In the world of sports, there are stories of dedication, perseverance, and the pursuit of excellence that inspire us. Max Sekulic's journey from a small town in Alberta to a rising star in the Canadian golf scene reminds us that no dream is too big to shoot for.
Sekulic, 24, was born and raised in Rycroft, AB, home to just over 600 people. It’s a northern town, one hour north of Grande Prairie, nestled along the Peace River, which starts in the Rockies and flows into Northern Alberta. It sounds remote, it sounds cold, and it sounds like a place where you might expect NHL players to be made (and it is), but evidently, so are golf pros.
Sekulic grew up on his family farm, Prestville Farms, started by his grandfather with only a few quarters of land, and later taken over by his father, a CANTERRA SEEDS shareholder, who grew it into the 8000 acres they seed today. Here, he did the usual farm kid duties: running machinery, working with cattle, and all the manual labour that kids get “voluntold” to do, joked Sekulic.
Whenever there was time (and with farming, there isn’t much), Sekulic’s parents would venture to the local golf course 20 minutes down the road and play a nine-hole round. It was here, at Chinook Valley Golf Club, where Sekulic first picked up a club at age eight, and he hasn’t put it down since.
“I really just liked being there and playing the game,” said Sekulic, whose passion grew from playing with his parents every so often to going to the golf course alone on a regular basis. “Summers were always short, not just because of how far north we are, but because of all the work to do during harvest. So, if I had the opportunity to play, I would play as much as I could.”
Around age 14, Sekulic realized he wanted to pursue golf at a higher level. He entered tournaments throughout his teens that he excelled in, and eventually led to him landing a spot on the Canadian National Junior Team and obtaining a college scholarship in the U.S., at age 17.
But with any triumph comes trials, and Sekulic experienced this during the beginning of his time at university where he struggled to find his footing. “It felt like I was running up hill for my first two years,” said Sekulic, who nearly got cut from the program in his third year. “That is when it enters your mind like hey, maybe this isn’t for me.”
Sekulic later transferred to a different university, but before departing his first university, entered an Amateur tournament in Phoenix, AZ, which he won. “That was a big moment for me,” said Sekulic.
His real big break career wise was winning the Canadian Amateur in 2021, which set him up for making the national team and playing in the Canadian Open. “It gave me permission to really pursue professional golf, and [confirmation] that I was actually good enough at it to make it a reality,” said Sekulic.
Today, Sekulic is part of Team Canada and spends most of his year travelling throughout North America, competing in various tournaments, one most recently being the 2023 Alberta Open Championship at Coal Creek Golf Resort where he won first place.
Right now, he has his eyes set on winning a PGA tour sanctioned event in the coming year but doesn’t put pressure on the future. Instead, he stays focused on winning tournaments in a given week. “It’s more fun to play the game that way and it excites me,” said Sekulic, who says the four hours spent on a golf course is a fun and relaxing way to spend the day. A reminder that doing what you love never seems like work at all.
CANTERRA SEEDS is privileged to sponsor Max Sekulic — one of many important investments into youth in Western Canadian agriculture the company supports — celebrating the man behind the club and where it all started: on a proud family farm.