Where In The World Is Antoine Sale?

It’s a long and winding road from the Reunion region of France to the University of Minnesota. Antoine Sale (Saul) has been on that road for the better part of his twenty years. He left home shortly after his 13th birthday to attend a golf academy in Pretoria, South Africa. From there he went to school in Iowa before heading to the University of Minnesota. He has been a resident of three countries and spent time in a fourth, all in seven years and before his 21st birthday.

Antoine spent the first 12 years of life in the Reunion region of France. It’s an island located 375 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Madagascar is 350 east of South Africa. 28 miles wide and 39 miles long, it’s “the Hawaii of France,” Antoine said. His father is a doctor and mother was a dentist.

“I was into surfing and tennis as a kid. I started playing golf because my mother and father’s family played,” said the college sophomore.

“There are two 18 hole courses and one 9 hole on Reunion. There weren’t many golfers,” Antoine told me. “The condition of the courses was not very good, but fine for kids to learn on.”

“I started playing golf when I was about ten. Twice a year we would fly to France and play a tournament, The French Boys championship,” he said. “It was a big deal.”

“My older brother, Julien who is four years older, had gone to South Africa to a golf academy,” he said. “My parents asked me if I wanted to go also. I was only 12. I don’t think they thought I would go. However, I said yes”.

“I didn’t know a word of English. Shortly after I arrived I saw a muffin in a bakery I wanted. I didn’t know any of the words so I just pointed at the muffin then pointed at my mouth. The person behind the counter figured it out.”

The South African education school system is similar to the United States with grades 1-12.

He saw his parents every six weeks. “The way I looked at it, they were making a big sacrifice for me.”

“I would go to school in the morning and play golf in the afternoon. There were lots of tournaments. We could play in both the junior tournaments and the regular amateur tournaments,” he said. “I didn’t play well in South Africa.”

“It’s hard to get noticed as a junior golfer in France unless you’re on the French National Team,” he said. Thus by his own admission, not playing well and living in South Africa, there were no scholarship offers from American schools.

His brother Julian had attended a small junior college, Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he won the National Junior College Championship. He went on to Arkansas State and was an All American. He now plays on the French National Team.

The US is the only country in the world where academics and sports are tied together at the university level. It was not surprising his educated parents would encourage the sons to go to school in the US.

In 2017 his parents moved to Ottawa, Canada and Antoine spent time in the summers playing golf there.

Following high school in 2019 and with no scholarship offers, a call to the Indian Hills Community College coach got him a spot on the team. “I got a lot better in Iowa and managed to play well in the spring of 2020,” he said.

In June of 2020 his mother passed away of colon cancer. “She got sick in 2014. They said she was cured in 2017, but it came back much worse.” As her condition deteriorated she wanted to be around her family and his parents moved back to France from Canada.

“Because of COVID I was not allowed to go back for the funeral,” he said. “It was hard, but I had a girl friend I was close to and that helped a lot.”

“I thought I had played well enough in the spring of 2020 to move on and I started contacting coaches,” Antoine said. “In addition I wanted to play three years at a university.

He was looking for a school to enter in the fall of 2021, starting in the winter of 2020. With most college coaches having already made commitments for the 2021 class it was a difficult process to find a school that had a spot on a golf team, had scholarship money available, and wanted Antoine.

Fortunately for Antoine and the University of Minnesota, the stars aligned. “We were excited to bring him on,” said Coach Justin Smith, of the University of Minnesota Golf Team. “He will be a fixture for three years.”

“My friends are now my teammates,” he said. “I’ve never had a close friend. I’ve made a lot of friends and lost a lot of friends because of the distance.”

Antoine’s father is from Oleron Island, in the Poitou Charentes region, in the far south of France. “It’s a bridge away from France,” Antoine said. “When I was home this summer I watched my father sit with a friend that he has had for life. It was so cool for him to have a friend for life.”

“I don’t regret a thing,” Antoine said. “It has helped me grow, but I don’t have close friends. I’m used to being the new guy on the team so I wasn’t afraid of that.”

“He’s been on his own for so long he just handles everything well,” said Coach Smith. “Because of COVID he couldn’t make a visit to campus. He came to school sight unseen. He’s personable and makes friends easily. Just a great guy.”

“It’s my first time in a big city. I’ve very much enjoyed it so far,” Antoine said. “As for the cold, I’ve lived in Canada so I know cold weather.”

It’s early in his career at Minnesota, but it appears Coach Smith made a good decision bringing Antoine onto the team. He played every tournament in the fall of 2021 and at number one man the last several weeks.

In just 20 years Antoine Sale has had international experiences that few have in a full lifetime. It has made him self-sufficient, responsible and forced him to face personal challenges. Antoine Sale has so many strengths, he is likely come out ahead in A Life In Golf.