2024 Canadian Amateur men’s golf: Ashton McCulloch

Article content

Ashton McCulloch had to scramble to save par even before the 2024 Canadian Amateur men’s golf championship began.

McCulloch — who is the reigning Canadian Amateur champion —  attended his sister’s wedding last Saturday in their hometown of Kingston, Ont., the night before boarding a scheduled flight from Kingston to Saskatoon on Sunday. His flight to Saskatoon was on the eve of McCulloch’s first round at this year’s event.

Article content

That was cutting it close, but McCulloch made it and went on top shoot a 4-under-par 68 Monday at the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club. His second round Tuesday was a 2-under-par 70, this time at the Riverside Country Club.

After two rounds of play, McCulloch sat tied for ninth with the final two rounds going at Riverside.

While there may be extra pressure as the defending champ, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, McCulloch says.

“Obviously there’s pressure — I think more internally, obviously, than externally,” he says. “But all kinds of pressure is good. It’s a privilege and you can use that.”

McCulluch, who is ranked No. 135 in the world amateur golf rankings, is one of 264 amateur golfers from around the world to tee it up in the 119th playing of the Canadian Men’s Amateur championship.

This year’s field has featured a number of top amateur golfers from around the world including Ireland’s Max Kennedy (currently ranked no. 28 WAGR), Hong Kong’s Wang Ngai Shen (No. 155) and Mateo Fuenmayor of Colombia (No. 264).

Also in the field this week are 2024 provincial men’s amateur champions Brett Jones (Alberta), Team Canada NextGen member Cooper Humphreys (British Columbia), Braxton Kuntz (Manitoba), Team Canada NextGen member Matthew Javier (Ontario), Ryan Lamswood (Newfoundland and Labrador), Alexander Mercier (Quebec) and Kye Fisher, an Edmonton golfer who won the Saskatchewan Am.

Article content

Article content

Nine other Team Canada members have competed in Saskatoon this week, including Laurent Desmarchais (Bromont, Que.), Isaiah Ibit (Orleans, Ont.), Alex Long (Toronto, Ont.), Ben MacLean (Niagara Falls, Ont.), Jean-Philippe Parr (St-Célestin, Que.), Luke Smith (Toronto, Ont.), Hunter Thomson (Calgary, Alta.), Ethan Wilson (St. Albert, Alta.) and Eric Zhao (North York, Ont.).

Overall, golfers from all 10 provinces and one territory were represented in the field along with 11 additional countries: Australia, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, England, France, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Ireland, South Africa, United States and Wales.

The first two rounds of this year’s tournament were played on both Riverside and Saskatoon Golf and Country Club with the field playing each course once. Following the opening 36 holes of the championship, the field has been reduced to the top 70 players plus ties, with 90 players making the cut for the final two rounds Wednesday and Thursday at Riverside.

McCulloch hopes to prevail for the second straight year.

The key to winning it last year and repeating this year?

Article content

Internal belief.

“The key to last year was kind of just believing in myself,” he says. “I’ve been in moments in big tournaments before and I’ve been able to get it done. It’s just believing I can do it. Last year, I wasn’t overly pleased with how my game was going into that week. I definitely didn’t have the sophomore year at school (Michigan State) that I wanted to have but I felt I built on my game and was a better player and it’s just about believing in that and this year it’s going to be the same thing: It’s believing in the abilities that I have and just the mental side of the game and trusting that I have enough and just hopefully going out there and playing relaxed and seeing if I can get it done.”

PLAYED IN CANADIAN OPEN, U.S. OPEN

This is McCulloch’s first visit to Saskatoon. (“I’m excited about getting out there and seeing it,” he said prior to his arrival, “and obviously playing the game I love while I’m out there, too.)

He came here with a good game and satisfying results with a pair of recent top-10 results.

“I’ve been playing a decent amount of tournaments. I just played the Monroe (Invitational in New York) and the Southern Am. It’s in the right direction for sure.”

Article content

McCulloch, who celebrated his 22nd birthday in late July, is coming off his most successful season yet with the Spartans at Michigan State. He was an All-Big 10 conference second-team all-star selection and his 70.89 scoring average marked the best single-season mark in program history.

As well, MCulloch competed at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open and qualified for the 2024 U.S. Open, both of them being on his golf bucket-list and the U.S. Open being a top-three tournament in the world.

“It was an awesome experience,” says McCulloch. “It was something that kind of every golfer dreams about playing. It’s the Masters-U.S-Open-British Open and, for me, those are the top three events. To get to play in one of those, while still young and still in school and competing against the best players on an amazing golf course, was something, an experience I’ll never forget and I’m really proud of. It’s helped me a lot as a person and as a golfer.

“If I can compete out there, I should be able to compete anywhere.”

From Saskatoon, McCulloch goes straight to the U.S. Amateur in Minnesota and then, after that, he joins his Michigan State teammates for a team trip to Ireland.

Article content

Yes, more flights but maybe, just maybe, less scrambling.

dzary@postmedia.com

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe.

With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark thestarphoenix.com and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.

Article content