Three Sask. junior golfers moving onto the collegiate level

Members of Royal Regina Golf Club Hunter Kutcher, Luke Cote and Will Blake will all be pursuing golf at the collegiate level in the fall.

Cote and Blake are headed to Southern Arkansas University together - a Division II school located in Magnolia Arkansas.

“Going down with Luke will help a lot, you know having a friend down there and us living together, at least we’ll have each other,” Blake said.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for myself and Will and I’m really looking forward to it,” Cote added.

Kutcher meanwhile will head west to attend the University of British Columbia - Okanagan Campus (UBCO).

“Originally I was looking down in the United States and nothing really interested me that much until UBCO reached out to me,” Kutcher said. “After seeing the different programs that they offer even outside of golf, I chose them.”

Kutcher’s home course is Royal Regina Golf Club, but his coach is Jeff Chambers of Golf Academy in Swift Current.

“I feel he’s what takes my game to the next level,” Kutcher said.

Cote and Blake train under Saskatchewan Golf Hall of Fame Member and Head Professional at Royal Regina Golf Club, Dean Brown.

“We’re fortunate to learn not just golf skills and life skills. The stuff that him and others have taught us here [Royal Regina Golf Club], I don’t think we’d be where we are today without them,” Blake said.

All three golfers said they are out on the course as soon as the snow melts and stay there until dark almost every night to work on their game. Brown says their work does not go unnoticed and is a key to all of their successes.

“These guys are another level of driven. They’re out here all the time. They compete with themselves,” Brown said. “If I’m not out here helping them they’re out here practicing and battling against one another. They love it and they have to get to the level they’re at.”

“It’s definitely a hard game but I think if you put the time and the work in you can achieve the goals you want to achieve,” said Cote.

However, sometimes the goal is just to beat one another as the level of competition is always fierce among the group.

“There’s always trash-talking and [have] money games going on,” said Blake.

“Every day we go out on the course and we compete hard. One guy can win one day and one can win the next,” Cote said.

“We always push each other to the next level and I think that’s the best part of being a part of a high-performance group of guys,” Kutcher said.

The three will compete this weekend in Swift Current at the MJT season opener.

The Royal Regina Gold Club will host the 2022 Saskatchewan Junior Women’s and Men’s Championships from July 5-7 where Kutcher will look to defend his provincial title.