Connor Gutek is ready to putt his way to a provincial championship. Gutek, a Grade 11 student at Meadow Lake’s Carpenter High School, recently advanced to this coming weekend’s Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) provincial golf championships after securing a silver medal at the district championships held Sept. 17 at the Meadow Lake Golf Club. Gutek shot an 84 to earn his second-place finish. “Connor placed second in the district earning himself a spot at provincials this weekend in Kenosee Lake,” noted Gutek’s mother, Amanda Gutek. According to Judy Pigott, who coaches the CHS golf team alongside her husband, Clint, and Greg Ackerman, Carpenter High was represented by six male athletes and one female golfer at the district championships. Gutek is the only local golfer to advance to provincials.
“Fifty players (from across the district) took part,” Pigott said. “Connor is the only one from CHS to advance, and all the coaches are all so proud of his achievement. We are wishing him all the best of luck in Kenosee. We are also proud of our entire Carpenter team that showed up to all the practices and tryouts, and hopefully we will have even more athletes competing at provincials next year.”
As for the high school golf season overall, Pigott said it’s always a very short one considering school has been in session for less than a month and provincials is already approaching. However, she is pleased with the number of students who expressed an interesting being part of the CHS team this year. “We had quite a number of kids show up for practices before we held tryouts for districts,” she said. “It’s a very short season and we had about 15 kids show up.” Pigott also commented on how accommodating the Meadow Lake Golf Club has been for her athletes all season long, as well as to the visiting athletes in attendance for the district championships. “We thank the golf course, including manager Brent Assman and groundskeeper Woody (Daryl Wood), for accommodating us, and for how beautiful the golf course was,” she said. “We received tons of compliments from everybody about how beautiful our golf course is. It was a beautiful day. We want to thank everybody who helped make this tournament happen, including the kitchen staff at the golf course who were very efficient. We really appreciate all the help.”
In closing, Pigott reiterated the good luck wishes she offered Gutek for the coming weekend. “I also hope he has a lot of fun,” she said. “It’s also been great coaching with Clint and Greg as well.”