Jamie Kureluk Has Home Club Pride With Him

By now, most people have heard about the 25 shot by Cottonwood’s associate professional Jamie Kureluk on the back nine of his first round of the RBC Insurance Alberta Open a couple of weeks ago.

That’s just one of the highlights for Jamie recently. He’s grown so much professionally over the last year-and-a-half and he’ll be looking to take a big step in his career on Monday when he’s at Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Ore., where he’ll try for one of three spots available at U.S. Open sectional qualifying.

Members and staff here at Cottonwood will be on pins and needles waiting to hear how he did and we’ll be the same way later this year when Jamie goes for his PGA Tour card at qualifying school.

I’ve known Jamie for years, since he was a junior. He’s been a big part of this golf club and people really follow him, so his 25 at the Alberta Open sure created a pretty neat atmosphere at a club level. It’s cool to see members congratulating him and talking to him about what he’s accomplished.

I think it’s done a lot for his confidence and it’s good for our membership. To have members come in and say, `We were in Palm Springs on the weekend and they were talking about it there when we told them where we are from,’ illustrates the real pride of Cottonwood in Jamie.

For the staff, it’s been great. The professional team is always talking about it or looking up how many hits Jamie has gotten on Google.

The media he received has been incredible for the club. The other day, I said to Jamie, `Can you just go up to your phone and do your interviews and we’ll get somebody else to cover the shop?’ Between the photographers and interviews, it’s been a pretty proud moment for the club

Cottonwood has always been a big part of the community and we’ve been recognized for our involvement in numerous events, so people know who we are, but for Jamie to take that to a whole new level is pretty special.

We had a tournament last week and a lot of the players were asking, `Where’s the guy who shot 25?’ They came in and asked, `Did you teach him that?’ I said, `No, I’m just trying to hang out near him and maybe some of it will wear off on me.’

Jamie’s been working pretty hard, so the members have seen him practicing. As a result, they’ll come in and say, `Good for you Jamie. You deserve it.”

He will carry the support of Cottonwood to Portland on Monday and into Q-School in the fall.

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