The mental part of a golf game plays a major role in a player’s success.
Brett Pasula of Red Deer already understands that and he won’t turn 15 until September.
“I worked hard on that part of the game last year as I used to lose my temper and everything would go south,” he said during the McLennan Ross Sun Junior Golf Tour media day at Wolf Creek Golf Resort Monday.
“I’d get a bogey, then a double, but this year I try to take a couple of deep breaths and focus on what has to be done and hit my next shot.
“What is done is done and you can’t change the past.”
Pasula’s ability to keep himself under control was evident during the final round of the Canadian Junior Golf Association event at River Bend Golf Course Sunday.
Pasula went into the final round with a four stroke lead, only to see it vanish as Andrew Brown of Calgary made a run.
“He was coming on strong and I was losing strokes, going into the water,” saidf Pasula.
“But I had to keep my composure . . . keep my head in it and I got my game back and started hitting better shots.”
Pasula eventually won the 14-and-under title by two strokes.
It was the second win on the CJGA tour this season for Pasula, who won by nine strokes at Sundre and was second in the Telus Jr. Skins Game in Banff.
Pasula’s strong start to the season came after a solid finish to last year, when he won the Alberta Golf Association bantam championship.
He also won the Srixon Order of Merit for the 14-and-under division on the McLennan Ross tour was tied for first in the division and eigthth overall at the tour championship at Wolf Creek.
“Last year I got a lot of second and third place finishes and I was losing some confidence,” he said. “But once I got my first win that helped a lot.”
Pasula feels his game has taken a step forward this year.
“I’m hitting the ball further and my short game and putting is way better,” he said.
“But then my short game still needs some improvement . . . I need a little more touch.”
Pasula’s dad got him into the game four years ago, buying him a range pass at River Bend.
“I also hit the mini links and I’d stay for four hours a day hitting balls until I got calluses on my hands,” he said.
“I practiced a lot to get better.”
He also loves the way the game is played.
“You can’t control what other people are doing, it’s just you against the course.”
Pasula now plays out of the Red Deer Golf and Country Club and for the first time has a coach, working with assistant pro Shaun Luopa.
“I used to teach myself plus my dad and I would watch videos on how to work on my swing,” he said.
“Now I work with Shaun on my swing and I hope to qualify for the nationals.”
Pasula, who is in Grade 9 at Camille J. Lerouge, will continue to play on the Alberta junior tours, looking toward a solid finish at the Alberta Junior. He hopes to compete in several international events.
“It’s still pending, but because I won in Sundre I hope to go to the junior worlds (in San Diego) and by winning at River Bend I hope I qualified for the Stephen Ames Cup,” he said.
The McLennan Ross tour opened its 16th season May 15 in Golden, B.C.
The next stop is June 11 in Drayton Valley while the first Central Alberta event is July 11 at Pine Hills in Rocky Mountain House.
The tour stops in Lacombe July 13, in Ponoka July 18, at Pheasantback in Stettler July 28, in Innisfail Aug. 8 and in Olds Aug. 9. The tour final is set for Aug. 29 at Wolf Creek.
l The tour has a new presenting sponsor this year in the accounting firm of MacKay LLP.
drode@www.reddeeradvocate.com