Sylvan Lake golfer Brady Durkin captured his first tournament win of the season last weekend.
Durkin, 12, ran away with the peewee division title with a 13-stroke win at Carstairs Community Golf Club at the MJT Alberta Season Opener on June 21-22.
“It was great,” said the Ecole Mother Teresa student, “it was weird just getting back to competing again, it was different.”
The tournament was played without caddies or spectators and he couldn’t put his hand in the cup to retrieve the ball.
Sinking the final putt on June 22 clinched the tournament win and made him the top peewee in Alberta at this time, both of which, he says, was a “great feeling.”
“I didn’t want to give up any shots. I tried to just beat everybody on every hole,” Durkin said of his victory. He scored 78 and 76 for a total of 154 to win the division.
With the season just getting underway, Durkin is looking forward to five more tournaments throughout the summer.
The golfer will be competing in Lethbridge on July 1-2, as well as in Olds, Banff and Calgary, most of which are new courses to Durkin.
Preparing to play at a new course involves him reviewing the scorecard to check for bunker locations and watching videos of the hole layouts.
At the end of July, Durkin will get to compete in Sylvan Lake at Meadowlands Golf Club.
Durkin says this will be his first tournament on his home course and thinks it will prove to be an advantage.
A few weeks ago he broke par for the first time at Meadowlands Golf Club shooting one under.
The peewee golfer does his training at the club with his coach, Luke Rundell, and can be found either practicing or playing a round with dad almost every day.
Compared to last year Durkin has worked on his swing and drives about 200 yards. He’s also looking to shoot mid-70s consistently compared to last seasons mid-80s.
His goal for the year is to win as many of his tournaments as possible and land an invitation to nationals in October.
According to a release from the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, fellow Sylvan Laker Logan Graf, 16, recorded his first win of the season in the MJT juvenile boys division. Graf made 14 pars in his opening round of play.