News Release
NEW BRUNSWICK HAS ITS OWN VIJAY; JEAN MAINVILLE HAS EARNED THAT NAME
August 4, 2006
As published in the Times & Transcript on Friday,
July 28th
Gerard McLaughlin
From the sidelines
Vijay, meet Jean Mainville, New Brunswick's hottest young golfer.
Someday, the 16-year-old Scoudouc hot-shot would love to meet Vijay Singh, the PGA Tour's hardest working and one of its most successful players.
But, for now Mainville will have to settle for being nicknamed Vijay by his buddies.
You gotta have fun at golf and professional Louis Melanson, who heads the fast-stepping Louis Melanson Golf Academy, claims smiles, jokes and pranks is one of the paramount musts at his facility.
"Players improve when they're smiling, laughing and having fun," offers Melanson.
That's why Mainville's new handle is Vijay.
"We call him Vijay. . . he simply won't take any time off," says Melanson.
But, honestly, Melanson wouldn't change a thing about his prize student.
"His work ethic is phenomenal. He simply works, works and works," notes Melanson, claiming at the start of the season there was a couple of days when Mainville hit 26 buckets of practice balls. There are 60 balls in each bucket. That's over 1,500 practice swings.
The results of his work have been simply fantastic.
Already, Mainville has won the East Coast Junior Open and the CN Atlantic Future Links Junior championship, both in a playoff. He's also the New Brunswick juvenile champion and has a third-place to champion Nick Clark of Riverview in the New Brunswick junior championship.
Now, he's going bigger.
Mainville will be among 11 New Brunswickers, the largest group ever, heading off to the Sussex Golf and Curling Club for the Canadian junior men's championship beginning on Monday.
"This is going to be great for him," offers Melanson of Mainville getting his feet wet in the nationals at such a young age.
"It's good for everybody, but playing in the nationals is especially good for Jean, for Stephane Boudreau (Dieppe) and Matt Layden (Moncton). They're all 16, 15 and this is a tremendous experience. They're going to see first hand what it's like and where they're at. They're all interested in scholarships so if they want them they have to go out and compete with these boys. That's what it's about. The best guys get the best scholarships."
Joining Mainville, Boudreau, Layden and Clark at the nationals is Chris Hopper of Berry Mills, Thomas Keddy of Hillsborough, Matt Gingras of Moncton, Corey Bourque of Westfield, Eric Michaud of Grand Falls, Alain Plourde of Edmundston and Alex Whalen of Rothesay.
Nine of those 11 players are students at the Melanson Academy that operates year round, at Fox Creek in Dieppe in the summer and the Dundee Sports Dome in the winter.
"It's been a terrific year for the kids," says Melanson. "I must say they have put in a lot of work and it's nice to see them rewarded."
As for Mainville, few saw this kind of a successful summer but Melanson had a gut feeling a year ago he was on the verge of a breakout.
"He was really good last year as far as his ball-striking went," Melanson notes. "This year the difference has been he's put in work on his short game and now he recovers."
Also, Melanson claims maturity means so much in golf and Mainville is gaining more and more of that.
"Last year he tended to get a little upset too quickly and now he's composed. I think winning the East Coast Open gave him a lot of confidence and he took it from there. He knows winning golf is a lot more than just hitting great shots," the head coach said.
Meanwhile, without question, Sussex will be the toughest test of the summer for the New Brunswick players.
"Course management and short game will be key, key for everybody," Melanson said. "They all can hit it but when they get in the rough they might have to chip out, perhaps chip to the 100-marker if that's possible. Short game inside 100 yards will be key, key, key."
But, a toughened up Sussex track, one that will play to a par 70 instead of a par 72 next week, is not a course that New Brunswick players can't handle.
"The rough is very healthy at the nationals but that's the standard," said Melanson.
"It was that way in Vancouver last year. It's that way every year. It's the nationals. . . it's the toughest test for the best players.
And, the New Brunswick coach is predicting some special performances.
"We have a lot of kids that have done this before. It's not new to them and they're all the type that bucks up for the big challenges," Melanson claims.
"I look at Nick Clark, Alex Whelan, Tom Keddy, Matt Gingras. They've been there before and they know how to go about this type of championship. It's about smart golf. It's about getting in there and hanging in there.
"Sure, it's hard work and it's going to play tough but you ask them and they'll tell you it's so much fun. It's a total blast."
Meanwhile, Sussex isn't the only destination point for the nationals next week.
The Royale Cup National junior girls championships will be played at the Gowan Brae Golf Club in Bathurst and New Brunswick will be represented by eight players.
In the field is Sally Chamberlain and Kelsey MacDonald of Bathurst, Jennifer Armstrong and Jennifer Whelan of Rothesay, Kelsey Knowles of Janeville (near Bathurst), Morgan Matchett of Miramichi, Stephanie Chubb of Quispamsis and Brittany MacKenzie of the Maplewood Golf Club in Moncton.
The 72-hole junior boys nationals at Sussex runs Monday through Thursday and the 72-hole junior girls nationals at Bathurst starts on Tuesday and winds up on Friday.
Gerard McLaughlin is a Times & Transcript sports reporter. His column appears on Fridays.