Kimberley local and amateur golfer, Jared du Toit participated in the Pac-12 Conference Finals in Boulder, Colorado this past weekend battling harsh weather conditions against 11 other schools.
According to the Pac-12 website, “Oregon took the Pac-12 title in the end, after a weather-shortened three-round championship. The Ducks’ Wyndham Clark took home the individual trophy.”
“I didn’t play that great, neither did the team, so I’m not too happy with that,” says du Toit. “We got snowed out and there was challenging weather, so it was a bit of a grind. I am hoping we can redeem ourselves at the regional site - the Golf Channel Regional.”
Born and raised in Calgary, du Toit moved to Kimberley at the age of 8. He attended Blarchmont during their final years, and then transitioned to Selkirk Secondary.
“I’ve been involved in athletics my whole life. Soccer, baseball, golf, hockey, skiing; my siblings and I were lucky because my parents have always been very supportive of whatever we want to do,” says du Toit.
While in high school, du Toit bought a family membership to Kimberley Golf Club, “it was such a good deal.
“It was in grade 10 and 11 that I got really involved and interested in golf, and decided I want to pursue that,” says du Toit.
After graduating high school, du Toit headed out to the University of Idaho to play Division 1 golf. After two years there, he decided he wanted a change of scenery and transferred to Arizona State University, where he has been playing for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
The 21 year-old writes his final exam this Friday, May 5, and is looking forward to graduating. His plans for this summer include professional tours, including the Canadian tour.
“Summer is going to be crazy. I’m hoping to get starts from Web.com or the PGA tour, but it’s very hard to get, so I am in the process of that now,” says du Toit.
Some of du Toit’s recent accolades include, Winner - National Order of Merit (2016), Pacific Northwest Golf Association Golfer of the Year (2016), and Arizona State Men’s Golf Captain (2016-17). He has also been nominated for several awards in the recent past, including the Bryon Nelson Award and Semi-Finalist for the the Ben Hogan Award. Each semi-finalist’s school (for the Byron Nelson award) receives a scholarship grant for it’s mens golf program. According the the Ben Hogan Award website, since 2002, more than $500,000 in scholarships have been awarded to more than two dozen schools.
When asked what his favourite part of golf is, du Toit replied, “I’ve always loved to compete; I got to play all of the sports growing up. The cool thing [about golf] is that you don’t really have a team, it’s all on you. You get in exactly what you put out, and it’s kind of an individualist sport that way. Good things happen when you put in the hard work, and you really have no one else to blame anything on, except yourself.”
du Toit’s advice to Junior golfers, or people who are just starting out, is to “have fun.”
“Learn to enjoy the game,” says du Toit. “The level I’m at now I find that some kids are really good at age 13, 14, 15, but then they start to fade out. When you’re pushed into competing, you can start to fade out and loose interest. I’m the opposite, my skills came after I learned to love the game. That would be my biggest piece of advice, love the game before you really focus on your skills.”
