Tony Trozzo is looking forward to competing in his first ever Canadian Men’s Amateur Golf Championship that will be taking place in Toronto next week.
The former member of Kwalikum Secondary School golfer is still having a hard time believing he will be teeing off at the national event on August 7-10 at the Toronto Golf Club.
“It’s an unreal opportunity for me to even say I am going to this tournament,” said Trozzo, who has won three provincial titles as a member of the KSS golf team. “I am just going to try my best and enjoy the experience.”
The 19-year-old Qualicum Beach golfer just finished his first year playing for the Vancouver Island University Mariners and he said the experience has lifted his confidence in his game. It’s what motivated him to enter the BC Men’s Amateur Championships in Vancouver last month and fared well in the four-day tournament, which was a qualifier for the nationals.
Trozzo finished 76, shooting 77, 70, 89, 79 for a 315 total. He said he then received an e-mail that he qualified for the nationals and that got him excited.
There were four other golfers from Parksville and Qualicum Beach that also competed at the BC Amateurs. Jake Lane, who was a former member of the KSS golf team, shot an even par 294 to finish tied for 28th place.
Kyler Bourgeault from Qualicum Beach and Aidan Goodfellow from Parksville tied for 36th place. They all qualified for the nationals.
Bourgeault, 23, will also be heading to Toronto to compete while Goodfellow has opted not to take part this year as he will be joining Team BC at the Eddie Hogan Cup in Portland next week. Lane is also not playing this year.
Trozzo can’t wait to play. He plans to learn more about the course this weekend and anticipates the greens are going to be fast.
“It’s going to be a difficult course to play on,” said Trozzo. “I will know after some practice rounds this weekend.”
Trozzo is setting a realistic goal in his national debut.
“My goal is to make the cut and see where I can go from there,” said Trozzo. “To do that at nationals would be a dream. To finish in the top 70 would be awesome.”