When Paré turned four, his uncle introduced him to golf. For years, he took Paré to the Pontefract Golf Course. Seeing his natural athletic ability, when Paré was 11 his uncle brought him across the river to play at the Renfrew Golf Course. From the ages of 11-18, Paré spent the summers competing as a junior golfer.

“My summers, when I was done with school work consisted of just . . .

practicing for golf and playing golf tournaments,” said Paré.

However, these busy summers took a toll on Paré, making him choose to take a break from the game for three years at the age of 19. He said that he lost his drive and passion for the game, and he wanted to experience the kind of summer more like that of his peers. Throughout this time he was more interested in playing other sports.

“I never really experienced what summer was like for an average kid or teenager. So I kind of got into playing softball. I was more into hanging out with friends,” said Paré when describing his break from competitive golf.

When Paré was 22 his girlfriend, who worked as a dental hygienist in Renfrew, had a client who mentioned to her how much they missed playing with Paré and how they were looking for young competitive golfers to improve their golf team. This, along with a discounted membership, was just the push that Paré needed to get back in the game.

When asked why he is passionate about golf Paré said: “I think what drives me about the golf is that it’s an individual sport. So you’re on your own. I play hockey for example, and if you make a mistake, then you have your teammates to cover your back or to help you out. But in golf, you’re on your own. So that’s a bit more of a challenge, which I like.”

From July 25-27 Paré played a three day golf tournament held on three different courses across the Ottawa Valley. The first day was played at Rockland Golf Club and the second day was held at Paré’s home course in Renfrew. Sixty-five men and 55 women competed to make it to the third and final round. This round was held at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, which Paré noted is a private club that you have to be a member to play at.

“Just to play there was a huge honour,” said Paré.

Paré ended up winning the tournament by 5 shots, with two of his teammates from the Renfrew Golf Course, Jonah O’Connor, and Jaegar Prot, taking second and third place respectively. Paré had his uncle Luke, who introduced him to the sport as his caddy for the second and third day.

“You can do lots of thinking when you walk towards your ball. So just having someone there just talking about other stuff that’s not related to golf, just to take your mind off of it until you have to hit your next shot. So that really helped too,” explained Paré.

Paré is currently teaching physical education at Ste. Anne’s on Calumet Island and Ste. Mary’s School in Otter Lake which gives him plenty of time to play golf several times a week during the summers. He hopes that eventually he can introduce some of his students to golf.

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