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Local golfer making a name for himself

A young linksman from Westlock is making his way up the ranks in the Alberta golfing world.
Westlock’s Reid Casavant made the cut at the Alberta Junior Championship in High River earlier this month and placed 20th in his age group. It’s the latest event for the 15 year old who has been around the province this year on three separate junior golf tours.

A young linksman from Westlock is making his way up the ranks in the Alberta golfing world.

Fifteen-year-old Reid Casavant has been travelling the province on three different golf tours this year, improving his skills along the way, in the hopes that one day he can turn what most consider a hobby, into some kind of career.

The St. Mary School student has been a fixture at the Westlock Golf Course for years, having started playing the sport, alongside his dad Dwayne, around age eight. He learned the basics there and having now exceeded the skills of his local peers and his dad, has moved on to compete with some of the best junior golfers in the country.

“It’s fun, it’s pretty good competition. You do get a little nervous, but that usually goes away after a couple of holes,” said Casavant, who recently returned from the Alberta Junior Championship held at the Highwood Golf Course in High River July 2-5, where he finished 42nd overall out of 120 amateurs up to 19 years old and 20th in his age category.

“It’s the biggest event in Alberta, it’s a four-day event and you have to make the cut after the second day. I made the cut, that was my goal,” he said. “It’s sort of weird playing with 18 year olds when you’re only 15 and you have to play with these guys. It can be intimidating, but they’re easy to deal with.”

The top players from the tournament often go on to play collegiate golf at a high level in Canada and the U.S. and that’s where Casavant hopes to find himself in a few years.

“I want to go to UBC and try to make the golf team,” said Casavant.

The young golfer is truly a student of the game and believes the mental aspect of the sport far outweighs the physical, even if they have to walk the course and carry their own clubs. At a four-day event the Highwood tournament is the longest Casavant has ever been a part of.

“It works your brain, you have to focus for four days straight which is kind of hard ... It’s 90 per cent mental. You have to focus, you can’t let a round get away from you. You’ve got to be able to score, you’ve got to be able to think and if you don’t think right, you’re not going to score,” he said.

Casavant said he was grateful for the family support and the support of the local golf club over the years.

Next week he will be taking part in a PGA of Alberta sponsored event at McKenzie Meadows in Calgary, a major stop on the tour, that could be called the Masters of the Alberta junior golf circuit.

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