Team Manitoba getting a jump on 2025 golf season

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This article was published 05/02/2025 (572 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

All of our greens may still be frozen solid and covered with snow, but it’s not too early to start thinking about golf season.

Thirty-seven young local players certainly have the sport on their mind after they were named to the 2025 Team Manitoba roster on Wednesday.

Twenty-three junior boys and 14 junior girls will train and be mentored by experienced leaders while getting the chance to compete in multiple tournaments representing the province.

Sean Murray will oversee the boys, while Bri-ann Tokariwski will be in charge of the girls. Both are PGA of Canada members.

The idea is to try to identify and develop the next homegrown stars to eventually follow in the footstepts of players such as Aaron Cockerill, who is currently teeing it up on the DP World Tour, and Braxton Kuntz, the four-time Manitoba Amateur champion who is currently finishing up his studies at Ball State and will turn pro this year.

In addition to skills training, there is also a focus on fitness, nutrition, and development of the mental side of the game.

“As an association, this is always an exciting time of year as we get to identify our future” said Golf Manitoba Executive Director Jared Ladobruk.

“Over the past number of years, we have seen Team Manitoba members move on to attend Canadian and American universities with some advancing to play professional golf. With commitment and dedication to our 2025 Team Manitoba program, we hope one day these individuals will too.”

The players are as follows:

Junior Boys Team: Gavin Carver (Glendale), Hunter Oakden (Glendale), Ryder St. Laurent (Niakwa), Adam Blair (Pine Ridge), Liam Comaskey (Pine Ridge), Brayden Boge (Rossmere), Hudson Hunnie (Rossmere), Ryder Pufuhl (Rossmere), Payne Wood (St. Boniface), Owen Conrad (St. Charles), Ty Brewster (Steinbach), Spence Mott (Shilo) and Jackson Delaurier (Dauphin).

Junior Boys Practice Squad: Brady Comaskey (Pine Ridge), Colton Drul (Elmhurst), Brayden Hamm (Wheat City), Preston Johnson (St. Charles), Finn Kydd (St. Charles), Hunter MacLean (St. Charles), Aris Mercury (Glendale), Tiago Miranda (St. Charles), Ty Montour (Scotswood Links) and Grant Secord (St. Charles).

“With just over three months until the tournament season we are very excited to get the 2025 campaign underway,” said Murray.

“What we do now during the off-season is crucial to our individuals and team. Being in Manitoba we can’t afford to start playing our best golf in July or August, it has to be from the get go. The boys have a great support team and resources behind them to help them play their best golf. We have a great group selected here, who work hard, love the game, and will represent Golf Manitoba with class.”

Junior Girls Gold Team: Angelina Sitarz (Elmhurst), Sadie Blazeiko (Pine Ridge), Gracie McMillan (Pine Ridge), Erin Nowicki (Pine Ridge) and Maisy Shewchuk (Golf Manitoba Public Player).

Junior Girls Black Team: Emily Devlin (Elmhurst), Annika Gording (Elmhust), Kate McMillan (Elmhurst), Mikaila Pador (Golf Manitoba Public Player) and Camryn Thomas (Golf Manitoba Public Player).

Junior Girls Practice Squad: Mackenzie Bartlett (Carman), Isla Dent (Golf Manitoba Public Player), Leah Klippenstein (Golf Manitoba Public Player) and Lindley Kurz (Golf Manitoba Public Player).

“The team this season is some of the hungriest group of athletes to come through the program” said Tokariwski.

“Their work ethic and wanting to learn is really exciting. They each possess their own strengths and experiences that will help them compete this season. We are all excited to go through the Canada Games cycle and showcase their abilities.”

Elmhurst and Southwood will serve as official Team Manitoba host courses for practices, and financial support is being provided by the Alex and Peggy Colonello Foundation and Integrated Support Team at Sport Manitoba Performance.

 

Speaking of Cockerill

It’s been a rough start to the new season for Manitoba’s top pro golfer, who is coming off a breakthrough 2024 campaign in which he earned more than $1 million and finished 49th on the DP World Tour rankings.

Cockerill made the cut in the first event of this season but finished tied for 52nd, then failed to qualify for three straight weekends of play before making the cut last week in Bahrain and finishing tied for 38th.

The 32-year-old from Stony Mountain is currently 138th on the 2025 Tour rankings, but it’s still extremely early. Cockerill will look to get back to form this week as he plays in the Commerical Bank Qatar Masters which begins Thursday morning.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg