ST. PAUL – The St. Paul Golf Course held its annual Club Championship on Aug. 21, a tradition that happens every season.
Brooke Steinhauer was among the participants and said she encountered some challenges on the links, and believes she could have done better. Despite the challenges, Steinhauer won the 2022 Club Championship in the Women’s Division.
“I get my name on a plaque and [I’m] pretty happy about that,” she said, adding, she is also proud to honour the Steinhauer family name. Brooke showed Lakeland This Week the names of those from her family etched on a plaque displaying the St. Paul Golf Course’s previous club champions.
Speaking about the tournament, Steinhauer said it was a good day and she had a good time with the ladies she golfed with.
Brothers Caleb Gratton and Logan Gratton were also crowned 2022 Club Champions in their respective divisions. Logan won the Men’s Division and Caleb won in the Junior Division.
“It feels pretty good to be the club champion in my own town,” said Logan. Despite the windy weather, Logan said everyone had a good time, and he thanked the golf course crew for keeping the course in amazing shape.
Caleb, 16, said he also felt good having won his category and hopes to continue playing golf once the school year starts with the St. Paul Regional High School team.
Caleb says he’s been playing golf most his life and seeks to improve his short game and tee shot.
The brothers also played a charity golf tournament in Fort Saskatchewan recently, finding success at the 2nd Chance Trail Ride Society fundraiser. “Me and my two brothers and my good friend, we also won that yesterday,” explained Logan. “So, you know, it's a pretty good weekend of golfing.”
Sean Hovelkamp, the golf course manager, told Lakeland This Week prior to the championship that he did not expect a massive attendance at this year’s tournament. At the day of the championship, the tournament still saw a decent turnout of 33 players competing for the top title in the three categories.
Hovelkamp said it has been a challenging time for the course after two years of COVID restrictions, but he remains positive that the numbers participating in golf tournaments will go back up as things shift back to normal.
He thanked all players for participating, despite the short notice for the championship, stating he plans to release the tournament schedule earlier next year to give members more time to plan, “and hopefully we’ll get back to the days where we had 120 members come out for the Club Championship.”
