The Sacred Heart Saints golf team represented their school well this past weekend at the East Central District golf tournament.
Kade Johnson and Stephen Oleskiw finished one/two in the individual competition with Johnson shooting a round of 74 and Oleskiw a round of 83.
Unfortunately for the Saints, Johnson’s scores were unusable in terms of the team competition due to the fact that Johnson will not be able to attend this coming weekend’s provincials at Deer Park Municipal Golf Course, as he will be competing in a different tournament as a member of Team Canada. “Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, Kade Johnson qualified for a tournament in Australia and although he was our top golfer this weekend, he won’t be here for provincials this weekend and didn’t compete in the team competition for us,” said SHHS golf coach Garrett Karcha, adding that instead of Johnson the coaching staff selected three unknown rookies – two of which are grade nine’s – to compete in the team competition. “We took two grade nine kids that we didn’t know much about – Nolan Maier and Ethan Evanovich – two hockey guys, and they ended up coming out and playing really well at our tryouts to make the team.
“Austin Thomas, who is new to the team this year as well, also made the team and joined Stephen Oleskiw to win gold at Districts.”
Karcha said that while he was confident that the team he chose was competitive, he wasn’t sure whether or not they’d be able to medal at Districts simply because he was so unfamiliar with three of the four members of the team. “We were pleasantly surprised because we didn’t know what to expect,” suggested Karcha. “With the short season and the fact that you have only seen these kids from grade nine once or twice you’re thinking ‘okay, they’re decent’ but it was nice to see them come out and play so well.
“And to have Johnson win the individual competition and Oleskiw finish second, even though Johnson can’t compete at provincials, that was great to see as well.”
Provincials
The SHHS golf team will now prepare for a quick turnaround as they not only compete in, but host, the 2015 Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association Provincial Grass Golf Championship at Deer Park September 25 and 26. “We’re ready to host this,” mentioned Karcha, continuing, “There has been a fair amount of planning here all month, just trying to get volunteers together to marshall the course, spot golf balls around the course.
“We’ve got some teachers and some students helping out with that, so it’s been a big process but we’re ready to finally host this tournament here and welcome the high calibre competition to Yorkton.”
The competition will most certainly be high calibre, as the best high school golfers from around the province (excluding Saskatoon) will be competing at Deer Park this coming weekend. “We won’t have the top golfers from Saskatoon because they do their own thing during the golf season, but aside from that the top golfers from the rest of the province will be here,” offered the SHHS golf coach, adding that while it will be tough for Sacred Heart to defend last year’s silver medal finish, they do have a slight advantage over the rest of the competitors. “We play there all the time so the kids should know how to play it (the course). Hopefully they don’t put too much pressure on themselves and instead just go out there and play their game. If they do, then they should be fine.”
Practice rounds start on Thursday for anyone regardless of District, while the main tournament begins on Friday morning at 10:00a.m., immediately following Opening Ceremonies.
Saturday’s action will start at 9:00a.m., with the Provincial champions in men’s and women’s individual and team competitions being named sometime in the afternoon, once all golfers have finished their second round.
