Thanks to some local volunteers and an initiative through Eagle Point Resort owners Lolita and Wade Mohr; the game of golf’s popularity in the North is growing. This year the course in La Ronge is offering free golf to anyone under the age of 18. The course has clubs, balls, and tees free to use to assist kids getting on the facility after numbers dropped overt the past decade. On June 24 the club hosted a junior golf “warm up” tournament with 24 kids taking part. Organizer Devin Bernatchez said the event went well.
“We had a great turnout of kids who just had a lot of fun,” he said. “We don’t keep score or anything like that, it’s just about keeping the kids busy and getting them out on the course.”
Last year Bernatchez organized a local “open” tournament, over 50 golfers took part across three different age groups. He has a second annual tournament planned for Sept. 15. Bernatchez’s son Dade plays on the Maple Leaf Junior Tour (MJT), Parker Layton, another La Ronge golfer also competes on the Tour. Bernatchez said with the number of players increasing and the work of newly certified coaches Darcy McPhail and Steve Hopper conducting weekly clinics the talent is improving. A few locals took part in the Lobstick at Waskesiu and will enter the Junior Lobstick later this summer. He said the focus isn’t about putting up low scores.
“The kids just love to golf, we have had such great support from the parents and kids, it’s so much fun for them,” Bernatchez said.
The next MJT event is June 30 and July 1 in Saskatoon at Moon Lake.
