Pleasant surprises join Rattlers golf team

By Sean Rooney on August 30, 2018.

srooney@medicinehatnews.com @MHNRooney

Medicine Hat College’s golf team has a couple surprises on it as the Rattlers prepare to host nationals in October.

One is a familiar sight on the fairways locally, but the other? You might not have even known he played golf, much less well.

Derek Whitson, a veteran of multiple Paralympics in both soccer and sledge hockey, was among the six men and four women named by coach Trevor Moore Wednesday following a tryout round at Desert Blume Golf Club. Becky Martin, the national bronze medallist from 2016, returns after a one-year hiatus from the women’s team.

The other members named include returnees Ciara Bonogofski, Sierra Zukowski and Nicole Schultz on the women’s side. Returnees Matthaus Taylor and Kent Lesko are joined by rookies David Coldham, Brady Resch and Keaton Sulz on the men’s team.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on this team, guys that have potential for great scores,” said Whitson following his round in windy conditions, but before he was confirmed as a member of the team. “If there’s a thing here or there that can I help them out with, that would be huge.”

Whitson only recently retired from the national sledge hockey team, after working relentlessly but not picked for the team that Canada sent to South Korea for the Paralympics earlier this year. He still helps fiancee and national women’s sledge coach Tara Chisholm, both with that team and the Medicine Hat Adaptive Sport Association, but golf is something he’s had a long history with when he was younger.

“I’m self-taught, I started when I was about 13 years old,” said Whitson, who grew up in Chatham, Ont. “My dream was to be a golfer. I worked at a golf course, played hundreds of rounds a year. I played on a local junior tour, it was southewestern Ontario kids. I was your average, middle-of-the-pack kind of golfer, and a lot of those kids went on to have scholarships.

“Once Team Canada came into play for soccer and sledge, I played maybe 10 rounds a year the last 10 years. This year I worked hard, I put a lot of time in on the range, tried to work with Trevor (and others) to find out what my body, having cerebral palsy, what I’m capable of doing.”

He’s not capable of the same distance off the tee as his teammates, but Whitson is deadly accurate, deft around the greens and at 29 years old with international sports experience, provides a unique set of mental skills those around him could benefit from.

If not for his slightly bow-legged walk up the fairway, you’d never guess he had cerebral palsy.

“I knew he was a good athlete, which is a big part of the equation, but he’s got a good mind,” said Moore. “He brings so much to this scenario where (Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference) golf is interesting; most people coming into golf at this stage have only played golf as an individual sport. He brings a very different team approach… he’s Reg Dunlop. He’s that guy. He’s been there, he understands teams and commitment, he’s well-prepared to compete.”

It was tough saying goodbye to the national men’s sledge team though. Whitson wanted badly to go to one more Paralympics, but with a new coach leading the team the past couple seasons there was a youth movement afoot and he wasn’t part of it.

“It’s one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made,” he said. “I’m happy now that I’ve made it, it was the right choice. I’m always going to miss the game, I love the game… but this is the better path. Not even just for golf, I’m going to be a student and be a teacher someday. It’s something to work towards.”

Martin has some elements to her story that mirror Whitson. It’s her wrists that have been a problem, and her nerve issues seem bound to get worse over time. But the ex-NCAA player who now dominates the local women’s golf scene is hopeful she can get through the short college season, which begins Sept. 14 and includes three Alberta tournaments before nationals in mid-October.

“If it’s going to be a permanent, chronic thing I might as well get what I can out of it before I go downhill,” she said. “Also, I’m probably never going to have a chance to have a national championship in Medicine Hat. I’m still playing well, so why not?”

Needless to say, Moore and the Rattlers are thrilled to have her.

“It’s huge, you look at it on paper and she’s certainly hands-down one of the best players to play in the ACAC,” said Moore. “From a scoring standpoint she’s a game-changer, literally changes the whole scenario.

“She brings so much more to the plate as well, with her experience and having been at nationals, knowing much of the women’s team she’s coming back into, it takes pressure off the other players. She also pushes the guys side to be better too, we found that a couple years ago that seeing her compete made everyone want to compete harder.”

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