The Champions

There are a ton of top-notch junior golfers across the Wild Rose Province. Which makes Hunter Thomson’s romp at the 2020 Alberta U19 Boys Championship all the more impressive. This wasn’t just a win. It was a runaway.

When the scores were added up after three rounds at Links of Spruce Grove, Thomson was eight strokes shots clear of the competition at 8-under 201. Whoa. “Winning by eight shots, I think that was really special — to, I guess, dominate the field like that,” he said. “Everything was just on that week. It couldn’t have been much better.” Thomson, who honed his skills at Calgary G&CC and now represents The Glencoe G&CC, had struggled at a tournament the previous week.

After a solid start at provincials, the 16-year-old stumbled to a doublebogey on Hole 10 in the opening round. That might have been the turning point. “That put me back to 1-under and I just thought, ‘Man, you have to pick it up,’ ” Thomson recalled.

“And then I made five birdies over the last eight holes to shoot 6-under. That was kind of where I noticed I could probably do something special this summer, not only at the Alberta Junior.” Thomson, who was also runner-up at the Alberta ChampionsAmateur, was named to Canada's National Junior Squad for 2021.

During an incredible run of seven consecutive birdies, it seemed like nothing could stop Alex Large.

Unless, that is, his phone buzzed.

While Large sizzled up the leaderboard at the Alberta Mens Mid-Amateur Championship at Coyote Creek, he was constantly checking his pocket to be sure he didn’t miss a call from his wife Jocelyn, who was due to deliver their second child any day.

“Especially when that birdie roll started, I was thinking, ‘It would be just my luck now that after a couple of birdies, my phone will go,' “Large quipped. “And I’ll have to try and tell her, ‘Hold on, honey, I’m on a roll.’ ”

Their son, Jaxon, was born the following week.

Large, who is originally from New Zealand and moved to Canmore in 2010, drained those seven straight birdie putts on Nos. 8-14 during the final round. A member at Canmore Golf & Curling Club, he posted a three-day total of 10-under 203 en route to a four-stroke victory and his first Alberta title.

“It’s crazy what a bit of confidence, a bit of momentum does,” Large said. “And that was it on that day. I started rolling and I just felt confident on each putt that I was going to make it. And I kind of did.” This was not quite Michael Valk’s backyard. But pretty darn close.

Valk was raised just a few blocks from Medicine Hat G&CC and, as a kid, would ride his bike to the course for summer rounds and practice sessions.

On this oh-so-familiar turf, he triumphed at the 2020 Alberta Mens Amateur Championship.

“I’ve played that course a million times. I know every inch of it,” said Valk, now a member at nearby Desert Blume G&CC. “So to go out there that week and play as well as I knew I could at that big a time, with my friends and family around, that was pretty special to me.”

Of all those cruises around this semi-private layout, Valk might have saved his best for the final round of the Alberta Amateur. Tied for the lead at tee-off, the 21-year-old local sizzled to a 6-under 65, matching the competitive course record.

Shortly after his eagle on No. 11, he figured he could start to soak up the moment.

“That was a cool feeling, knowing I could play the last few holes of my golf course with a smile on my face, knowing that I did it,” said Valk, who ultimately earned a five-shot victory at 9-under 204. “That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Even the relentless rain couldn’t wipe the smile off Yeji Kwon’s face. The 14-year-old was thrilled to be back in tournament action and was anxious to prove that countless hours of practice during the pandemic had paid dividends.

For the emerging star from Port Coquitlam BC, the title was just a bonus. When the final round of the 2020 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship at Lakeside was scrubbed due to unplayable conditions, Kwon owned a one-shot lead. Thanks to her two-round total of 2-over 144, she was declared the winner of the weather-shortened shootout.

“I think it was a really good opportunity to win such a big tournament,” Kwon said. “Usually, I get really nervous at big tournaments before I play. But then at this tournament I was just really excited and really happy. So I think I’m going to try to set that type of positive mindset for every tournament.”

Kwon certainly has a bright future. In miserable conditions at Lakeside, she was setting the pace for one of the deepest fields in the history of the Alberta Ladies Amateur. With several Golf Canada national-teamers teeing it up, nobody expected a Grade 8 student to claim the victory.

“Anything is possible,” Kwon reasoned. Nobody loves to golf in nasty weather.

But Kylie Barros has plenty of experience under an umbrella, and that was perhaps key to her victory in the 2020 Alberta Ladies Mid-Amateur Championship.

Barros, who hails from Edmonton, was perched atop that leaderboard when the provincial amateur showdown was washed out after two days due to heavy rainfall.

“I don’t think anybody who played golf at UBC in Vancouver for five years can say they aren’t used to those conditions, so I think I had a slight advantage,” said Barros, a member at Glendale G&CC. “I have vivid memories of playing in 1C weather in Vancouver, next to the ocean, and just freezing my butt off.”

While braving the wicked wind and driving rain at Lakeside, Barros persevered to a tworound score of 5-over 147. When the tournament was halted, she was a couple of strokes ahead in the 25-plus age bracket.

“Anytime that you win anything at a provincial event, you should be proud,” Barros said. “I was quite happy that I was able to play some good golf down the stretch, especially in some really, really bad weather conditions. It was definitely a nice honour.”

Prior to a pair of practice rounds, Kim Carrington had never played Glendale G&CC, site of the 2020 Alberta Senior Ladies Championship.

Nonetheless, the defending tournament champ was instantly comfortable on the greens. Her step-dad, Jim Jempson, the longtime head professional at Willow Park and an all-timer in Alberta’s golf industry, wasn’t surprised.

“Jim said to me, ‘The reason you feel so at home is because the designer of Glendale is Norman Woods, and that’s the same designer as Willow Park.’ And that’s where I grew up playing for 37 years,” Carrington said. “And I think that was my biggest strength was having the ability to understand the greens and having the confidence that these greens were just like home.”

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, there wasn’t a lot of ordinary in the summer of 2020. This, however, was one sliver of same old, same old — Carrington once again topping the leaderboard at the provincial senior shootout. The Cottonwood G&CC member carded a three-round score of 9-over 225, capping a steady showing with nine straight pars to close out a five-stroke victory.

In her past five starts at this event, Carrington now has four wins and one runner-up placing. Calgary’s Grant Oh punctuated his first provincial title with an exclamation point.

He needed to.

Oh carded birdies on three of the last four holes — and on four of the final six — to claim bragging rights at the 2020 Alberta Senior Mens Championship at Olds Golf Club. “You know how you just get dialled in and get into that zone?” Oh explained. “That’s sort of what happened.” As a second-time winner, this was a first for Max Sekulic.

The rising star from Rycroft had never repeated as a tournament champion before achieving that feat at the 2020 Alberta Match Play at Jagare Ridge.

“I really love the format. It’s kind of a good fit for the way I like to play,” Sekulic said. “I was super proud of it because you don’t get to win often in golf, even the good players, so being able to do it again was special.

The final round at Olds turned into a soggy shootout between Oh and James Varnam, a New Zealander who was spending the summer in Edmonton.

Varnam cranked the heat up with a run of five consecutive birdies from Nos. 5 to 9.

Oh, thanks to superb iron play and clutch work with his flat stick, finished with a flourish — birdies on Nos. 13, 15, 17 and 18 — to seal a three-stroke victory. He signed for a total score of 8-under 208.

“You want to win a tournament, not back into a tournament,” said Oh, who calls Silver Springs G&CC his home hangout. “James played great, too. We both shot under-par on that last day, so it’s not like one of us was faltering and backing up and losing the tournament. We each went for it. Luckily, I came out on top.” “Usually, what happens is if you’re coming to defend a tournament, you feel that pressure to win again. To do it with that in my mind, I think that was proof I’ve improved, especially in tournament conditions. To be able to deal with that pressure and pull it off, that’s huge for me.”

Sekulic, who competes collegiately for the Washington State Cougars and sharpens his skills at The Glencoe G&CC during the summer months, has now won eight straight showdowns at the provincial match-play competition.

In 2020, he outlasted Tommy McKenzie (Priddis Greens) for a 2-up victory in the final. “I would love to win it three times in a row,” Sekulic said. “It’s definitely one of the things I’ve marked on my calendar.”

Calgary’s Annabelle Ackroyd has now graduated from the junior ranks. The rest of the contenders must have been counting down the days to her 19th birthday. Ackroyd completed a threepeat at the 2020 Alberta U19 Girls Championship at Links at Spruce Grove, leaving one last engraving on a trophy that has her name all over it.

A member of the University of Minnesota’s golf squad and a regular at The Glencoe G&CC, she finished six shots ahead of the pack at 2-under 207.

“Every year, I feel like I’ve played some of my best golf at the Alberta Junior, and I think that comes with playing it so many times” Ackroyd said. “I’ve been playing this tournament since I was 10, and it’s always been one of my favourites. There’s nothing better than winning provincials and being the top player in your province at that time. So I’m always ready for that event.”

Ackroyd made an early surge in Spruce Grove. She circled seven straight birdies — a career-best streak — in the opening round. “I was playing with two good friends and one of was trying to keep me calm and the other one was like, ‘Annabelle, this is insane. I don’t even know what to say,’ ” Ackroyd recalled with a chuckle. “And I was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on, either.’ I couldn’t miss.”

The trophy is nice.

For Calgary’s Georgia Barr, this takeaway is just as important. “I learned that I’m apparently good under pressure,” she said, reflecting on her clutch finish at the 2020 Alberta U17 Girls Championship.

She proved that during the provincial age-category shootout at Alberta Springs, rebounding from a bogey on No. 16 and closing with back-to-back birdies to seal a one-shot victory at 5-over 149. Barr realized it was a tight leaderboard but if she was feeling nervous down the stretch, you never would have guessed it.

On No. 17, she knocked her tee ball on the dance floor and drained the putt for a deuce. And on the par-5 finishing hole? Driver down the middle, threewood onto the green and a two-putt to clinch the win. “It felt very rewarding, like all my hard work had paid off,” said Barr, a member at The Glencoe G&CC. “And it was awesome — all my friends, they stayed for the little presentation.”

Barr was only 15 last summer, so she’ll be back to defend her title. Her competitors should be warned, we know now that she thrives under the pressure. “I think it was a good confidence booster for me,” Barr said Red Deer’s Cole Bergheim was making a mess of this par-5 finishing hole at Alberta Springs, splashing his drive into the drink and then airmailing the green with his approach.

As he sized up an unlikely upand-down to save par, he didn’t realize he needed it to force a playoff at the Alberta U17 Boys Championship.

“It was probably the best shot I’d hit in my life,” said Bergheim, a regular at Red Deer G&CC. “I just hit a flop to an impossible pin and it went to probably a foot for a tap-in.”

With that, Bergheim was headed back to the 18th tee box — twice, in fact — for a playoff against Ethan Howes of Fort Saskatchewan. (Both completed 36 holes with identical scores of 3-under 141.)

He wouldn’t require any circus shots in sudden death. “I played that hole a lot better the next two times,” Bergheim said. “I birdied both times.”

When Howes couldn’t match that second circle, Bergheim added his name to an impressive list of winners at the U17 level. “All of the past champions, I’ve played with them and looked up to some of them,” he said. “The past one, Tommy McKenzie, we’re pretty good friends. So it’s pretty cool now that my name is right beside his.” As the old saying goes, ‘Two out of three ain’t bad.’ That’s how Jayla Kucy of Camrose was feeling after her victory at the 2020 Alberta U15 Girls Championship.

She’d triumphed in this age category — formerly known as bantam — as a 12-year-old, settled for runner-up status in her repeat bid and wanted to regain the crown in her final crack at it. “It felt really good to win this one back,” said Kucy, who represents Camrose GC. “And I shot a score of 73-75, so you can’t really complain there.”

Indeed, Kucy had nothing to gripe about after the two-day tournament at Alberta Springs. She was grateful to be grouped with a close friend, second place finisher Kalee Seto, saying that helped to keep her relaxed. She joked it was nice to be playing with anybody other than her older brothers.

“They tease me because they hit it really far and I’m in the 230s,” she laughed. “They’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re a weakling.’ ” Rest assured, Jayla, a lot of Albertans would be thrilled to be hitting it 230 yards right down the pipe … especially combined with your short game. Not many golfers will win two provincial titles, let alone before their 15th birthday.

“I’ve been golfing since I was four,” she said. “I think that really helps.” Calgary’s Jon Vinge put a lot of trust in a brand new club. He wasn’t disappointed.

Vinge scratched out a onestroke victory at the Alberta U15 Boys Championship, executing on a game plan that often included leaving his driver in the bag.

“I got a new four-iron about a week before the tournament, and I used that on most of the holes,” he said. “I was really happy about that, that I hit it so well.”

Vinge, a junior member at Pinebrook G&CC, completed two spins of Alberta Springs at even-par 144. With no walking scorers due to pandemic precautions, he didn’t realize he had rocketed up the leaderboard during the second round.

The difference was ultimately his birdie on the par-5 closer. The recipe? “Four-iron, four-iron and then a two-putt,” he said. That new club, it seems, is a keeper.

“It was so great to have all my hard work pay off,” Vinge said of his first provincial championship. “I found myself posting a lot of lower scores in the back half of the summer and I was really happy with how I played after that. So I’d say that win really boosted my confidence.”

The Alberta Golfer magazine has been published annually by Alberta Golf since 1986. In a new feature starting this year, we are going to showcase some of the articles, advertisements and personalities from previous issues of The Alberta Golfer. Enjoy a trip down memory lane with this collage of material from the inaugural 1986 edition of The Alberta Golfer.

The front cover of the inaugural edition of The Alberta Golfer magazine. Pictured is the Alberta team that captured the 1985 Willingdon Cup championship, Alberta’s first Willingdon Cup win in 19 years. L to R: Brent Franklin, Peter Major, Jim Bruce (President of the RCGA), Russ Powell (President of Alberta Golf and Non-Playing Captain), Ken Wasslen, and Ken Tamke.

Shown are a sample of some pictures and advertisements from the 1986 edition. Bob Wylie of Calgary won the 1985 Canadian Mens Senior Championship. Check out the size of that 1986-era mobile phone!

By Leslie Dunning

Recent media attention on female golfers has certainly helped make golf more appealing to women and girls. The average percentage of female members at Alberta Golf/Golf Canada Member Clubs in 2020 was 22%, with only one in five golf courses exceeding 30%. Junior girls represent only 2% of total membership; however, there are a few clubs that have achieved more than 8% membership by junior girls. Why are some clubs attracting a greater percentage of female golfers and how can other clubs grow their female membership?

Golf provides everyone with a sport that they can play for most of their lives. With 2020’s COVID-19 related restrictions on other activities, many people re-discovered golf, or took it up for the first time. More couples and families played golf together during 2020, due to physical distancing requirements and the opportunity to do something outdoors as a household. The opportunity now is to retain these golfers and increase the number of female golfers in the years ahead.

Financial decisions are family decisions, so investing in playing golf and club membership must be important for everyone in the household. When women believe in the value of the game for their children, their partners and themselves, participation rates and revenues will increase.

“Making every golfer feel welcome,” is what Judy Forshner, head professional at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club, believes contributes to their 33% female membership. “We strive to provide strong programs for every demographic and interest at the club.” Judy describes a very comprehensive approach, including social, educational and competitive opportunities, with lessons, special events and league play. “Our events are always very popular; each providing a different kind of opportunity for our women members to enjoy the game.”

Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club’s general manager Mark Beckwith attributes the semi-private club’s 33% female membership to its full-time female members, plus a long-standing Monday night league.

“The club makes women feel welcome by offering female-friendly lessons, demo days, merchandise, social events and clubhouse specials,” Beckwith noted. “These are part of the club’s business plan and are designed to encourage women to support and enjoy the club.”

Coyote Creek Golf and RV Resort, with 34% female members, provides lot owners with access to the golf course. Dean McBride, director of golf, reports, “We have many owners that use their property on weekends or during the summer. Playing golf is part of their enjoyment here and we plan a women’s component for every event.” Kendra Koss, 2020 president of Earl Grey Golf Club, was surprised that their 9% junior girl membership was the highest in the province, at more than four times the average.

“Junior golf has been an intentional focus of our club. We see girls playing with their families, making friends and finding other girls to play with. Girl-specific opportunities also help to build relationships among the kids and add that all-important social element. In 2020, we had a record 22 girls in the junior club championship,” Koss proudly noted.

Pinebrook Golf and Country Club’s director of golf Shelley Charlton shares that one of their core values is to be a “friendly, family club”. Pinebrook’s junior girl membership of 8% is four times the provincial average. “We encourage getting the kids involved at a young age,” Charlton said. “Being a female in the golf business, I strive to be a mentor and to contribute to growing the game for female players.”

To reach a 50% female participation ratio, there must be opportunities for women and girls to be introduced to the golf course in a welcoming way – perhaps by family or friends. Women’s days - with putting, chipping and driving stations, combined with social, dining and merchandise opportunities, can help develop interest in golf. Promoting future lessons to attendees is a great next step!

Thelma Coutts of Lethbridge, a past president of the Canadian Ladies Golf Association, recalls recognition pins having been used for decades to encourage female golfers. “Today, women want different things out of golf. While many want to learn the rules and improve their playing ability, most women see golf as a way to enjoy time with their family and friends.”