Before entering high school local golfer Kade Johnson was already making waves at the provincial and national amateur level in 2012, taking home second place in the province's overall junior golf points standings, the Saskatchewan Golf Order of Merit Award. An extra year of dedication to the sport and improved potential saw Johnson continue to explode on the junior golf scene, taking home the 2013 Sask Golf Merit Award, finishing second in the Boston Pizza National Championship rankings in the process.
For Johnson 2013 was a realization of a goal he set for himself. "To win the 2013 Merit trophy and to finish as highly as I did nationally was a goal I had set for myself for some time since finishing second," says Johnson who says that it was a "dream come true." The Merit Award is based on points earned in tournaments throughout the summer similar to the PGA's FedEx Cup, with golfers being ranked on their consistency throughout the entire golf calendar rather than a single tournament, making Johnson's achievement that much more impressive.
Johnson finished nearly 200 points above his closest competitor in Saskatchewan, edging out Royal Regina Golf Course's Noah Kozack for the 2013 title. Johnson's average score for a round of 18 in 2013 was 74.9, a number that most adult golfers would wish to achieve.
Johnson had the highest stroke average in the Top Ten of the Boston Pizza National Championship point standings, but he finished in second behind Nick Hofland of Brantford, Ontario, who won the Canadian Order of Merit Award over Johnson with 1,450 total points to Johnson's 1,318.
For Johnson golf is about beating the course and not the competition, the golfer who has been in love with the game since the age of four mentioned that the game has made him lifelong friends across North America in recent years. "I find that my round partners and other golfers in tournaments as my biggest fans and we all have a great camaraderie and pull for each other at every tournament we play at," explains Johnson who said that even though a lot of his fellow golfers live on other sides of Canada and the United States he stays in contact and shares encouragement through text messages.
Johnson's next goal is to continue to improve saying that, "My goal is to do just a little better every time I leave the course because I love golf and it is my passion."
Johnson's next big goal is to earn a scholarship with his talents. While still having a couple years left in high school, Johnson wants to earn an Architectural Engin-eer-ing degree and hopes that a game that has taken him all over the globe so far can help him pursue an education next.
"Golf has been good to me and has given me the opportunity to travel and meet people and friends that I might not have met through the game so I am hoping that the game can take me a little farther."
If the past two seasons on the course are any indication, Johnson should be able to take the game of golf as far as he wants it to take him.
