ST. PAUL – Sean Hovelkamp recalls a time when the St. Paul Golf course schedule was packed with tournaments that included strong competition and great prizes. He remembers men’s opens, club championships, and scrambles - and as he takes on the role of golf club manager, he hopes to bring those back “one step at a time.”
While he is the new golf club manager at the Town of St. Paul’s golf course, he is not new in the community of St. Paul. Growing up in St. Paul, he regularly spent time at the golf course as a teenager.
He also worked at the golf course’s pro shop from around 2003 to 2009. Then, he left St. Paul to pursue post-secondary education at the University of Alberta.
Later, he received a full golf scholarship at the Colorado School of Mines, where he played for about four years. Prior to that, he also played in the Provincial Junior Amateur, Canadian Junior Amateur, Canadian Men’s Amateur, and even played for Team Alberta, many years ago.
Hovelkamp graduated with an engineering degree and worked as an engineer. He worked in varying types of construction, but admits he “never really found anything that I was excited to wake up and go to work to.”
“Then, this opportunity came up,” he said, explaining how the Town of St. Paul was looking for someone to finish the 2022 golf season. And now that he’s back, he hopes to stick around for a while.
As a local with ties to the St. Paul area and members of the golf course, he said, “there’s that opportunity that I could be here for a long-term type of thing, so [I’m] pretty excited about that.”
When asked what his plans to bring to the golf course, Hovelkamp says, “I have some ideas on improving and putting together a solid junior program and going back to hosting large events.”
Drawing people to the community with good quality events and attracting people from out of town will be important for Hovelkamp.
“If you can host good quality events, that’s when you’re going to bring in people from out of town and I think that’s an important part.”
While taking on the job middle of the golf season could be a challenge, Hovelkamp says he sees it as an opportunity.
“It's kind of nice in regards that I don't think anybody is expecting me to come in and make a whole lot of changes for now,” he acknowledges, adding, “My goal for the rest of the season is to keep things running smoothly.”
So, he plans to talk to as many people as possible to get their feedback as the season winds down.
He hoping to hear from people and “get their opinions on how things have been going, on what could change, on what they like, and set up and be able to put my own plan into action going into next season.”
The Town of St. Paul announced Hovelkamp would be the new golf club manager in late July, not long after the former manager quit.
Speaking about the hiring of Hovelkamp at that time, Town of St. Paul CAO Steven Jeffery said, "His experience, passion and knowledge of the game are all exciting attributes that I know Sean is going to bring to the table."
