies. He added two more on the back and a bogey to close the day with a four-stroke lead on Chase Gedak, also of Estevan. Gedak played even golf for 17 holes before bogeying 18 and dropping to one-over.

Gedak is tied with Griffin Wilson of Swift Current in third with a round of 73. Kindersley’s Brody Istace is in fourth place at plus-three, another Woodlawn player, Jayden Dudas rounds out the top five at 76.

The full results can be seen here, the boys will hit the tee blocks beginning at 8 a.m.

The top four players from both the women’s and men’s categories will be eligible for nationals. Western Canada Summer Games positions are also on the line during the 54-hole event that wraps up on Thursday.

Danny Klughart has cruised to his second Order of Merit (OMT) event championship of the season winning the Scotia Wealth Management Saskatoon Amateur Golf Championship this past weekend.

The Cooke Municipal Golf Course member is coming off a win at the Lobstick a few weeks ago. Klughart jumped out to a huge lead during the amateur on Saturday striking a seven-under, 65 at Dakota Dunes Golf Links. That tied his career tournament low round. He said everything went right on day one of the 36-hole event.

“I had a really good round,” he chuckled. “I hit the ball really well off the tee, I hit most of the fairways and my wedge game was pretty dialled in. I made lots of birdies but they were all inside ten feet except one so that was nice.”

After the first day Klughart had a five-shot lead on Ty Campbell and Jehremy Ryde and a six-stroke cushion on David Stewart. Round two of the event moved to Riverside Country Club where he went one-under, 71 to hold off the field and win by five shots. Klughart said he knew shooting near par would likely seal the victory.

“My goal was to shoot under par on Sunday, I figured if I did that it would be very tough for anyone to even tie me,” he said. “It would have taken Ty or Jehremy six under and Dave seven under to tie me if I shot under par so I figured that would be a pretty safe bet.”

Despite the five-shot win, Klughart admitted changing venues halfway through the tournament did allow for the chasers to claw back.

“I actually think that kind of opened the door,” he explained. “At Riverside you need to know the lines and just putting on the greens can be quite challenging so guys that play there everyday kind of have an advantage. If Ty could have made a few more putts on the front nine he would have been right there with me because he was hitting the ball well. Jehremy and Dave were under par on the front nine so it wasn’t far off from being a close back nine, they had some trouble and I made a few birdies and got my big lead back.”

Campbell finished at 141, Ryde carded a 142. Last weekend’s winner at the Reliance Gregg’s Central Amateur, Roman Timmerman placed fourth at 143, Stewart rounded out the top five at an even par, 144. The complete results can be seen here.

Next up on the men’s OMT is the Saskatchewan Men’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships at the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club from July 16 to 18. Klughart said his game is where it needs to be to contend for either championship.

“I feel really good,” he said. “I am kind of getting back into it after taking a few weeks off. I’m going to continue to work on the things I was before. I am really trying to get my distance control, and my putting. I have been working on those two a lot, it seems to be helping my wedge and iron game. I am just trying to be pin high and that is really helping my game.”

Some of the best junior golfers in Saskatchewan will converge on Nipawin between July 9 and 11 for the Saskatchewan Junior Golf Provincial Championships.

Both the boy’s and girl’s championships will run together at the Nipawin Evergreen Golf Course. It’s the 93rd running of the men’s event, and the 69th running for the women’s.

“We’re very excited,” Evergreen Head Pro Derrick Tallon said. “It’s a great honour to host a provincial event. The golf course is in fantastic shape and I know that the competitors, when they get here will be very pleased.”

The Evergreen last held the Junior Championships in 2014 and have also held multiple other provincial championships since turning into an 18-hole course in the 1990s. Tallon said while it’s great to hold any provincial event, the juniors are a bit different.

“The juniors is a great event,” he said. “Because there’s many families that come up, so they can experience all the other fun things to do in the town.”

The par-72 course is widely considered as one of the best in the province, and Tallon added a tournament like this just adds to the exposure of the club.

“We believe we have a very good golf course and the conditions are excellent,” Tallon told northeastNOW. “But it’s great for players once they’ve experienced it, then they go back to their respective clubs and tell their friends and fellow golfers how good the Nipawin Evergreen Golf Course is.”

51 golfers are in the field, 43 boys and eight girls will battle for spots at the Canadian National Championships as well as spots at the Western Canada Summer Games.

Competitors will start teeing off at 10 a.m. The complete girl’s field can be seen here, the boy’s line up can be found here.

Article courtesy www.northeastNOW.com/MatBarrett