Osoyoos teenager Cole Rezka, 17, spent most of February in Spain. Rezka was selected by Wayne Hachey, the founder of the Create a Star program, to accompany him to Spain, where Hachey owns and operates the Evolve Pro Golf Tour. (Keith Lacey photo)
Like his father before him, Cole Rezka can hit a golf ball a very long way and he’s thrilled he has been invited to travel a very long way to play and promote the game he loves.
Rezka, 17, is the latest young golfer who accompanied Wayne Hachey, the founder of the Osoyoos Desert Golf Academy and Evolve Pro Golf Tour in Spain, as part of Hachey’s Create a Star program.
Hachey invited Rezka to accompany him for one month to southern Spain, where he owns and operates the Evolve Pro Golf Tour, which has become a huge success for young European golfers.
Hachey and Rezka left in early February, where Rezka was introduced to all of the aspects of running a professional golf tournament.
Hachey and Rezka returned home to Osoyoos last week.
“He will be doing a little bit of everything,” said Hachey. “He will be involved in course set up, marshalling, scoring, placing pins … basically everything that’s involved in running a pro event.
“He’s also going to get the chance to play in hopefully four events and test his skills against some great young European players.’
Rezka has been one of the best young players in Osoyoos for the past three or four years, but he feels, at age 17, that Rezka was mature enough to handle being away from his parents and friends here in Osoyoos and travel to Europe for several weeks.
“Cole has been coming up through the ranks for a few years now and I just felt the timing was right to ask him if he was interested,” he said. “It’s his last year of (high) school and I think he’s ready to enjoy an experience like this.”
Rezka said he was “honoured and humbled” to be selected by Hachey to travel to Spain and be exposed to professional golf.
“It’s a real honour and I’m very excited,” said Rezka. “I can’t wait to get going.”
Rezka’s father Rod is a very talented golfer who is best known for competing three times in the World Long Drive Championships.
“My Dad actually competed in his last World Long Drive Championships the day I was born on July 22, 2000,” he said proudly.
Rezka’s good friend Scott Rausch was last year’s Create a Star recipient and had nothing but positive things to say about the experience, said Rezka.
When he’s not hitting golf balls 300-plus yards off the tee, Rezka is a talented hockey player.
He played well enough with the South Okanagan Minor Hockey Association midget squad to be called up by the Osoyoos Coyotes twice over the Christmas holidays.
His first game was on New Year’s Eve against the North Okanagan Knights and he played a second game a week later against the Princeton Posse, the same team the Coyotes are currently playing in the opening round of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League playoffs.
Stepping onto the Sun Bowl Arena to play for the team he grew up watching and don the Coyotes’ sweater for the first time was the biggest thrill of his young life.
“It was an incredible adrenaline rush,” he said.
Despite his obvious talents as a golfer, Rezka admits hockey is his first passion and he hopes to continue playing at a high level once he graduates from high school and midget hockey.
“I really like golf … I love hockey,” he said. ”I hope to play at a higher level after midget.”
He hinted strongly that making the Coyotes’ roster next season on a full-time basis is a goal of his.
When it comes to his golf game, Rezka said hitting the ball off the tee is his strong point, but he, like to many others, tends to struggle around the greens.
When asked what he has to work on the most to become a better golfer, Rezka doesn’t hesitate when he replies, “definitely my putting.’
Hachey said the large crew he has hired in Spain to work on the Evolve tour have taken each of the young kids he’s brought with him over the past seven years under their collective wings and he has no doubt they will do the same with Rezka.
“These young Spanish guys really take care of them,” he said. “They call them my Canadian moose … so Cole will be the latest moose and they will show him the ropes.”
Rezka, who has never travelled to Europe, said he was very excited about participating in what promises to be the most exciting experience of his young life.
Hachey said he’s proud to offer a program that offers so much to talented young Osoyoos golfers.
“It’s about exposing them to the pro tour, but it’s also a life experience that I hope they will remember for a long time,” he said. “I make the kids work hard, but they also have a great time and every single kid I’ve brought over to Spain talks about it years later whenever I run into them.
“Cole is a great kid and I know he’s going to have a great time.”
Rezka said some of his other golf buddies have been fortunate enough to travel with Hachey to Spain and they all say wonderful things about their experience.
Being able to travel to Europe for the first time is exciting as he looks forward to getting immersed in another culture, while enjoying some great weather and food, he said.
While he knows he possesses solid golfing skills, Rezka knows it won’t be easy testing his skills against other young professionals from all over Europe.
“I just don’t want to get embarrassed,” he said. “I’m not going over there expecting anything except that I hope to play solid golf and hopefully learn a lot from watching these pros and what they do to get ready to play in big tournaments.”
Playing against talented pros will hopefully teach his protégé the importance of practice and being committed to working constantly on your game, he said.
Rezka missed a lot of school to travel to Europe, so he is going to be a very busy young man now that he’s back home in Osoyoos.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
