- Ridgetown’s Crawford McKinlay follows through on a shot with one of his irons on the Jamieson Junior Golf Tour. (Photo by Glenn Gervais)
Canada is a winter sports country. At least that’s the belief across much of the globe. For youth hoping to make it big in summer sports, options are fewer and farther between, but they still exist.
That’s why when an opportunity knocks, such as a chance to play on the Jamieson Junior Golf Tour, many local golfers are jumping into competition.
“The Jamieson tour helped me a lot in the recruiting process,” said Crawford McKinlay, who used the tour to get noticed by NCAA recruiters from Wayne State University, where he redshirted this year for the men’s golf team.
“If you are posting low numbers they will notice,” said McKinlay, a Ridgetown native and member at that community’s golf course.
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McKinlay’s younger brother Carson hopes to follow in his brother’s footsteps and hopes to use the Jamieson Tour as a stepping stone for his career.
“I hope to gain more tournament experience,” said the younger McKinlay of his reasons for participating in the tour. “The tour puts me through many pressure situations where I have to hit the right shot or sink an important putt, which improves the mental aspect of my game. The tour helps me prepare for bigger tournaments later on in the season.
“I also am trying to follow in my brothers’ footsteps and get a golf scholarship somewhere in the States,” added Carson, who was second at the Kent high school golf championships this year.
According to Jamieson Tour Director Dan DeMarco, the opportunity is there for Chatham-Kent golfers to gain tournament experience, and improve their game in preparation for university competition.
“Extensive tournament experience is essential to the development of any junior golfer,” said DeMarco. “The Jamieson Tour provides young golfers with an affordable series of local tournaments that can prepare them for both national level junior competitions and, for some, collegiate golf. We currently have 12 players that are playing either OUA or NCAA golf. The tour typically graduates roughly half a dozen players annually to collegiate teams.”
Crawford McKinlay returned to the Jamieson Tour after redshirting this season at Wayne State to continue his development as a part of Jamieson’s newly expanded Collegiate Division.
“I choose to return to the Jamieson this year because it is a great opportunity to keep competitive over the summer months,” said McKinlay, who won multiple stops on last year’s tour.
For others, such as Blenheim’s Owen Dorssers, who was a member of the 2013 Kent Champion UCC Lancers men’s golf team, participating in the Jamieson Tour is more about playing the game he loves at a competitive level.
“The reason I chose to participate in the Jamieson Golf Tour was because I could play the game of golf I love at a competitive and friendly level,” said Dorssers, who was also the offensive MVP for the UCC Junior football team this season.
“I have never regretted playing and joining the tour because it’s only made me a stronger player. This tour is just an overall great opportunity for younger golf enthusiasts.”
Whether it’s the opportunity to move onto the university level, or simply to improve as an individual, DeMarco feels the Jamieson Tour, which features golfers from Windsor-Essex, as well as several communities in Chatham-Kent, is a place local golfers can find success, have fun, and learn through competition.
“With the depth of very good golfers on the tour, players regularly get the opportunity to play with and compete against accomplished players,” said DeMarco of the Jamieson Tour experience. “This gives them both the opportunity to measure their game against collegiate level golfers while learning the competitive side of the game.”
The tour schedule annually opens at Blenheim Community Golf Club in early June, and makes a second Chatham-Kent stop at Ridgetown Golf Course. The Ridgetown event is scheduled to take place July 23 this year.
