Orillia’s Spencer Shropshire has been making a name for himself on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour.
Shropshire, 15, began golfing when he was 10. He was inspired by Jordan Spieth’s third-place Masters performance in 2018.
“That’s what really got me into it, to be honest,” he said. “I just remember wanting to be like him.”
The Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School student started going to the driving range with his father, but at the time, he was still focused on his lacrosse dreams.
“When COVID hit, lacrosse got shut down,” he said. “I started going to the course more, picked it up, and just loved it.”
During the pandemic, Shropshire was living with his family in their Florida condo, which was conveniently located on a golf course.
“They had a really nice practice facility,” he said. “I would go down to the course and would just practise chipping and putting for eight hours every day.”
His skills were put to the test for the first time during the 2018 Pepsi-Titleist Junior Tour at the Barrie Country Club. He didn’t come close to winning.
“It was still fun,” he said. “I got to meet new friends, which motivated me even more.”
In 2022, Shropshire graduated to playing on the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour and won his first event.
“I didn’t know how well I was going to do against tougher competition,” he said. “It’s kind of made me even better scoring average-wise.”
This year, he is shooting about 72 on average. The biggest recent improvement to his game has been the long ball.
“I’ve been able to hit it a lot farther this year,” he said. “I’ve gained 50 or 60 yards with my driver and 20 to 30 yards with every other club. It’s made the game a lot easier.”
Last month, Shropshire represented Canada in Australia’s Jack Newton International Junior Classic, a major event in the Southern Hemisphere. He placed 13th out of 141 golfers after posting rounds of 69, 74, 73 and 74.
“I didn’t have any expectations going into that because I hadn’t played in two weeks leading up to it,” he said. “I felt good and found my swing again early on.”
Shropshire, a member of Hawk Ridge Golf Club, says his overall goal is to earn a Division 1 scholarship to play golf in the United States.
“That would be really awesome,” he said. “I have two years left, so I have to continue to get better and lower my score to reach that ultimate goal.”
Next for Shropshire is the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour’s National Tour Championship in Arizona from Nov. 9 to 12. He will compete against the top golfers from each province.
“It’s an honour to be selected to go there. Hopefully, I can play well,” he said.
Shropshire thanks his parents and grandparents for supporting his golf dreams.
“Without their support, none of this is possible,” he said. “I wouldn’t be playing golf right now if it weren’t for everything that they’ve done for me.”
He also thanks his coach, Cory Southon, of the Richmond Hill Golf Club.
“He’s been helping me a bunch for two years now,” he said. “Since I’ve started going to him, he’s helped me improve by 10 shots per round, which is absolutely amazing.”
