The Red Deer College Golf team was infused with talent from Lacombe when Chase Broderson joined the team this season.
Recently, Chase finished second at the ACAC Championships held at Alberta Springs Golf and Country Club — shooting a 78 on the final day with blowing snow and wind being a factor all day.
“Obviously the weather was a challenge, but we tried to grind it out. I kept the ball in play all week and didn’t make a double-bogey — which helped out a lot,” Broderson said.
“I didn’t play the greatest the last day, but I posted a 78 which was not terrible in that weather. I was one of the first one in, I was fifth when I came in and a couple guys fell back.”
RDC Golf Coach Scott Bergdahl said Broderson’s play is a continuation of a successful year.
“Over the weekend he fought tooth and nail in very difficult conditions to finish second. I was very impressed,” Bergdahl said. “We caught him on the tail end of a very successful season. I don’t know if our program has done a lot to develop him, but we have given him a platform to develop skills that are necessary.
“He had some putting and chipping woes going in because he hadn’t played in a few weeks but we assisted him with that.”
Broderson said he tries not to take too many risks and to keep the ball in front of him, something he worked on while growing up golfing in Lacombe.
“I was golfing in Lacombe and Scott Bergdahl reached out to me and asked if I wanted to come play at RDC. It made a lot of sense to come here. It is close to home,” he said.
Bergdahl said Broderson was an easy call for RDC golf.
“We are always looking at local talent to give them an option of staying close,” Bergdahl said. “All young kids want to go down south, the opportunities are there but it still very financially restrictive. We saw a very skilled individual. We had him at a development camp a year ago and we saw someone who had a lot of skill, he was just inconsistent.
“Clearly he figured that out this year — which most players playing competitive golf do.”
Bergdahl said Broderson has quickly morphed into a leader in his first year at RDC.
“He has proven to be a quiet leader. He goes about his business and works hard, practices hard and his confident. I feel that he could lead the team through his play,” he said.
Bergdahl expects Broderson will continue to improve and is excited at the possible of having him for all four years at RDC.
“He will be the leader of this team. We can build on that and bring in some more players to compliment him. We have a real strong six players right now and he is definitely turning out to be a leader,” Bergdahl said.
Broderson said his goal this summer is to get some strong finishes at men’s tournaments.
I’m really trying to improve everything and get a little more consistent,” he said, adding he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his golf career and will see what happens.
“I’ll be golfing in Lacombe again this summer.”