School’s out, and Cochrane’s Riley Boothby wants to take what he’s learned to the bank.
The former Cochrane Generals sniper is now shooting for the greens on the Professional Golfers’ Association of Alberta Tour.
The 22-year-old has been working at the Links of GlenEagles in Cochrane for several summers, and spent the last two winters in Phoenix attending the Golf Academy of America.
The studying paid off as he slayed the PGA Alberta qualifying standard in May, shooting 148 over two rounds at Alberta Springs in Red Deer – seven strokes clear of the qualifying standard of 155.
The assistant club pro at GlenEagles will tee off July 8 at the Professional Series Valley Ridge tournament in his first swing at the pro level. He’ll probably want to keep his day job, though. The winner at Calgary’s Valley Ridge takes home $750.
“Once I got my card, I’ve been busy with lessons,” Boothby said. “I just played a few nine-hole rounds. But I’m definitely not up to the standard of play I was up to when I got the card. I’m going to have to get out and grind out a few holes.”
Boothby, whose dad Dana caddied for him at the qualifying tournament in Red Deer, feels he’s driving with the best of them. But he’s not as confident about his short game.
“The most important part is the short game,” the scratch golfer observed. “I’ve got the jitters right now with that.
“It’s fairway-to-green and putting. I’m up there with the best of them in tee shots.”
So there’s some work to be done.
“I have to put some time into it,” he admitted. “I need to get everything dialed in.”
And, while he’ll be driving for some extra cash on the PGA Alberta Tour, he’s really shooting for a career in the golf industry.
“I got my card, and it’s kind of a gateway into a golf-course career,” he said. It was his second attempt for a PGA Alberta card after falling just short last year. “If I want to make playing golf my career, I’d have to focus more on that.”
Yip misses U.S. Open cut
When you double-bogey the opening hole, you spend the rest of the day scrambling to get it back. Not the way you want to start the U.S. Open but, for Bearspaw golfer Ryan Yip, that’s just the way it went.
Yip took a 6 on the par-4 first hole at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa, June 13 at the 113th U.S. Open. He took two more opening-day double-bogeys, on the par-4 12th and 18th holes, while covering up three bogeys with three birdies for a 6-over 76. With a 7-over on Day 2, he missed the cut by 5 strokes. He’ll be in Calgary this week (June 17-23) for the ATB Financial Classic at Country Hills Golf Club.
