Bennett Ruby has one eye on the present, the other on the future.

The 16-year-old Waterloo resident will be putting in long hours for the next two months as he attempts to earn a spot at the July 26-29 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville.

Ruby, a Grade 11 student at Waterloo Collegiate, punched his ticket to the July 23 Monday qualifier at Heron Point Golf Links by finishing in a tie for second at a regional qualifying tournament last week in Acton.

He fired a 4-under 68 at Blue Springs Golf Club - a round that featured six birdies and one eagle - to secure his spot at the Monday qualifier.

"It would be unreal, to play in a PGA Tour event, that would be just unbelievable," said Ruby earlier this week. "I'm just going to practise as hard as I can with that qualifier in mind."

Ruby plays out of the Westmount Golf and Country Club and is a first-year member of Golf Ontario's U19 provincial team.

He was named to Team Ontario in October, trained throughout the winter months at Peak Performance Golf in Vaughan and travelled with his teammates for three winter camps in the United States.

He also spent long hours in the family garage, hitting balls into a net and putting on a makeshift green.

He is coached locally by Dave Smallwood and also works with Team Ontario head coach Reggie Millage, strength and conditioning coach Nick Martichenko and mental skills coach Charles Fitzsimmons.

As a result of his extra effort over the winter months, Ruby strikes the ball much better than he did last year and he's also added about 20 yards of length on his drive.

The six-foot-two, 160-pound Ruby, who also plays high school hockey in the winter, recently had his clubhead speed clocked at 115 miles per hour, which is slightly faster than the PGA Tour average.

Twenty-seven golfers advanced to the Monday qualifier from Blue Springs and Ruby is one of three teenagers to move on. Fonthill's Freddy D'Angelo is also 16, and Jacob Presutti of Brampton is 17.

Ruby went there confident he could advance and managed to keep his composure when he started his round with a pair of three-putt bogeys.

In fact, when all was said and done, he said he was actually a little disappointed he didn't earn the one direct entry into Canadian Open. The big prize went to 30-year-old Nyasha Mauchaza of Zimbabwe, who finished two shots ahead of Ruby and Matt Hill of Forest, Ont.

"I had the bad start and I missed a couple sinkable putts down the stretch so I was a little bummed out actually," he said.

A field of about 60 golfers will be vying for a minimum of four spots at the Monday qualifier and Ruby sees no reason why he can't claim one of them for himself.

He has yet to play Heron Point but expects to visit the Alberton course, near Ancaster, at least twice before the big day arrives.

"No one expects me to qualify or be up there with them ... so it's not really too intimidating when you know your game is good and you are capable of posting a good number," he said.

Next up for Ruby is Golf Canada's 54-hole Future Links Ontario championship that starts Friday at Otter Creek Golf Club in Otterville. Team Ontario's Dylan Henderson of Waterloo will also compete this weekend along with Isiah Katsube of Elmira.

CHIP SHOTS: Chris Hemmerich (Kitchener, Westmount), Michael Gligic (Kitchener, Whistle Bear) and Matt LeMay (Waterloo, Shantys Bay) also advanced to the Monday qualifier by finishing in the top 20 at Blue Springs ... Registration is open for the Tee-It-Up Junior Golf Tour, which has its qualifying tournament set for July 5 at Puslinch Lake Golf Course. Visit teeitupjuniorgolf.com for details ... Josh Hunke, Ryan Kings, Pete McMenemy and Ron Pearson will represent Deer Ridge at Monday's George S. Lyon team championship at Whitevale Golf Club.

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mbryson@therecord.com,

Twitter: @BrysonRecord