Junior golfer Darien Herlick is having his best summer ever on the golf course, as he is now ranked first for peewee boys in Saskatchewan and third in Canada.
The 12-year-old, who is heading into Grade 8 at St. Michael School in the fall, is on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, where he has accumulated 1,050 points with a stroke average of 84.38.
Darien started golfing at the age of seven, and this is his fourth year on the tour, and so far is his best year, having won two tournaments, and two top-three finishes.
The tournament wins came at North Battleford and at Saskatoon’s Moon Lake golf course, and he returned to the latter course this week to play in the provincial junior golf championship. The practice round was on Sunday, and provincials will run from July 9-11.
Asked what he enjoys about the game, Darien said he loves the challenges of the sport, including how a player can very easily run into trouble on the course.
“I like that you can shoot a really low score and can be in the lead by 11 shots, and you can still lose it the very next day,” he said, adding he likes to set goals for himself and challenge himself continually to be better.
Like his idol, Weyburn’s Graham DeLaet of the PGA, he is strong off the tee, as on some holes where his fellow competitors use drivers, he has to use an iron or he will over-shoot the green. At the North Battleford tournament, he won for having the longest drive and was closest-to-the-pin.
“I pretty much practice every day. If I’m struggling on something, I’ll put most of my time into that part of my game,” said Darien.
He golfs with his dad Darcy as often as he can, as well as with his friend Lucas Hughes, who is ranked at No. 8 for peewee boys on the MJT Tour. His coach is golf pro Jeff Chambers of Swift Current, who runs the Jeff Chambers Golf Academy and is also the organizer of the MJT Tour.
Due to his success so far on the tour with the two tournament wins, Darien has been invited to the Junior Nationals which will be held on Nov. 8-11 in Phoenix, Ariz., at the Legends Golf Resort.
Darien had some success last year when he hit a hole-in-one at a tournament in Warman, and his prize was $300 towards a customized golf club, which he put towards a putter.
After provincials, Darien will have two more tournaments this summer on the MJT Tour.
