The future is bright for St. Albert golfer Alicia Easthope after carding the lowest rounds of her career.
The Sandpiper Golf & Country Club member shot a one-under par 71 on the first day of the Edmonton Ladies Amateur on Tuesday at the Derrick after recording what was then a personal-best 73 last Saturday at the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) tournament at The Links in Spruce Grove.
Easthope, 17, ended the stretch of success as the runner-up as the youngest golfer at the Edmonton Ladies Amateur and was the 15 to 19 female division winner at the International Team Challenge qualifier at the MJT Ford Series event.
“This entire season so far I’ve been able to play a lot better than I have in the past,” Easthope said. “Going into tournaments I would say my mentality is a little bit different because last year it was almost like I was waiting to make mistakes and I was trying not to make mistakes but this year I know that I don’t have to make mistakes and shooting a few low scores in a row just shows I can do it.”
Easthope finished her Edmonton Ladies Amateur debut six shots behind Erin Martens of the Windermere, a senior with the Sonoma State University golf team who posted rounds of 72 and 71.
Easthope’s 71 was followed by a 78 the next day.
“That 71 was the best round I’ve ever played,” she said. “Since it’s an amateur event I get a caddy so my dad (Kevin, the Sandpiper head pro/general manager) caddied for me and it was really helpful. Clearly, I still hit the ball well and I still had to take the shots myself but having my dad there to help with course management and help me stay a little bit more composed and take my time and read my putts was nice.
“The first day on the first nine holes I was actually three under (at 31) so that was amazing for me. I’ve never done that. I just had a very solid front nine holes and so I was very happy with that and then I took it and carried it on into the next nine, which is harder.
“The second day I came off the front nine being one under, which I was still very happy with, and then I started hitting the ball just not quite as well as I did and I put myself into bad spots. On that course it’s decently open and you have space to hit balls but if you put it in fairway bunkers, which I happened to do quite a bit the second day, and if you leave yourself downhill putts on their greens it’s kind of detrimental and I just happened to do that on the second day, which led to me shooting a bit lower than the first day but I was still very happy and proud of myself for that tournament.”
Easthope was coming off her first victory of the season with rounds of 73 and 82 at the MJT tournament last weekend.
“I was really excited about my 73. I had a really solid round. I had a really good short game and putting that enabled me to shoot so low that day,” she said. “The next day, it wasn’t my best. It was pretty windy and I just didn’t quite hit the ball quite as well but I stayed in it enough to keep my lead and win that day.”
The result booked Easthope’s spot on MJT’s Team Alberta as one of two junior females for the International Team Challenge, Sept. 23 to 25 at Hunters Pointe Golf Club near Niagara Falls.
“I was very excited,” she said. “It just sounds like a really good opportunity.”
This weekend Easthope is attending a Team Alberta camp at the Cottonwood Golf & Country Club in Dewinton to prepare for the junior provincials at the same course July 12 to 14.
Leading up to provincials is the Alberta Ladies Amateur, July 5 to 7 at the Highwood Golf & Country Club in High River.
“One of my goals coming up is I really want to come top five in junior provincials,” Easthope said. “For the overall season I just really wanted to work on being a little bit more consistent than I was last year because my scores tend to range a lot. I can shoot anywhere from high 70s to low 90s, where this year it’s a lot more compact scores and I’m able to keep it more of a stable game in every tournament and every time I play.”
Last year’s highlight was carding scores of 74, 78 and 81 to win the 15 to 19 female division at the MJT event at the McKenzie Meadows Golf Club in Calgary.
“I was really, really happy with it. They were my best scores in a tournament,” Easthope said. “Looking back at it now, I’ve improved so much and I think I’m capable of doing a lot more things this year and I've already started showing it, which is good because it’s still early in the season so I have a ways to go yet.”
The Bellerose Composite High School graduate is also working towards a college golf scholarship.
“I’m waiting to get a little bit through the season and have some good scores and some good tournaments to be able to show them the results,” said the Edmonton Journal/Sportfactor female all-star team selection in volleyball in her Grade 12 season at Bellerose.
TEE TIMES: Aidyn Huchinson, 12, of St. Albert was the peewee male division winner at the MJT tournament last weekend at The Links with rounds of 81 and 78 to finish one shot ahead of Colin Pasitney, 11, of St. Paul, who carded scores of 82 and 78.
Strong putting propelled Huchinson to his first victory of the season.
