Not making the cut Manitoba struggling to turn out next generation of golf stars By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Monday, Jul. 15, 2019

Opinion

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This article was published 14/07/2019 (1894 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STEINBACH — Think of it as the canary in the coal mine when it comes to the state of golf.

Only 80 players are teeing it up this week at Quarry Oaks at the 98th edition of the Manitoba Men’s Amateur, representing a sharp decline from the glory years of the annual summer event and a further sign of the sport’s decline.

For a province that regularly pumped out high-level talent that went on to even bigger and better things — Glen Hnatiuk, Todd Fanning, Rob McMillan and Adam Speirs are all previous winners and household names who went on to have successful careers — you have to wonder where the next big star is going to come from.

Justin McDonald, the defending champion of this event, pulled no punches Monday when I asked him if he sees anyone in the current field who might be the “next big thing” — himself included, of course.

“Honestly, I would say no, I don’t,” said McDonald, a 33-year-old accountant known for being a straight shooter both on and off the course.

Aaron Cockerill, currently playing on the European Tour after spending the past couple years on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, would certainly be the top local product at the moment. And even he is still a long way from the PGA Tour, both literally and figuratively.

And after that?

“If you look at what other guys are doing (here in Manitoba), there’s not anyone even close to Aaron,” said McDonald.

Of course, it’s not just about producing the next homegrown star, but keeping local golf courses occupied with players regardless of skill level. And that’s proving to be a challenge, especially when it comes to the younger generation. That was evident last week when only 49 boys and 11 girls competed in the provincial Junior Championships.

That should be setting off alarm bells and red flags everywhere within the sport.

Keep in mind events such as the Manitoba Amateur once attracted full fields of 156 players, which often had to be narrowed down from an even bigger pool in qualifying events. Now, they can barely get half those numbers. Even last year had 111 in the Amateur.

“It’s safe to say this is being felt across the country and down south as well,” Jared Ladobruk, the Steinbach native who is in his first full year serving as executive director of Golf Manitoba, told me Monday as we watched groups come in on the 18th hole at Quarry Oaks.

He has a few ideas of what’s going on, especially when it comes to recruiting the youngest players.

“When I was a junior there wasn’t 12 months a year hockey like there is now. You go to the Icepex today and it’s packed. Kids are specializing way earlier than they used to. What we need to do for golf is make it a priority again like we used to,” Ladobruk told me.

That’s likely going to be easier said than done. Playing golf, especially at a high level, is expensive, plus the time investment is immense.

“I’m up to the task, but what that looks like right now I don’t know,” said Ladobruk. “It’s going to come down to us finding out from the players what they want. They hold the key to what we need to do moving forward.” There’s some things at play here. We’ve just got to find out what it is. Priority No. 1, for sure, is getting more young people involved and engaged in the game.”

Jay Doyle, one of the most accomplished amateur golfers in Manitoba, has seen the decline up-close. Now 52, Doyle played in his first Amateur in his mid-teens and said fewer junior-aged players are having an impact, along with holding this tournament during four weekdays when adult golfers are less likely to take vacation time from work to participate.

“The biggest problem is when the tournament is held. I know some competitive guys from my course (Niakwa), very good players, they don’t want to take their winter vacation in the summer,” said Doyle.

“And you look at the Junior. Back in the day I’d shoot 81-73 and make the cut by one. Now you can shoot 190-190 and still make the cut because there’s nobody in it.”

Like McDonald, he has major concerns about what used to be a strong development pipeline in this province.

“I haven’t seen a player like Todd (Fanning) or Robbie (McMillan) in a long time. A lot of these kids are good ball strikers, they get high flights, trying to do it like the tour players. But if you don’t hit it perfect, it’s gone. Low, high, draw, fade, (good players) work the ball. You’re just not seeing that.”

And when it comes to competing on both a national and especially international stage, Manitoba golfers are lagging behind.

“I don’t think people understand how good it is, how tough it is. (Good players) are a dime-a-dozen now,” said Doyle.

That’s not to suggest the future is completely bleak. There are plenty of solid second-generation teenage players competing this week here in Steinbach, including Fanning’s son, Nic, McMillan’s nephew, Ryan, and brothers Adam and Brent Ingram, sons of long-time pro and current national men’s golf coach Derek Ingram. They certainly have the bloodlines, not to mention the mentoring, to be successful.

Jacob Armstrong, 17, and Braxton Kunz, 15, finished one-two at the just completed Manitoba Junior and would appear to have bright futures. There’s also a handful of locals in the field this week who are currently attending Canadian and U.S. schools on golf scholarships including first-round leader Austin Dobrescu (Chicago State University), McMillan (Eastern Florida State), Marco Trstenjak (University of Nevada-Las Vegas), Sylvain Ruest (Simon Fraser University) and Josh Shuster (University of Victoria).

Perhaps, in time, one or two of them will emerge in a major way. But there’s no denying the numbers appear to be drying up, with no easy solutions in sight.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Sports columnist

Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when that dream fizzled, he put all his brawn into becoming a professional writer.

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