The Ranch Hosts the Mens Amateur

The Ranch, a delectable golf course just west of Edmonton, is a mirage.

The scorecard shows The Ranch is only 6,500 yards from the tips. But, as Yogi Berra might have said, it’s a long 6,500 yards. “There’s some very tough holes,” said Murray McCourt, general manager and co-owner of The Ranch.

“We’ve hosted a ton of competitive tournaments - PGA of Alberta and Alberta Golf Association events - and nobody comes out here and posts crazy low numbers,” said McCourt, named the 2016 PGA of Alberta Club Pro of the Year and 2019 PGA of Alberta Executive Professional of

By Curtis Stock

the Year. “It’s not a long course but it’s a very challenging 6,500 yards.”

From June 28-30 The Ranch will be tested again - this time by the Alberta Golf Mens Amateur Championship. “The toughest are the final five holes - those are the ones that will determine the Men's Amateur champion,” said McCourt. “The winner will have to play those holes very well and avoid the big number.”

Ray Freeman, who won the 1985 Klondike Klassic when it was then part of what was the Canadian Tour, offered a hole-by-hole analysis of the closing five-hole stretch to the Edmonton Journal.

Start with No. 14, a 177-yard Par-3. “That's a beauty of a hole,'' Freeman said of the downhill test which plays over a creek to a well-guarded green. ''Sitting up there on top of that hill, you have to pick the right club for sure. If you're short it'll roll back towards you. If you miss it right you're in the trees.”

“If you haven’t played here a lot you will be surprised how much it breaks on that green,” added McCourt, who is also the host of the VIP Golf radio show on TSN1260, voted the best talk radio program in Edmonton.

On to No. 15, a Par-4 which will play from about 394 yards, which starts with an elevated tee shot through a chute and then doglegs hard right. “ Normally I try and play it back in my stance a bit and try and beat a low cut out there, get it running out somewhere short of that bunker.”

“The tee shot is not as intimidating as it was when Ray Freeman played it; we’ve cleared out a lot of trees,” said McCourt, 51, who started at The Ranch in 2005 after being the head pro and general manager at Nanton for a dozen years.

“The second shot is to a narrow, twotiered green. There’s trouble right with trees and fescue. There’s more trouble left with a couple of bunkers and a water penalty area. A two-putt par is good.”

Next up is No. 16 - a 413-yard Par-4 from an elevated tee box and through another chute of trees. With water guarding the left side of the fairway and an extremely narrow sliver of fairway right of the water, this is easily one of The Ranch’s toughest holes. ''Anything to get your tee shot in play,” said Freeman, who won the 1985 Klassic with a 15-under 265 that included two course-record rounds of 63.

No. 17, which plays at 177 yards over water, is another gorgeous Par-3. “Anywhere from a 4-iron to an 8-iron depending on the wind,” said Freeman.

Then No. 18. “An absolute beast,” said McCourt, of the 439-yard Par 4. “When the Canadian Tour was here, No. 18 had the highest scoring average on the entire Tour. It’s a very, very, very tough tee shot. Trees left and water right and a narrow landing strip. Hit whatever club you need to keep the ball in play.”

The second shot is no bargain either. “The players will probably have about a 200-yard approach to an extremely difficult green with some severe breaks.” So how did Freeman tame The Ranch back in 1985? Easy. He played the ‘shortish’ two Par 5s - Nos. 2 and 7 - 12-under par for the four days - eagling both of them twice. The Ranch has been ranked in SCOREGolf magazine’s Top 100 courses in Canada, also receiving more SCOREGolf kudos last year when it placed first in Edmonton, second in Alberta and 30th in the nation for providing best value.

“ That was validation that we are achieving what we are always looking to do,” said McCourt. “We have an outstanding golf course and we charge very fairly for the product and service we provide.

“We are a fun, laid-back and accommodating public golf course that offers tremendous value, topnotch service and - thanks to our superintendent Derek Senkow and his team - premier conditions.” . “I love to host high-end golf tournaments,” beamed McCourt. “The players have a fabulous time and they go back to their courses and say what an incredible experience they had at The Ranch.”

Hole #11 - The Ranch GCC

By Jim Claggett

Upswing is an upward trend of something, like fashion, food, entertainment and for this publication, golf.

More specifically, UpSwing by Alberta Golf is the progression of the organization dipping its toes into the world of recreational golf according to Alberta Golf’s John Burns, the brand manager for UpSwing.

About 50,000 golfers are registered as Alberta Golf members. Some of the benefits of Alberta Golf membership include a Handicap Index, access to the Golf Canada Score Centre, up to $2,500 reimbursement for lost and stolen equipment, and other perks under the Golf Canada umbrella. Now some perspective is needed to give you a better picture of what this means.

Burns says over the last two years extensive Alberta Golf research discovered there are more than 600,000 golfers in this province. This number is populated by a mixture of infrequent golfers who may play once or twice a year in the company get together, occasional golfers who play four to eight times a year, right up to avid golfers who tee it up anywhere between nine and 30 plus rounds a year or even more. “Our research showed that avid golfers are generally between 25 and 65 years of age,” said Burns. “So, there is a huge portion of the player market that has been under-serviced by Alberta Golf.” The Alberta Golf UpSwing program is designed to reach out to these tens of thousands of players.

“This investment by Alberta Golf into the creation of a brand dedicated to serving and engaging with the recreational golf market also includes access to a digital platform, or in today’s terminology, an app,” Burns said. “This app will connect Alberta’s golf courses with players and collect membership data in one centralized location, making it easy to find your next game or group. Over time this will help us increase participation.”

Alberta Golf has uploaded data from every golf course in the province into the UpSwing platform, according to Burns. As winter fades and thoughts of golf creep in, the golf public will be able to go to the site to get a first-hand look at the program’s features and benefits.

“The UpSwing site will list every golf course in Alberta, featuring a course profile, a few pictures, course amenities, and price points,” said Burns. “Alberta Golf has sent out an email and a letter to each course, welcoming the courses to this new and exciting platform. The next step will be for each course to take ownership of its own profile and start populating it with events – events that can be easily searched and located by upwards of 80,000 potential new customers looking for a place to play.” All of the services of UpSwing are available to the courses at no charge, either!

Getting this program off the ground is a massive undertaking, but Burns feels it has virtually unlimited potential. The UpSwing site will help feed the needs of those players who are not necessarily concerned about a Golf Canada membership, but instead see there might be a taco and beer night at a nearby course that they can attend with some friends for a fun night out.

Burns sees the program as another way to draw in more people to the game after COVID opened that door to those newbies allowing for casual get togethers on a golf course. UpSwing can then become another step in their progression into the sport as a family or an individual by being able to find a family event or track down a professional who can help a child learn the game.

“We don’t even care if it’s a golf related event,” said Burns. “Over Christmas, a club could promote a Boxing Day brunch or they might have a used club sale going on at the pro shop in February. They can put whatever they want on it. Think Eventbrite (the managing, ticketing and promotion site) for golf.”

When courses advertise an event these days it’s often by way of a poster in the dining area, the pro shop or even near the washroom. Those seeing it are likely to be members or a visiting green fee player. UpSwing allows member courses to in effect take that poster off their walls and put it up on the site where more people can see what their course is up to.

A course can also use this software to manage its tee sheet bookings. Burns says at this time a price for that service has yet to be determined. “We haven’t rolled that out this year because we found a lot of courses have an online booking program in place and we don’t want to try and interface them. If you want ours, you can have it,” he explained. The software company behind the UpSwing platform did some market research testing this past summer, uploading a handful of courses which then populated their own site with information about course events. Burns says the feedback has been largely positive which cements the feeling he has about the unlimited potential for UpSwing.

The venture also allows those 50,000 Alberta golfers who are Golf Canada members to seamlessly become UpSwing members. They can participate in specific UpSwing by Alberta Golf events, similar to the Recreational Series that Alberta Golf had supported.

Burns is confident players who are more serious about participation in golf will continue to benefit from their Golf Canada membership and UpSwing may be a nice complementary offering to further engage all golfers with the governing bodies.

In this time of reinvention for so many businesses, golf courses have been steadily looking for ways to remain open even when the snow has been flying, often hosting non golf-related events that could be marketed through UpSwing. Indoor golf simulators are becoming more and more popular and many of them are not necessarily housed at golf courses. UpSwing has the potential to bring these types of businesses under one umbrella to help further grow the game.

Burns is very excited about the massive potential for UpSwing as it replaces the Rec Series which Alberta Golf was behind. This plan now includes those players who were already familiar with the Rec Series events, but now has the capability to add dozens more of these fun-focused events.

“We are positioning UpSwing to be at arm's length from the provincial championships to allow the brand to appeal to a more relaxed golf crowd,” said Burns. “We want everyone to have fun.It’s all about family and friends and having a good time.”

Keep a close watch on your social media apps as UpSwing is coming your way this summer.

Alberta Golf's UpSwing program is built to attract new players from every demographic group.