By Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

Red Deer’s Bergheim swinging for success on McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour

May 23, 2018 | 7:50 AM

Cole Bergheim has his grandpa to thank for his love of golf, and the success he’s having with the game.

“He brought me to a lot of tournaments and spent a lot of money to do well at these tournaments,” said the 14-year-old at Tuesday’s media day for the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour’s 2018 season at Wolf Creek. “I just got a coach last year he’s been paying for that, too. So I’m getting a lot better now.”

Bergheim is coming off a solid 2017 where he tutored under a coach for the first time, won his age division on the tour by a wide margin and finished 13th overall at the Tour Championship.

Until he was 13, Bergheim taught himself the basics by watching a lot of golf on TV and emulating what the pros were doing. Now that he has a coach in his corner, he’s been able to take his game to another level.

“I started hitting it a lot further, so I couldn’t keep it straight,” he admitted, “and then he taught me to hit it straight and start hitting fades and draws and all that stuff.”

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Bergheim says the steep learning curve that comes with playing on the McLennan Ross tour has, obviously, taught him a lot about the game. It’s also fueled his hunger for more success.  

“I want to do well in them [tournaments]. They’re a bit longer distance than some of the tournaments I play. So I work on the longer irons and just try to do well and finish pretty high [on the leaderboard].”

He’s been a two-sport star up to now, Bergheim recorded 24 points in 36 games last season with the Bantam AA Red Deer Steel Kings, but says he’ll be hanging up his skates after next season to focus on his goal of earning a NCAA golf scholarship.

The McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour tees off for its 23rd season starting June 16 in Lethbridge. Tour stops are also scheduled for Innisfail on July 3, Olds July 11, Lacombe August 1 and Ponoka on August 7.

The Tour Championship at Wolf Creek goes August 27.

More details are available at www.mrossjrtour.com.