Garrett Rank: Top-ranked Mid-Am Golfer, NHL Referee, Cancer Survivor
04 Sep 2016
by Pete Wlodkowski of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Garrett Rank Rankings
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Garrett Rank (USGA photo from 2016 USGA Four-Ball at Winged Foot)
ELMIRA, Ontario, Canada (Sept. 3, 2016) -- Garrett
Rank's summer of competitive amateur golf has
been pretty amazing, to say the least. The Canadian
golfer and NHL referee recently moved to the top of
the
AmateurGolf.com Mid-Am
rankings after winning his third-straight
Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship at a whopping
19-under-par.
Prior to that he made it to the round-of-32 at the
U.S. Amateur (end of August) and in July the 28-
year-old made the cut at the PGA Tour's Canadian
Open. There were other highlights earlier, including a
second place finish at one of the most prestigious
events on the summer amateur circuit, the Sunnehanna. And let's not
forget how well he and partner Patrick Christovich
played at the U.S. Four-Ball at Winged Foot, where
they were defeated in the semi-finals by the
eventual champions.
True, Rank's job affords him summers off, which
allows for more travel tournament play than the
average Mid-Am. but in May at the Four-Ball he had
to play one round, head off to officiate a minor
league hockey game, and then return back for
another round. You better be in shape to do that!
Once October rolls around, "living the golf
dream" will turn back to making a living
officiating hockey, all while trying to stay out of
harm's way.
Watching him play golf it's obvious he's a shot
maker (aren't hockey players the best golfers?) and
not surprising -- given his line of work -- that he's
athletic.
Cam Tucker of the Vancouver's most read
publication (The Province) just published an excellent
piece about Rank. It includes the serious part about
winning a battle with Testicular Cancer in 2011, and
the more whimsical question as we approach hockey
season -- with his continued notoriety as a golfer,
will NHL players start to ask Rank for golf advice?
Give Tucker's story a read here.