Fore! Northern Ontario tot wins international golf swing contest
Noelville’s Jack Cantin placed 1st in the Under 3 category
A two-year-old boy from northern Ontario is making a name for himself in the international golf world.
Jack Cantin, who is 25-months-old, recently placed first in the Under-3 category in the Little Linksters Best Peewee Swing Contest. It's a non-profit organization based in Florida that puts on a contest for kids all over the world to enter. Participants can send in a video including a variety of golf swings.
Judges include retired professional golfer Jack Nicklaus, American professional golfer Jordan Spieth and Canadian PGA instructor Jason Helman.
When Eric Cantin and Maxime Vaillant of Noelville, Ont., heard about the contest, they knew they had to send a video of their son Jack.
Cantin says since Jack was a week old, the two have routinely watched golf in the mornings together.
"I'm a big Tiger Woods fan so naturally that got passed on down to him," he said. "He grew up with the game."
Vaillant says her son started to swing clubs not long after he started walking.
"It's been more than a year, so more than half his life," she said.
Cantin realized early on that Jack had a talent for swinging a golf club. One morning, the pair were up watching golf when Jack took a swing.
"It was just so very fluid and it was just unbelievable even to me," he said. "I thought, that's crazy. It's been pretty amazing to watch him grow with bigger clubs."
He says they have to encourage Jack to do other activities other than golf.
"From the moment he gets out of his cribs, he runs to his golf clubs," he said. "He just pulls the wedge out and just starts hitting balls."
Cantin says he knew he wanted to enter Jack in the contest. Soon after, they got news Jack had won.
"We weren't surprised," his father said with a laugh.
Both parents say while it would be nice to see Jack go pro, they want him to continue to be happy and find what he loves.
"Through sport, I gained so many different benefits," Cantin said. "I hope for him that he continues to follow his passion no matter what it is."
WIth files from Jessica Pope