Posted On: Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Pike Lake Golf Centre Head professional Greg Shaw was sitting at his desk working on some emails when he heard someone ask where the club’s junior camp was being held.
When he got up to see who it was he was completely surprised to see two-time PGA Tour winner Corey Conners and his dad Mike in the golf shop. “It was a complete surprise. I had no clue he was coming,” Shaw said about the July 4 visit.
He took Corey and his dad to the range and surprised his junior camp instructors, who were in awe of Corey. Corey proceeded to lead a 45-minute clinic which included him hitting a variety of shots at the request of the camp participants. And every time they picked out a target, Corey would hit it, Shaw said.
That’s no surprise as Corey is consistently one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour. “His swing is so smooth and effortless. It was amazing,” said Shaw.
He made a massive impression on the junior camp participants and spent about 1 ½ in total at the course, Shaw said. It’s unclear how this all came about but Shaw said some of the junior camp participants were from Corey’s hometown of Listowel, which is less than 30 minutes from Pike Lake, and Corey’s dad follows Pike Lake on Facebook and found out about the junior camps that way.
And the senior Conners has known Herb Cowen, one of the Pike Lake owners, for many years. Regardless of how it happened, it was definitely a memorable experience for all those involved.
“It was super cool and created a real buzz for our junior camps,” Shaw said.