A Yukon golfer played the “best round of his life” to beat out a dozen competitors and qualify for the University of Calgary varsity team.
Sawyer Tessier, an 18-year-old from Whitehorse, shot a two-under par 70 earlier this month while playing Calgary’s Mickelson National Golf Club.
The round was played as part of an open tryout for the University of Calgary team.
“I hit the ball well all day and I can’t say I could have played any better. It doesn’t feel flukey but it’s kind of hard to process that I made the team as a first year,” Tessier said.
Tessier and his former coach says that performance was the result of months of hard work that he put in this summer.
I can’t say I could have played any better- Sawyer Tessier, Whitehorse golfer
Not only did he play daily at Whitehorse’s Mountain View Golf Club, he also worked as part of the maintenance crew.
Most days he’d be at the course at 5 a.m.
“For a lot of the summer I worked my eight-hour shift in the morning and then I’d spend another six hours at the course,” said Tessier.
Cole Marshall is the pro at Mountain View Golf Club in Whitehorse.
He coached Tessier at this summer’s Canada Games.
“He was a range rat, he lived here truly” said Marshall. “He loves to hit golf balls and I fixed a lot of his clubs this year because he kept wearing them out.”
Marshall said Tessier approached him at the start of the golf season and told him his goal was to make the Calgary Dinos.
Cole Marshall, left, and Sawyer Tessier share a laugh in between holes at this summer’s Canada Games. Tessier officially qualified for the University of Calgary varsity golf team earlier this month. (Team Yukon/Sarah Lewis)
“I told him that was going to take a lot of work,” Marshall said. “It’s not a small deal to make a team like that, it’s a big school and he beat out a lot of people for that spot.”
Marshall said Yukon golfers being able to compete for a spot on a university or college team is rare.
“They’re up against it,” Marshall said. “They have a much shorter golf season and don’t necessarily have the ability to play year round.”
Tessier qualified for his university golf team after shooting what he called ‘the best game of his life.’ (Sarah Lewis/Team Yukon)
The spot Tessier earned on the team was one of only three that were available.
By making the university team Tessier becomes one of the only Yukon-born golfers to take his talent to the post-secondary level.
In 2021, Aimery Barrault started playing NCAA Division III golf at Minot State University in North Dakota.
With his goal of making his university golf team accomplished, Tessier now has his eyes on another prize.
“I feel the dream every kid has is making the PGA tour,” said Tessier. “That’s my biggest dream.”
Whether he makes the pros or not, Marshall says he sees more Yukon trophies in Tessier’s future.
“He’s going to be a club champion here [Mountain View] for a long time,” said Marshall. “He’s going to come back every summer and dominate.”
