North Battleford’s Colby Friedrich said he is looking forward to returning to the golf course in the near future, as courses across the province are eligible to reopen as of this Fri, May 15th. (File photo/battlefordsNOW)

By Martin Martinson

Hitting the Links

Local golfer eyes fairway return around the corner

May 12, 2020 | 2:00 PM

For North Battleford product, Colby Friedrich, nothing says summertime quite like the feel of a clean drive down the fairway on a sunny day; or a cloudy day; or really, any day.

For Friedrich, who is 18 now, golf has been a big part of his life for as long as he can remember.

After all, he first started tagging along on golf trips at about two years of age, when his dad would bring him along to the local course. By 15, he was taking part in provincial and national tournaments of his own on the Sask. golf circuit.

While the tournament size and stakes have grown over the years, at the end of the day Friedrich said it is still the simple love of the game that remains, which keeps him coming back.

“I think that’s one of probably the most fun things about summers, just going out to the course with my buddies from all across the province and hanging out with them,” he said. “Spending time together on the golf course and then off; that’s a big part of the summer.”

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With golf courses across Saskatchewan eligible to open for the season this Friday the 15^th, Friedrich said he’s been counting down the days, and staying as sharp as he can given the circumstances.

“It’ll be nice to get out there, that’ll keep me occupied a little bit,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been keeping pretty busy working [of late], and we have a golf simulator set up in the garage, so that keeps me busy. I’ve been able to hit balls year round still.”

This is a big summer for Friedrich if the provincial tournaments do go ahead. Turning 19 in the fall, this marks his final year at the junior golf ranks, before ultimately graduating up to the senior (or adult) bracket come spring 2021. Friedrich said he’d still love to be able to compete this year, and hopefully make some noise at the provincial level.

“Junior year is kind of coming to an end here this year, so it’d be nice to play in a couple of tournaments,” he said. “It was my goal to play in provincials and hopefully earn a spot at nationals, so hopefully COVID-19 bans lift off a bit this summer and everything starts to [get back to normal] a little bit,” he said.

The 94^th Junior Men’s tournament was initially scheduled to take place July 14-16. However, it remains to be seen if provincial golf tournaments will be allowed to take place this summer at all, with a decision pending based on the status of restrictions within the provincial Re-Open Saskatchewan plan.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: MartyMartyPxP1