Brad and Lauren Fox are very different people, but they share one common passion: golf.
The siblings both recently ended the high school golf season with trips to provincial tournaments.
Brad, who attends Hapnot Collegiate, went to Manitoba Provincials, while Lauren, a Creighton Community School student, headed to Saskatchewan’s tournament.
Lauren finished sixth out of 34 golfers in Saskatchewan’s Provincials, held at Madge Lake earlier this month. As Creighton’s lone golfer and one of the few grade 9 students in the field, she shot a combined 190 over two rounds.
Lauren, who competed in last summer’s Saskatchewan Summer Games golf event, entered the tournament with high hopes.
“I expected the competition would be very similar to the summer games,” she said.
Creighton Community School athletic director Ryan Trumbley called Lauren’s performance at Provincials “an incredible feat.”
“It’s especially more impressive with her only being in grade 9 and most of the competition being much older,” he added.
Brad was proud of his sister’s outing, adding, “She was tied for fourth after the first day. It was pretty good.”
Brad and the Hapnot boys’ team finished 13th of 15 teams at Manitoba provincials in Winkler, with a combined score of 298. Brad shot a 102 during his round.
His transfer to Hapnot from Creighton Community School this year put him in the unique position of playing at provincial tournaments in different provinces in back-to-back years.
“I thought there was stiffer competition at the Manitoba provincials, but I thought Saskatchewan provincials were maybe a better way to show my ability,” Brad said. “[Saskatchewan provincials] were two days, while Manitoba’s are only one day.”
Brad and his teammates went into Provincials with open minds.
“I didn’t really know what to expect, since this was my first time at Manitoba provincials,” he said.
“I think we met our expectations.”
Brad and Lauren qualified for their respective tournaments on the same day.
Brad qualified with Hapnot’s golf team when they won zone championships at the Phantom Lake Golf Course. He shot a round of 88, good enough for first place in the tournament.
Lauren qualified for Saskatchewan provincials by winning a regional qualifying tournament in Melfort.
This year, Creighton Community School scaled back its golf team. The change left Lauren to compete as a solo athlete, and contributed to Brad switching to Hapnot.
“[Creighton] decided not to send any golfers to the regional qualifier in Melfort,” said Lauren. “When I found this out, I was very disappointed. I am grateful that my parents took me anyway.”
