Afternoon golf tournament caps off five days of learning

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 3, 2014

LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Young golfers were developed and an additional tournament was added to the Seven Spruce Golf Course's event line-up last week as a result of an educational course.

Thomas Simpson School students Darius Sabourin, Randall Hardisty, Charles Blondin and Brent Villeneuve helped organize the 2014 TSS CTS Seven Spruce Golf Tournament that was held on June 26. The four students were participating in a golfing career and technology studies course.

"It's to get the youth interested in the game of golf and also to understand the steps involved in running a tournament for the community," said teacher Kristen Morrison who ran the course along with teacher Travis MacQuarrie.

The students spent June 20, the first day of the course, making banners and drafting letters to invite local businesses and organizations to participate in their tournament. On June 24 and 25 they practiced their own golf skills.

Cole Marshall, a golf pro from Yellowknife, taught the students the basics of the sport from driving to putting. They put their skills to the test the following day in the tournament.

Six teams of four played best ball over nine holes on Thursday afternoon. Liidlii Kue First Nation's team comprised of Climate Muyambo, Ben Amundson, Tina Visser and Dawn Isaiah won the tournament with 37, just one over par.

Behind them by one point and tied at 38 were the teams of Burrill & Sons, the recreation centre and TSS.

"It was really fun," Hardisty said about the tournament.

"We did pretty good surprisingly."

Hardisty, a Grade 10 student, has taken the golfing career course approximately three times. Working with Marshall refreshed his skills, he said.

Although he'd golfed a bit before, this was Villeneuve's first time competing in a golf tournament. The TSS team did well, he said.

Villeneuve, a Grade 8 student, said Marshall taught him how to use his irons better and how to have a better golf stance.

"It was good. You get to host a tournament and you get some golf skills too," he said.

Individual prizes during the tournament were given to Trevor Kjeldsli for closest to the pin, Dawn Isaiah for longest putt and Steven Thompson and Tina Visser for longest drive.

The Northern store donated prizes to the tournament along with food and drinks. Landmark Groceries also donated food. The Mackenzie Recreation Association and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs made it possible to bring Marshall to the course.

"We are very thankful for our sponsors," Morrison said.

Having taken the course, Morrison said she hopes the four students feel more comfortable with the sport and about playing a round at the local golf course.

"It was nice to see their improvement from the beginning to the end," she said.