Mitchell Kelly (left) is the latest recipient of Wayne Hachey’s Create a Star program. Hachey is the owner of the Desert Golf Academy at Osoyoos Golf Club as well as the Evolve Pro Golf Tour in Spain. Kelly and Hachey left for Spain last week and will spend the next four or five weeks organizing events. Kelly also hopes to test his golf skills against some of Europe’s finest young professionals in a couple of tournaments. Keith Lacey Photo
When you grow up only a pitching wedge from a golf course, there’s a very good chance you might get involved in the game sooner or later.
For Mitchell Kelly, who turned 21 on January 15, the game of golf has been a huge part of his life.
And it’s the reason he will soon be packing his bags to embark on the adventure of his young life as he prepares to leave soon for an extended golf trip to Spain.
Kelly has been selected by Wayne Hachey – the founder of the Desert Golf Academy in Osoyoos and the Evolve Pro Tour in Spain – as the fourth Osoyoos golfer to participate in the Create a Star program.
Over each of the past four years, Hachey has invited one talented, young golfer to join him in Spain.
They left for Spain earlier this week.
The three youngsters previously selected include Ben Petreny, Dylan Holz and David Montreuil.
Not only will Mitchell be able to test his golf skills against some top-notch young European professional golfers, but he will also be kept very busy helping Hachey organize several tournaments in Spain for more than a month.
“I grew up in a house located right across the street from the Kettle Valley Golf Course,” said Mitchell. “My Dad (Stephen) was an avid golfer, so I’ve been playing the game since I was a little kid. I can’t remember the exact age, but I was eight or nine when I started and I’ve been playing ever since.
“When your house is 100 yards from the sixth green of a golf course, you don’t have much choice but to get involved.”
Since moving to Osoyoos seven years ago, Kelly has spent much of his time when he’s not in school working at the Osoyoos Golf Club.
He worked in the pro shop and on the grounds crew for several years before accepting a position at Balogh Electric Ltd. in Osoyoos.
His boss Greg Balogh, who is an avid golfer himself, didn’t hesitate to grant him a temporary leave of absence once Hachey selected him to join him in Spain.
“Greg loves golf and he was just great when I asked him if I could have some time off to go over to Spain,” he said. “I really appreciate it because I wouldn’t be able to go otherwise.”
Hachey said he had wanted to name Kelly his latest “star” a couple of years ago, but the timing wasn’t right.
“I had always wanted Mitchell to join me in the back of my mind, but things didn’t work out for one reason or the other,” he said. “This is a young guy with a lot of talent and I wanted to bring him over and expose him to what life is like on the pro tour and to give him a life experience he would really enjoy.”
Hachey and Kelly left for Spain this past Monday and will travel to the province of Murcia, where Hachey’s Evolve Pro tour has organized several events over a five-week period.
Not only will Kelly play in at least one tournament, he will spend the rest of this time helping Hachey organize the events.
“There’s a lot of stuff that needs to get done to organize a good pro event and I will try and expose Mitchell to everything that needs to be done to run a successful event,” he said.
“He will also be able to tee it up against some very talented young pros and get to see how hard they work and how well organized they are to be able to play at the professional level.”
Kelly said he was pleasantly surprised to be asked by Hachey to join him in Spain and he immediately asked his boss if he would give him the time off.
“I was a little surprised, but excited at the same time,” he said. “I haven’t played as much golf as I would like because of my new job, but hopefully everything will turn out OK.”
Hachey said Kelly is a scratch golfer who won’t embarrass himself at all at this level.
“He’s got great game,” he said. “He’s a tremendous ball striker.”
While the Create a Star program is about exposing young Osoyoos golfers to consider life on the pro golf tour, it’s also about allowing them to travel and enjoy a wonderful life experience, said Hachey.
Kelly completed a golf course management course in Victoria last year and said he’s weighing all his options before deciding on a career as an electrician or golf professional.
“I’m definitely considering working in the golf industry, but I like what I’m doing right now too so we’ll have to wait and see,” he said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
