MONTREAL — Don’t be surprised if Canada shows itself to be bona fide medal contender when members of its golf team take their first swings at the Maccabiah Games in Israel next year – the 18th, or chai, edition.

So says Montrealer Richard Marsh, one of the province’s best Jewish amateur golfers, who at 56 is captaining Canada’s Maccabi golf team along with Danny Zack of Vancouver.

“It will be a very competitive team,” Marsh promised. “I would really like to see 30 to 40 people coming to the tryouts.”

National trials will take place at Montreal’s Elm Ridge Golf Club on Sept. 14 and 15, but Marsh said there’s a new wrinkle this year to attract people: the tryouts will also be a trophy tournament.

The event will be called the Canadian Maccabiah Golf Championship. Needless to say, not just anybody will be able hit the links. For the men’s open tournament, you need a verifiable handicap of no more than six, and for the women’s open, 10.

Already, Marsh noted, there are some very talented golfers with an excellent shot at being on the team that will hit the links in Caesarea, which is about 90 minutes outside Tel Aviv and whose course, the only 18-hole course in Israel, recently underwent a complete renovation.

They include 23-year-old Montrealer Jeff Barkun, who Marsh said “hits the ball a mile,” is a very good control player, and plays on the Quebec amateur tour; one-handicapper Evan Krakower of Montreal, who’s only 19; and McGill University student David Albert, who plays on the McGill gold team.

Among the contenders on the women’s side is Torontonian Stephanie Klein, who has competed at several national events and plays the amateur circuit in Ontario.

The number of individuals competing in the juniors or master’s levels will depend entirely on how many express an interest. Golfers at the national trials are expected to pay an entry fee of $180. Master’s players going to Israel – in any sport – must pay for the entire trip themselves. Marsh said Canada has fielded some “good, good teams” over the years. Co-captain Zack was a member of a bronze medal-winning team in 1977, and in 1981, Canada earned a team silver while Billy Holzman of Ottawa’s Rideau View Golf Club earned an individual bronze.

There were no Canadian golf medals during the 1990s, and Marsh said that next year’s Maccabiah will see Canada facing some stiff competition in golf, especially from South Africa and the United States.

But he thinks there’s hope.

“If you don’t go into it thinking you can win it, then there’s no point going in,” he said.

Marsh, who is married to an Israeli, is looking forward to being in Israel again.

“The Maccabiah is something that gets into your system, your bloodstream” he said. “It feels like you’re going home.”

For  more details on the tryouts, visit Maccabi Canada’s website at www.maccabicanada.com, e-mail Marsh at [email protected], or e-mail Zack at [email protected].