Port Sydney 12-year-old Lexi Quinton spent her summer playing golf tournaments across the province, and after taking the top spot in a championship, she’s more motivated than ever to get local girls into golf.
Lexi placed first in the U13 Girls division of the Simcoe County Junior Golf Tour Championship at Tangle Creek Golf Club on Aug. 27. She also played in the Pepsi Titleist Junior Golf Tour from mid-July to mid-August, taking second overall in the U13 Girls 9 Holes Division. She also competed in the Ontario Peewee U13 Championship in early August and practiced about 20 hours a week. Lexi’s love for golf started when she was five and came from another love in her life: her father.
“My dad was playing golf, and I thought it’d be really fun,” Lexi said. “He got me into it, and it just stuck.”
Golf is Lexi’s only sport. She hopes someday her skills will get her a scholarship to a school in the US and a place in the Ladies Professional Golf Association. She was proud to take home a championship win and said it was a fun new experience to be out on the greens for the tournaments.
“I like the competitive side of it,” she said. “When you have a good hole, you just want to keep your spirits up so you can keep it going.”
Lexi plays with the South Muskoka Curling & Golf Club. The group has a junior golf program that offers golf nights, clubs and clinics. They have over 100 junior members, including four girls who play on Lexi’s golf team.
She loves being part of the club and appreciates how the club’s head golf professional Jacklynn Miller brings more girls into the sport. Lexi also trains with coach Braeden Cryderman at TPC Toronto twice a month.
“Every time I see him, it’s something usually different,” she said. “Sometimes it’ll be the mental side and sometimes it will be the actual physical part of it.”
Lexi’s father Brad Quinton said it’s been cool to see her succeed in a sport he loves so much. He plays golf regularly, and he’s happy his hobby has inspired his daughter toward a potential career.
“It’s definitely good to see her trying to take it to the next level,” Brad said. “The last two years, her golf game has improved immensely.”
Her improvement comes from dedication to a rigorous schedule, Brad said. She does a daily workout routine laid out by her coach along with doing stretches every morning. She also has evening workouts twice a week in addition to her tennis practice.
Brad was elated to see her win the Simcoe County championship. He’s watched her put in the work for years, so it’s exciting to see her thrive.
“She’s getting her achievements because of all her hard work, and everything’s starting to pay off,” he said. “She really can start to see that the harder you work, those accomplishments are going to come.”
Brad and his wife Jen are happy to do whatever is necessary to help Lexi with her golf game. Though Jen isn’t a golfer, she’s more than happy to walk the courses and watch her daughter play. Jen is always there to cheer her on at tournaments and take her where she needs to go in between.
“We’re fortunate enough that she has summers off, so my wife Jen can get her to all her practices up and down the highway,” Brad said. “We live in Port Sydney, so it’s 20 minutes to Bracebridge and 20 minutes back. Sometimes there are multiple trips during the day to and from the golf courses to help Lexi achieve her end goal.”
Along with getting exercise and a lesson in dedication, golf has helped Lexi develop people skills and a kinship with other athletes.
Brad said he’s seen a sisterly nature between the female golfers in Lexi’s programs and tournaments. Older girls will help guide their younger counterparts, offering hugs in place of handshakes. They may be competitive during gameplay, but there’s always an undercurrent of kindness.
Some tournaments they attend have dozens of girls competing while others may only have a handful, so it’s important to Brad and his family to grow the game for girls in the area. The number of five- to nine-year-old golfers in the junior program gives them hope for the future, but they still want to encourage more girls to grab a golf club and give it a swing.
“There is a lot of girls playing, [but] there’s not a lot of girls that are playing competitively right now,” he said. “If we can get one or two more girls that want to join and play a few more competitive tournaments then we’re [going] a step in the right direction.”
