Titan golfer comes close to CWOSSAA gold
Jack Millard notches first ace in Cambridge
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Holy Trinity golfer Jack Millard served himself an unscheduled test of his mental toughness when he aced the par-three, 140-yard seventh hole at the Cambridge Golf and Country Club earlier this month.
In his 12 years as a golfer, Millard, 15, had never scored a hole-in-a-one.
Now, all golfers welcome a hole-in-one when the ball decides to drop. However — in a one-round, winner-take-all match for the Central Western Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association (CWOSSAA) championship — that first ace can be a distraction.
After congratulating Millard, those around him suggested the lucky drive might mess up the rest of his round, which didn’t help the situation.
“I thought I chunked it,” Millard said Friday. “But it spun backward into the hole, so I hit it cleanly.
“It’s pretty surprising when it happens. You don’t know what to do. I didn’t really celebrate. I just grabbed the ball and moved on. If you think about it, it will throw you off your game.”
Millard – a plus-2 handicap — kept his focus and wasn’t entirely surprised when he finished the match tied for first with rival Zander Seguin of Assumption College in Brantford with an even-par 72. The pair had tied for the lead after an earlier match where the two had gone head-to-head for the first time.
However, with the CWOSSA boys open title on the line, Millard and Seguin were forced into a playoff in Cambridge to determine a winner. Seguin prevailed after two holes with a par and a birdie. Regardless, Millard is proud of his performance, as is his coach at Holy Trinity Catholic High School in Simcoe, Matt Martinow.
“He’s a very dedicated athlete,” Martinow said. “He puts a lot of passion into practice and on the course. He knows his yardage very well. When he’s on the course, he doesn’t second-guess the club he needs to use.”
Millard hopes that – if he keeps working on his game – a university or college in the United States will notice and offer him a scholarship. If a career as a pro golfer is not in the cards, Millard intends to study law or business.
“He’s a scratch golfer at 15,” Martinow said. “A lot of people dream about that their whole lives. The world is at his feet. If he keeps playing the way he is, schools will be calling him.”
Millard, of Port Dover, loves the game and took to it instantly when his father Brett Millard introduced him to it at age three.
When the weather is nice, Millard will play or practice every day if he can. He’s planning three weeks of holidays this winter where he intends to take advantage of golf training camps in Mexico, Florida and Arizona.
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