With the emergence of Weyburn’s Graham DeLaet, Saskatchewan golf is staying in the spotlight and the sport has never looked better.
DeLaet was at Saskatoon’s Moon lake Golf & Country Club on Tuesday to launch the 2012 Golf Day in Saskatchewan which takes place June 26, at golf courses across the province.
The event includes a teach-a-thon by PGA professionals, special tournaments for old and new golfers of all ages, a photo competition, and a golf equipment drive.
DeLaet is excited to be back in his home province lending his name for such an important day.
“It’s definitely cool,” said DeLaet.
“Without the kids there’s no future in the game. It’s really important not just for myself, but for family’s to get their kids in the game and to teach them the game, to teach them integrity and honesty which is all part of the game."
As for being a role model to kids, he’s getting used to the idea that people actually look up to him.
“When I first turned professional, people said kids looked up to me,” said DeLaet.
“At the time you’re not used to any kind of the lime light. Not that I’m super comfortable with it still, but I do realize kids look up to me.”
“It’s awesome to see kids in Weyburn with hats saying ‘Graham’s Gallery’ on the side wearing them all the time. It’s cool to see that I’m able to hopefully get some kids into the game and get them away from any kind of bad stuff that may be tugging them the other way.”
As for DeLaet himself, he returns to action in June 21 at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut.
He tweaked his back right before last week’s Memorial tournament and had to withdraw which always is a concern seeing as he had major back surgery last year that forced him to miss much of last year.
DeLaet says his back is now good to go.
“I got an MRI right after it happened because I was pretty scared”, said DeLaet.
“As soon as the results came back it was definitely nice to see that it had nothing to do with the disk. It was a little bit of a muscle spasm that had me standing crooked for a few days but it’s pretty much back to normal.”
Besides last week’s withdrawal, he’s had a pretty good year which includes a tie for fourth at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans that saw him playing in the final group.
“I’m fairly happy with how things have gone,” said DeLaet.
“I haven’t really felt like I’ve gotten it done on the weekend, but I’m playing solid and making a lot of cuts. I feel like I’m playing well enough to be in contention and you just have to really take advantage of those weekends.”
After the U.S. Open, DeLaet will be playing three weeks straight as he looks to keep his tour card playing this year on a major medical exemption.
DeLaet started the year needing to make $657,694 in 26 events.
So far he's played in 15 tournaments winning $526,902.