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Medicine Hat golfer Sarah Armstrong won the Golf Canada NextGen Western Championship in Leduc on Sunday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Sarah Armstrong kicked off a busy summer of golf in winning fashion.
The 17-year-old Hatter won the NextGen Western Championship hosted at Leduc Golf Club over the weekend. Armstrong topped the field of 51 girls with a 1-over 72 on Sunday to finish the tournament 10 over par.
Armstrong was three back of the leader heading into the final round and she didn’t know once she took the lead.
“On the final few holes I didn’t know I won until we had done the scores in the tent,” Armstrong said. “It was a different experience than other times, I’ve had that as a goal going in to just stay in the present and stay in my process sort of thing. So I was very happy when I found it I won.”
She says she’s made it a focus to bring her game from home, when she’s practising shots, seeing shots and hitting shots into her play in tournaments, not worrying about scores or anything but her game.
“It’s just golf.”
Armstrong liked the course at Leduc and says they were treated well throughout the weekend.
“There were so many volunteers there, the whole community really kind of pitched in and they were amazing,” Armstrong said.
With the win over the weekend, Armstrong claimed a spot in the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship July 22-25 at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver. After that, she’s also playing in the national women’s amateur at Royal Colwood the following week in Victoria
Armstrong joked she hopes it’s a successful trip and she says she’s looking forward to the experience.
“Those are both nice courses, so it should be good time, they’re big, big tournaments as national championships,” Armstrong said.
Even before those national tournaments, she’s playing in the B.C. women’s amateur championship June 10-13 at Balfour Golf Course. She’s also playing at the Alberta Women’s amateur championship at River Spirit Golf Club in Calgary July 2-4 and the Alberta Juniors U19 Championship.
It’s a pressure-filled summer of golf that Armstrong says she has been waiting for since the winter months and is ready to tackle with her new approach.
“I’ve been working on how I look at that and what might allow me to just kind of go play my golf,” Armstrong said. “For me, it’s a lot of just staying in the present and not getting ahead of myself. Just trying to just kind of manage it.
“(The summer) is kind of stressful but it’s also why we practise, to go compete.”
Editors note: An earlier version of the story had Armstrong playing at an incorrect tournament.
