For the last four years Brody Istace has been competing in college golf for the Columbia International University Rams in South Carolina, the Kindersley product in now venturing into a new trade following his graduation.

Istace is still pondering more schooling but he will soon head back to the United States and begin caddying at Harbour Town Golf Links in S.C.

Golf Saskatchewan spoke with the four-year Ram and discussed his college career, what’s next, and thoughts on future Saskatchewan kids from smaller, nine-hole clubs making it at the collegiate level.

Jacob Kydd has concluded his collegiate golf career at Indiana Wesleyan University.

The Regina products college days aren’t over however, Kydd will continue to study in the United States and earn his degree on route to becoming an optomitrist.

He spoke with Golf Saskatchewan’s Clark Stork discussing his four years south of the border and how college golf has helped shape his life, and future.

Estevan’s Jace Carlisle is headed to a collegiate national championship.

The sophomore at Post University placed tied for fourth this past weekend at the NCAA East/Atlantic Regionals in Victor, New York. The TS&M Woodlawn member fired an opening round score of 69 leaving himself in first after round one. Carlisle rounded out the weekend shooting 75 and 73 for a 54-hole score of 1-over par, 217.

The National Championship will be held at TPC Michigan in Dearborn, Michigan from May 16 – 20.

Golf Saskatchewan spoke with Carlisle on Sunday, a day after Carlisle earned the national spot as an individual.

Deer Valley Golf Club is one of the first facilities in Saskatchewan to tee up the Operation 36 golf program to build the game at the grassroot level.

Operation 36 is a program operated by golf software company Golf Genius. Working with a “curriculum” platform for all levels and ages of players, Deer Valley Head Professional John Greenough said he’s been eying the program for several years.

“They have great marketing materials; they have five or six PGA professionals on staff building content and running the program. Really there is a high-end professional feel to the whole platform. They thought of everything, it’s fantastic,” Greenough said following the first week of sessions at Deer Valley just outside Regina.

The program focuses on several aspects of skill from social golfer to elite college players, Greenough added that piqued his interest in Operation 36.

Deer Valley has sessions for both junior golfers and women golfers. Greenough said with the help of Head Teaching Professional Kevin Dietz and Assistant Professional Shawn Smith the first week went well.

“We have multiple PGA guys working with lots of gals and juniors,” he said. “Everyone has gotten on the app, they are posting their progress, you are able to track your practice sessions and things like that. Everyone seems really excited about a different way to learn.”

The ‘first semester’ junior program will be eight weeks in May and June. The program will be cut down to four weeks during the busier summer months of July and August. The adult programming is also a four-week semester.

The program is comparable to grades in school with tests in place to advance to a new level with a total of six ranks.

Jeff Chambers has launched Operation 36 programming through his academy at Elmwood Golf Club in Swift Current, Garrett McMillan is also using the program at facilities in Regina and Moose Jaw beginning next week.

For more details on the locations in Saskatchewan conducting Operation 36 programs click here.

You can hear more from Greenough below in his interview with Golf Saskatchewan’s Clark Stork.

Elk Ridge, Sk – The ownership group of Elk Ridge Resort, Routes2SK and the Elk Ridge Open host committee announced Wednesday four of its sponsor exemptions into the field for the 2022 official PGA TOUR Canada tournament that will take place June 20-26at Elk Ridge Golf Resort.

The four sponsor exemptions will go to:

• Roman Timmerman, the top-ranked 2021 Golf SK amateur and winner of the 2021 Saskatchewan Amateur
• Josh Nagy, a product of Elk Ridge Resort Junior Program
• The winner of the 2022 Lobstick Open (Waskesiu, June 13-14)
• The winner of the 2022 Scotia Wealth Management Open (Nipawin Evergreen, June 4-5)

This is the second playing of the Elk Ridge Open and the first as part of the Tour’s Fortinet Cup schedule. The 72-hole event begins June 23. The 2021 tournament took place in September due to a modified TOUR schedule.

“Our Routes2SK Inc. group has chosen Roman and Josh, and we look forward to inviting the two champions of the upcoming events to play in this first-ever PGA TOUR Canada event at Elk Ridge Golf Resort,” said Routes2SK Managing Partner Ryan Danberg. “The stage is going to be substantially different from last year’s Canadian-only event, so we are hoping to have Saskatchewan’s best represent us.

“We have recently purchased the Waskesiu Lake Lodge,” Danberg continued, “and having the Lobstick in Waskesiu is a very important golf event for the community. This will make the event that much more exciting to watch.”

This marks the second time Nagy received a sponsor exemption. The two-time Saskatchewan junior champion is currently playing college golf for Robert Morris University in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, outside Pittsburgh.

“I’d like to thank Elk Ridge and the organizing committee again this year for the exemption,” Nagy said. “I was able to compete in the inaugural Elk Ridge Open last September and was very happy my first professional event was at the resort where I grew up playing the game. I am very excited to come back and try my hand again against players at the next level. I look forward to returning to the Open and am thankful for the opportunity.”

Timmerman earned a spot in last year’s tournament following his record-breaking win at the 2021 Saskatchewan Amateur Championship in Swift Current. Due to a scheduling conflict with his university, the Saskatoon product was unable to compete in the inaugural event.

“I am very grateful and excited to be given a sponsor’s exemption into the 2022 Elk Ridge Open. I would like to thank Brian Lee, Steve Ryde and the rest of the staff at Golf Saskatchewan, as well as Ryan Wells and everyone at Elk Ridge Resort, for this opportunity. I heard only great things from last year’s event and look forward to competing this June,” Timmerman said.

The Elk Ridge Open tournament committee plans to announce its final two sponsor exemption selections following further discussion with PGA TOUR Canada officials.

For more details on the Elk Ridge Open click here.

Cut Knife area farmer Ned Ramsay and two pool buddies are this year’s winners of the Rotary Club of Saskatoon’s Masters Pool winners. Ramsay also had the winning picks in the 2017 version of the fundraiser as well.

Ramsay, a member of Atton’s Lake Golf Club also had an entry place fourth in the pool that included 365 entries. He admitted to doing plenty of research reading websites and predictions from “people that know way more about the game than me.” He said a key to earning the most prize money in the pool format is making sure you pick the winner and have some luck.

“You need the winner first of all, you have to find that winner,” Ramsay told Golf Saskatchewan. “The thing that saved us was Rory [McIlroy] climbing the leaderboard, if he didn’t do that, we might have cashed but we wouldn’t be where we were at. We had him and [Scottie] Scheffler in that first box and that really helped.”

Ramsay has entered the Rotary Club’s pool every year since it’s inception, so his odds of winning have been elevated. He also said the Masters is his favourite tournament and attending Augusta National is a bucket list item. He even joked that the pool winner used to receive their own Masters flair and he wishes that continued.

“They took away the green jacket, they used to give a green jacket away,” he laughed. “I’ve won twice, that will be the closest I ever get to a green jacket, I joked about that with the Rotary Club.”

The trio of golf fans are enjoying the win and have already reinvested some of their winnings in the community’s Stanley Cup playoff draft with proceeds going to Cut Knife’s bowling alley.

As for Ramsay’s home course of Atton’s Lake, he said “it’s a beautiful nine-hole regional park course that I’ve yet to par but will continue to play and hopefully put it all together one day.”

A portion of the proceeds from the pool is given to Golf Saskatchewan to assist in funding junior golf programming.

The complete results can be found here.

Connor Scissons college career is winding down, but the Saskatoon product has another top-10 finish on his resume at Arizona Christian University (ACU).

The Firestorm were in Lompoc, California on April 25 to 27 for the GSAC Men’s Championship. Scissons carded rounds of 71, 78, and 80 on route to a 10^th place tie. The senior at ACU was tied for third at one point in the event.

As a team the Firestorm were fourth overall. The event wraps up their school’s season.

Alex Schmidt of Regina wrapped up the final scheduled event of her collegiate career at Lewis-Clarke State in Idaho. Schmidt finished in ninth place at the Cascade Conference Championships in Eagle Point, Oregon. She posted rounds of 83 and 77 for a 36-hole total of 160 at Eagle Point Golf Club. Schmidt led the Warriors to a fourth overall finish.

Holly Knudsen was in action this week alongside her Minot State Beaver teammates in Smithville, Missouri on April 22 to 24. The Chaplin product opened the tournament at Paradise Point Golf Complex with an 85, she followed that up with a 94 during round two. Knudsen shaved 10 strokes off that for an 84 in round three to finish in a tie for 31^st at 47-over par, 263.

As a team the Beavers finished ninth of 13 teams at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships at Paradise Pointe – Outlaw.

Brody Istace wrapped up his four-year college career at Columbia International University (CIU) this week at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship in Adiarsville, Georgia from April 24 to 27. The Kindersley product started sluggish with an 89 in round one but bounced back beautifully with a 74 in round two. In the final round Istace stroked an 83 to finish in a tie for 40^th at 30-over par 246.

The Rams tied for seventh as a team.

Josh Nagy and the Robert Morris Colonials competed this week in Howey-In-The-Hills, Florida for the Horizon League Championships at El Campeon. The Saskatoon product finished the 54-hole event at 28-over par, 244 (86,81,77) to leave him in 44^th spot.

The Colonials finished in ninth place in the team competition.

Will Danielson showed well in Milsaps College’s final event of the spring season. The Saskatoon second year player was competing with the Majors at the Southern Athletic Association Championships in Braselton, Georgia at the Château Élan Golf Club. Danielson improved each round shooting 82, 81, and 76 for a three-round total of 239, good enough for a tie for 27^th.

The Majors placed seventh in the team standings.

Caden Loeppky will likely feel confident in his game after picking up a 15^th place finish for Waldorf University at the NSAA Championship this week in Albert Lea, Minnesota. The Saskatoon resident went 84, 78 for a two-round total of 18-over par, 162 at the Wedgewood Golf Club.

Loeppky’s strong performance helped the Warriors secure a second-place finish in the team competition.

A few Saskatchewan student-athletes still have events next week including Roman Timmerman, Jace Carlisle, TJ Baker, Chase Gedak, Cole Jenkins, and Autumn Neizsner.

National championships are a possibility for some competitors as well.

2022 Easter Camp proves successful

Golf Saskatchewan was able to bring their Easter Camp program back this year after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19.

The weather forced the event inside, but eight junior golfers enjoyed the two days at both the Golf Dome and Golf YXE in Saskatoon.

Erin was one of the attendees, she was asked what she liked about the camp.

“One thing I enjoyed about the camp was that it wasn’t all focused on one area. I got to learn about different parts of my swing on my different clubs. I also enjoyed that we also talked about strategies, mental game, snacks, warm up, etc. Since there were two instructors, I got different views and opinions on how to improve. Lastly, I really enjoyed the part where I got to see how far each of my clubs would go which will be great reference on the course.” 

Chloe took part as well, she said she saw an improvement in her game quite quickly.

“I think my shots improved after the swing analysis. After I put my feet closer together and straightened my knees a little more, I found I was hitting the ball better.”

The camp focused on more than fundamentals including nutrition and the mental side of the game. Natalie said learning more about just your swing was a nice surprise.

“The homemade snacks were great, as well as the nutrition feedback on how to eat on the course and what to eat to have a balanced meal, conserve energy, and stay energized. I also enjoyed the professional yardage books that were shown by Anna Young as it will help me to create my own for my local course.”

Photos from the camp can be seen here.

Kent McMann has called Foam Lake home for upwards of four decades and for much of that time he’s volunteered his time to create a “better quality of life.”

McMann was honoured last year with the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association Volunteer of the Year Award.

Among McMann’s countless contributions to the community is his work at the Foam Lake Golf Club.

McMann spoke to Golf Saskatchewan to discuss why he gives back, the course and what it means to the Foam Lake area and more.

For the second time in his college career, weather may have washed out Josh Nagy‘s chance at a college win.

Last November, Nagy missed out on a potential win due to darkness halting a playoff at an event in New Jersey. This season, on April 19 and 20, the Robert Morris University (RMU) junior tied for third in the weather shortened Wright State Invitational in Springboro, Ohio. The Saskatoon product carded rounds of 72 and 73 for a 36-hole total of 3-over par, 145. Nagy tied for third, just three shots off the pace.

The Colonials tied for fourth as a team, 11 back of Wright State.

Jace Carlisle was able to celebrate a Post University team win at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in West Springfield, Massachusetts on April 18 and 19.

The Estevan product led the event at The Ledges Golf Club in par-3 scoring at 2-under par and finished tied for 27th at 14-over par, 158.

Post University teammates Ethan Philips and Riley Card finished first and second respectively leading the Eagles to the tournament victory.

Next on the schedule is the NCAA Atlantic/East Regional from May 7 – 9 at Ravenwood Golf Club in Victor, New York.

Saskatoon’s Will Danielson had a strong showing in Braselton, Georgia competing for Milsaps College.

Teeing it up at the Chateau Élan Golf Club on April 22 to 24, Danielson went 82, 81, 76, finishing in a tie for 27th at 20-over par, 239. Danielson was just two shots off the Majors team lead, the club was seventh-place overall in the team competition.

Caden Loeppky of Saskatoon was on the course last week alongside his Waldorf University teammates. Competing in a one-round event Loeppky shot 12-over par, 84 at the Mason City Country Club in Mason City, Iowa on April 19. He placed in a tie for 41st. Waldorf was sixth in the team standings.

Holly Knudsen recently returned to Minot, North Dakota following the NSIC Championship on April 24 at Paradise Point Golf Complex in Smithville, Missouri.

The Chaplin resident posted an opening round of 85 followed by a 94 in round two, the final round was the Minot State University freshman’s best carding an 84. She finished tied for 31st at 47-ver par, 263.

Several more players are competing in events this week including Nagy and Loeppky. Golf Saskatchewan will have more results later this week.