Scheifele to play in upcoming PGA event

He's a hockey player but he's playing golf today.
Star centre Mark Scheifele will get to live out a lifelong dream of a different sort later this month, as he'll be teeing it up alongside 156 Mackenzie Tour-PGA Canada professionals at the annual Players Cup, beginning Aug. 16 at Southwood Golf & Country Club in Winnipeg.
Scheifele was a recent add to the tournament after Jets captain Blake Wheeler, who was originally given the sponsor's exemption, had to withdraw due to an unforeseen personal commitment.

"He's better than me. He's an unbelievable golfer," Scheifele said of his winger. "I think I'm pretty good; I feel like I'm a pretty solid golfer, but he's special. Like, if he played more - and now he's got three little ones and a lot of commitments with them - but if he were to play more, he could make some waves with the golf club, I'm sure."
Wheeler, you might recall, revealed on a
mid-season episode of Ask a Jet
that he even has a hole-in-one to his name, but jokingly said it
"wasn't even in the Top 5"
when it came to his favourite golf memories.
But Scheifele? He, too, is an avid golfer, growing up playing regular nine-hole twilight rounds with his father, Brad, in his hometown of Kitchener. Today, he spends a good chunk of the off-season swinging the sticks across Canada and the U.S., and is the namesake of an annual fundraising tournament for KidSport Winnipeg.

Like many of us (except Wheeler), the pivot is still on the hunt for that elusive first ace, but is just happy as long the ball goes straight.
"I know it's going to be fun as long as I don't have too many bad shots and break a club or something like that," he said with a laugh. "Trying to stay calm is the biggest thing. I get pretty angry sometimes if my game's not going as well as I would like it to go."
Who doesn't?
Sure, there's a lot of pressure. But he has to rise above it. He's got to harness in the good energy and block out the bad.
Harness. Energy. Block. Bad.
Feel the flow, Mark. Feel it.
"Just to play in an event like this is pretty special and I'm excited to get out there and play a great course like Southwood, and hopefully bring some more people out to watch the beautiful game of golf," Scheifele said. "I'm just hoping to play well both days. If that makes the cut, then that makes the cut."
Considering Scheifele's good scores typically fall somewhere in the mid-to-low-80s, he'll need to shave about 10 strokes a day to have a chance of playing on Saturday and Sunday. Lofty, indeed, but not impossible considering he's done it before with his career-best games. With a bit of practice and extra emphasis on the finer details (including his patience), you just never know.
"I'm trying to hit the range a few more times and get on the putting green and work on my game," Scheifele said. "At the end of the day, it's going to be fun, but I'm a competitor so I'm definitely working at my game hard these next two weeks.
"The last few rounds I've been putting everything out; no gimmies. Trying to play pretty legit. I've been playing a lot with my brother and he's been keeping me honest."
Just remember, Scheif: It's all in the hips.
- Ryan Dittrick, WinnipegJets.com