Yorkton’s Kade Johnson went 1-2 in Match Play over three days at the 2015 Euro Junior Golf Cup at Scotland’s Scotscraig, Levin and Drumoig golf courses from July 29-31, however his one win, a 3 & 2 victory over Scotland’s Callum Winn on Day Two, proved to be instrumental in helping Canada defend the John Clark Trophy.
Canada, due to winning the tournament last year, retained the Euro Junior Golf Cup title due to the 21 point tie and although Johnson felt his overall performance wasn’t as strong as he’d have liked, he lost on Day One 3 & 2 to Hamish Gorn and 4 & 2 to Greg Cessford on Day Three, he was still satisfied with both the tournament win as well as his play throughout the competition, which he noted got stronger as the tournament went on.
“I finished 1-2, not the greatest but they were tougher guys and I was fine with it,” offered the 17-year-old Johnson, who was representing Canada for the first time in an overseas tournament. “I was close every match so it wasn’t bad and we won, so that was great.”
Johnson said that the first time he played the Scottish courses he was shocked at just how different they played when compared to Saskatchewan courses. “It’s crazy. Going there and I’m landing balls 30 yards short of the green, so I was doing stuff there that I would never think of being able to do here,” mentioned Johnson, adding that you have to be able to alter your strategy on the fly when something like that happens. “You have to totally change your game. Here you’ll get maybe a 20 yard roll on a good day but there you’re getting 50, 60, 70 yards a roll, which is something I never expected.
“Even the shots onto the green are different because the ground is so much firmer there. You just have to learn to play a lot of different shots there and it was a great learning experience to be able to do that.”
Johnson hopes his newly gained experience will help him throughout the rest of his golf career, especially in the near future as he is currently competing at the 2015 Pepsi Junior Lobstick tournament at Waskesiu Golf Course in the Prince Albert National Park.
Johnson then competes at the tournament in Saskatoon at the end of the month before heading to Australia in late September on Team Canada duties.
