Morrisseau set to attend golf academy

With everything now set in place for him to head down to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina at the start of August, local golfer Tyson Morrisseau is beginning to get more and more excited about the next step in his golfing career.
The 13-year-old Morrisseau, who is from Couchching First Nation, will be attending the Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy for a full-year, and will be become the first First Nations student to attend the Academy.

“Right now it’s a little bit of an excited feeling and a little bit of nervousness at the same time,” Morrisseau said.
“I’m really excited to be heading down to South Carolina, and to get better at playing golf at the same time.
“I’m just going to have fun here for now before I leave, but as soon as I get down there, I’m going to start working hard,” he added.
After being accepted into the Academy last September, Morrisseau and his family had to go about coming up with the $65,000 in tuition that was required for Tyson to attend the school for a full year.
But luckily for them, there were many people that helped them to raise the funds that were required for Tyson to achieve his dream.
“Tyson wouldn’t be going to the Hank Haney Academy if it wasn’t for the support for people in the community,” Tyson’s dad Calvin stressed.
“Everyone on Council here, along with Chief (Chuck) McPherson, have been big supporters, along with the people here at Heron Landing, who have been tremendous with Tyson since he started coming here as a kid.
“The Haney Academy itself provided a scholarship to help Tyson go down, and the Dreamcatcher Fund helped to provide some of the funding, along with many other people here,” he added.
Those who live in Couchiching are also very excited about Tyson’s opportunity, as the youngster already starting to be viewed as a role model.
“This will certainly serves as an inspiration to youth in the community,” Chief McPherson said.
“This type of thing will hopefully open the floodgates for people to come out to the golf course, which they already do, and to other places like the new arena here that is under construction.
“We’ve had the talent, but we haven’t the facilities to help enhance that talent over the years, and hopefully something like what is happening to Tyson will be serve as a role model for those in the community here,” he added.
Having golfed for nearly a decade, Tyson has made the Heron Landing Golf Course his home club since he first swung a club, and head professional Brian Johnstone has been able to watch his progress over the years.
“I’ve known him for as long as I’ve been here, and we’ve been able to watch him grow up before our eyes here at the golf course,” he said.
“I’ve been able to see the maturation process over the last few years, and you always like to see someone like him do well, no matter what it is they end up doing,” Johnstone added.
During the course of his studies, which will get underway on Aug. 13, Tyson will be alternating between academic studies and time on the course between weekday mornings and afternoons, before having an evening sessions which will see him working with coaches, learning about proper nutrition, or with a sports psychologist.
Then on the weekends, Morrisseau will either be taking part in some fun activities with fellow students, or he’ll be taking part in a golf tournament.
“One of the things that I liked about the Academy, besides the strong academics, is the fact that Tyson will be with people his own age while golfing,” Calvin noted.
“He’s always been around older people when he’s golfed, and now he’ll be with people who are his age who like doing the same things that he does, so that will be a good thing,” he added.
While at this point, nothing has been set in stone yet for any additional years that Tyson could be attending the Academy, he is hoping to make the most out of his year down in South Carolina.
“My goal when I’m there is to just try and get better,” he said.
“I want to get really good at golf when I’m there this year, and hopefully I will be able to make it onto the PGA Tour one day,” he added.