MACDONALDS WILL MAKE PRO DEBUT A FAMILY AFFAIR
Stuart will play in Mackenzie Tour stop at Point Grey, with dad Robert carrying the bag
A trip to the golf course can provide quality family time, a genuine bonding experience. The fatherson dynamic on the links may differ, however, for Stuart and Robert Macdonald of Vancouver.
Stuart, 22, will make his professional debut at the Freedom 55 Financial Open — which runs June 1-4 and is the first stop on the 2017 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada season — at his home course of Point Grey Golf and Country Club, having graduated from amateur status earlier this spring.
Robert, the father, won’t only be in attendance to mark the special occasion; he’ll be on the bag, caddying for his son as they navigate the familiar tree-lined fairways of the par-72 course.
Macdonald said his father caddied for him in previous events in Australia, and both are members at Point Grey.
“He’s been so supportive of my whole career,” Stuart Macdonald said of his father. “He’s given me every opportunity to play the game and get better. To have him right there with me, it will be really special.”
After a four-year career at Purdue University, Macdonald moved up to the professional ranks by finishing tied for ninth (three-under par) at a Mackenzie Tour 72-hole qualifying school event in March at San Jacinto, Calif.
“Playing Q -school as an amateur, I had a lot less pressure. I felt a lot less pressure than I think I would have if I was a pro,” said Macdonald, who was a member of Canada’s national amateur team.
“And that’s because I had something to fall back on. But now that I’m a pro, it is starting to sink in a little bit and the pressure of playing professional golf will creep in a little bit more and more as we get closer to the date.”
He qualified during March Madness, a time on the sports calendar heavily dedicated to the frenzy of the U.S. college basketball championship tournament.
While his beloved Purdue Boilermakers were in tough against Kansas in the Sweet 16, ultimately losing the night before Macdonald’s final round in San Jacinto, the up-and-coming local was going through his own March Madness in trying to earn status on the Mackenzie Tour, a feeder circuit for the Web.com Tour.
“I’m kind of a diehard Purdue basketball fan. I was pretty upset (when they lost),” he said. “I had to really try hard not to let that get to me at all,”
As if on command, Macdonald finished his final round with three consecutive birdies. His final standing on the leaderboard guaranteed him the first four starts on the Mackenzie Tour schedule.
Today, Macdonald says he carries himself with a calm demeanour on the course. That wasn’t necessarily the case earlier in his life, when he says he would “live and die” by a golf shot.
Over the years, he has learned to keep his cool in difficult times. He credits that part of his development to working with a sports psychologist during his time with the national team.
Three straight birdies at such a critical time, however, is certainly reason enough for excitement — not to mention relief.
“I was pretty fired up at the time,” Macdonald said. “I was just trying to hang in there. I was even par going into the last three holes and I knew I was probably around the cut line, had to make something happen.
“But even in that situation, I was in the present moment. I wasn’t consciously thinking I had to make three birdies. I was just taking it one shot at a time and was able to reel off three birdies in a row. Any time you can be clutch in a pressure situation, or ... make a putt that you have to make, you definitely build a lot of confidence off of that.”
Playing a professional event at his home course may also help with that state of mind.
“I think I’ll know how I’ll feel when I reach the first tee and there’s a few people watching,” Macdonald said. “I think knowing the golf course and playing it as much as I have, it’s going to give me a little bit more confidence, just because I’ve hit all the tee shots and been around there a lot. I think it just depends on how I feel in the moment.”
CHIP SHOTS
The local forecast appears promising,
■ at least for the opening round Thursday at Point Grey. Environment Canada was, on Friday, calling for a mix of sun and cloud, and temperatures of 22 C for the first round.
It’s taken a while following a snowy and cold winter, and a cool, wet first two months of spring, but the weather has finally warmed up, which is good news for those tasked with getting the course in shape and ready for the professionals.
“The weather certainly wreaked havoc on the team’s ability to get things to grow. But … in the last seven days, we’ve seen tremendous recovery,” club general manager and chief operating officer Adam Zubek said.
“We’re anticipating (course conditions) to be more than adequate.”
The Mackenzie Tour on Thursday
■ announced its list of six players to receive exemptions into next week’s event in Vancouver. Devin Carrey (Surrey); Matt Hill (Sarnia, Ont.); Dave Zibrik (North Vancouver); Diego San Pedro (Richmond); Jay Snyder ( Vancouver); and Kevin Stinson (Mission) will all tee up at Point Grey.
Stinson, who qualified for the 2014 Canadian Open, earned an exemption thanks to his first-place standing in the Vancouver Golf Tour’s order of merit this season.
Playing Q-school as an amateur, I had a lot less pressure. I felt a lot less pressure than I think I would have if I was a pro.