Rossland native Tyler McKay is bringing the future of golf to Birchbank Golf Course on Saturday.
McKay is the manager of BC Golf’s Golf Participation program in Richmond with a mandate to grow the game. So this summer, McKay’s program is bringing a free golf clinic for golfers ages seven-to-12 to cities across the province, with a stop at his home course, Birchbank, on Saturday.
“Basically it’s part of the Future Links program,” said McKay. “It’s a grass roots initiative, where we go and set up clinics across the province and at community events to give kids the opportunity to play, and the opportunity to see if they like golf and want to continue.”
McKay started playing at age six, learning the game at Birchbank. He played on the Zone 1 West Kootenay Junior Golf Circuit before earning a scholarship to play golf at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. McKay played four years of golf for the Lindenwood Lions and graduated with a degree in Business, before joining BC Golf in May of last year.
McKay looks forward to a return to the Birchbank course and hopes young golfers come out and try it out, and potentially embrace the game and, like Tyler, take it as far as they can and want to go.
“I basically played my whole life at Birchbank and one of the things I really wanted to do since taking over the program is delivering it up there, and giving back to where I played and where I learned to play is something that will mean a lot to me.”
The free clinic goes from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday morning at Birchbank. Interested participants can register at the Pro Shop at Birchbank or phone 250-693-2255.