A look at the North Stars Golf Classic over the weekend at Jackfish Lodge and Conference Centre. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

Hole-in-one!

North Stars Golf Classic connects team and community

Sep 12, 2022 | 12:23 PM

It was a beautiful day to hit the links Saturday, with not a cloud in sight at Jackfish Lodge and Conference Centre, for the Battlefords North Stars annual Golf Classic.

“It’s like the perfect day, it’s sunny out with a little bit of a breeze and we’re at the lake, so I can’t complain,” Stars defenceman, Jordan Grill said Saturday, striking a grin.

Brady Schwab, who was working the putting competition with Kobie Anderson at his first Stars Classic, said it was a nice way to spend the Saturday afternoon.

“It’s just a great atmosphere here, everyone’s in a good mood with good weather today, so you can’t beat it,” he said.

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Often referred to as ‘the Alumni Classic,’ a number of former North Stars from past teams were also there to take part in the day.

Stars legend and franchise scoring leader, Martin Smith was on-hand, taking in the day with president of the AAA Stars, Bruce Yockey, CBI’s Ryon Haggard, and recent Sask. Baseball HOF inductee, Roger Blaquiere, father of Jared Blaquiere who won a championship with the team in 2017.

“It’s a lot of fun and it’s good to see a lot of people participating,” Smith said. “It’s always a great turnout, it’s a beautiful day, and we’re having a lot of fun. We’re all out here to support the junior hockey team and it’s always great to see a lot of familiar faces of players of the past and maybe some former teammates.”

Battlefords’ local Blake Young, who captained the AAA Stars before playing two seasons with the Junior A club from 2012-14 was also among the former players present, golfing with fellow alums, Derek Keller (’04-06), Will Rathje (’05-07) and RIley Lang (’03-06).

Young said after missing the last couple of years due to the pandemic, it was nice to be able to return to the event this year and reconnect with old friends.

“I still live in town here, so I try to make it out whenever I can,” Young said. “I’ve known these guys for a while, so it’s fun to see everybody out with a lot of smiles, lot of laughs, and a lot of fun.”

President of the North Stars and general manager at Jackfish Lodge and Conference Centre, Kyle Kellgren said the day couldn’t have gone better, bringing team and community together.

“We’re a community-owned club, so to get all the boys out here, getting to meet some people and enjoy themselves was just great,” Kellgren said. “People always want to know who the North Stars are and sometimes they know their numbers but they don’t know their faces, so I think it’s fantastic. To have the turnout we had this weekend was unbelievable.”

Next up on the agenda for the North Stars will be the team’s Kick-off Breakfast, which will include the official introduction of this year’s team, Tuesday morning from 7 to 8:15 a.m.

For tickets or more information on the Kick-off Breakfast, contact Kennedy with the Stars at (306) 445-7827.

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Martin.Martinson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1