Chase Gedak is the latest Estevan golfer to commit to play the game at the U.S. collegiate level.
Gedak, a Grade 12 student at the Estevan Comprehensive School, announced Dec. 9 via Twitter that he would play for the University of Arkansas-Monticello, an NCAA Division 2 program that competes in the Great American Conference. He expects to be studying business management.
“Thank you to everyone that has helped me get to this point,” Gedak wrote in the tweet.
Gedak has had an accomplished career in golf with the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs and the junior golf program at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club. Most recently, he won the gold medal in the boys singles event at the high school golf provincials held at Woodlawn in September.
He finished with a two-round total of 143 and won the boys individual event by 11 strokes over fellow Estevan golfer Jayden Dudas.
Gedak also helped Team South East win the team event, his third provincial team title in four years at ECS.
He is the 49th-ranked player in Canada according to Junior Golf Scoreboard.
Gedak said he selected Arkansas-Monticello for several reasons. The school’s location in the southern U.S. was a factor, as Gedak wants to be able to practise year-round. The coach, Adam Buie, has done a lot to ensure the team will be successful over the next few years.
“They’re moving in the right direction,” said Gedak. “They have a good freshman down there right now, and they have a couple of good sophomores, and they have a good freshman class coming in for the start of next fall. I’m expecting the program to be pretty strong next year.”
Arkansas-Monticello announced the commitment of three other players in addition to Gedak, including T.J. Baker of Prince Albert. Gedak said Baker’s presence was a factor in his decision to commit to the school, since he knows Baker, and he believes having Baker around will help with the transition to life so far from home.
“I’ve played quite a few tournaments with him and I know him pretty well,” said Gedak. “We’ve been getting a lot closer since we’ve both decided to go to the same school.”
Other schools have spoken to Gedak since the start of the school year. He narrowed the options down to two, and then selected the Arkansas program.
He didn’t believe an NCAA scholarship would be a possibility until after this summer, when he qualified for a national junior tournament and won the Moose Mountain Classic tournament at Kenosee Lake. Then he won the provincial high school tournament at home.
“I had some pretty good success over the summer, and after looking back at that, I thought I could get an education while also golfing,” said Gedak.
Prior to the summer, Gedak thought he would go to the University of Saskatchewan for his studies.
Watching more golf and putting more time in on his game resulted in those strides. He believes he needs to work on his strength to add distance to his game.
“I think right now my strengths are hitting a lot of fairways and greens, and being very accurate, and having a good short game,” said Gedak. “I think if I can get my distance, to start hitting a little further, my game will go to another level.”
The junior golf program at the TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club and the golf team at ECS have played a big role in his development. He credited Amanda Minchin, the head pro and general manager at the golf course, and other people at Woodlawn for always supporting youth golf and helping him with his game over the years, and ECS golf coach Wes Kreklewich for getting them in tournaments and taking them to provincials.
Gedak will be studying business management at Arkansas-Monticello. He’ll see where his game is after four years, but he hopes to use the degree to become a general manager or a head professional at a golf course to stay in the game.
