At only 15 years of age Elmira’s Isiah Katsube is already making a name for himself on the links.
After competing in the Tee It Up Tournaments last season in the region, Katsube joined the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, billed as Canada’s most-played major junior golf tour. It’s run exclusively by PGA of Canada golf professionals.
Playing out of Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Katsube currently sits third in the order of merit out of some 40 individuals on the circuit.
“It is one of the bigger ones in Canada and you can enter two-day events,” his dad, Maki, notes, compared to the one-day tournaments his son competed in last year with the Tee It Up Tournaments.
Most recently, Katsube captured the MJT Juvenile Boys 15-16 title at Lionhead Golf and Country Club in Brampton, defeating Jakob Ain by six strokes.
“I had a really good first round, but I ended badly – was even enough after 16 and then I double bogeyed and bogeyed the last two holes,” he said reflecting on the tournament. “After the first day I had a pretty big lead, by like six shots – I didn’t play well the second day – but since I had such a big lead, I ended up winning in the end.”
This was the first time he had competed at Lionhead, a course that is known among golfers as very challenging to play.
What is Katsube looking forward to next? He will be playing in the U17 Provincial Championships at Sawmill Creek mid-August after cinching a spot in the qualifying round with the older boys.
Although the MJT circuit is great to play on, it is the provincial tournaments that are the big goal for a young player, he said.
At only 15, he competed in the U19 provincial tournament this past month and is looking forward to seeing where he ranks at the U17 competition next month.
The young golfer may only be going into Grade 10, but the goal is to take his love for the sport and turn it into a post-secondary opportunity.
“I want to play at a university or something if I can,” he said. “And try to get into the best one that I can.”
