A total of twelve juniors, six boys and six girls, received their exemptions in Nipawin this past weekend, for the upcoming Canadian Junior Golf Nationals (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

By Ben Tompkins

NextGen Prairie Championship

Nipawin Evergreen successfully hosts first-ever Golf Canada event

Jun 19, 2023 | 6:01 PM

The 2023 NextGen Prairie Championships touched down in the northeast this past weekend, as Canada’s best junior golfers competed for exemptions into nationals.

The Evergreen Golf Course in Nipawin played host to the 54-hole tournament, in what was the club’s first-ever Golf Canada sanctioned event.

“I’m surprised this was their first,” said tournament director Sam Brown. “This is an absolute hidden gem and I definitely would not be surprised to see a Golf Canada event return here to Evergreen in Nipawin in the very near future. The members who have the pleasure of playing this place every day are very lucky.”

The three-day weekend saw a total of 65 juniors (50 boys and 15 girls) from the likes of B.C, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and of course Saskatchewan.

Brown, also a coordinator of amateur championships at Golf Canada, added that the most important part of the weekend was how much those juniors loved every minute of playing this course.

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“Above all, I think it was a fun course for the kids to play,” he told northeastNOW. Obviously a challenge, but a fair challenge. It sounds like they had a lot of fun playing the golf course, which is always nice to hear. Especially at junior events that can get a little stressful, it’s nice to hear that the kids actually enjoyed what was laid out in front of them.”

Kye Fisher and Cala Korman won their respective divisions to claim the titles and earn themselves, along with five others from each division, a trip to the upcoming Canadian Junior Golf National Championships.

Korman, from Killarney, Manitoba, shot a combined score of 226 (10 over par), with a very impressive round of 71 (one under) on Sunday.

She explained that she comes into every event wanting to win, but knows that all she can control is just going out there and putting up some good rounds.

“[Having not played this course before], after the first day I changed my routine. I was a little too aggressive off the tee, so just adjusting that really helped. The course was really good, off the tee was a bit awkward being left-handed, but the greens were really nice and I could just see every put going in.”

Cala Korman (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

Korman will now play in the 2023 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, July 24-27, at Hampton Golf Course in Hampton, N.B., alongside second-place finisher Hallie Crozier (Regina, SK), third-place finisher Addison Kartusch (Winnipeg, MB), fourth-place finisher Chloe Wills (Kyle, SK), fifth-place finisher Sela Ogada (Calgary, AB), and sixth-place finisher Jeri Lafleche (Winnipeg, MB).

“It’s pretty exciting [to win] and I’m excited about nationals for sure. I just want to have fun, it’s a great experience, and I hope to do my best,” Korman added. “Winning this event definitely gives me confidence going forward, but it also raises my expectations, so we’ll see how that goes.”

As for Fisher, out of Leduc, Alberta, he shot a combined score of 210 (six-under par), which included a final round of 67 (five-under) where he narrowly missed a birdie put on 18 to tie the course record.

While he was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t make that put, his confidence wasn’t shaken, as he knows he’ll have more opportunities in the future and that his ultimate goal of both winning the tournament and qualifying for nationals was met.

“I got off to a great start, I was four under through six early, I was playing well, making some puts, and then coming down the stretch wanted to make it on 18, but just left it a little right and it didn’t fall, but I’ll have plenty more chances, so it’ll be okay,” he mentioned.

Kye Fisher (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW)

Fisher will be joined at the 2023 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, August 14-17, at North Bay Golf and Country Club Ltd. in North Bay, Ont. by second-place finisher Seth Mottershead-Yee (Spruce Grove, AB), third-place finisher Cayden Kwan (Unionville, ON), fourth-place finishers Tommy Danielson (Saskatoon, SK) and Kenny Taylor (Edmonton, AB), and sixth-place finisher Luke Cote (Regina, SK).

“I’m super excited, I heard it’s a pretty nice track,” added Fisher. “It’ll be a little bit of a journey out to the Toronto area, but I am super excited to go play well there and hopefully, I’m gonna see another win happen.”

Of the twelve who got exempted, four of them hailed from the land of living skies, with the trio of Nipawin locals finishing 23rd, 31st, and 44th in their divisions respectfully.

And after an event that saw nothing but praise from the players, their parents, and everyone from Golf Canada, Kevin Duchscherer, president of the Evergreen Golf Course is hopeful and excited for the club’s next event, no matter what fashion it’s in.

“It was a great opportunity for our club to be able to show off how blessed we are here in Nipawin and in the northeast to have such a great golf course, and to have the opportunity to be able to showcase ourselves on the national stage, for us it’s a really big deal,” he said.

“We’re hoping that this event is going to be one of those that helps us to draw more attention to national events being brought here as well as just anywhere within Saskatchewan. It’s fantastic to think that Golf Canada is going to take a serious look at letting us host something like a Senior Championship.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8