119th Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship dubbed huge success

After six days of competition, somebody will walk away today with the 119th Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship trophy in Saskatoon.

Over the last week, 264 golfers have played at Riverside Country Club and the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club looking for a chance to win the historic trophy.

Craig Sled is the chair of the group that helped organize the tournament and suggests it’s been a major success.

“The event has gone very well. We’ve got so many comments from the players, guests, first-time visitors to Saskatoon — it’s been so overwhelmingly positive — it’s just been a fantastic event,” he explained.

Having 264 people golf at multiple courses is a lot and Sled said the maintenance crews have done a great job keeping the two courses in tip-top shape.

“It is a lot of golf. Hats off to the superintendents at both golf courses. Both golf courses were in fantastic shape,” he said. “The amount of positive comments we got from players, coaches, caddies, parents has been unbelievable. A fantastic job by the crews getting them into this condition.”

According to Sled, they’ve had terrific attendance this week.

“We’ve had more in the gallery than we’ve anticipated,” he added.

Saskatchewan was represented by 14 golfers at this event this year — Alex Swinnerton and Tommy Danielson both of Saskatoon made the cut this year.

Aricin Franklin of Saskatoon failed to make it after he shot 13 over, but he was the youngest golfer in the competition at the age of only 15-years-old.

Golfers at this tournament are either vying for scholarships or hoping to continue to build their golf game for the future.

According to Sled, the winner also will have the opportunity to get some more exposure.

“The winner of this event this year gets an invite into the Canadian Open next year and also they’re automatically entered into the U.S. amateur which is next week,” he said. “There’s a lot on the line for these players.”

There have been multiple instances in the past where golfers who have competed in this tournament have gone on to make the PGA Tour.

The last time the amateur was held in Saskatoon, Nick Taylor won the championship.

Mackenzie Hughes also won the tournament twice in 2011 and 2012.