Calgary golfer Hunter Thomson comes from Canadian Open pro baptism to compete in Glencoe Invitational

Calgary golfer Hunter Thomson is competing in this week's Glencoe Invitational after narrowly missing the cut in his first professional tournament, the Canadian Open. (Glenn Campbell, CTV Calgary)

The Peleton Glencoe Invitational gets underway Thursday, where the next generation of Canadian golfers hope to follow in the footsteps of an illustrious roster of past winners.

All the big names in Canadian golf have at one time teed it up in the Glencoe Invitational.

Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor all played in the tournament. Past winners include Graham Delaet, Mackenzie Hughes and Jared Du Toit.

And that’s who many of the current crop of young Canadian golfers aspire to become, including one Calgary golfer who caught the attention of the golf world in his very first tournament -- last week’s Canadian Open.

There are four divisions in the Glencoe Invitational -- men’s and women’s amateur and men’s and women’s professional.

Calgarian Hunter Thomson is in the field in this week’s Glencoe event, after narrowly missing the cut at the Canadian Open last weekend, his first professional tournament.

Thomson was four under and one shot inside the cut line with three holes left in his second round last Friday when the moment may have gotten to him.

He played the final three holes in four over par, missing the cut by three strokes.

But it was still a great experience and Thomson said Wednesday he was able to take a lot away from it.

“I really learned that I have the game to compete out there,” he said, “and I feel like it’s kind of where I belong. It’s a really big confidence boost.”

He said being around the best Canadian golfers felt fantastic.

“All the pros on the PGA Tour from Canada right now are really a huge inspiration for me,” he said. “Guys like Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Taylor Pendrith, all those guys are paving the way for us young Canadians, so it’s really inspirational for sure.”

After the Glencoe Invitational, Thomson said he’s taking a few weeks off before he tees it up in New Brunswick for the first week of the Canadian Tour.

The Glencoe Invitational starts Thursday and the final round is Saturday.

With files from CTV’s Glenn Campbell