‘Coming from a small town, it’s a big honour to represent it and give people something to follow and cheer for,’ says Spencer Shropshire
Spencer Shropshire believes his runner-up finish at the Ontario Junior Boys Championship this week was about much more than the final result.
The 17-year-old Orillia golfer fired a course-record round during the third day of competition to surge back into contention before ultimately finishing second Thursday in the provincial championship at Sawmill Golf Course in Fenwick.
For Shropshire, the tournament marked a turning point after battling inconsistency with his putter through much of the season.
“It was fun, lots of ups and downs,” Shropshire said. “More ups than downs the last couple days. Earlier in the year I’ve struggled with my putter a lot. It hasn’t really been cooperating, and it really wasn’t the first two rounds there either. I was just really happy to find the putting the last two days.”
After what he described as a “mediocre” start through two rounds, Orillia’s reigning Athlete of the Year knew said he needed something special to climb back into the title chase.
“The guy in the lead (Gabriel Mainella) won it the year before me, so I knew he wasn’t going to collapse or anything like that,” he said. “I told myself I needed to have a pretty special round on the third round to get myself back in position.”
He did exactly that, setting a new course record — an 8-under-par 63 — and putting himself within striking distance heading into the final round.
“Afterwards it was more just shot by shot, keeping pace with him,” Shropshire said. “It was a battle right until the last hole. It was really fun.”
Shropshire, who captured the Ontario Junior Boys title last year, said there was little added pressure despite returning as the defending champion.
“I don’t think the result really speaks volumes of where I got better or worse than last year,” he said. “The two of us had both won it before. There wasn’t a lot of nerves or pressure because we both won it before. It just turned out to be his day and not mine. It’s not a big deal. I congratulated him afterwards and talked to him after the round.”
The biggest takeaway, he said, wasn’t the silver medal but the confidence he regained on the greens.
“I found a lot more self-belief in my putter this week that I’ve been missing the whole year,” Shropshire said. “Honestly, for my standards, I’ve had a pretty rough start to the year. This week was more just a confidence builder, especially with shooting that course record in the third round. It was pretty cool, and it’s something that just kind of kickstarts the year.”
Shropshire, who will begin his collegiate career at the University of Michigan in August and is a member of Team Canada’s NextGen program, said the tournament served as an ideal tune-up before a challenging stretch of events.
“This was kind of just seeing where your game’s at, making sure you get your confidence back up,” he said. “The next few weeks I have a couple really big tournaments, so this is a really nice start to that stretch.”
His next stop will be the Ontario Amateur Championship, which begins Monday.
“I have a couple days here at home, and then my buddy is going to be caddying for me this week, so we’re really excited,” he said.
Shropshire is scheduled to report to Michigan on Aug. 18 and believes his game is stronger than it was a year ago despite the putting struggles that slowed his start to the season.
“Every other part of my game I felt has improved,” he said. “I’ll give good props to the Team Canada program and our coaches. My swing has gotten to a point where it’s more stable and more consistent. Now that I’ve found this putting, I’m excited for the next month because I have all the confidence that I need to go and play better and get better results.”
As he prepares for the next chapter of his golf career, the Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School graduate said the encouragement he receives from his hometown continues to motivate him.
“I can’t say enough,” Shropshire said. “I feel like every week when I go out and play, my dad gets a text from someone we know saying they’re following me. It really does mean the world. Coming from a small town, it’s a big honour to represent it and give people something to follow and cheer for. I feel very grateful.”