Three golfers from Carpenter High School in Meadow Lake are ready to putt their way to a provincial championship. Brett Ackerman and Nash Crookedneck, along with Parker Laliberte on the girls side recently advanced to this coming weekend’s Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) provincial golf championships in Humboldt after giving strong performances at the Northwest High Schools Athletic Association (NWHSAA) districts held at the Meadow Lake Golf Club Sept. 16. “Rob Kozkinski from Ernie Studer School in Loon Lake hosted districts at the Meadow Lake Golf Club,” stated CHS golf coach Greg Ackerman. “We had a lot of golfers take part – probably about 90 in total – from throughout the division, as well as from Lloydminster. Golf participation is really high – at the local level, we even had 24 golfers compete at Carpenter’s school tournament earlier this year.”
Six boys and two girls advanced to districts from CHS. “Out of those, my son, Brett Ackerman, shot a 78 and was tied for first with an athlete from Lloydminster,” Greg Ackerman continued. “They had a playoff, and Brett won the playoff to win first place. Our other male athlete who qualified for provincials is Nash Crookedneck. We can only send the top four and Nash earned bronze at districts.” Laliberte, meanwhile, was first overall at districts in the female category. “Meanwhile, in the team event, we hadn’t defeated Lloydminster Comprehensive in a long time,” Ackerman said. “Our boys defeated them this year for the team gold. And, our girls, Parker Laliberte and Jasmine Dubray-Regnier, they won their team event as well. So, it was a clean sweep for Carpenter this year in the team events.” Both Ackerman and fellow CHS golf coach Judy Pigott agree this is one of the most successful golf seasons CHS has experienced in some time.
“No one on the boys side has won districts since Noah Pigott won three in a row back when he was in Grades 10, 11 and 12,” Ackerman said. “I was very excited, not only because it was my own son, but because you just never know with golf. One day you can do really good while the next you just don’t know. Brett had one of those days and shot one of his best rounds of the year when it mattered. We are very excited about our students qualifying, and this is probably one of the strongest teams we’ve sent to districts.” Judy Pigott echoed this. “For sure – they did pretty good,” she said. “They lived on the golf course all summer.”
Looking ahead to this weekend’s provincials, Ackerman and Pigott are confident the CHS athletes have what it takes to do the very best they can. “At the provincial tournament, the kids who qualified – a lot of them play on something called the Maple Leaf Junior Tour (MJT) which means they’ve been playing in highly competitive tournaments all summer,” Ackerman said. “When you go to provincials, a lot of the athletes there are from the MJT. This will be a very competitive event and our athletes will need to shoot the best rounds of their lives in order to have a chance to contend. They will need to play above their heads a little bit.” Pigott agreed. “There will be some very good golfers there,” she said.
Ackerman also said they are impressed by the amount of time and dedication the CHS golfers put into the sport, as well as how much the golf program has grown in recent years. “Brent Assman, the general manager of the local golf club, has said the last few years he has the most junior memberships they’ve ever seen,” Ackerman said. “That means there’s a lot of young people out there golfing and learning a great sport they can enjoy for the rest of their lives… It’s a game very few master and it’s a very difficult game to play, but it’s a great sport. It’s so exciting to see the amount of youth out there and the number of kids who took part in our school tournament. The growth we’ve seen in these young golfers since they were in Grade 7 is amazing.”
Pigott, meanwhile, acknowledged Assman and the Meadow Lake Golf Club for its contributions toward youth golf. “He sure makes the golfing very easy for us to plan and he makes the kids feel right at home every time they visit the golf course,” she said. “We want to thank him for that… His aim is to increase the love for the sport.” Pigott also wishes the athletes headed to provincials the best of luck this weekend. “They make us proud and I hope they enjoy their moment,” she said.