{"id":793399,"date":"2026-07-11T11:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/793399\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T11:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T11:10:11","slug":"n-b-golf-amateur-tees-off-in-first-pro-tournament-caddied-by-canadian-champion-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/793399\/","title":{"rendered":"N.B. golf amateur tees off in first pro tournament, caddied by Canadian champion dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Text<\/p>\n

Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 4 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

Nick Ritchie took his first professional swing at Mactaquac Golf Course on Thursday, with a Canadian golfing legend \u2014 his dad, Darren Ritchie \u2014 carrying his clubs behind him.<\/p>\n

23-year-old Nick of Quispamsis earned his way into the PGA Tour Americas Explore N.B. Open happening this weekend in Mactaquac by winning a four-man playoff at the New Brunswick Men\u2019s Amateur tournament last summer.<\/p>\n

The win came with a sponsor’s exemption into the tournament, where he is the only amateur, and New Brunswick player, out of over 150 golfers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WATCH | Like father like son \u2013 New Brunswick\u2019s first family of golf takes on the pros:\"\"<\/p>\n

Amateur N.B. golfer takes on the pros<\/p>\n

New Brunswick golf champion Nick Ritchie plays in his first pro tournament with former Canadian golf Champion \u2013 his father Darren Ritchie \u2013 for a caddy<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is kind of like a once in a lifetime opportunity,\u201d Nick said. \u201cIt feels awesome \u2014 nerve wracking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel a little out of my element, but that\u2019s not a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

What may be out of Nick\u2019s element for now, is right in his dad\u2019s wheelhouse \u2014 or maybe clubhouse.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

It’s funny, that was always something I said, I would pass the torch to him… but I would never light it.- Darren Ritchie<\/p>\n

Darren Ritchie is a two-time winner of the same amateur tournament that got Nick into the Explore N.B. Open. Against all odds and expectations he also won the 1992 Canadian Amateur Championship, beating Mike Weir.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So choosing his dad to caddie for him \u201cwas a no-brainer,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s the one that kind of brought me into golf. He’s really been my only coach ever since I was a little kid, so we always play this game together,\u201d Nick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNick\u2019s at another level at 23 than what I was, so his skill is there,\u201d Darren said. \u201cI\u2019m a very proud father\u2026 and I\u2019m very proud to be caddying for him this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheNick Ritchie shoots for par on his first hole in a professional tournament. (Abby Russchen\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Darren is well-known in the golfing community, but he said he doesn\u2019t want to draw attention away from his son\u2019s achievements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s funny, that was always something I said, I would pass the torch to him… but I would never light it,\u201d Darren said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hates the saying \u2018following in his footsteps,\u2019\u201d Nick said. \u201cHe wants me to create my own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the accomplishments that he\u2019s had, it\u2019s hard to create my own, but he says I\u2019ve done a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darren said he is \u201cjust so pleased\u201d to be alongside Nick, \u201cwatching him excel and maybe I can give him a little bit of advice along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ANick Ritchie gets a big pat on the back from his Canadian champion dad, Darren Ritchie, after he drives his first shot down a professional fairway. (Abby Russchen\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Nick finished day one of the tournament with 74 total shots, 3-above par, and he ended the second day with 73 total shots, 2-above par. Totalling a score of 5-above par come time for the tournament cut on Friday. <\/p>\n

The cut line was 6-below, meaning he will not play in the Saturday and Sunday rounds.<\/p>\n

Golfing runs in the Ritchie family. Nick’s sister, Courtney Ritchie, took up the sport a few years ago, and played in the women’s provincial championship this year. She was Nick\u2019s caddie when he won the men’s provincial championship that got him to the PGATA.<\/p>\n

The PGATA is an international developmental tour that helps players improve toward the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n

She said watching him play in his first pro tournament \u201cfeels unreal, and I can imagine it feels pretty surreal for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cGolfing against people who do this for a living is quite a big deal, and I mean, he\u2019s just an amateur from little New Brunswick, so it\u2019s huge. We\u2019re all so proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ANick Ritchie is the only amateur and New Brunswick golfer in the PGA Tour Americas Explore N.B. Open. (Abby Russchen\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Being an amateur means that Nick is not a full-time player, and he\u2019s balancing his game with two jobs. He is a custom club fitter for Callaway and also works at the Hampton Golf Club.<\/p>\n

Nick drew a large crowd of support, including family and friends and people from his club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s almost like a once in a lifetime opportunity for my first event to be in my hometown,\u201d Nick said.<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s received a lot of support from people across the province, and it feels \u201csuper special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re one big family, and everybody\u2019s treating it that way,\u201d Darren said.<\/p>\n

Nick said his dream is to eventually make it to the PGA Tour, but for now, he\u2019s taking it \u201cone step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793400,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-793399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}