It pays to check your e-mail.
At least it did in Ty Steinbring’s case. If he hadn’t, the 17 year-old Barrhead golfer might not have gotten the chance to represent his country as part of Team Canada in the Euro Junior Cup in St. Andrews, Scotland earlier this month.
Unbeknownst to Steinbring, he qualified to be on the team after playing in a Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA) tournament at the RedTail golf course in Nisku on the Victoria Day weekend.
About a month later, Steinbring received an e-mail inviting him to join Team Canada for a two-day tournament that would see an all-star team of 10 junior players take on teams from the United States and Scotland.
“It was a complete surprise,” he said. “I played pretty well. I finished ninth or something out of a field of 43, but it’s not like I did anything amazing.”
Steinbring said he was excited to be named as part of Team Canada and compete in a number of tournaments, including the Canadian Western Links tournament, where he finished in third place, which qualified him to play in the Canadian Junior Golf Championship in Kingston, Ont, July 31-Aug. 1.
Unfortunately for Steinbring, he didn’t make the final cut to take which would have allowed him to take part in the championship round.
However, Steinbring found it hard to be too disappointed knowing that a few days later he would be jetting across the Atlantic with the rest of Team Canada.
Steinbring said the trip didn’t get off to the best start after the team’s flight from Toronto was delayed for 19 hours.
After a seven-hour flight and a two-hour bus ride, the team arrived in St. Andrews on Aug. 5, settling into dorm-room type accommodations at the university.
“We really didn’t have a lot of time to rest. The next day we on the greens shooting two practice rounds,” he said, adding for the most part the team adapted well to the seven-hour time difference. “When I was waking up at 7 a.m. in Scotland it would have been midnight back home. It was something we had to get used to that’s for sure.”
Unlike most tournaments, in which golfers all compete with each other in one large group with the best score winning, the Euro Junior Cup was played using a match play format.
“I would go out with a guy from Scotland and the U.S. and I would pretty much be playing a one-on-one match play with them, but I play two at one time. If that makes any sense,” Steinbring said.
Competitors played two matches of 18-holes a day playing on a different golf course each day.
Steinbring, who had the best record on Team Canada, went undefeated in all his matches winning five and tying one, helping Canada secure second place and the John Clark trophy, behind Scotland and just ahead of the U.S. Actually at the end of the tournament, Canada and the U.S. were tied, but Canada won on a process called the countback.
“In normal stroke play, I could tell you what that is, but in match play I really don’t know how it’s done. All I know is when they said Canada placed second we all looked around happy, but not sure why we finished where we did.”
For the most part Steinbring is pleased with his performance saying that while he felt a little shaky at first, he improved as time went on.
“I didn’t feel like my game was all there on the first day, especially in my second match, the one that I tied, but I pulled myself together, and won the rest of my matches gaining some important points for my team,” he said, adding he was surprised he was able to do as well as he did because the courses were quite different than he is used to.
Every day of the tournament, players had to get used to a different golf course playing at the Scotscraig Golf Club, founded in 1817 and the 13th oldest golf club in the world; at Crail, the seventh oldest golf club in the world; and at Leven Links Golf Club.
“The courses in Scotland are not made to suit your game and as a result the game is so different,” Steinbring said. “From around the greens and chipping, to the way you are able to get creative with all your shots all changes.”
When asked if there is one particular hole or moment that sticks out above the rest, he said no, but said besides learning more skills from playing in the tournament the thing he will take away most is the sense of camaraderie, something that golf is not known for.
“Golf is a solitary game a lot of the time, but I think what I will remember most is the team aspect of it,” Steinbring said. “When your match was over you would go follow one of your teammates and cheer them on. I know when the guys would follow me after they finished their match it really helped spur me on and give me energy.”
