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M.L. hosting Sask. Summer Games golf tryouts

Jun 9, 2016 | 6:00 AM

The annual Saskatchewan Summer Games are less than two months away and tryouts for teenagers wanting to play are happening throughout the province’s zones.

Meadow Lake will be playing host for the Rivers West (Zone) golf tryouts on Friday, June 10. Dwayne Yachiw, sport development and championships manager with Golf Saskatchewan said athletes are aged 12 to 17 and skills levels vary.

“The Sask. Games from our standpoint are developmental games as compared to the Canada Games which would be… elite athlete games. The skill levels in the Sask. Games ranges from intermediate to the better golfers,” he said.

Tryouts are being held to determine which athletes will be going to the summer games. Currently, six males and two females are registered to tryout for six spots. Yachiw added, teams are three males and three females which means three guys will be cut and they are still looking for another girl to round out the teams.

“We’re hoping someone will know somebody that’s interested in coming. A couple of our other districts have had people not there and we’ve gotten calls looking to fill those spots… so we’re hoping we can fill the one female spot (for Rivers West).”

While he’s been golfing for two years now the tryout is a first for Meadow Lake resident Grant Gardiner, 15.

“I’m hoping I can do good with my shots and am excited for the chance to go to Estevan for the Summer Games,” Gardiner said.

Gardiner will join North Battleford golfer Kristian Houk, Gallivan athletes Hunter Paskemin, Collista Paskemin, and Meagan Kasokeo as well as Unity golfer Cole Sander and Onion Lake’s Kenley Lewis and Ethan MacDonald.

Summer games scoring follows the Stableford Scoring format, making games a little easier and ensuring one bad hole won’t hurt the players’ chances. For each albatross (three strokes under par) golfers are given nine points. An eagle (two strokes under par) is worth seven points, a birdie (one stroke under par) is five points. Bogey’s (one stroke over par) are worth two points and a double bogey is one point. A triple bogey or worse spells the end of that hole for the golfer; if they reach the triple bogey point, the golfer simply picks up his or her ball and moves on to the next hole.

The eight hopefuls will sign in at the Meadow Lake Golf Course on Friday, June 10 at 9:30 a.m. with a rules meeting at 10 a.m. The first shot in the 18-hole tryout will happen shortly after.

The summer games welcome hundreds of athletes aged 12 to 17 from across the province. Saskatchewan is split into nine zones with each sending teams for the different sports. Athletes tryout for their respective teams in golf, soccer, archery, baseball, basketball and other summer sports before going to the annual games. Once there, the zones play against each other and winning teams have an opportunity to go to the Canada Games which will be held next summer in Winnipeg. The games are meant to give athletes a more competitive stage to play on and also gives them opportunities to get their elevate their names for future Olympic prospects.

The summer games are being held in Estevan this year from July 24 to the 27.

 

cswiderski@jpbg.ca

On twitter: @coltonswiderski