Best U17 golfers compete in Timmins for provincial titles

Some of the best young golfers in Ontario are competing in the annual juvenile U17 championship tournament at the Hollinger Golf Club in Timmins.

Organizers said the championship is more than 100 years old and this is the first time it’s happening here.

There are about 90 competitors and the north is represented by golfers from Timmins, Sudbury, North Bay and Manitoulin Island.

“It's about giving kids in this region an opportunity to showcase their talents; to have an opportunity to make potential provincial teams, to make it to provincials (and) to make it to national events," said Owen Rigg, regional manager with Golf Ontario.

"We're starting to see that growth now where we're producing kids -- maybe not hyper elite yet, but they're starting to get there and I think that's a really big change for us."

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Rigg, who was also a young competitive golfer from Timmins, said there weren’t many opportunities for him, but in the past six years, there’s been greater development of young northern golfers, particularly after the Hollinger Golf Club rejoined Golf Ontario and the Northern Golf Association.

In fact, he said some northerners are still in the tournament on its final day.

The U17 boys and girls provincial golf championship tournament took place at the Hollinger Golf Club August 19-21. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)

“We see a lot of them in our competitions now, and not just the junior events,” said Connor Doyle, tournament director with Golf Ontario.

Northern representation

“So we're seeing them across province, you know, and now the Canadian men's being amateurs going on, there's a lot of northern Ontario representation over there and all our championships,” said Doyle.

For many of the young golfers, it’s their first time in Timmins and playing on the Hollinger Golf Club’s course is an unforgettable experience.

“This course is really hard,” said Adrianna Salalila, a competitor from Peterborough.

“The wind was like, incredibly insane and it was pretty chilly…so it was different playing in colder temperatures, but overall I'm happy with how I got better every day; and obviously I didn't get the results I wanted, but I saw something good each day,” said Salalila.

Organizers said the Timmins community fully supported the event with sponsorships, food; and a donation from the MAT Fund – all helped to make it an extra special time for those who came from far distances to compete in uncharted territory.