The Champions

By Wes Gilbertson

Shiro Mani has a history with Alberta Golf. Now, he has his name in the history books.

Mani, who has long been a regular on the tournament trail, earned his first provincial title at the inaugural edition of the Alberta Mens Mid Master Championship, a new event for the 40-and-over crowd.

“I’ve been playing Alberta Golf events since 2005, trying to qualify for the Alberta Open, Alberta Amateur, Alberta Mid Amateur ... ” said Mani, a member at The Canal at Delacour. “It’s very cool to win any Alberta Golf event. Just to get your name on an Alberta Golf trophy, that’s really, really special for me. It’s just my hard work paying off. I’ve waited a long time.”

Mani fashioned back-to-back rounds of 1-over 72 at the two-day competition at Inglewood, including a crucial sand-save on No. 17 during his last lap. He was preparing for the possibility of a playoff but that ultimately wasn’t necessary after one of the host-course hopefuls missed a par putt on the final hole.

Now, Mani is looking forward to another first — his initial trip to an Alberta Golf event as the defending champion. “It’ll be a big challenge,” he said. “Once you have your name on the trophy, everyone is coming after you, right?”

Brandon Markiw was feeling comfortable. As a junior, some of his best pals were members at Edmonton Country Club, so he was excited that the historic course was hosting the Alberta Mens Mid Amateur Championship. And he was feeling uncomfortable. Everybody was.

“It was really, really hot. It was really, really windy,” Markiw recalled. “So I knew it was going to be a bit of a week of survival.” Markiw didn’t simply reach the finish line. He topped the field of 240 competitors, the largest of any Alberta Golf event in 2021.

The 34-year-old completed three tournament rounds — two at Edmonton CC and one at The Ranch — in even-par 213. He described the backnine conditions on trophy day as “particularly tricky,” so there was no relaxing until he reached the clubhouse.

“It was a week where you had to definitely find an extra dose of patience, stick with the game plan and recognize there were going to be some challenges,” said Markiw, who now lives in Calgary and is a regular at The Glencoe. “But that’s one of the reasons why you play is to get into those situations to try to win and see what you’re made of and what you can do. I’m pretty happy with the way things turned out.” Braden O’Grady was thrilled to be getting a glimpse of this highly-ranked and historic layout. To leave Calgary Golf & Country Club as the 2021 Alberta Mens Amateur champion, that was a bonus.

“I’m quite big into golf course architecture and with all the history surrounding that course, it was one that I had circled on my calendar for the whole year,” said O’Grady, who turned 18 shortly before the provincial showdown. “I played it for the first time the day before the tournament in a practice round, and I just kind of fell in love with it. It was unlike anything I’ve ever played in Alberta.”

The golf course loved him back.

A member at Blackhawk, the talented teen from Edmonton opened with rounds of 71 and 70 before catching fire on the final day. He started with five birdies over a six-hole stretch, then knocked down a clutch par-saver at the seventh. He added two more circles to his scorecard on the back nine en route to a 6-under 64 and a one-shot victory.

“When I made my putt for par on No. 18, it was just such a sigh of relief — like, ‘Whether I win or not, I’m so proud of the way I played,’ ” O’Grady recalled. “It was the most pressure I think I’ve ever felt.”

Hailey Katona had been struggling with her game. Despite her hard work, she was admittedly wondering whether she was capable of this sort of performance.

That changed with an incredible week at the 2021 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship at Broadmoor, where Katona surged to a five-shot victory. Just 19 at the time, she punctuated a confidence-boosting breakthrough by playing her final nine holes in 7-under 29.

“It was really fun to see myself play that kind of golf in a tournament, especially after going through a few tough years,” said Katona, who hails from Tilbury, ON and was the only out-of-province talent to win an Alberta Golf title last summer. “I honestly didn’t know if I could do that anymore. My putter felt so good that day, and my irons felt so good that day. I’m just really grateful for that victory.”

Highlighted by a pair of 66s, Katona wrapped her visit to the Wild Rose province with a three-round score of 10-under 206.

“It was so special that I started crying immediately afterwards,” Katona said. “It’s still emotional. It was amazing.” This was a family affair for Heather Lee. She signed up for the 2021 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship, in large part, because her daughter wanted to enter. Mom made the most of it, too, topping the leaderboard in both the Mid Amateur and Mid Master Divisions.

“That was her first big tournament and I thought, ‘Well, if she’s competing, I might as well try,’ ” Lee said of her daughter, Eva Hogue. “Now, I’ve got the bug again.”

Lee, a member at Edmonton Country Club, was a two-time winner of the Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship in the early 90s and was oh-soclose to earning an LPGA Tour card. Thanks to a total tally of 15-over 231 at Broadmoor, she added two more trophies to her collection. Beyond that, she left impressed with some of the smooth-swinging upand-comers from across the province.

“To go back and compete in a three-day event and see how good these girls are, it’s very motivating,” Lee said. “They hit it a long way and they manage their games. I think back to when I was their age, I was nowhere near as good as these girls are now. I was blown away.

Calgary’s Kim Carrington had been short on practice and preparation time. Luckily, she has a long list of positive experiences to draw from.

As Carrington put it: “I really had to pull a confidence-booster from what I’ve done in the past and say to myself, ‘You’ve done it before. Why can’t you do it again?’ ” She did it again.

Carrington is now a five-time winner of the Alberta Senior Ladies Championship. She’s racked up all those victories in a six-year span, with her only miss in a summer that she was sidelined by foot surgery.

Her latest triumph came at Lethbridge Country Club, where she opened with consecutive rounds of 2-over 75 and capped a steady performance with a 76 in a fierce wind. With a handful of senior titles, Carrington now has the same number as the great Marilyn O’Connor. The record belongs to Diane Williams, who hoisted this particular trophy eight times.

“Some of my accounts, the pros will say to me, ‘You’re in that legendary lineup. And I’m like, ‘No, I’m not,’ ” said Carrington, a regular at Cottonwood and sales rep in the golf industry. “I still need to work hard to get there. I mean, they’re in the Alberta Golf Hall of Fame.” It’s never a surprise to see Senan Foley’s name atop a leaderboard. This, however, was a particularly impressive show of staying power.

“That’s my first wire-to-wire win,” Foley said, reflecting on his one-shot triumph at the 2021 Alberta Senior Mens Championship. “It means a lot, because it’s not easy to do. There were a lot of good golfers out there, and any one of the guys could win.”

This particular week, the rest of the guys couldn’t catch Foley. The Calgary-based public player posted a threeround total of 2-under 214 at the senior shootout at Sturgeon Valley, signing for scores of 68, 71 and 75. He left feeling an immense amount of gratitude — thankful for the opportunity to compete, for the support of his wife, — and a pile of pride, too.

“I got a really good feeling when I got to Sturgeon Valley for a couple of practice rounds,” Foley said. “I thought it was a great setup for me and I really enjoyed the course, and it really helps when you can feel that way.

“I felt very calm that week. Every round, the pressure builds, but I was able to deal with that. Overall, I felt really relaxed.”

Birdie. Eagle. Birdie. What. A. Finish.

Paxton Maxwell of Magrath captured the 2021 Alberta U19 Boys Championship in dramatic fashion, playing his last three holes in 4-under in a thrilling come-from-behind victory at Carstairs Community GC.

“My finish was something that I’ll never forget,” Maxwell said. “I wasn’t playing too well in that last round. I wasn’t hitting it very well. But I stuck it out and was resilient and the way I was able to collect myself and have that finish to overcome Logan (Graf), that was definitely rewarding.” This is the sort of streak you usually only see on Golf Channel.

Maxwell grabbed his driver for a rip at the green on No. 16 and although he was slightly off the mark, he managed a clutch upand-down from a bunker. At the Par-5 17th, the 18-year-old relied on a more conservative combo — five-iron, then hybrid — to get home in two and drained his eagle attempt. He capped the remarkable comeback by rolling in a birdie from the fringe on the last, sealing a one-shot victory at 10-under 206.

“Just a surreal moment,” said Maxwell, who was understandably fired up. “I don’t usually show a ton of emotion on the course. One of the guys said when they saw me fist-pumping, they knew something was up.” Grace Bell figured she’d need a few birdies to climb back into contention at the Alberta Girls U19 Championship, and she delivered. Then, in a suddendeath playoff that lasted four holes, she piled up pars under pressure.

“I didn’t play the playoff very well, in my opinion,” Bell admitted. “I won on pars, which is just scrappy golf. But it ended up being enough. I’ll take it.”

Bell had an aggressive mindset as she arrived for the final round at Carstairs Community GC. The 18-year-old from Calgary carded the best score of the day — a 2-under 70 — to force a playoff. On the first extra assignment, she drained a 20-footer to keep her title hopes alive. Three holes later, she clinched a trophy that had been on her wish list.

“I grew up watching Kehler (Koss) and Annabelle (Ackroyd) and they have their names on there quite a few times, so it was really cool to join them,” said Bell, referring to a pair of fellow members at The Glencoe GCC. “It means a lot to me. And it really gave me confidence because I had tournaments the next four weeks and I was like, ‘I’m able to go low when I need to.’

“I ended up having a really good summer, and I think it’s because I pulled off that playoff.”

Edmonton’s Kalee Seto wasn’t expecting this news. Suddenly, some of her friends were offering congratulations. “And my mom looked really happy.”

As it turns out, Seto had sizzled to the top of the leaderboard at the Alberta Girls U17 Championship, punctuating her round with a birdie at the weather-shortened showdown at Alberta Springs.

“When I finished, everyone was like, ‘Good job, Kalee!’ And I was so confused,” recalled Seto, a junior member at Royal Mayfair. “I was very surprised and happy. I actually don’t think I seemed as happy as I was, because it really hadn’t hit me yet. This is probably the biggest tournament I’ve won, so it was surprising. It just felt really good, and I was proud of myself because all that hard work has paid off and I finally have a big win.”

Seto shrugged off a pair of early double bogeys and really started to heat up after the turn. In fact, she played her final nine holes in 1-under. Just 15 at the time, she earned a two-stroke victory at 4-over 76 for her first provincial crown.

“On the first hole on the back nine, I chipped in for birdie,” Seto said. “After that, I had a lot of nice up-and-downs or good chip and putt saves. That really helped with my game.” Calgary’s Brett Jones and one of his buddies traded birdies all day. Jones ultimately scored bragging rights, celebrating a narrow victory at the Alberta Boys U17 Championship.

“It’s a big milestone,” he said. “At the start of the year, I really wanted to win this one.” Just turning 15 at the time, making him one of the youngest sharpshooters in the field, Jones fired a two-round tally of 4-under 140 to edge Jaiden Koonar in an epic back-andforth battle.

“That whole final round, the furthest apart we were was just one shot,” recalled Jones, who sharpened his skills at The Glencoe. “He was one-up, then I was one-up ... it stayed really close so especially at the end, there was a lot of pressure on both of us. It was lots of fun.”

Jones didn’t allow himself to be defeated by the relentless rain in the opening round at Alberta Springs; weather so awful that some agedivisions were later called off the course. And he didn’t dwell on a frustrating finish earlier in the summer at the Alberta U19 Championship.

“The pressure really got to me there,” Jones admitted. “But that prepared me for this one, knowing what to do in a situation like this. That was my biggest help, probably.” The practice is already paying off for Calgary’s Aastha Savadatti. Despite playing catch-up with some in her age group, Savadatti has invested a lot of time on her golf game and it showed as she cruised to a four-shot victory at the 2021 Alberta Girls U15 Championship at Alberta Springs.

She smoothed a 4-over 78 — with nothing worse than a bogey — at what was reduced to a one-round event due to awful weather. “It felt really nice, especially since this is my first provincial win,” Savadatti said. “And just looking at the amount of experience I have, it feels really good. I’ve only been competing for two years, and I have three years of experience collectively.”

It was another sort of victory that initially set Savadatti on this path. A few years back, at a summer camp, she won a pass to the National Golf Academy. She made the most of it, spending countless hours inside the dome.

“I wanted to start playing a sport, so it kind of started out as just a hobby,” said Savadatti, now a junior member at Canyon Meadows. “And then when I started practising pretty much every day, I realized I really liked it and wanted to start competing. The feeling of trying to win and trying to do your best, I really enjoy it.” The stats are staggering. At the Alberta Boys U15 Championship, shortened to one round due to rotten weather, Buck Lake’s Tyler Kidd didn’t miss a single green in regulation. He didn’t record any bogeys. He sizzled to a 65, his career-best round in either tournament or recreational play. And he achieved all that at age 13.

“Everything was just clicking. I’ve never hit my irons that well, ever,” Kidd said, reminiscing about that remarkable round at Alberta Springs. “Both bogey-free and hitting all the greens, that’s always such a big accomplishment. And especially to do it at one of the biggest tournaments in Alberta for juniors, that was very cool.”

The history book will show that Kidd celebrated a three-shot victory at 7-under, but that doesn’t tell the full story of what was a clutch finish. Standing on the teebox on his last assignment, he thought he needed a seventh birdie to simply force a playoff.

“I hit my approach to maybe 15-20 feet and I took the longest look that I ever have at a putt, ” said Kidd, who represents Priddis Greens. “I made it, and then realized I didn’t have to. But I’m happy I did. It’s good to know you can play under pressure.”

Brandon Markiw had just plopped his approach in a green-side bunker.

He was sizing up the sort of shot he’d been struggling with all summer. Since this was a sudden-death playoff in his semifinal showdown, he was facing the prospect of another near-miss at the Alberta Match Play Championship.

“I wasn’t really feeling too good about the situation, but just kind of dug deep inside, went through all the things that I needed to do, got myself into a good headspace and executed. I hit a good shot to about five feet and made the putt,” Markiw recalled. “Right then and there, it could have gone the other way. Ryan (Hodgins) was in there with a decent look at birdie, and we both wound up walking away with pars.”

Hours later, Markiw walked away with the trophy. He ultimately defeated Hodgins on the fifth playoff hole. With that marathon match in his rearview, he was soon back on the first tee at River Bend for a championship bout with Nicolas-Guy Landry. Markiw finished 1-up in another nail-biter.

“A proud moment,” said Markiw, who claimed a pair of provincial titles in 2021, also winning the Mens Mid Amateur. “I stuck with it and despite not having my best stuff physically, I feel like where I was at mentally is what saved me.”

It’s a hat trick for Riley Fleming.

A top-notch teaching professional at Lynx Ridge, Fleming is now a three-time champion of the Alberta Open.

“Even just hearing that I’ve won three, it’s pretty cool. That really jumps out at me,” Fleming said. “Obviously, Wes (Heffernan) has won six, so it’s fun to be chasing him down — or at least trying to.”

Fleming turned 28 shortly after this latest triumph, so he has plenty of prime trophy-collecting years ahead. Like Heffernan, he always seems to be in contention at this marquee event. He fired rounds of 65-67-69 at the latest installment, contested on The Links Course at Wolf Creek.

The Airdrie resident teed off the final round with a five-shot cushion but watched that lead disappear as Andrew Harrison filled the cup with birdie putts in the early stages. The turning point came on No. 8, where Fleming turned the momentum by making amends on a chip that was almost identical to one that he’d botched in 2020.

“I was kind of thinking in my head, ‘You know, it’d be nice to hit a good shot and make up for last year,’ ” Fleming recalled. “I just hit a perfect chip and holed it for eagle. We didn’t look back after that.”Fleming eventually cruised to a six-shot victory at 12-under 201.