Paul Raycroft (submitted/Clark Stork)

By Ben Tompkins

Returning with a bang

Humboldt golfer qualifies for National Amateur after first competitive tournament in eight years

Jul 22, 2025 | 5:40 PM

A local golfer earned a trip to Nationals this past week at the Saskatchewan Amateur Championships in Humboldt.

The hometown hero, Paul Raycroft, finished seventh in the Men’s Amateur and second in the Mid-Amateur at his own course, earning spots in both national tournaments.

Raycroft plans to attend just the one, the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, which will be held August 18-22 at the Seymour Golf & Country Club in North Vancouver, B.C.

“My kids are really into golf right now, so I think kind of moving forward, my focus will be on them, maybe more than my game, if they choose to kind of pursue it a little bit more. Selfishly speaking, it would be great if I could get out and compete more and play more,” he said, acknowledging that not all tournaments will have the same outcomes.

“If I can get out there and compete and set a good example for my kids on how to work hard, and maybe even throw a couple of wins in there, where they can see their dad competing and walking around that way, that’d be pretty neat,” he told northeastNOW.

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“This whole past week really was a gift and a privilege to be out there, obviously, to have a lot of support from my wife and the kids there to take a week and go play some golf. Golf is a lifelong sport, and there are always opportunities to compete, so I’m hoping that I can do that. This week, I was quite relaxed, but I was a little nervous also, just being out there and having fun and just going out there with the attitude to be thankful for every single shot, bad, good, whatever, even though sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. To be able to go play golf and do something that I love is pretty amazing.”

This was Raycroft’s first competitive event in roughly eight years, as being a father is a time-consuming job.

He has played golf his whole life, however, and he had lots of experience in big events to fall back on.

“I played NCAA, competed in a couple of Canadian Tour events when I was younger, multiple national tournaments and obviously provincials and that too. I definitely had some rust, and reflecting on some things, I would have maybe made some different decisions out there that may have helped me or not. Overall, though, it was just a great week, but obviously disappointing that I didn’t win. If you told me before, I would have been where I was and right in it down to the end, I would have been happy,” Raycroft added.

“There was also definitely an advantage of playing right at home, people in your corner and the knowledge of the course goes a long way. Just an awesome experience with a lot of people reaching out and giving me some good wishes and good luck.”

In his next tournament, Raycroft won’t have the privilege of playing at home, but he’s just grateful to play at all.

He also may have a bit of unfinished business, with the ultimate dream and goal of rewriting what happened 10 years ago.

“Confidence-wise, I know I can do it. I was in Nova Scotia, I think 10 years ago, going into round four, I was in third place. I was playing in the last group, and unfortunately, I didn’t win, but I was right there. Certainly, the opportunity was there to win, and it just didn’t happen, but that’s golf. Just kind of looking at this, I know the game, I feel like I hit the ball long enough and straight enough, and if I can dial in my wedges and just be a little more consistent with the putter, I should be able to hold my own at least,” concluded Raycroft.

“My expectations are just to work as hard as I can in the next month or so, as time allows me to and such, and just be as prepared as possible for the tournament. Now goal-wise, the first would be to make the cut after two rounds, my next goal would probably be top 10, to have an exemption for the following year, and then if I can win it, that’d be pretty cool, too.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8