Cory Hilditch was pretty happy with his first crack at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship held in Winnipeg Aug. 11 to 14.
The manager of Winroc, a drywall supply business in Penticton, found himself up against 18- to 20-year-olds who are members of Team Canada. Day one saw Hilditch shoot a six over par 77 with seven bogeys and one double bogey.
“I missed a lot of short putts,” said Hilditch of day one. “It seems to be a recurring issue in tournaments.”
Day two was better as Hilditch dropped five birdies to shoot a 72.
Hilditch, who once won an award in high school golf, was happy lasting two of the four rounds. While he practices a couple of hours on some nights, Hilditch said members of Team Canada have every resource at their disposal when not at school.
“It’s kind of tough that way,” he said. “It was fun regardless. I wasn’t really expecting huge things.”
Hilditch, who played two years of volleyball at the Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford, was pleased to finish ahead of some of those youngsters.
“It was a good experience anyway,” he said. “See where you have to be for next year.”
His coaching support comes from his father and John Ferrier, a CPGA pro at Doc’s Golf Centre. Because of family commitments, Ferrier didn’t have much opportunity to follow Hilditch’s performance last week, but said he’s incredible.
When told of the two-round effort, Ferrier said it’s hard for a person such as Hilditch to compete with the commitments he has.
Ferrier has been helping Hilditch the last few years with his swing and mainly his mental game.
“I believe in the guy quite a bit,” said Ferrier, who is also helping out former Penticton Vee Kyle McMurphy with his golf game. “His talent is far more than you need to be very, very successful in the golf business.”
Hilditch said what he gained from playing is knowing that he can compete at that level. Keeping focus and not getting down after a bad shot is important. Hilditch qualified for the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship by placing 22nd among the top-25 of 160 golfers during the B.C. Amateur Championship.