I was born on May 7, 1984 in Williams Lake – a small city located in south central British Columbia about 300 miles north of Vancouver.  Forestry, mining, ranching and tourism are the main industries in the area which also has an excellent variety of outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain bike riding, and skiing. My parents enrolled me in the French Immersion program at Marie Sharpe Elementary School, which is why I’m fluent in French.  My early childhood was much like most others. School and city sports dominated most afternoons and weekends.  I participated in track & field, soccer, softball, swimming and golf in the summer and curling and hockey in the winter. My golf career started when I was seven years old. I would go out in the evenings with my parents and putt, chip, or play a couple of holes.  My interest in golf continued to grow each year until I reach the age of 12 when my parents started entering me into junior tournaments.  I immediately fell in love with competitive golf.  It’s one of the only sports where players of any caliber can compete against one another by using a handicap system.  I thought it was coolest thing in the world to shoot lower net scores than kids 4 or 5 years older than me! Once in High School, I found getting good marks took time so I had to narrow down which sports I would play.  Golf eventually won out over soccer in the summer and curling over hockey in the winter.  About this time, I started thinking about seeking a golf scholarship at a top university in the United States.  In 2000, I was selected to represent Canada and the Junior Open Championship just outside of St. Andrews, Scotland.  It was an amazing experience and made me realize how much I enjoyed playing the sport and wanted to take my game to the next level.  In addition to earning good grades, I recorded some good results in Junior and Amateur Tournaments over the next two (2) years so when I graduated from Columneetza Secondary School in 2002; I had earned academic and athletic scholarships to Oregon State University (OSU).  I was absolutely amazed about how much emphasis and praise was placed on athletics at OSU.  It was really exciting to be a part of it all.  Oregon State’s campus is located in Corvallis, Oregon (Population 55,000).  With over 20,000 students at OSU, Corvallis was an excellent fit for me coming from a small town in south-central British Columbia. During my time at OSU, I became very involved in campus and community activities including being a member of the OSU Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC) from 2002-2007 and sitting on the OSU President’s Council in 2005 after being nominated president of SAAC.  That same year I was also selected to represent OSU at the NCAA National Leadership Conference in Florida. It wasn’t until my junior year that I decided I wanted to pursue golf as a career.  So I re-organized my priorities and directed all my efforts into improving my golf game.  The following summer I broke out and won 4 major championships within 3 months – the Oregon Amateur, Oregon Stroke Play Championship, PNGA Public Links Championship, and the University of Michigan’s Wolverine Invitational.  These finishes among others contributed to my being named the Player-of-the-Year by both the Oregon and Pacific North West golf associations. After graduating from OSU in June 2007, I played a full schedule of amateur events before turning professional in September.  2007 highlights include; being medalist and quarter-finalist in the Oregon Amateur, British Columbia Amateur Champion, quarter-finalist in the Canadian Amateur, being ranked 6th on the RCGA’s National Order of Merit and playing in my first event as a professional – the Jane Rogers Classic in Mississauga, Ontario.  At the Canadian Tour’s Fall Qualifying tournament in September, I placed 16th and earned my Tour Card for the 2008 Season.