The Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games southeast golf team came into clearer focus with a qualifying tournament at TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club on Saturday, but the full roster is still in flux.
Reegan Robinson, Chase Gedak and Jace Carlisle earned a spot as the three male athletes on Team South East at the qualifying tourney by shooting Stableford scoring system rounds of 54, 50 and 46, respectively. Kelly Kay, with a score of 37, and Hallie Burke, 26, nailed down spots as two of the three southeast female athletes who will compete at the July 24-27 Summer Games golf tournament at TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club with a third member of the team still needed.
Amanda Minchin, coach of Team South East, said they’ll be looking to recruit another girl to fill out the roster before the Games begins and that will involve just calling a few kids and giving them a chance to see what the Games have to offer. She said if they don’t find another girl the southeast spot will be occupied by a member of another district in an effort by the Games to keep the desired athlete quota intact, but going forward as a two-girl team won’t hurt them either.
Reegan, 15, earned his spot on Team South East by battling the windy elements at the course on Saturday afternoon, which he used to his advantage to hit a hole-in-one on the par-3 17.
“I hit an eight iron ball 160 yards out and I tried playing into the wind, so hit a little cut and it just went in,” said Reegan, who noted he’ll be at TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club almost daily for practice until the Games begin.
Minchin said each of the 14 kids who tried out for Team South East gave their full effort at the tournament and played really well. She said an 18-hole qualifier is tough and anybody can beat anybody, but the golfers who rose to the occasion deserved their spot.
“The top six there could have gone either way, so I think it’s a really good test,” said Minchin. “Having a one-day qualifier using a Stableford I think evens it out a little bit more.”
