Lethbridge golfers have strong showing in Banff

By Lethbridge Herald on May 24, 2023.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

There were 126 golfers that teed up at the Banff Springs Golf Course over the May long weekend at the Maple Leaf Junior Tour’s Humber College PGM Classic.

Out of the 126 golfers, there were two more notable Lethbridge products of Grace Murphy and Tristan Howes who had solid finishes in their categories.

Murphy finished fifth place out of 10 golfers in the U15 girls category with an 85.

The 14-year-old felt she played pretty well.

“I was hitting my driver, hitting most fairways, the bunkers were definitely a challenge but the putting was pretty solid and just got to make them (putts) to play good,” said Murphy.

“Putting is a big part of it, and short game is too and I felt my short game was pretty good.”

Murphy played with the winner, Saylar May who shot 77, in her round.

“She was very good,” said Murphy.

“It’s definitely a talented field. There’s a lot of players in it and they all know how to play very solid … golf. Like you’ve just got to compete and try not to play down to those weaker players.”

The Banff stop was her third tournament of the year and she want to build off the solid showing by keep on working shooting lower.

This is Murphy’s second year on tour.

“(In my) first year, I was definitely one of the weakest ones out there and I didn’t know a lot of kids last year,” said Murphy.

“So it definitely makes a difference knowing some of the players you’re playing with and being able to be friends with them I guess and have a good time playing and just have fun.”

Murphy’s next tournament is in Kamloops on July 17-18.

Tristan Howes tied for 17th in the bantam boys division with an 88.

Howes thought his long game was his strength.

“(I) just had fun I guess and can’t really think about it or else you start playing bad,” said Howes.

Howes hopes to score lower and place in the top 10 in the future.

Howes’ next tournament is in June in Olds.

“So the quality of player that shows up to a tournament like Banff, and even Paradise Canyon for that matter, … you’ve got people breaking 70 constantly,” said Trent Matson, Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour national operations director.

“You know, you need to be at a different level. The kids from Lethbridge, they’re getting there. They’ll post the numbers here, but they’re not quite ready to take it on the road yet. I mean there’s a little bit of nerves. You know, it’s like standing and hitting balls beside Tiger Woods. Everybody knows who he is and you always compare yourself to the person beside you. So some of the kids that will go up to Calgary or Banff and they’ll be hitting balls by somebody who’s just won the provincial championship and they’re like I can’t believe that  he’s here and I can’t believe how well he’s hitting it. And so it’s going take  (Lethbridge MJT players)a little bit of time for them to get comfortable. Their scores are coming down on a day-to-day basis, but tournament golf is that much more different.”

The Banff event acted as a qualifier for the top four boys in Alberta for the Junior Americas Cup in Nevada in late July.

Winners were based on a one-day result after  severe weather and a time crunch cancelled the second round.

Other local results include Magrath’s Dayson Loose shooting a 109 and finishing 25th in the bantam boys division, Jackson Wesley finishing 20th in the juvenile boys with an 80 and Dominic Many Bears finishing 105 and placing 40th in the same division, Seth Murphy tied for 22nd with an 81 in the junior boys, Massimo Crow placed 30th with an 83 in the junior boys and Taber’s Alex Makarchuk shot a 78 to place 14th in the junior boys.