Sudbury's Evan MacLean is starting to tap into his golf potential.
The sweet swinging 16-year-old's natural ability took the Idylwylde Invitational field by storm last year.
He cracked the quarterfinals; finishing in the top eight out of 176 golfers.
MacLean said his success is no fluke. He's dedicated the past 12 years to perfecting his craft.
"When I was a kid, my grandparents got me a plastic set of golf clubs and that really got me started," he said.
"I started playing competitively at the age of five or six, and ever since then I've just blossomed into these types of tournaments"
MacLean has always believed in his potential, despite dealing with plenty of naysayers growing up.
"No one really thought that I could be a halfway decent golfer," he said.
"No one really thought I could do anything, so just having my parents behind me and my grandparents behind me really helped me succeed and move forward."
Now aside from its storied 70-year tradition, the match play invitational has also been known to catapult golfers careers by helping them draw attention from south of the border.
"For some of our previous winners, this has been a stepping stone to the Canadian Tour, the PGA Tour and a lot of the kids that played here in their teens got scholarships," said Robbie Coe Idylwylde Invitational tournament chair.
MacLean has similar golf aspirations.
"I hope it comes true, ideally it would. I hope one day to play post-secondary education down in the States with a golf scholarship," he said.
"If that doesn't come true then I hope stay here in Canada and play golf here, because I love the game a lot. I wouldn't want to lose my love for the game."
