听
When Nolan Thoroughgood heads back to Royal Bay Secondary for his Grade 11 year in September, he鈥檚 going to have a great story to tell on how he spent his summer vacation.
Having won the sa国际传媒 Amateur Men鈥檚 championship as a 15-year-old two weeks ago and the sa国际传媒 Summer Games crown last weekend, Thoroughgood can add another chapter to his tale at the Canadian Junior Boys鈥� Golf Championship.
A practice round at Clovelly Golf Club in St. John鈥檚, N.L., goes today and the first of four rounds begins Monday, with a cut after two days.
鈥淭here will be lots to write about. It鈥檚 been a pretty cool summer so far,鈥� said Thoroughgood, of Royal Colwood. 鈥淢aybe I can win another and make that story even more cool.
鈥淭o be honest, the Summer Games I didn鈥檛 play fantastic. I wasn鈥檛 hitting the shots I was seeing, but I took a lot out of the Amateur [win] and figured out how to make things happen and how to finish, I guess.鈥�
Thoroughgood shot rounds of 69 and 71 to win by six shots at the Summer Games in Abbotsford.
At the Men鈥檚 Amateur, he recorded outings of 67-72-70-72 to win by two at the Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum Beach.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 go in there expecting to win, rather to make the cut,鈥� Thoroughgood said of the prestigious event, of which he is the youngest winner.
鈥淚 guess when you have little expectations, it can free you up and that allows you to just play golf and not over-think it.鈥�
What鈥檚 amazing is he has only been playing golf for four years.
鈥淎 large quantity of golf in four years, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� said the five-foot-10, 145-pounder who obviously doesn鈥檛 over-power the game 鈥� nor does he need to with the results he has shown.
sa国际传媒 Junior champion Tristan Mandur of Arbutus Ridge, runner-up A.J. Ewart of Pitt Meadows and Adam Veenstra (of Smithers, but who attended Shawnigan Lake school with Mandur) will represent Team B.C, at junior nationals in St. John鈥檚.
Several other Islanders are also competing, including Keaton Gudz of Royal Colwood; Kolten Almgren and Victor Choi of Courtenay; Callum Davison of Duncan; Kyle Leiman of Highland Pacific; and John MacDonald of Nanaimo.
鈥淭hey are the best junior players in all of sa国际传媒,鈥� said Thoroughgood, who finished tied for 14th at the sa国际传媒 Junior before surprising everyone at the sa国际传媒 Amateur. 鈥淎gain, I don鈥檛 have too much expectations.
鈥淭he sa国际传媒 Amateur was a pretty good field. Things happened there. Obviously, my perspective has changed and I know I can win, but I don鈥檛 know if things will happen there [in St. John鈥檚].鈥�
Following the Canadian Junior championship, Thoroughgood, who turns 16 on Aug. 20., will lead sa国际传媒鈥檚 men鈥檚 team at the Canadian Amateur set for Aug. 8-11 at the Royal Ottawa and Eagle Creek golf courses.
He will be joined on the provincial team by Ewart, Nanaimo鈥檚 Zach Anderson and Kalen Gorbahn of Smithers, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively at the sa国际传媒 Amateur.
The four will challenge other provinces for the Willingdon Cup as well as play for the individual title. The overall champion receives exemption into the 2017 Canadian Open and 2016 U.S. Amateur.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been an amazing year so far, which came out of nowhere,鈥� Thoroughgood said.
Twitter/tc_vicsports
