Osoyoos teen golfer following in his dad’s footsteps – Oliver/Osoyoos News

Wayne Hachey has made a wonderful life for himself and his family from the game of golf.

His youngest son Tim, 16, is very much hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps.

In the prime of his playing days way back in 1990, Wayne came within one stroke of qualifying for the British Open, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world.

He played professionally in Europe for many years, before retiring as a player and dedicating his life to owning and operating golf-related businesses in Europe and Canada.

“I started my golf career way back in 1984,” said Hachey. “Can’t believe it’s been 40 years now.”

He’s spent almost 20 years owning and operating a hugely-successful professional golf tour in Spain. He’s also been the proud owner of the Desert Golf Academy in Osoyoos for almost 15 years, where he gives lessons and teaches the finer points of the game to his many clients across the Okanagan Valley.

He spends the summer and fall months in Osoyoos and several stints in the winter and spring in Spain.

He’s used many different names for his Spanish professional tour, but it now operates under the European Pro Golf Tour moniker. This tour allows young golfers from Spain and throughout Europe the opportunity to earn a living playing golf, while trying to climb the ladder to more lucrative tours in Europe and around the world, he said.

“We now operate about five big tournaments in Spain over the course of the winter,” he said.

For the first decade, the Desert Golf Academy operated out of the Osoyoos Golf and Country Club, but for the past several years, he’s set up a golf simulator and run the academy from his home in Osoyoos.

“I’ve worked with everyone from beginners to high level golfers at the academy,” he said. “I’ve always loved teaching.”

Over the past decade, Hachey brought the best young junior golfers in Osoyoos over to Spain — some to play tournaments and others to learn the intricacies of running a professional golf tournament.

One of his prize students is his youngest son, who just two weeks ago claimed the championship trophy in the B.C. Juvenile (Under-17) Golf Championships at the Blue Ocean Golf Club in Sechelt.

Facing the best players in his age group from across the province, Hachey played brilliant golf shooting 68, 72, 69 over 54 holes to claim the championship.

“It’s the best result I’ve had, but I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve ever played as I’ve had some really good results all summer,” he said.

That title wrapped up a sensational summer of golf for the talented teen.

Earlier in the summer, he qualified for the Canadian Junior Championships in Alberta, where he was tied for sixth after two rounds and the Canadian Men’s Amateur championships in Saskatoon as well.

He finished third in the regional qualifying tournament for the national men’s amateur championships. That earned him a spot in the B.C. Men’s Amateur championships tournament and he placed high enough there to qualify for the Canadian men’s amateur tournament.

His accomplishments earned him the Golf Canada Order of Merit and a spot in a junior tournament sponsored by longtime PGA tour player Notah Begay in Montreal in late July. He tied for fourth in that tournament.

“He’s had a great summer,” said his proud father. “He’s had some good solid starts at most of these big tournaments, then faded a bit. But he finished tied for 23rd at his first Canadian Junior and that’s not bad at all.”

To get to his level, you have to excel in all aspects of the game, but Tim says his length and accuracy off the tee has brought his game to another level.

“I’ve become pretty solid throughout my whole game, but my driving has really improved and become a weapon,” he said. “In Sechelt, my driving accuracy was spot on. If you can hit it long and keep your drives in the fairway, it certainly makes golf a lot easier.”

Like so many talented players, he’s constantly working on his chipping and putting and overall short game as that’s usually the difference between winning a tournament and finishing several strokes back, he said.

Heading into his Grade 12 year at Osoyoos Secondary School, Tim said he’s already received a couple of very solid offers to play college golf in the United States and his plan is to pursue post-secondary studies south of the border once he finishes high school.

“I’ve received a couple of offers so far and I’m hoping a few more might be coming,” he said modestly. “If I can go to school and play golf against great competition, that’s the goal.”

His Dad has been his only coach and been a terrific teacher and mentor from the time he first picked up a club when he was four and over the past eight years of competitive golf.

“We get along great and he’s done a great job guiding me so far,” he said. “He doesn’t put a lot of pressure on me. I do that to myself.”

His long-term goal is to have a terrific college golf career and then play professionally and hopefully reach the pinnacle of the sport and qualify for the PGA Tour.

“I’m not great at teaching like my Dad,” he said. “I want to play at as high a level as I can and see where it takes me.

“I want to see how far I can get.”

Wayne believes his son has the talent and temperament to become a professional golfer.

“Our entire motto is for him to keep slowly getting better and better,” he said. “What you did at 12 or 14 doesn’t matter. It’s how you keep progressing and getting slowly better.”

He encourages his son to play other sports as he’s seen too many examples of young players who put too much pressure on themselves and end up not enjoying the game of golf, said Wayne.

“I encourage him to take some time off over the winters so he can come back fresh in the spring,” he said. “I want him to love the game. I’ve seen too many times with other kids. They’re playing year-round and by the time they’re teenagers, they give up the game and hate it. Tim likes to ski and do other sports and become an all-round athlete and I think that’s healthy.”

Tim’s mother Sandra and his older brother Lenny deserves a lot of credit for his success as well, he said.

“She nurses him and cheers him on and so does his brother,” he said .”He’s got a whole team and family behind him.”

This originally appeared in the Penticton Herald and is shared via the Local Journalism Initiative