Junior golfers swing smoothly to first in Banff tournament

BANFF – A pair of smooth-swinging golfers chipped, drove and putt there way to first at the annual Banff Springs Golf Club championship this past weekend.

Banff’s Seth Sands was feeling rough in the range before the match after his drives kept slicing and hooking, but it didn’t last long.

On the first tee, Sand’s won the tee flip to kick off the match and his heart was pounding knowing the first strike of the ball sets the tone for the round, but the 15-year-old golfer took a breath and swung smooth, placing the ball right down the middle.

The tone was set.

“I could almost hear my heart beating,” he said

“I put it right down the fairway and I was like, ‘OK, I can definitely hit good drives today.’”

In the two-day competition, Sands kept his scores low with 75 the first day and 72, which is one over the course par, on the last day to take the win. Sands won three strokes over second place.

One hole for Sands’ highlight reel was when he placed his ball inches away from the cup on the famous par 3, The Cauldron.

On hole 16, Sands was feeling the pressure with Dead Man’s Flats’ Ian Bavis on his tail, but the Banff golfer was able to roll in a 10-foot putt for birdie to ease the nerves and boost the confidence.

“I think the biggest thing, kind of like from skiing as well, is you have to be in the right mindset for almost like five hours,” said Sands.

Following close behind Sands was Banff’s Robson Horyn who shot 74 and 76 and tying with Bavis who shot 79 and 71, both only three strokes behind Sands. Even Sands’ 13-year-old brother Rory dialed in when he marked down a career best of 76, followed by an 83, which put him in fourth place.

In the female division, Banff’s Alexa Carswell came out swinging to nab first.

After being away for holidays right before the tournament, Carswell was quick to get back in the swing of things marking down a handful of back-to-back pars.

“I had a couple really, really good back-to-back-to-back-to-back pars, and it just felt really good after I hadn’t golfed in two weeks,” she said. “It was nice to see some of the shots playing out well and some long drives”.

Carswell penciled in 100 on the first day which she followed with a 105 in the last day.

“I have played some better scores, under 100 and I was definitely hoping that I would shoot under 100 over the weekend. However, that just wasn’t in the cards I guess,” said Carswell.

Even though she didn’t fully achieve the score she wanted, a bombed 260-yard drive and a birdie were standout moments for the young golfer.

Carswell is giving a callout for more females to join her on the course.

“I really wish that there were more girls that felt like golf was something they can do and that it’s not such an intimidating sport as a lot of them seem to think,” she said.

“I wish a lot more girls wanted to join the program, because the Springs is really great with teaching girls how to golf and bringing them up in the golf scene.”