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Because it’s basically an 18-hole competition against an inanimate course, golf is considered the most individualistic of all sports.

Not for University of Regina golfer Carter Bell.

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Bell, 19, has a lengthy list of teachers, friends, family and teammates who helped him get to the Canada West championships, slated for Oct. 2-3 in Abbotsford, B.C. The list starts with Eric Brandle, a hometown friend and hockey teammate in North Battleford, who helped decide they should pursue their post-secondary education in Regina.

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“Most of the kids from Battlefords head to Saskatoon for school,” said Bell. “Me and Eric wanted to meet new people. My grandparents are here, so being close to them was pretty big for me.

“And golf was pretty enticing, seeing that I could take it up as a competitive sport at the university level.”

The friends lived in the university dorms during their first year at U of R, but for his second year as a psychology major Bell has moved into his grandparents’ cottage just north of Regina, where he’ll be the lone occupant while they’re winter snowbirds.

Jerry and Cindy Bell, his grandparents, will be keeping close tabs on Carter’s on-course exploits from afar, just like the rest of his family who frequently send him encouraging notes and phone calls — Alvin and Susan Knibbs, his other set of grandparents who are “big golfers” and took Carter on a B.C. golf trip after he graduated high school; parents  Steve and Rebecca; and siblings Matthew, Josh and Abbey.

Strangely enough, not everyone in the family plays golf. Josh has recently taken it up and Jerry is helping develop a golf course and driving range near their cottage. Carter’s girlfriend, Brooke Turner, is also learning to play as they make plans to visit her family next summer for another golf trip through Nova Scotia.

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“I’m fairly new to the game,” said Carter. “About four or five years ago my buddies all had a blast at the course and that’s what they did to hang out. So I figured, why not join them?

“I do have a family connection to the game. My great-grandfather, Darwin Lackey, he’s a big golfer and a baseball guy who’s always nagged on me about those two sports whenever I got a chance to see him. So just to keep golf going in the family has been really special and making him proud means the world to me.”

Carter Bell has proven to be a quick learner. Two weeks ago he shot 76 and 75 for a two-round total of 151, nine-over par, and finished second at the blustery Lethbridge Invitational while the Regina team placed third. Last week in the Calgary Dinos Invitational he placed 20th while teammates Morgan McKay, in the women’s division, and Micah Tangjerd each placed seventh.

“The winds were absolutely insane in Lethbridge,” said Bell. “Another guy I grew up with in North Battleford, Colby Friedrich, always advocated playing in bad weather, nagged me to join him on bad days to battle out the hard days. You realize how much those days helped when playing in Lethbridge in 90-km gusts.”

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Bell, Tangjerd, Jackson Wingerter, Jaxon Eberts and Reece Hodson will represent Regina in the two-round, two-day stroke-play event in Abbotsford, which determines singles and team champions. McKay is the lone woman representative on the squad, which competes in varsity sports as a self-supported club.

The university has a working relationship with the nearby Wascana Country Club, where instruction from head professional Todd Zado and assistant Brad Lovett have been appreciated by Bell and his teammates.

“A big shoutout to the other guys helping with my scores and to my sports psychologist, Dean Beattie from Lloydminster,” said Bell. “I’m interested in sports psychology. Dean and I have been grinding on my mental game and that’s been keeping me playing well these past few weeks.”

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