Ed Klajman, Special to the Abbotsford Times
Published: Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Abbotsford's Nick Taylor may have arrived at the Canadian Open golf championship as the world's top-ranked amateur, but the Yale Secondary grad was just another faceless competitor to the thousands of casual fans who flocked to the Glen Abbey course in suburban Toronto last week.

They came to catch a glimpse of superstar professionals such as Mike Weir, John Daly and Anthony Kim. So while those big names were swarmed by the masses, Taylor went about his business on the practice range in relative anonymity.

But that changed the following day, when tournament organizers held a large press conference to promote the University of Washington student and his recent achievement of being low amateur at the U.S. Open.

Intense media coverage followed, with Taylor featured prominently on television and in Toronto newspapers as the future face of Canadian golf. By Wednesday, throngs of well-wishers and autograph-seekers were calling out "hey Nick" everywhere he turned.

Adding to the fan interest, Taylor was paired for the tournament's first two rounds with Canada's other golfing wonder kid - Matt Hill, the 20-year-old from Ontario who is the world's second-ranked amateur. Taylor and Hill - who are close friends and shared a hotel room for the week - were followed by some of the week's largest and most vocal galleries.

Unfortunately, both players missed the cut, with Taylor faring particularly poorly. He had a disastrous 79 in the first round, followed by a 73, to end near the back of the pack. It was a huge disappointment, especially considering that Taylor finished tied for 53rd at last year's tournament, the best showing for a Canadian amateur since 1972. Still, Taylor said he leaves Toronto with plenty of good memories.

"It was fun just to play out there and have people rooting for you. But not to perform is a little tough. But I'm looking forward to coming back next year," said the laid-back 21-year-old, who grew up playing at Ledgeview Golf and Country Club.

Taylor arrived in Toronto after competing in the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship in Oklahoma. He finished second in that match play event - completing a 36-hole Saturday final that was his seventh straight day of playing in temperatures exceeding 40C.

As soon as the awards ceremony ended, the exhausted golfer drove with his dad to Kansas City where his grandparents live. He then flew to Toronto, caught a few hours of sleep, and went straight to Glen Abbey Monday morning.

"If I'd look back on one thing, that's probably the one thing I wouldn't do again. I'd sleep in and get some rest on that Monday," he said, adding that his busy week also included an awards banquet at a downtown hotel on the Wednesday night, where he was named Canada's Amateur of the Year. He said his only opportunity to get away from golf was going to a Toronto Blue Jays baseball game last Tuesday night. He went with his father Jay, as well as Hill and another friend in the Open field, Graham Baillargeon.

"We didn't talk about golf at all at the game," he said. "That's why we were there - to get away from it." Taylor now heads to Columbus, Ohio, where he'll compete in a Nationwide Tour event this week.

That will be followed by the Four Nations Cup in Montreal in early August. He'll return to Oklahoma in late August for the U.S. Amateur championship, before heading back to Washington for his senior year.