A diamond in the rough, and the fairway

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This article was published 08/08/2016 (3656 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sam Diamond says he was swinging golf clubs before he was walking and talking.

The 17-year-old athlete recently graduated from St. Paul’s High School and, opting out of formal post-secondary schooling, Diamond hopes to turn pro some day.

“I’ve been golfing since I was in diapers,” Diamond said. “Since day one.”

Diamond plays out of the St. Charles Country Club, where he was honing his game for last week’s Canadian Junior Boys Championship in St. John’s, N.L. He qualified for the national tourney by finishing second in Manitoba Juniors.

“I’m just getting my game in tune and making sure I have no weak spots, and getting in the mindset,” Diamond said before heading east. “This is definitely my biggest tournament.”

Unfortunately, Diamond didn’t make the cut at nationals, carding scores of 80 and 75 in the tournament’s first two rounds. Nevertheless, he’ll surely regard it as a learning experience.

Diamond was first introduced to golf by his father, who encouraged him and his 20-year-old sister to play and compete.

“My dad has been practising a lot now and getting into it again since we’re all into it,” he said. “He started me off and ever since then, I’ve been trying to compete… I like the thrill of going into tournaments and trying to beat other people. Trying to do your best, trying to push yourself to be the best, and being successful.

“It’s a hard game and it’s hard to get good at. I think that’s the fun part, trying to find a drive to be better.”

He added that golf’s unpredictable nature and unending variety of greens keep things interesting, too.

“You’ll play one good round and then the next round you’ll not play the best and you just try to minimize the damage on those bad days and it’s never a for-sure win. It’s kind of the up-in-the-air factor is what’s fun for me.”

Diamond says his strategy is to determine what kind of course he’s got in front of him.

“On some courses I’ll play very conservatively and hit with the iron and play somewhat defensively but aggressive,” he said. “Other days if the course is pretty open I’ll hit with the driver almost every hole and play very aggressively… I’d say taking advantage of courses when I can is my strong point.”

His team at St. Paul’s came second in provincials this year and won a golf tournament in Steinbach before Diamond graduated. He says the program has given him a solid foundation to improve his game on.

This year, Diamond will be heading down to Arizona, where he’ll be able to practice and compete year-round.

“Right now it’s just somewhere to train,” he said.

“I’ll hopefully run into somewhat of a program-slash-team down there, and I’m hoping to play with the PGA players down there… Hopefully I can play some junior tours down there and get noticed by some coaches.”