Jimmy has evolved on Le Maître golf course since he was “knee high” to a grasshopper. On the course, with almost-feline grace, he shows that he’s utterly in his element. And it’s during competitions and other championships that he performs best. What follows is an encounter with a young champion barely ten years old.

Even though he weighs only 70 pounds (31 kilos), Jimmy – from the height of his 4 foot 8 inches (1.4 metres) – is already hitting drives of 190 yards. “He plays six days out of seven,” explains his dad, Nick Galbraith. “At the age of four, he already followed us around the course with his plastic clubs. He’s been participating in competitions since the age of eight,” he adds.

“Jimmy is an energetic youngster, cheerful and very outgoing, and the words don’t do him justice,” confides Jimmy’s coach, Pierre Brisebois. “He adores golf, supervised practice, competition and the early friendships that result. It’s really unusual to see this in a child of 10; they’d usually rather just play.”

Québec champion

On August 5, Jimmy won at the Drummondville golf club where they were running the last round of the 49th Bantam, Peewee and Mosquito Provincial Championship. Jimmy played a +8 (80), which allowed him to take home the mosquito category medal that he missed winning last year.

The following morning, at the Maître, servers, kitchen staff and pros all went to join the young golfer on the driving range, to congratulate him. “Everyone knew he’d won the Provincial Championship. It’s super that they went to see him to say hello and congratulate him,” notes Jimmy’s mother, Jenny Prud’homme.

“While he’s in the mosquito category, he’s considered to be one of the top peewee players (age 11-12) in Quebec,” notes Pierre Brisebois. “He’s so lucky to be supported by loving parents who don’t hesitate to drive all over the province for his tournaments and who encourage him more to have fun than to perform.”

A family affair

The youngster has some role models. In fact, there are some great athletes in the family. Jimmy’s great-grandmother took the Championship at the Drummondville club every year from 1935 to 1938.

“She was about 18 at the time,” Nick reminisces. “I told Jimmy and after that, he really wanted to win that one. He won by six strokes,” he adds.

Win after win

As soon as our interview was finished, Jimmy and Nick headed for Lachute where another tournament awaited the talented young golfer. That same night, Jenny posted on social media that her son had just completed “the round of his life”.

And with good reason. Jimmy had a score of (-2) 70 – the best of the day – taking not only first position in the mosquito category, but also outscoring the peewee and bantam players.

Mont-Tremblant in the top three

It isn’t just Jimmy who has distinguished himself this summer on the province’s greens. The young and talented Ann-Sophie Bourgault, also from Le Maître golf club, came first in the peewee category at the Provincial Championship and Guillaume Paquette, of Gray Rocks, took third place in the bantam category.

It looks like the Mont-Tremblant golf clubs can count on a talented next generation…which we will watch closely and with great interest.