At thirteen years old, Colton Dee is about to have an experience that many life-long golf fans could only dream of.
Come Sunday the member of The Landings Golf & Teaching Centre will find himself competing on the 18th green of the Augusta National Golf Club. It will be exactly a week before a champion is set to be crowned at the very same place for the 88th edition of The Masters, one of the most coveted titles in golf.
Dee, who lives in Elginburg, just north of Kingston, will be among 80 young golfers (40 boys, 40 girls) competing in the 10th edition of the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals. The event sees juniors aged 7-15 from around the world competing in driving, chipping, and putting competitions on the grounds of Augusta National. They start at some 340 local qualifying locales and then must work through sub-regional and regional sites to advance to the finals.
Colton Dee is the lone Canadian in this year’s field. He had no idea that would be the case. In fact, he has to credit his mom, Dana, for the appearance. “She signed me up. I didn’t even known about it, and it was worth it,” the youngster who is also an avid hockey player remarked last Fall after earning his was to Augusta.
Colton trying to join past Canadians to have won a title in one of the four age classes. Those winners include the likes of Savannah Grewal of Mississauga, Ontario who is now a member of the LPGA TOUR, and Vanessa Borovilos of Toronto, now a member of the Canadian National Team.
Has been anticipating the finals since he qualified last September through a regional final held at TPC Boston, a top-level course located just south of that city.
To get ready for the finals he travelled south with his mother to get some of the Canadian winter rust off his game, and he did so with a whole lot of DCP gear in hand, as they club sent him a full gift package in advance. That included his official scripted clothing for the finals.
On Sunday he will take on nine other competitors for the age 12-13 division. Keep an eye for him to gather a lot of points in the long drive portion. That is his strength and where he excelled in the qualifying competitions.
The finals are broadcast Golf Channel affiliated NBC digital properties starting at 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 7th.
