A quintet of Drillers had the chance to prove their provincial might on the links this week.
And what an opportunity it was for the Oilfields Drillers to host the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association Provincial Golf Championships with 219 competitors teeing off at the Turner Valley Golf Club and Highwood Golf and Country Club on Sept. 26-27.
“That meant so much because this is my last year to represent this school,” said Makayla Brown, one of five Drillers who competed at provincials. “I love it here, it is my favourite, I would never want to go anywhere else.
“It was so cool. Mr. (Leigh) Bretzlaff gave us so many opportunities, I got to read the athletes' oath in front of everybody. It was quite out of my comfort zone, but an amazing experience.”
Brown got into the sport through her grandfather over a half decade ago, with the lion’s share of her time on the links spent at Turner Valley.
“Now I really love it,” she said. “And I’m getting better as I go so I’m super excited to take my in the future.
“I’m still there to compete. But it was mostly to have fun, practise my golf game and take this as an experience to get better.”
Sherwood Park’s Mya Rowan won individual gold with a score of 144, Rundle College’s Tessa Ion struck silver and Our Lady Mount Pleasant’s Jayla Kucy claimed bronze.
In the team event, Western Canada struck gold while Edmonton’s Strathcona High and Lillian Osborne won silver and bronze, respectively among 3A/4A schools.
Rundle College, New Norway School and High River’s Notre Dame Collegiate made up the podium for 1A/2A schools.
“It was very nice we didn’t have bad weather,” said Brown, who finished in 43rd place. “At Turner Valley, I played a pretty good game and at Highwood it was so warm and I was tired from the day before with the banquet, but I still played to my best ability and had fun with the girls that I played with.”
In the individual boys standings, Heritage Pointe’s Josiah Tong was fourth with a combined score of 143. The West Island College student, who won the ASAA provincial title in the spring, was just three shots back of the podium.
Henry Wisewood’s Charlie Gillespie topped the leaderboard with 136 over two rounds, Bishop Carroll’s Ryan Gillis was second and Bow Valley’s Zackary Haydamack third.
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School’s Jack Calhoun had a solid score of 161 to finish 44th, Holy Trinity Academy Patrick McLarty had a score of 164, tied for 54th.
The Oilfields contingent saw Jaedon Bretzlaff, the South Central Zone champion the week prior, finish with 164, Caleb Wintemute finished with 165, Ryder Anderson scored 176 and Jordan Fenton tallied 188.
“I’ve grown up here playing Turner Valley and have played Highwood a lot the last couple of years too,” Wintemute said. “At Highwood, it was pretty much just be pretty aggressive and at Turner Valley it was a little more tight so you play more irons off the tee there and whatnot.”
The Drillers finished just six shots off the podium among 1A/2A schools.
West Island College took the banner, Rundle College was second and Ponoka third.
Among the 3A/4A schools, Strathcona High, Spruce Grove Composite and Bishop Carroll finished 1-2-3.
“It was pretty cool to represent for our school,” said Wintemute, a Grade 12 student. “And play at two great courses that are really well kept and it was a great experience.”
The Drillers athletes will get another opportunity to play provincial hosts next month.
Oilfields will be hosting the ASAA 2A Provincial Volleyball Championships in late-November, which will mark the third provincials at the Black Diamond school in 2022, following golf and basketball with the latter taking place in March.
“It’s really special just to be able to host and have the experience here and be able to show everyone what our school is like, what our hometown is like,” Wintemute said. “It’s definitely a lot different compared to bigger city schools.”
For more information on the event, go to asaa.ca/championships.
