The Alberta Golfer - 2015 Edition

30 th Anniversary edition

THE ALBERTA

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF ALBERTA GOLF | 2015

9-Year-Old

Jayla Kucy

From Camrose to The Masters

Kananaskis Restoration Unprecedented Champions!

Key to Golf’s Growth

Tyler Saunders & Jaclyn Lee Juniors in Japan

Youth Development

Australia Travel

The Best of OZ!

ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

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GAL L ERY

Tyler Saunders Tyler Saunders blasts out of trouble. He captured both the Alberta Junior and Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur Championships last year.

Photo Credit: Golf Canada Chuck Russell

GAL L ERY

Jennifer Ha

Jennifer Ha was all concentration at the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

She made the 36-hole cut and was 2nd-low Canadian at the LPGA event.

Photo Credit: Golf Canada

CONTENTS FEATURES

People 4 Gallery 30 Florin Bergh

Long-time Alberta Golf volunteer “Fuzzy” Bergh is inducted into the Alberta Golf Hall of Fame.

32 Jennifer Ha

Get up to date with Alberta’s best female golfer as she winds down her amateur career before turning professional.

12

14

16

34 Fearless Fleming

the double double

Showdown at The Pete Club

The Ladies Take Lynx Ridge

38 Keith Alexander – In Memoriam

Tyler Saunders and Jaclyn Lee made history in 2014 by each winning their respective Alberta Junior and Amateur Championships on backto-back weeks.

The Edmonton Petroleum GCC is hosting Alberta’s top male amateurs in the Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur Championship.

Will Tyler Saunders repeat?

Lynx Ridge GC in Calgary rolls out the red carpet for the best women amateurs in Alberta for the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship. Jaclyn, Jennifer or someone new?

Riley Fleming now has a full year under his belt on PGA Tour Canada.

46 The Champions

A Masters Contender

Hangin’ with lefty

the restoration

Nine-year-old Jayla Kucy of Camrose earned the golf experience of a lifetime by competing in the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship at Augusta National. Get behind the scenes with this amazing youngster.

Phil Mickelson is designing his first course in Canada on Calgary’s western outskirts. Hear what Lefty has to say about coming to Calgary.

10 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

The provincial government is committed to rebuilding Alberta’s world-famous Kananaskis Country Golf Course. Work is underway, but where do we go from here?

39 Shafted!

A six-year makeover of Miskanaw GC in Ft. McMurray is now complete.

54 Rules Wrecks

67 Century at ‘shag’

Calgary’s Shaganappi GC celebrates its centennial.

70 UBC is Alberta Strong

The success of the UBC golf team is largely due to recruits from Wild Rose country.

72 Twenty Years of Touring

Two decades of helping develop junior golfers with the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour.

40

A primer to help better understand the handicap system.

85 PGA of Alberta Update

68 Daryl james

Can Calgary’s Daryl James earn his way onto the Champions Tour?

80 HANDICAPPING MADE EASY

Eight Alberta Juniors had an amazing golf and cultural exchange to Japan.

56 Tournament Schedule

100 The Year in Pictures

24

36 Juniors in Japan

Profiles of many of Alberta Golf’s 2014 provincial champions.

Several of Alberta’s top juniors have earned golf scholarships at U.S universities.

20

A new membership model is coming to golf in Alberta.

Three common rules situations that get a lot of players in trouble.

98 College Bound

18

10 A Game Changer

Learn the ins and outs of being fitted for proper shafts in your clubs.

Alberta lost one of its all-time best players with the passing of Keith Alexander.

14

in du stry

78 Is poor Posture Ruining Your Game?

Fitness tips to help improve your posture & your score.

87 Miskanaw’s Makeover

88 Youth Development

30

The key to keeping golf healthy is bringing young people into the game.

90 Analyzing Your Game

How to pick apart your game to focus on correct skill development.

92 Western Canada Summer Games

Eight top Alberta juniors will represent Alberta at Wood Buffalo this summer.

94 The Team Alberta Pipeline

Junior programs in our province are feeding top players to Canada’s national teams.

96 Scholarship award winners 102 Tournament Notes

36

79 Golf Canada Update

News about Golf Canada’s Long Term Player Development Guide.

WHAT’S NEW travel 26 Think Sask!

40 Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie!

82 New Holes in Olds!

Alberta Sport Connection In Memoriam Shaw Charity Classic Glencoe Invitational Trestle Creek

88

COVER Jayla Kucy of Camrose qualified for the finals of the Drive, Putt & Chip Competition at Augusta National GC.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 11

industry

A Game Changer A message from Alberta golf

T

he game is changing for golf in Canada. Over the past year and a half, Alberta Golf, its provincial counterparts and Golf Canada have been collaborating to significantly improve what we deliver for the game, golfers and the many golf facilities across the country.

Our collective efforts have been focused on how the sport is marketed, how revenue is generated and analyzing how we are doing as provincial and national sport organizations and what could be done better. When discussing revenue generation, it was quickly determined that this would mean overhauling the current membership model and creating a system that would align with the state of the golf industry today, better suiting the needs of golfers and facilities alike.

After 18 months of consultation including focus groups, surveys, meetings and continued debate, a new membership model is being brought into play. The new model will be rolled out in three phases, focusing on facilities with 60 members or less in year one, facilities with 61-400 members in year two and the remaining facilities in year three. The threephase roll out will allow us to be responsive to meeting the needs of our facilities along the way. Traditionally, clubs and individuals were coupled within the membership model.

Going forward they will be separated, allowing facilities to partner with us based on the services required and giving individuals the opportunity to become members at the gold,

silver or bronze level. Each level will offer a varied suite of benefits and allowing for choice.

Information on this change will be circulated to facilities and individuals throughout 2015.

Under the direction of Golf Canada’s Chief Commercial Officer Gavin Roth, marketing to the golfer will take on a new look with exciting content. You will see technological advances to the Golf Canada website along with features such as ‘telling golf’s story’ thereby improving the golfer’s experience. The goal is that these initiatives will facilitate engagement in the sport and increase play across the country. According to the Alberta Regional Director of the NGCOA, Brent Hutcheon, the Canada Rounds Played Report indicates rounds played in Alberta increased by 0.4% in 2014 compared to 2013.

With the mild winter and courses opening their doors periodically in March, facilities in Alberta are looking to build on this momentum.

2015 Board of Directors President Susan MacKinnon, Willow Park G&CC Vice President Bob McGinn, Sturgeon Valley GC Treasurer Augie Annicchiarico, Highlands GC Secretary Tom Zariski, Dinosaur Trail GC Directors at Large Ken Knowles, Windermere G&CC Lorraine Moster, Public Players Club Peter Major, Calgary G&CC Steven Johnson, Public Players Club Tiffany Gordon, Cottonwood G&CC Foundation President (non-voting) Ted Thresher, Windermere G&CC

2015 Professional Staff Matt Rollins, Executive Director/CEO Jack Lane, Chief Operating Officer Robert Forshner Manager, Rules & Competitions

2014

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Or send a promotional offer to one car, a group or all of the golfers on your course. Every Precedent i3 has this level of connectivity and more:

Tyler McConachy

Manager, Youth Development

Randy Robb

Manager, High Performance Sport and Head Coach, Team Alberta

Dean Spriddle

Head Coach, Team Alberta Girls Luke Workman, Coach, Team Alberta Boys Development Squad John Deneer, Coach, Team Alberta Girls Development Squad Eric Rogers, Accounting

We at Alberta Golf continue to encourage all stakeholders to advocate for the game of golf and its many social, health and wellness benefits. Supported by a professional staff and passionate volunteers we continue to provide best in class programs and services to our members and for our golfers’ needs.

We will be working diligently to continuously improve this great game and look forward to seeing busy golf courses with active members throughout the season!

Internships Alex More

For more information on Alberta Golf, please visit our website at www.albertagolf.org

Alberta Golf

Youth Development Coordinator

Chloe Mansfield

Member Services Coordinator and Project Manager, International Sport Exchange

Angela Cooke

Tournament Coordinator

Jack Pengelly

Weatherproof, HD touch screen Electronic scorecard and yardage book Text alerts for weather warnings and action zone violations

Tournament Coordinator

Landon Jones

Communications & Social Media Coordinator

Golf Canada Director Leslie Dunning, 2nd Vice President

#22, 11410 27 Street SE Calgary, Alberta T2Z 3R6 PH: 403.236.4616 FX: 403.236.2915 Toll Free: 1.888.414.4849 Email: info@albertagolf.org www.albertagolf.org

Publishing, Design & Production Parcom Marketing Inc. Suite 203, 15023 – 123 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5V 1J7 PH: 780.424.1111 FX: 780. 424.2884 Managing Editor Jack Lane

Matt Rollins,

Executive Director/CEO, Alberta Golf

Susan MacKinnon,

President, Alberta Golf

THE ALBERTA GOLFER is published annually by Parcom Marketing Inc. in partnership with Alberta Golf. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without written permission from Alberta Golf and Parcom Marketing Inc. Thank you to all those golf clubs which allowed Alberta Golf to conduct golf tournaments on their premises during 2014. www.thealbertagolfer.ca

12 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

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FEAT URE

the

By Wes Gilbertson, The Calgary Sun

Double Jaclyn Lee (L) and Tyler Saunders (below) achieved unprecedented success in 2014 by both capturing their respective Junior and Amateur Championships on back to back weeks.

T

wice as nice... for both of them. Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee and Sturgeon County’s Tyler Saunders have been identified as two of Canada’s most promising up-and-coming golfers, so it’s no shock they claimed Alberta Golf’s two junior crowns last summer.

The talented teens surprised even themselves, though, with a double dip, each also earning their first provincial amateur championship.

“I’m still almost in disbelief that I won the Alberta Ladies Amateur,” Lee said. “That was my first year playing in it, and I really had no expectations to win. All I wanted to do is place well. So when I came out winning it, it’s kind of weird to think that at 17, I’ve already won the Alberta Am. It’s really cool.”

Lee certainly didn’t show any signs of inexperience at the 2014 Sun Life Financial Ladies Amateur Championship at WhiteTail Crossing Golf Club in Mundare, signing for a threeday score of 4-under 212 en route to a wire-to-wire victory.

She was the undisputed favourite when she showed up the next week to defend her crown at the Alberta Junior Girls Championship at Bearspaw Country Club in Calgary and scratched out a four-shot triumph despite not having her best stuff.

Saunders, meanwhile, got the ball rolling at Bearspaw,

14 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

finishing two strokes ahead of the pack in his final trip to the provincial junior showdown.

As he headed south the following week to Medicine Hat for the Sun Life Financial Men’s Amateur Championship at Desert Blume Golf Club, he had already crossed the top item off his summer to-do list. So what did he do for an encore? The smooth-swinging teen simply ran away with the title at the Alberta Am, setting

“I think the work that Alberta Golf has done trying to develop juniors with Team Alberta has gone a long way”

bit short. I played really well.

Obviously, you always think you can play a little better than you did, despite the results.

I think that was definitely my best tournament up to that time. I’m realizing now that I had a lot better chance going into the event than I really imagined I did.”

In future years, Alberta’s top juniors should probably realize they can contend against the best of the best in the amateur ranks. Lee and Saunders have proven it.

a course record with a 7-under 65 in the third round and eventually putting the finishing touches on a nine-stroke romp at 17-under 271.

As a youngster at Glencoe Golf & Country Club in Calgary, Lee was admittedly a bit awestruck by Jennifer Ha, who won the Alberta Junior Girls Championship and finished second at the Alberta Am as an 18-year-old in 2012. Fastforward just a couple of years, and Lee is the reason that Ha was once again the runner-up at WhiteTail Crossing.

“I honestly didn’t think I had any chance at the Alberta Am. I was just hoping for Top-10.

I didn’t think I had much chance to win unless I played unreal,” Saunders said. “I guess I was selling myself a

“When I first started golf, Jen was who I looked up to. She was the person in Alberta winning all the events,” Lee said. “So it was really cool to be in the final round with her because growing up, you

never really expect yourself to be playing in the final round at the Alberta Am with Jen Ha.” Lee, who turns 18 in May, is now in her second season as a member of Golf Canada’s national development team.

She has signed a letter of intent to join the Ohio State University Buckeyes golf program this fall.

Saunders, 19, was one of three Alberta-raised birdie machines — St. Albert’s AJ Armstrong and Crossfield’s Patrick Murphy are the others — named to Golf Canada’s male development squad for 2015. A member at Glendale Golf & Country Club in Edmonton, Saunders recently completed his first season with the Texas State University Bobcats, captured his first collegiate win, and moved up to the #1 player on his college team as a freshman.

Further proof that junior golfers shouldn’t be counted out at any of the big events, Saunders was actually the oldest golfer to score a spot on Alberta’s Willingdon Cup team in 2014. Armstrong and Banff’s Jack Wood also earned the right to represent the Wild Rose Province in the team competition at the Golf Canada

Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in Winnipeg.

helping us to develop to get to that next level.

“I think the work that Alberta Golf has done trying to develop juniors with Team Alberta has gone a long way,” Saunders said. “But also, just having the competition has been awesome. There are so many good junior players in Alberta that it’s building more and more excellent players and

“If I was the best junior in another province, I’m maybe not going to get any better because there’s no reason to.

But in Alberta, if I’m going to win these tournaments, I have to keep getting better because there’s always other guys out there working just as hard or even harder.”

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 15

FEAT URE

Showdown W

hen over 100 of the best amateur golfers in the province tee it up July 20–23 in the Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship, they will battle each other over four days at the Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club.

But another force may work against them. On the flip side, it could also be a valuable tool in the bag. We’re talking about the fickle Alberta weather. It’s tough to forecast and is equally as difficult to play in under certain conditions.

“During the 2008 Canadian Junior (also hosted at “The Pete Club”) the wind that week was a warm one out of the south and a lot of our long holes played short which helped lead to some really good scores,” said Edmonton Petroleum GCC general manager Grant Cammidge.

“But if it comes out of the northwest then all the long holes play longer and it’s an entirely different test.”

Weather conditions aside, all the players will be faced with some straightforward golf with problems laid out right in front of them, according to the club’s head professional Kyle Boyd. He says hole #6, a par-4 which plays 318 yards from the

at “The P ete Cl u b”

tips is a good example of the risk/reward strategy decisions they will face during the tournament.

“It’s a fairly narrow elevated green and there is some deep bunkering on the front, along both sides and the green runs away to the back left into some taller grass. There is also a

Tyler Saunders

deep bunker in the back of the green,” Boyd warns.

Coming down the stretch players will face a hat trick of tough holes – #16 through #18, and a score of evenpar on those three will be an accomplishment of which to be proud, said Boyd. “It’s hard to make up ground on those final three holes, and you need to make some precise shots to have any chance of being under par,” said Boyd.

The course’s defense includes some bunkering in just the right spots and if the rough is a little higher, things could get interesting if competitors are a little crooked off the tee. “If the

rough gets to the three to four inch length it will be thick and gnarly,” said Boyd, demanding some highly skilled shots to get out of trouble.

The early favorites in the 120-man field include a group of young Albertans who play out of the University of British Columbia, according

Brett Hogan

to Robert Forshner, Manager of Rules and Competitions for Alberta Golf.

“Jack Wood, Scott Secord, and Evan Holmes are all key members of the UBC men’s golf team and of course defending champion Tyler Saunders (who posted a nine shot victory in 2014) is also expected to be in the mix,” Forshner said, while adding Calgary’s Brett Hogan to the list of potential champions.

The Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur is not a ‘developmental’ tournament given the caliber of players in the field, but many do take away a lesson or two from

By Jim Claggett

this competition. “It certainly gives players the experience of competing in a top notch amateur championship and moving forward I think that helps them as they progress to college events and possibly to the professional level,” commented Forshner.

The tournament is also an important one for the amateur contingent because the event is a gateway into the prestigious Golf Canada Men’s Amateur Championship, said Forshner. Alberta Golf will have 23 quota spots in the Canadian Men’s Amateur on the line, and the top finishers will be invited to enter the national championship.

For the Edmonton Petroleum GCC it is another opportunity to put the course out there for some talented players to test their skill. The southwest Edmonton layout has hosted the Canadian Junior as well as the Alberta Senior and Junior championships so this just adds to the club’s already glossy resume.

“We have an outstanding championship golf course,” said Cammidge, “and we enjoy showcasing our facilities to Alberta’s best players.”

In late July, we will see if these guys can weather the storm.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Mosquitoes can’t bite you

if they can’t find you.

• Use an insect repellent with DEET. • Wear light-coloured long-sleeved shirts and pants, and a hat.

• Consider staying indoors at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active.

16 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Some mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus, so it’s best to avoid being bitten at all.

For more information and tips, visit fightthebite.info or call Health Link Alberta at 1-866-408-5465.

FEAT URE

By Ryan Laverty

the

Ladies ta k e L ynx R id ge

A

s a 17-year-old entering her first Sun Life Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship last summer, Jaclyn Lee held few expectations for herself as she stepped to the first tee at WhiteTail Crossing Golf Club in Mundare.

Satisfaction, she determined, would be judged based on her own set of criteria rather than her rank at the end of the 54-hole event.

“I just wanted to play well for myself,” explained Lee, who plays out of Calgary’s Glencoe Golf and Country Club. “I was excited for the competition because there were a lot of good players there, but I didn’t expect much. I just wanted to do the best that I could and see what happened.”

What happened was the Grade 11 student from Central Memorial High School posted a tournament low score of 68 on Day One which led to a winning three-round total of 4-under par 212, three strokes clear of runner-up Jennifer Ha of Calgary’s Country Hills Golf Club.

A year older, a year wiser and certainly with a bit of a target on her back, Lee will try to defend her title July 14-16 at Calgary’s Lynx Ridge Golf Club. “I probably will have some pressure to perform this Jaclyn Lee will be at Lynx Ridge GC in Calgary to defend her 2014 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship.

18 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

year,” admitted Lee, who will head off for her freshman year at Ohio State University on a golf scholarship this August.

“But I was definitely very happy to be added to that list of champions so I am excited for this year.”

That list of former Alberta Ladies Amateur champions includes some long-heralded names and multi-year winners such as Marilyn Palmer (O’Connor) from the Calgary Elks Club who captured the tournament eight times between 1977 and 1996, and Betty Stanhope (Cole) who won it 16 times between 1957 and 1988. With that type of history attached to the tournament, the team at Lynx Ridge has some pressure of its own to deal with in preparation for this year’s edition.

“For us this is a chance to really put on a world-class event and to show off the type of course we have,” said John Seymour, head professional at Lynx Ridge. “As a semi-private course this is an excellent opportunity to showcase the

type of course that we have and to provide an event that is fun for both the players and for our membership.”

The Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship historically draws more than 50 of the top female players in the province to some of the finest golf courses in Alberta. Numbers in last year’s field were down somewhat at WhiteTail Crossing GC, but with the tournament returning to Calgary this year the number of entrants will rebound significantly.

STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE IN SPORT

“I’m happy I won’t have to sleep in a hotel room this year, that’s for sure,” Lee said, laughing. “I know this is going to be a great event. There are going to be a lot of excellent players at Lynx Ridge this year, so I am just going to try to do my best and enjoy it.”

albertasport.ca

By Andrew Penner

FEAT URE

A “Masters”

J

ayla Kucy – a talented 9-year old golfer from Camrose, Alberta – hopes to make a splash at the 2015 Masters Tournament.

Yes, The Masters.

Contender

The one contested annually at the Augusta National Golf Club. Obviously, this young, yet talented Alberta girl won’t be competing in The Masters tournament itself, but she will be taking part in the second annual Drive, Chip & Putt national finals to be held at Augusta National on Sunday, April 5th.

Qualifying for this prestigious event wasn’t easy. It was a remarkable achievement, but she did it. It will be Jayla’s first visit to Augusta, and she’s over the moon about it. For her and the 80 finalists of the Drive, Putt & Chip competition, it is something they will never forget. She would like to win it all, and given her already phenomenal skills, she has a great chance to beat the other nine girls in the 7-9 year-old age group and hoist the trophy on Easter Sunday.

The Drive, Putt & Chip Championship logo was embedded in an ice sculpture at the competitors’ banquet in Augusta.

Kucy is the only Albertan who qualified for the finals in this skills competition, open to boys and girls aged 7 to 15.

The event was televised live by The Golf Channel.

The Drive, Chip & Putt Championship is a joint initiative of the PGA of America, the USGA and Augusta National and is the most exciting ‘grow the game’ venture to come along in years.

It is a fun, free, grassroots

20 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

At Augusta wi th 9 - year- old Jayla Kucy

driving). And, needless to say, there are no mulligans!

Basically, the better the shot, the more points are awarded.

There are four different age categories in both the girls and boys divisions.

With a swing like this, Jayla Kucy of Camrose has a fantastic future in golf.

competition that teaches kids many important life skills along the way.

“It is a unique, collaborative effort,” says Bob Baldasssari, Director of Youth Golf Development for the PGA of America. “And it’s working.

It didn’t take long before we realized we had hit a home run.

Canadian kids are also getting involved as last year we had over 200 Canadian youngsters participate.”

Not surprisingly, Augusta National also recognizes the benefits of such a program.

“We believe the incentive to ultimately qualify for a trip to Augusta National will motivate kids to take part in this wonderful program and take another step in making golf a game of a lifetime,” says Billy Payne, Chairman of Augusta

National Golf Club and The Masters Tournament.

Started just two years ago, the DC&P Championship has exploded in popularity.

In 2014 tens of thousands of young golfers entered the competition, which rewards 80 finalists (40 boys and 40 girls) with a chance to meet their heroes and compete in the legendary setting of the Augusta National Golf Club.

The premise of the competition is simple: participants are tested on their skills in three essential components of the game: driving, chipping, and putting. Competitors score points based on their results.

At Augusta, they will be required to hit two putts from different distances, two chips, and two drives (both accuracy and length are calculated in

well as mom, Kyla, also plan on making the trip to Augusta to watch Jayla compete.

“I’ll be nervous, but I’ve come a long way and I’ve practiced really hard. This year my chipping has been

Of course, with thousands of entrants, qualifying for the finals is an exceptionally difficult task. There are three stages of the competition to advance through – local, subregional, and regional – before the championship finals at The Masters. In 2014 there were 255 different host sites spread out throughout all 50 states for the local qualifiers.

While Jayla won her local qualifier fairly easily, things got more and more difficult as she went along. After winning her sub-regional qualifier in Lacey, Washington by 10 points, things really intensified in her highly-competitive regional qualifying on September 6th, 2014 in Park City, Utah.

To put it into perspective, when Jayla began her quest with her local qualifier in Dupont, Washington in June, 2014, approximately five thousand other girls in her category were also entered into the competition. And they were all vying for just 10 coveted spots in the final!

“It’s going to be a dream come true to go The Masters,” says Jayla, who will be accompanied by her father, Joe, on the all-expenses paid trip for two.

The rest of her family, brothers Mason, 14, and Devin, 12, as

three,” says Jayla, who plays at the Camrose Golf Club and competes in numerous junior tournaments every year. She is coached by PGA of Alberta professionals Bill Penny and James Chapman and shoots between 45 and 55 for nine holes. Fittingly, she loves beating her brothers!

“Jayla had some stiff competition there,” recalls her father, who has supported her every step of the way. “It’s nerve-wracking because one missed shot and it’s over. You simply won’t get enough points.

But Jayla was on her game.”

Jayla Kucy of Camrose in the Drive, Chip & Putt competition at Augusta National.

a lot better for me. It used to be a weak spot. I like driving and I’m a pretty good putter.

Putting is my best of the

Like all true champions, she proved that she has what it takes when the pressure gets extreme. She calmly hit three chip shots to within a foot of the cup and won that component outright. “After she nailed the chipping I knew she

had a great chance to qualify,” says Kucy. “She is a great driver, averaging close to 150 yards off the tee, and is laser straight. And her putting is always strong.”

When the regional competition wrapped up she tallied an impressive 108 points and took home top spot. Most importantly, she was awarded one of the precious spots in the Championship Finals at Augusta. “My dad always says ‘work hard and one day great things come true’,” says Jayla, with a big grin. “I guess that’s what happened!”

(Editor’s Note: At the DP&C finals in Augusta on April 5th, Jayla finished tied for 8th place overall in her age group, with a best result of 4th in the putting.

When the family returned to Camrose after the competition, Joe Kucy commented, “We were treated unbelievably well.

It was an incredible experience for our entire family, and even though Jayla didn’t win, her first words when she was finished were, ‘Dad, I have to get practicing so I can get back here again next year!’”

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 21

FEAT URE

By Todd Saelhof, The Calgary Sun

Hangin’ with Lefty W

M ic k elson N at ional gc

elcome to Alberta, Mr. Mickelson.

Can we get you anything, Phil? A view of the Rocky Mountains?

a 1,700-acre community called Harmony in Springbank on Calgary’s western outskirts.

“We want it to be that place where everybody wants to be. We want to make it a fun, exciting location that people can call home. We want to create a place for golfers to hang out.”

That’s Mickelson National.

“It will be what I have envisioned and more,” continued Ehlert, a major force in the Calgary golf market.

Ehlert is the managing partner of Windmill Golf Group, which has eight courses in its stable, including The Hamptons Golf Club in Calgary and The Wilderness Club in Montana.

“Calgary has some great golfers and golf courses. But we want to accomplish something that hasn’t been done here before,” Ehlert said.

Phil Mickelson is designing Mickelson National GC in Springbank, just west of Calgary. It will be his first project in Canada.

Perhaps a picturesque place west of Calgary to ply your trade? How about your name on what golf course mogul Barry Ehlert projects to be the place to be for golfers?

Say … Mickelson National Golf Club of Canada?

“We want it to be ‘The Hang,’” said Ehlert of a 7,930-yard golf mecca set to open in 2017 in

With Phil Mickelson aboard, it’s shaping up to be just that.

It’s not every day that ‘Lefty’ hangs his reputation on a multi-million dollar golf project.

Certainly no other place in Canada can make that claim, as Phil Mickelson Design boasts limited properties worldwide, including Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., a renovation of the North Course at California’s Torrey Pines and two courses in China.

“Calgary is a great golf market, and I’m proud that my first golf course design in Canada will be a part of it,” Mickelson said.

“It‘s important to design a golf course that is versatile enough to be fun for the everyday golfer and also challenging for Tour players — and we will accomplish that goal.

Mickelson National Golf Club will be a world-class golf course with a welcoming atmosphere and a great place to be.”

Our sprawling golf course meanders through 620 acres of stunning beauty, overlooking the gorgeous Coeur d’Alene National Forest. Get ready to enjoy every single one.

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REASONS

It’s not just lip service. Unlike many high-profile golfers who throw their name behind course developments, Mickelson has been hands-on from the outset, making sure to account for all that is going on with Mickelson National’s progress.

“I’ve been involved in every aspect of the golf course design, from the initial vision to the design details,” said Mickelson, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame with 42 PGA Tour wins to his name, including five major championships. “My design staff has spent many hours on the site and in meetings to ensure that the course matches the principles adopted by the Harmony community itself.

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“I’m truly excited about being a part of that and using the best design standards and innovative technologies

Worley, Idaho | 25 miles south of Coeur d’Alene | 1 800 523-2464 | CDACASINO.COM 22 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 23

Phil gives his famous ‘thumbs up’ to Mickelson National GC

to create a sustainable, environmentally responsible golf course we can all be proud of,” Mickelson continued.

“I’m looking forward to visits in the near future to watch the progress of the Harmony community and provide the vision to lead Mickelson National Golf Club to reality.

“They have a tremendous track record in Alberta with their owned and operated golf facilities, so I’m completely onboard with the vision,” said Mickelson of Windmill Golf Group. “The course will be great and the property is spectacular, surrounded by rolling prairie with incredible views of the Rockies.”

Originally, Ehlert & Co. had Canadian golfer Steven Ames along with NBC golf analyst and former PGA Tour star Johnny Miller throw their names behind the venture, then tabbed as The Copithorne Club in honour of the family which originally owned the pretty piece of land just a par-5 distance northwest of the Springbank Airport.

But after a five year downturn in the economy delayed the group’s ability to build the

24 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

championship calibre course, Ehlert ramped up his vision by hunting for a superstar golf name with whom to lay down a blueprint.

“I asked myself, ‘Who’s the biggest name in golf with whom I want to be associated?’”

Ehlert said. “The first name that came to mind was Phil Mickelson, so I thought, ‘why not shoot for the moon’?”

With the project teed up, Ehlert put his swing in motion to get Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner, on board. It took time, a little patience and some strong back and forth negotiations, but eventually, the relationship took root, blossoming into what Ehlert calls a winning situation for both his Windmill Golf Group and Phil Mickelson Design.

“They didn’t just take the phone call,” Ehlert said. “They meant business. And it wasn’t just about dollars and cents. Phil and his people wanted to come up and get a feel for the area and a sense of our reputation. And 10 times over, they’ve underpromised and over-delivered in every single situation.

“I think it’s a good match. We both have a similar philosophy in that you have to enter into a relationship that’s win-win.”

With Mickelson National, Ehlert feels the true winner will be Calgary and its golf community.

Once the private club opens — the projected date to be late in 2017 — Ehlert foresees members of the club rubbing shoulders with professional tour types, even Mickelson himself.

In the future, the hope is to bring a PGA Tour-calibre event to Mickelson National.

“As soon as the frost is out of the ground this year, it’s 100% full bore ahead,” said Ehlert.

“And we won’t open until it’s perfect,” Ehlert continued. “We want it to be second to none.

We won’t let anybody hit a golf ball on it until it’s ready to go. This isn’t about golf — it’s about Calgary. We don’t just want do something different.

We want to do something unprecedented.”

FEAT URE

the

By Andrew Penner

Restoration I

t’s September 25th, 2012 and I’m standing – camera and tripod in hand – on the tee box on the iconic 4th hole on the Mt. Kidd Course at the Kananaskis Country Golf Course. It’s 7:47 a.m. and the temperature is one degree Celsius. I’m waiting patiently for the sun to crest the Rockies and light up the stunning scene.

My coffee is gone, my fingers are numb, but I’m determined to wait it out. Fifteen minutes later, presto, the low-angled light hits the green complex and illuminates the golden aspens all around. And I have my shot.

Little did I know that, come spring, this famous hole – and 31 others – would be devastated by “The Flood of the Century.”

Pre-flood images of the Kananaskis Country Golf Course are easily identifiable.

Both courses – Mt. Lorette and Mt. Kidd – were designed by architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his style, his “fingerprints,” is all over them. The massive bunkers, the double greens, the liberal use of water hazards, the elongated tee boxes…all beautifully positioned below the jagged peaks of the Kananaskis Valley. Of course, after the catastrophic flood, the only images possible were sad and shocking depictions of an iconic Canadian golf facility virtually destroyed by the floodwater.

Unquestionably, the meteorological mayhem that started on June 19th – over 250 millimeters of rain gushed down – triggered a historyaltering event for the Kananaskis

26 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Country Golf Course. Of all the golf courses in Alberta that suffered damage and loss – and there were over 30 that did – Kananaskis took perhaps the most severe blow. And you’ve probably seen images of the destruction: unrecognizable golf holes scattered with debris, turf ripped to shreds, cart paths buckled, trees mangled, creeks re-routed. They weren’t pretty.

Powerful and telling? Absolutely.

The course has remained closed since the flood and, not surprisingly, won’t re-open in 2015. And, thanks to yet another delay in the re-building

was a difficult year for us, as it was for thousands of Albertans.

It was tough to come to work every day not knowing your future and the future of this amazing facility that so many Albertans are so passionate about. Two of the most beautiful and recognizable courses in Canada were sitting here, literally rotting away. The silt and debris was over eight feet deep in spots. There were over 2,000 dead trees littering the courses.”

However, after the big announcement in late July things quickly changed. Clean-up crews and contractors were

The June, 2013 “Flood of the Century” left Kananaskis Country Golf Course devastated.

When the restoration is complete, the iconic 4th hole on the Mt Kidd course will be as stunning as ever.

controlled fire burned on the driving range for seven days to get rid of all the dead trees. Even some rough shaping of tees, greens and fairways was initiated.

“Seeing the transformation start taking place last fall and the incredible amount of clean-up and restoration work that was accomplished in just a few short

process, it most likely won’t open in 2016 either.

On July 19th, 2014, after 13 months of uncertainty, the Alberta Government committed $18 million dollars to restore the facility. Or have they? That seems to be the big question.

“We waited a long time for that initial news to come down,” recalls general manager Darren Robinson. “Our fate was in the Government’s hands and that

hired. Bulldozers were mobilized.

And on August 2nd the work commenced in earnest and didn’t stop until the middle of November. When they finally shut things down for winter the site had a drastically different look.

Creeks and ponds were cleaned out and their banks restored, silt and debris were removed, bunkers were excavated, channels that were carved by the floodwater were filled, a

Heavy equipment went to work to clear debris from the course last summer.

months turned this place into a dynamic and exciting operation again,” says Robinson. “There was an air of excitement here.

However, we are now back to playing the waiting game. The reconstruction has been halted and is pending a review process

from the government. It’s discouraging. This golf course is a vital part of this community and the local economy. We employ over 150 people. The course has always been profitable and returned money back to the province. Obviously, our hope is that the legacy of world-class golf in Kananaskis will yet be restored. We certainly were well on the way of doing that.”

sand in play here. We’ll dial that back. We’ll keep bunkers where they need to be, remove many, and make sure distances to hazards, and so on, is suitable for contemporary play.”

The excitement – then disappointment - from Calgarybased golf course architect Gary Browning, who was awarded an opportunity of a lifetime to head up the renovation and redesign work on the two legendary layouts, is also understandable.

Browning and his crew were well on their way with that process when things were halted early this spring. “The project was ahead of schedule and under budget,” says Browning. “Everything was exceeding my expectations.

It’s certainly disappointing and worrisome to sit and wait. But that’s about all we can do right now. However, I’m confident we’ll be resuming our work shortly.

There is too much at stake and we are too far along.”

“It’s obviously a spectacular site and our plan is to ensure the essence of these special designs, including the routing and green sites, remains,” says Browning, who operates with minimalist values when it comes to sculpting terrain for golf. “Really, this is about updating and, in a lot of cases, simplifying the holes. As most people are aware, there was a lot of mounding and

Browning also believes that Robert Trent Jones would approve of the plan. (RTJ passed away in 2004 and built over 500 golf courses in his storied career.) “This era is different. The sport continues to evolve and the game needs friendlier, less intimidating courses. Jones was one of the greatest advocates of golf I know and he was instrumental

in ushering in the modern game.

I believe he would strongly approve of our approach to keep the integrity of the designs, but to dial things back a bit.”

As for some of the specifics in terms of how the “new” Kananaskis will look? Say, for example, the iconic, oftphotographed 4th hole on the Kidd Course? “I’m going to change that into a par-4,” says Browning, as I choke on my mid-afternoon coffee. “Ya, no,” he quips. “Fortunately, that green site received very little damage. In fact, golfers playing that hole will likely not be able to notice many differences at all, except for a few enhancements to the teeing area. But, as for the aesthetics of the hole, it’s going to be the same. Why tinker with something that iconic and beautiful?”

And all the golfers – and the photographers – can now breathe a collective sigh of relief. Provided, of course, the government finishes what they started.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 27

T ravel

Think Sask!

Golf in Saskatchewan

T

here are any number of adjectives to describe the golf landscape in Saskatchewan. Spectacular.

Natural. Challenging. Affordable.

Uncrowded. Breath-taking. With all the hassles of air travel today, having the incredible choice of gorgeous golf courses that Saskatchewan has to offer makes Alberta’s neighbour to the east a very attractive option for summer golf vacations.

Golf in Saskatchewan is nothing if not varied. From friendly community-owned nine-hole facilities to world-class courses capable of hosting national championships and the world’s best young touring professionals, Saskatchewan has a golf course for everyone. When you combine the natural beauty of the province’s scenery with a wealth of amazing fishing, camping and other recreational opportunities, Saskatchewan becomes a ‘must see’ destination.

Saskatoon and Waskesiu Dakota Dunes Golf Links is laid out through natural sand dunes and native prairie grasses a short 20-minute drive south of Saskatoon on lands owned by the Whitecap First Nation. Ranked as the “Top Public Golf Course” in Saskatchewan

by SCORE Golf magazine, Dakota Dunes plays host annually to the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open, part of PGA Tour Canada’s schedule. They have a brand new 7,100 sq. ft. clubhouse set to open this summer and the course is located next door to the 80,000 sq. ft. Vegas-style Dakota Dunes Casino, providing exciting gaming and entertainment options after your round.

Dakota Dunes Golf Links 28 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

T ravel

Like the sk y,

the fairways seem wider here.

Waskesiu Golf Course

The Willows GCC in Saskatoon is a terrific 36-hole facility, built around a theme of impressive mounding, sand and water. With four sets of tees, beautiful silica sand bunkers and two signature holes featuring island greens, The Willows offers a great challenge to beginners and expert golfers alike. The southwesternstyle clubhouse offers guests an excellent variety of upscale casual dining options along with ample space for weddings, conferences and tournaments.

Moon Lake GCC, about 15 minutes southwest of Saskatoon, is a tremendous 27-hole layout, featuring native fescues, numerous water hazards, and heavily mounded fairways reminiscent of Scottish links-style designs. Now over 25 years old, Moon Lake GCC has matured beautifully over the years and offers magnificent playing conditions.

Waskesiu Golf Course is located in Prince Albert National Park, a leisurely two hour drive north of Saskatoon.

Designed and built by the legendary Stanley Thompson in 1935, Waskesiu is one of Canada’s iconic golf courses and host to the annual Lobstick Invitational Tournament, the largest match play event in North America. Named for the legendary Lobstick tree that once sat in the middle of the first fairway, the tournament has been a staple of the Saskatchewan golf scene for more than 70 years.

Just outside the Prince Albert National Park gates is the sensational Elk Ridge Resort, a premier four season golf and lifestyle resort. In addition to a 27-hole championship calibre golf course, the resort features a hotel, conference 30 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

The Willows GCC

centre and full-service spa in addition to a variety of cabins and cottages as additional accommodation choices. Their award-winning dining and wine tasting experiences make for the ultimate in a ‘getaway’ golf vacation.

North Battleford The North Battleford GCC is one of Saskatchewan’s most scenic golf courses, offering dazzling views of the Saskatchewan River Valley and an 18-hole golf course that is both a great test and a treat to play. In an era of course design where length seems everything, their testy 6,600 yards from the tips course is still more than enough challenge for anyone.

Jackfish Lodge Golf & Conference Centre is another gem, located in the Battlefords Provincial Park a few miles north of North Battleford. Offering both on-site hotel accommodations or a variety of camping options, Jackfish Lodge is a wonderful golf and vacation option in the area for the entire family.

Regina The Royal Regina Golf Club is not only Saskatchewan’s first and oldest golf club, it holds the distinction of being one of only six courses in Canada to have received official “Royal” designation. A gorgeous semi-private course in the heart of the city, Royal Regina offers guests an exceptional degree of personalized service and amenities. With enough bite to have been worthy to host the 2003 Canadian MidAmateur Championship, the course is still a very playable layout for any golfer.

Not enough time or patience for a five-hour round? Try out the Joanne Goulet Golf

Club, Regina’s executive length municipal course. You can whistle around in just over three hours, but don’t let the shorter length fool you! This is a fun mix of short and long holes, and the Wascana Creek comes into play on nearly every hole.

Another course in Regina that was laid out

by Stanley Thompson in the 1920s is Tor Hill Golf Club. The course now features 27 holes, an 11,000 sq. ft. clubhouse and some of the finest natural golf terrain in the province.

There are dozens of superb golf courses in every corner of Saskatchewan. White Bear Lake Golf Course is in Carlyle, east of Weyburn near the Manitoba border. They’ve got a tremendous golf course, a casino and some amazing scenery. Another southeast Saskatchewan gem is Golf Kenosee, in the Moose Mountain Provincial Park. Set in a forest of ash, fir, poplar and white birch, Golf Kenosee has some of the best views in Saskatchewan golf.

Chinook Golf Course in Swift Current is one of the best conditioned courses in the province as well as one of the best values.

Evergreen Golf Course in Nipawin opens with a terrific 600-yard par 5 and only gets better after that! Candle Lake Golf Resort northeast of Prince Albert features a beautiful lakeside restaurant and lounge, a marina for your boat and 6,500 yards of challenging golf.

These are only some of the highlights of the golf landscape in Saskatchewan.

There are many more first-class courses waiting to be discovered. What’s really mindboggling is that you have to search high and low to find a green fee in the bunch that’s over $65 a round and most are under $50!! Go east, young man!

TourismSaskatchewan.com Our stunning prairie and boreal forest golf settings come with plenty of elbow room.

#ExploreSask

Peopl e

Florin Bergh Alberta Golf Hall of Fame

Florin Bergh (4th from L) is flanked by his wife Bea and their family at the Alberta Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony at “Fuzzy’s” home club, The Highlands, in January, 2015.

D ist ingu ishe d S erv ice A ward Inducted: 2015 Club Affiliation: Highlands Golf Club Florin or “Fuzzy” to his friends has contributed to the game of golf for over 25 years.

At the club level, Florin served as president of the Highlands Golf Club in 1993 and was awarded a lifetime membership in 2010.

Florin has been involved with Alberta Golf since 1990 and as a volunteer he was a major contributor to the success and professionalism of the Course Rating System. He was always ready to pitch in and assist at numerous championship events. Florin was

32 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

also the Alberta Golf Foundation president in 2012 and 2013 and was instrumental in the growth and delivery of the scholarship program.

From course rating to the boardroom, Florin’s passion, enthusiasm and “can do” attitude has been infectious to those volunteering with him.

Florin has been a great ambassador for the Highlands Golf Club, Alberta Golf and the Alberta Golf Foundation and personifies the meaning of volunteer.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 33

Peopl e

By Kevin Smith, Global TV

a chat with

Jennifer Ha Jennifer Ha has graduated university and is now ready to embark on a career in professional golf.

T

Play &Stay

When you turn 21, you turn pro in life. Now all that’s left for Calgary raised Jennifer Ha is to turn pro in golf.

he 21-year-old Country Hills golfer and Sir Winston Churchill grad is competing in her senior year with the Kent State Golden Flashes in Ohio. The university has long been a pipeline for Canadian talent including former Alberta Open champion Ryan Yip, Alberta’s Jill MacDonald and Jillian Wyne. Ontario’s Taylor Pendrith, who made the cut at the 2014 Canadian Open, and U.S. Amateur runner-up Corey Conners, who competed in this year’s Masters, are also currently on the Kent State men’s golf team. Even former British Open champion Ben Curtis still returns for school visits.

Jennifer says being around such high-end talent has given her a lot of confidence. “It is unreal to see this is where they developed their games and this is what took them to the next level. I’m right there with them.”

Jennifer was born in Seoul, South Korea but moved to Calgary when she was five years old. Her father John was her only golf teacher, spending countless hours with his daughter at the Riverside Club range and in later years at the Glencoe Golf and Country Club. “I really looked up to my dad when I was younger because I thought he was the best golfer in the world. He could hit it a mile and he could play some good golf so I always wanted to be with my dad. I was a daddy’s girl,” Ha laughed. And now Jennifer has the potential to be one of the best golfers in the world.

Ha has won back-to-back Mid-American Conference “Golfer of the Year” awards and had a great showing at the 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in London, Ontario, Canada’s top event for women professionals. Jennifer made the 36-hole cut and dueled fellow Canadian standout Brooke Henderson for low amateur honours.

Jennifer roomed with Brooke that week, shot evenpar over four rounds against the best golfers in the world and ended up finishing only two shots behind Henderson for the low amateur award.

34 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Play 45 holes of Spectacular Golf at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort in Fairmont Hot Springs, BC

At the time, Jennifer said how much of an eyeopening experience it was and how her comfort level grew with each round. “When I teed off on the first hole, I was so nervous with a bunch of people watching me, but it got better when I figured out that they were here to cheer me on and cheer for all the Canadians.” Brooke Henderson has since turned professional and Jennifer looks to do the same within a year.

Turning pro is an important goal for Ha, but finishing strong in her career at Kent State is at the forefront.

She can’t believe how fast four years have gone and how much she’s learned in life and in golf.

When Jennifer was in her second year of high school in Calgary, she didn’t even know that college golf scholarships existed in the United States. Her visit to Kent State was the only recruiting trip she went on. Ha has gotten much stronger physically in her time there, but even more importantly she’s realized the magnitude of the mental side of golf.

“Golf isn’t really a game of perfect. It’s playing with what you have in that moment,” said Ha. She also says that despite all the places in the world golf has taken her, the most special times are when she sees friends from Alberta Golf at events. “It is so much fun to catch up with them. To have those connections has been the most precious thing that I’ll take away from my entire golf experience.”

Jennifer says she used to put a lot of pressure on herself due to her highly competitive nature, but that her travel experiences in college and the reading of numerous biographies have given her a much improved perspective on life in general.

“I lost the pressure when I realized how much there is out in the world,” said Ha. Four years ago Jennifer had no clue her golf career at Kent State would bring her so much success. Who knows what she will accomplish in the next four years, but the golf community in Alberta will sure be watching.

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Peopl e

Fearless Fleming

By Curtis Stock, The Edmonton Journal

R

iley Fleming is fearless. He plays every hole as if it has his name and another birdie on it.

“I always want to push the issue,” said the 21-year-old Airdrie golfer who was the youngest player on PGA Tour Canada last year. “I’m never satisfied. If I’m 5-under, I want to be 6-under. I always want to push for more.”

Riley Fleming captured Alberta Golf’s 2014 Alberta Open, Presented

by Longball, for his first win as a professional.

Playing safe is simply not an option for Fleming, who has full status on PGA Tour Canada this year. “There should never be a let-up in professional sports. The best thing you can do is stay aggressive,” said Fleming, a former member of Golf Canada’s developmental team. “I’ll still play smart, but aggressively smart. Some of the worst swings I’ve ever made have come when I’m laying up.”

“Riley is not afraid to go low,” agreed his Calgary swing coach Terry Carter. “He doesn’t panic. There are a lot of good players that can shoot 2- and 3- under par. There aren’t many that can shoot 6- and 7-under.”

Last year alone, Fleming shot five competitive rounds of 66 or lower. One of those blistering rounds came in the final round of the ATB Financial Classic. Three-over par for the day after seven holes, Fleming went on a tear that seared Calgary’s Sirocco GC. Brimming with confidence, Fleming went 11-under par on the final 11 holes – two eagles, seven birdies and two pars.

“It was crazy,” said Fleming, whose final round 64 that afternoon featured a scorching back nine of 28 – a PGA Tour Canada scoring record – that led to a tie for 13th. “My caddy and I just kept saying ‘OK, two more. Then two more’. The hole was looking like a bucket,” said Fleming, who didn’t have a putt outside of six feet on that memorable back nine.

“But I was so far back, I wasn’t moving up the leaderboard,” he said in testament to just how good the players are on PGA Canada Tour. “I thought, ‘Holy crap. What does a guy have to do?’ ” Then there was the SIGA Dakota Dunes Open presented by SaskTel, at Saskatoon’s Dakota Dunes Golf Links. Riley shot a 65 in the third round and a 66 in the final round to finish alone in seventh

36 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

place – the definitive tournament which earned him his full Tour status for this year as he eventually finished 56th on the Order of Merit.

Or how about what he did at Wolf Creek when he won the Alberta Open for the second straight year?

In a continual downpour Fleming shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 in the second round which paved the way to a six-shot victory over Calgary’s Scott Stiles and his first win as a professional.

“I was proud of the way I played at Wolf Creek.

I was pretty sick after the second round, but the adrenalin kicked in and I was able to hold it together the last day,” said Fleming.

There has been magic in Fleming’s ‘wands’ for quite a while. Two years ago, Fleming came from nine shots back to win his second straight Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur in Sundre with a final round of 67 that was punctuated by nine birdies, including an 18th hole birdie to win by one stroke. “Considering from how far I came back, that’s probably still my favourite moment on a golf course. It was very special,” Fleming recalls.

“The Amateur in Sundre just showed how confident he is,” said Carter. “His length is so impressive.

There aren’t many par-5s that he can’t reach in two.

And he’s a great putter.”

Told he was too young and too inexperienced to play professionally when he left the University of Texas-Arlington midway through his sophomore season, Fleming keeps on proving people wrong.

“A lot of people told me leaving school was a mistake,” said Fleming. “I still have some of the phone messages from people who questioned my decision. I use them as motivation when I go practice. For my first year as a professional, I thought I played pretty well.”

Lyndon King, general manager of Crossfield’s Collicutt Siding GC where Fleming has the course record – a 12-under 60 – doesn’t have any doubts that Fleming made the right decision.

“He’ll make it. He’s certainly got the talent,” said King. “At this level, golf is such a mental game and Riley is mentally very tough. The only thing bigger than his drives off the tee is his personal drive.”

Carter doesn’t have any doubts either. “I think he knows now that he can play with those guys. He’s got a dream and a passion and we’ll see what happens.”

industry

Eight Alberta juniors had the golf and cultural trip of a lifetime in Hokkaido, Japan.

everything,” Robb recalls. “They have a different standard about being on time. Travelling as a team put the onus on everyone to be responsible to each other.”

Juniors in Japan

By Mike Dempster

F

or a moment, Claire Emery wasn’t sure what to say.

Preparing to tee off during an international sport exchange in Japan, her teenage hosts bowed to their golf balls. “It was their way of saying, ‘I respect this game and I’m going to play fairly and honestly,’” Emery remembers. “And they’d bow to the other players to say, ‘I hope you do well and have fun.’ ”

treated like royalty. He, too, will long remember the cultural experience and how the two teams bonded. Amusingly, his favourite memory had nothing to do with hitting fairways and greens – and everything to do with pouring soy sauce.

It happened when the group was enjoying dinner with the Japanese delegation in the capital city of Sapporo. The man sitting next to Murphy was the highest ranking official in attendance; equivalent to a Canadian premier. As Murphy prepared to eat, he poured soy sauce over his rice.

It was very cool, says the 16-year-old Calgarian. She’d never experienced anything like it in golf but quickly became familiar with “ganbatte” [Gahn-bah-teh], a popular expression that roughly translated “Ganbatte means “good luck, let’s do our best.”

roughly translated means ‘Good luck, let’s do our best!”

Emery was one of the eight high school students – four girls, four boys – who represented Alberta in August 2014 during a five-day stay on Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island. The exchange was organized

by Alberta Sport Connection, an arm of the provincial government that uses athletics to strengthen relationships and encourage cultural understanding with sister provinces Hokkaido and Gangwon, Korea.

Alberta Golf executive director Matt Rollins says Alberta Golf was approached in January 2014 about the exchange. Alberta Golf drew up a list of student candidates and asked them to submit a resume explaining why they’d be a good person to attend. “We wanted some strong golfers but also people who would handle that kind of cultural experience and represent Alberta well,” says Rollins, one of five adults in the 13-member delegation.

In Japan, the Alberta team visited different attractions and played two friendly competitions. The cultural experience is what Emery cherishes most. “Japan is incredible. It’s peaceful. Everything there has meaning to it, like how they bow to the golf ball,” she said. ”We got to understand a bit of what life is like there.”

Patrick Murphy played on the boys’ side. A member of Golf Canada’s Development Team, Murphy says the group was

Alberta junior golfers played in Japan in 2014 as part of an international sport exchange program.

Note the caddy with all four bags on one cart!

“It was a typically Canadian thing to do,” Murphy says. “But in Japan, the sauce is for the barbecued meat they cook at the table. The official laughed because I wasn’t eating their food correctly. As a token of friendship he put soy sauce on his rice for the first time ever and he said he really enjoyed it.” The other Japanese followed the official’s example, says Murphy, who lives in Crossfield and who will continue his travels this fall playing on a golf scholarship at UCLA.

While the Japanese were a bit more “technical” and maybe less creative, they played better in the friendly matches. However, Robb notes, the Alberta team was adjusting to a 16-hour time change, the travel, food and language.

“It was good because we can get stuck in our own little world,” Robb said. “Athletes in any sport have to be able to adapt. We have kids looking at college, maybe turning pro one day … and different backgrounds and experiences can take you to a different comfort level.”

Claire Emery was happy to adapt. “I’m not sure I ate sushi once the whole time we were there. I liked trying the traditional dishes they made for us.”

The Alberta junior golfers received instruction in ancient Japanese archery techniques.

Importantly, both teams made the effort to connect with each other. A translator did accompany the delegation but players on course developed a quasi-sign language to communicate as well as using a translator app on one of the girl’s cellphones.

“The messages got pretty jumbled up at times,” Emery laughs.

“But I really felt we became friends.” Besides, she says, golfers have a passion for the game that translates in any language – where “play well” or “ganbatte” is an integral part of the golf culture.

Looking To Redevelop Your Course TAKE THE DESIGN-BUILD ADVANTAGE

“It’s amazing. I’ve been in cities of 20 million people through golf and I come from a rural town of 2,000. I’ve been able to see the world through a different lens. What I’ve come to appreciate is that we live in one of the most extraordinarily privileged parts of the globe,” Murphy noted.

Jerry George, a consultant in high performance sport with Alberta Sport Connection, says the exchange will be a two-year commitment, the first such one for golf arranged by Alberta Sport Connection. This September, a Japanese contingent flies to Edmonton and then moves on to tour sites and play and practice in Jasper, Banff and Calgary. “We want to provide a quality sport experience for our athletes as well as an opportunity to see and experience the culture of these different countries,” says George.

Alberta Golf coach Randy Robb has lasting impressions about the Japanese culture and the emphasis it places on respect, punctuality and organization. “We were ten minutes early for

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Shafted!

By TYler trafford

Peopl e

Keith Alexander A

I N M E M O R I A M | 1 9 30- 20 14

lberta not only lost a great golfer in November, 2014 with the passing of Robert Keith Alexander; the province also lost a truly good-hearted individual with a deep sense of commitment to family, community and faith.

The son of a plaster contractor in Vulcan, Alberta, Keith was an all-round high school athlete who played golf only occasionally as a teenager. He only took up golf seriously at the age of 20 when his father exchanged an outstanding bill for ten lessons at Martin Allred’s indoor golf school in Calgary.

A Dominant Amateur Golfer Keith’s remarkable ability to focus and work hard led to his earning a golf scholarship at the University of Colorado from 1953-1956. There he captained the men’s golf team for three years and won his first individual collegiate title while compiling an outstanding record in the classroom.

Keith received four citations for academic excellence and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the national scholastic fraternity.

From those beginnings Keith went on to become a dominant amateur golfer in Canada in the 1960s and 1970s.

A Year in Trophies.

During the 1960 calendar year, Keith Alexander won most of the major events in Calgary, Alberta and Canada, including the Canadian Amateur.

“Keith was the straightest driver I ever saw,” recalls Bob Wylie, a seven-time Canadian Senior Champion. “He had a lovely swing. He never tried to overdrive it. He just took it back and hit it. When he won the Canadian Amateur in 1960, he was never off the fairway.”

“Keith Alexander was the straightest driver I ever saw.”

Bob Wylie, Alberta Golf Hall of Fame Member

40 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Keith’s record includes: National Championships 1960 Canadian Amateur Champion 1992 Canadian Senior Champion Provincial Championships Alberta Amateur Champion: 1957, 1964, 1966, 1977, 1978, 1981 Alberta Open Champion: 1967, 1980 Alberta Golf Officer 1968-1982 When the necessity of a career and raising a family overrode his ability to focus his attention solely on tournament golf, Keith used his knowledge and experience to benefit other golfers through his commitment as an Alberta Golf Association officer from 1968 to 1982, serving as president in 1977.

MLA 1979-1985 Keith also served the province as a Member of the Alberta Legislative Assembly from 1979 until November 1985, when he resigned to allow Premier Don Getty to have a seat in the Legislature. He contributed his golf experience as a major supporter of the 36-hole Kananaskis Country Golf Course, the world class Robert Trent Jones designed facility in Alberta’s Kananaskis country.

“A simple ending to a spectacular life.”

Keith’s formative years were spent in a devout Christian home and he carried his faith through his entire life, applying its lessons to all his endeavours.

Several years ago he told Alberta Golf that he “grew up in a strongly Christian home that believed in doing things as the Scripture says – whatever you do, do it with all your might.” Keith applied this conviction to everything he did, from golf to family.

Keith and his wife Vanessa raised a blended family of children in Calgary. While health issues almost separated the couple near the end of their lives, Keith managed to continue living at her side in a long-term care facility.

The words of Keith’s obituary most eloquently express the last days of his remarkable life and what he believed to be of supreme importance: On their (Keith and Vanessa’s) last days together they were in the same room. He was there when she went home to be with the Lord. The next morning he told the nurses he was ready and said goodbye. A simple ending to a spectacular life. He went home to be with God that day at 5:30 pm, November 12, 2014.

indus t ry

A P r i m er for H elp i ng S elect the R i ght S haft for Y o u We all love to buy new golf clubs. Despite all the marketing hype of ‘longer, straighter, bigger, better’, we often overlook what is the most important factor in selecting new clubs, and that is to make sure those clubs are fitted with the correct shafts.

W

hat are some of the factors that we should consider when fitting our golf clubs with the proper shaft for our particular swing? The science of fitting golf clubs is filled with a myriad of technical terms: launch angle, spin rate, torque, bend profile, flex. Which is better: graphite or steel? How important is having the right shaft for my swing? Can I get a good fit ‘off the rack’, or do I need custom fitting?

In order to help sort through the confusion, we wanted to provide answers to some commonly asked questions about choosing the right golf shaft for your particular game in order to help you get more enjoyment from playing golf.

Q. Which are the differences between steel and graphite?

A. Basically, the weight. Some steel shafts can be

manufactured lighter than some graphite shafts, but by and large, graphite is lighter, which is the number one factor in determining the total weight of the club. Lighter weight usually means greater swing speed, which usually means increased distance. But some golfers who are stronger physically or have quicker swing tempos need the extra heft of steel for better control.

Steel provides different ‘feel’ than graphite. Some players prefer the crisp, sharp sensory feedback of steel while some players prefer the softer feel of graphite. If increased distance is your No.1 goal, then properly fitted graphite is probably the way to go. If you already have a higher swing speed and quicker tempo, then the extra weight and feel of steel may be best for you.

Q. How do you determine the proper shaft flex for your swing?

A. Some of the factors to consider for selecting the proper shaft

flex include: your swing speed, tempo, your transition move from the top of your backswing and the point at which you unhinge your wrist cock on the downswing (your release point).

The rule of thumb is that the higher the swing speed, the more forceful your transition move to start the downswing, and the faster your swing tempo, the stiffer the shaft should be to fit your swing. Forceful swings and a late release put more bending force on the shaft than a swing than does a smoother tempo and transition, even though both swings might have the same speed.

Q. What is likely to happen if you choose a shaft flex that is wrong for your swing?

A. Well, mostly bad things! If the flex is too stiff, the ball

flies lower for any given loft, and probably shorter than maximum, because you don’t have the optimum launch angle. The ball is likely to fade offline to the target, because you can’t achieve the proper forward bending of the shaft, which leaves the clubface open at impact. If you have a shaft that is too flexible for your swing, the ball is likely to fly too high for any given loft, also resulting in a loss of distance. The ball will tend to draw at impact because the excessive forward bend of the shaft causes the clubface to rotate to a closed position.

Q. Are there industry standards for rating shaft flex?

A. No. The five generally accepted shaft flex designations are:

L for Ladies, A for Amateur (or senior flex), R for Regular, S for Stiff and X for Extra Stiff. When steel shafts were first introduced in the 1920s, manufacturers soon found that they could make shafts with different diameters and thicknesses in the shaft walls, creating product with different degrees of stiffness to match different swing speeds. However, no one standard was ever developed by the industry to define just how stiff any of the five flexes would be. One man’s R is another man’s S or A. This makes it even more important for golfers to find a club maker or sales professional who really knows the differences in shaft flex to properly advise you on shaft selection.

Q. How do I give myself the best chance of getting fitted properly for clubs?

A. When making any significant purchase, your best

chance of getting the right product for you is to deal with knowledgeable, professional sales people. PGA of Alberta club professionals take extensive training from club and shaft manufacturers to enhance their knowledge about how to best fit golf clubs to their members’ and customers’ needs.

Staff at major golf retailers are often also well trained in the industry. Ask your club professional or salesman about his or her training and experience in club fitting.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 41

T ravel

By Dunc Mills, Alberta Golf Volunteer

Ozzie! Ozzie! Ozzie!

O

n e of the perks of being copublisher of The Alberta Golfer for the last 20 years has been to occasionally receive invitations to visit fabulous golf destinations around North America, and to then be able to share my experiences at those locations with our readers. In previous issues of The Alberta Golfer, I have written travel feature articles about areas as diverse as Pinehurst, Laughlin, Coeur d’Alene, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama, and many others, but up until this year, the travel opportunities had all been within North America.

When I attended the PGA of America merchandise show in Orlando, FL in January, 2014, I received an invitation to a cocktail party hosted by Great Golf Courses of Australia, a marketing consortium based in Melbourne. It represents a selection of some of the finest golf courses and resorts in Australia and after being invited to come to Australia, I decided to take them up on the offer. After a surprisingly short 14-hour flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, I found myself in the land of kangaroos, cricket and vegemite, not to mention some of the world’s most incredible golf courses and spectacular scenery.

New South Wales Each of the Australian provinces I toured had its share of magnificent golf along with a myriad of things to see and do away from the courses. Sydney is the major municipality of New South Wales province and is truly one of the world’s great cities. With over five million people, rich and vibrant in culture, Sydney’s centerpiece attraction is of course the iconic Opera House. However, I quickly discovered that the golf is every bit as stunning.

New South Wales GC, opened in 1928 and designed by Alistair MacKenzie, is firmly inside the World Top 100 rankings and for good reason. Set along Botany Bay only a short drive from downtown, New South Wales GC has several holes bordering the ocean with the surf pounding the shoreline. The club’s general

manager is from Ottawa, so we got to talk hockey, too!

The Lakes GC in Sydney has hosted several major Australian professional championships and features two quite different nines. The front nine showcases the course’s superb bunkering while the back nine is more Florida-like, featuring lakes on virtually every hole. The train service in and around Sydney is both inexpensive and efficient, which prompted me to take a three hour excursion north of the city to Newcastle and Nelson Bay. Both cities feature fine golf courses and magnificent beaches. The clubhouse at the Nelson Bay GC reminded me of the one at Highlands GC in Edmonton, perched overlooking the 9th and 18th fairways. The major difference was that a bob of about a dozen kangaroos was grazing in the fairway, paying no mind to the golfers.

New South Wales GC

The Lakes GC 42 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 43

TOP: Metropolitan GC BOTTOM: Victoria GC

Victoria The biggest city in Victoria province is Melbourne, only slightly smaller than Sydney at over four million residents, but every bit as dynamic and stimulating as its northern neighbour. Melbourne is without doubt the major sports city of Australia, featuring impressive venues for tennis, Aussie Rules Football, cricket and also showcasing what is arguably the most tightly concentrated collection of world class golf courses on the planet.

The Melbourne Sandbelt is home to at least a dozen fantastic courses, including layouts the quality of Royal Melbourne, Victoria GC, Metropolitan, Woodlands and others, all in an area roughly the size of the south side of Edmonton! It was amazing to see so many excellent courses in such a relatively small geographical area.

Having the opportunity to play Royal Melbourne Golf Club was without question one of the highlights of my golf career. Having hosted two President’s Cups and other major events such as

44 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

TOP: Barnbougle Dunes BOTTOM: The National GC

Barnbougle Lost Farm

The Australian Open and The Australian Masters, Royal Melbourne fully deserves its place on many world Top Ten lists. Another Alistair MacKenzie design, the 36-hole layout was immaculate, visually spectacular and a total delight to play in the company of some of its members. Not only that, the annual member dues are less than many private and semi-private courses in Alberta which was typical of all the private clubs I played on the trip. Keep in mind this is for a 12-month season as well.

Literally almost across the street from Royal Melbourne is another sensational course, Kingston Heath Golf Club.

Featuring slick greens and bunkering every bit as challenging as that at Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath is ranked as the #4 course in Australia and from what I experienced, it certainly warrants the praise. The course has hosted seven Australian Opens, including as recently as 2009 when one Tiger Woods dropped in to compete.

Another Sandbelt gem is Victoria GC, also ranked in the world Top 100.

Over a century old, and designed with consultation with Alistair MacKenzie, Victoria GC features penal bunkering and lightning fast greens. Former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy is a member. One of the unique features of its remarkable clubhouse is the inclusion of 15 guest rooms for visitors who might want that Augusta National feel in Melbourne.

Just a short drive south of Melbourne on the Morningston Peninsula is The National Golf Club, an outstanding 54-hole facility, also ranked in the nation’s Top Ten. A relative newcomer to Aussie golf, The National Old Course was the first new layout in Melbourne in 60 years when it opened for play in 1988, followed by two additional courses that debuted in 2000. Check out their awesome YouTube flyover videos!

Tasmania Launceston in northern Tasmania is only a short 50-minute flight from Melbourne.

A lovely smaller city of about 60,000 surrounded by lush rolling farmland

and wineries, Launceston is filled with beautifully restored and maintained Victorian era buildings and homes. It is also only a 90-minute drive from the two newest and perhaps most impressive additions to Australian golf: Barnbougle Dunes and Barnbougle Lost Farm.

True links style courses sprawling through immense sand dunes, and featuring luxurious on-site accommodations, the two Barnbougle courses created immediate buzz in the golf world from the moment they opened. Led first by the Dunes course in 2004 and followed by the Bill Coore-Ben Crenshaw designed Lost Farm course in 2010, both layouts generated instant world wide praise and are now both firmly ranked in the Top 25 on the planet. After playing Barnbougle, you can see Rod Whitman’s Coore and Crenshaw influences in the bunkering and course routings that Rod used with Blackhawk and Wolf Creek here in Alberta.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 45

T ravel South Australia

Kingston Heath Golf Club

South Australia’s crown jewel is Royal Adelaide GC, another World Top 100 beauty. Although not listed as the architect of record, Alistair MacKenzie was brought in to make some important changes to the course to make maximum use of the site’s magnificent natural features. One quirky feature is the commuter train that runs regularly right through the golf course.

Keep your head up crossing the tracks!

Royal Adelaide also had perhaps the best food value on the trip; a ‘sausage sizzle’ at the turn which was a wiener smothered in sautéed onions on a slice of bread for only $2.50. Give me two!

Taking a day off from golf in Adelaide gave me time to explore the incredible variety of wineries in the Barossa area, less than an hour out of the city. Home to some of the world’s finest wines, the Barossa valley is internationally famous for its food, cultural activities and amazing variety and quality of its wines. A tour of the valley is almost mandatory for visitors to Adelaide.

Queensland Queensland is the most tropical province in Australia, with Brisbane the major business and cultural city. With over two million people, Brisbane is rapidly closing in on Sydney and Melbourne as the “third city” in Australia and features its own unique golf and cultural landscape.

Brisbane has a fabulous art gallery brimming with exquisite aboriginal art.

Royal Queensland GC

Brisbane and the nearby Sunshine Coast feature an exciting variety of outstanding golf courses, but the two marquee properties in the province are Royal Queensland GC in Brisbane and the amazing Hamilton Island GC, a short flight north on Dent Island at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.

Royal Queensland GC was the home course to both Greg Norman and Adam Scott as young professionals, so it certainly has the pedigree of producing world class players. One tour around the place reveals why these two Aussie golf icons were able to hone their games on this fabulous course.

Hamilton Island GC is less readily accessible, as you have to fly first to Hamilton Island and then helicopter or ferry into the course, located on its

own private island. This is a unique golf experience, to be sure, but possibly the most exquisite setting for a golf getaway in the entire country. Bring your snorkel.

Impressions Australia is in many ways much like Canada. Its dollar is close to par with ours, and the money is also the polymer plastic type we use, but in different colours than here in Canada.

I kept mixing up the $5s and the $10s!

Australians also speak English, sort of. I had to buy an Aussie slang dictionary to decipher some of the local colloquialisms but I managed well enough. “My putting has gone walkabout!” “This course is in great nick!” “That putt was as easy as spearing an eel with a spoon!”

Aussies love their beer, as do Canadians, and I did my best to sample as many Aussie craft brews as time permitted.

There are plenty of subtle differences too, not the least of which was driving on the other side of the road! I rented a car several times and while I didn’t have any crashes, it did take some practice before I was able to master getting from Point A to Point B without signalling to change lanes with my windshield wipers.

Revolving doors in office buildings go clockwise. The “up” escalator is on the left. Cars come at you from the right in traffic circles. Egg yolks are orange, not yellow. Ketchup is called tomato sauce and you have to ask for it with your chips.

Aussies are sports junkies like Canadians are, but for cricket and soccer and Aussie Rules football; not hockey and curling and the CFL. One thing that was unfailingly consistent across the country was the warmth and friendliness of the Australian people. I was grateful for the opportunity to play many of its best courses, and the club members were without exception wonderful people.

When I got lost or needed directions, everyone was more than willing to help.

The street life in the cities delivered an exciting vibe, with sidewalks busy with coffee shops, great little restaurants and stores. When I left Canada, I was hoping for the golf trip of a lifetime and I was certainly not disappointed.

OZ!

The Ultimate Golf Trip Made Easy Getting There Air Canada, Qantas and United all have flights direct from North America departing from Vancouver, Los Angeles or San Francisco. Air time is about 14 hours from the west coast with most flights going to Sydney, as well as Melbourne or Brisbane.

Currency Australian dollar. Currently close to par with CDN. ATMs widely available.

Internet and Wi-Fi Many hotels charge extra for internet access. Free Wi-Fi increasingly available at coffee shops, pubs and hotels.

Cell Phones Most mobile devices work on Australia’s networks, but some do not. Use global roaming or a local SIM card.

Tipping Not generally required but tip 10% in restaurants or taxis if you are happy with the service.

What To Bring Sunscreen. Insect repellent, especially for the tropics. Travel Insurance.

Electricity adapter. A visa (apply online) A taste for cold beer and fine wine.

Log On Greatgolfaustralia.com.au Access to many of Australia’s finest courses, along with personalized itineraries.

Australia.com Official tourism site with nation-wide visitor info.

Lonelyplanet.com Destination and hotel info, travel forum, medical and health advice

Royal Adelaide GC Royal Melbourne Golf Club 46 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 47

People

the

champions

By Wes Gilbertson, The Calgary Sun

Chandler McDowell

Reese Martin

Alberta Bantam Boys Championship

Alberta Bantam Girls Championship

Chandler McDowell arrived at Wintergreen Golf & Country Club with some unfinished business.

Consider it taken care of. The talented youngster from Red Deer was defeated in a playoff at the 2013 Alberta Bantam Boys Championship, which only sweetened the feeling of having his name engraved on the trophy one year later. “Losing in a playoff last year hurt, but it also gave me motivation to win the next year because I knew I had a good chance,” McDowell said. The bantam boys put on a show at Wintergreen, but McDowell — a junior member at Red Deer Golf & Country Club — was the only one to finish in red numbers. With a twoday total of 1-under 143, he scratched out a onestroke victory. “I just played consistently,” McDowell said. “I hit the ball quite well and I putted well. A lot of greens and a lot of two-putts.”

Reese Martin didn’t leave much room for improvement. Nonetheless, the up-and-coming golfer from Brooks still managed to one-up herself at the 2014 Alberta Bantam Girls Championship at Wintergreen Golf & Country Club in Bragg Creek. Martin was the runner-up at the provincial showdown as a 13-year-old but crossed an item off her to-do list with a seven-shot victory in her final crack in the age category.

Frank Van Dornick

“After finishing second, I really wanted to win it this year,” said Martin, a regular at Brooks Golf Club.

“So I was really happy.” She certainly earned it.

Martin circled two birdies in her opening round, building a five-shot lead at the midway mark of the 36-hole event. She once again posted the lowest score on the second day, finishing with a two-round tab of 23-over 167. The key to her success? “I was hitting my driver and my approach shots really well,” she recalled.

Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Men’s Championship

It was an encouraging start, and a unique finish.

Frank Van Dornick of Camrose celebrated a wire-to-wire victory at the 2014 Guardian Capital Alberta Senior Men’s Championship, although he was sitting in the clubhouse at Whitecourt Golf & Country Club when he was declared the winner after the final round was scrapped due to severe weather conditions. With a two-day tab of 8-under 136, Van Dornick — a member of the Alberta Golf Hall of Fame — claimed his third Alberta Senior title. “I opened the tournament with a birdie, which is something for me,” Van Dornick said. “It’s normally a curse if you make one right away, but I didn’t do anything dumb on the second hole, so I figured, ‘This might go OK today.’ It just held up for two days. We didn’t have a third day to see if it wasn’t going to continue or not, but I was certainly confident in my game.”

48 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 49

Jackie Little

Lindsay Leahul & Deanna Watkins

Rhonda Phibbs & Charlotte Carrier-Reilly

Jackie Little Alberta Senior Ladies Championship

Jackie Little always enjoys coming back to the Wild Rose Province. If she keeps this up, the rest of the regulars at the Alberta Senior Ladies Championship will get sick of seeing her. Little, who was raised in Edmonton but now lives in Port Alberni, B.C., repeated as Alberta’s provincial senior ladies champion with a two-stroke victory at Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club. “It’s like a reunion. It’s always fun to go back and see old friends from the junior days and build new friendships with people that you haven’t met,” said Little, who won two provincial junior titles and two Alberta Ladies Amateur crowns before moving west. “For us B.C. girls that have been going, I think we’ve developed a really nice bond with the Alberta girls. It really is fun.”

Based on a look at the leaderboard, nobody seems to have more fun than Little, who signed for a threeround total of 17-over 233 in blustery conditions in Medicine Hat. “I’m not always a great wind player, but mentally, I handled it really well,” she said.

Chris Patterson

Rhonda Phibbs & Charlotte Carrier-Reilly GFTC Alberta Ladies Team Classic North

Rhonda Phibbs would love to repeat as winner of the Golf Fore the Cure Alberta Ladies Team Classic North, but she’s also busy convincing others to try to knock her from that perch. Phibbs and her playing partner, Charlotte Carrier-Reilly, finished tops among 32 teams at the best-ball event in 2014, with the duo from Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club combining for a net score of 13-under 131 over two days at Devon Golf & Curling Club. “I’m always trying to recruit ladies to go into tournaments,” Phibbs said.

“Ladies are very hesitant for some reason. They think they have to be a low-handicap golfer or they have to play well all the time to be in tournaments, and that’s not the case. If you’re a competitive person, it’s definitely something you should try.” And, of course, you’ll want to bring a friend to this fun-first event.

“As a team, you have to find somebody that’s compatible with you, and I got lucky this year,” Carrier-Reilly said.

Lindsay Leahul & Deanna Watkins Chris Patterson GFTC Alberta Ladies Team Classic South

When Lindsay Leahul and Deanna Watkins signed up for the Golf Fore the Cure Alberta Ladies Team Classic South, it certainly wasn’t with a ‘win-or-else’ mentality. “We were just going to have some fun and to hopefully not embarrass ourselves,” Watkins said with a laugh.

Turns out, Leahul and Watkins — both regulars on ladies’ night at Collicutt Siding GC in Crossfield — left Coyote Creek Golf & RV Resort in Sundre with the championship trophy after combining for a net score of 24-under 118 in the two-day best-ball event. “Winning was just the cherry on top,” Leahul said. “It was a really enjoyable experience. We were paired up with some really nice people. Everybody was really friendly.

It was a lot of fun.” Added Watkins: “It’s not a stressful tournament to play in. We both really enjoyed it.”

50 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Alberta Men’s Mid-Handicap Championship

It was Chris Patterson’s first Alberta Golf event.

Thanks to some of the little details, the 2014 Alberta Men’s Mid-Handicap Stableford Championship felt a little bit like his first PGA Tour event, too. “You felt like the pros with the sign-carrier on the second day,” Patterson said. “That was pretty neat.” A member of the Alberta Public Player Club, Patterson posted impressive numbers for the standard-bearer to showcase in that final round at Glendale Golf & Country Club in Edmonton. In fact, the Calgarian carded a new career-best with a 73, collecting 36 points in the Stableford scoring system. He won the event — open to players with a handicap between 6 and 24 — with 64 points in two days.

“The format really suited my game,” Patterson said.

“It encourages you to take risks and shoot good numbers. The second day, I just got on a roll.”

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Mary Bishop & Charlotte Carrier-Reilly

Country Hills Golf Club

Charlotte Carrier-Reilly Alberta Ladies Mid-Handicap Championship

Charlotte Carrier-Reilly found a new good-luck charm. With her husband, Frank Reilly, carrying her clubs during the opening round, Carrier-Reilly got the ball rolling on a memorable victory in the 2014 Alberta Ladies Mid-Handicap Championship in Camrose. “He helped me on a few shots and helped me read the greens a little bit,” Carrier-Reilly said. “That was really nice of him to do that and I really enjoyed it. He couldn’t caddy the second day, but I managed to pull through on my own.” A member at Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club, Carrier-Reilly carded a two-day score of 26-over 168. It marked her first victory at the mid-handicap tourney, open to any woman with a handicap factor between 12 and 40.4. “I’ve played that tournament many times and I’ve been second twice, so it was a goal of mine to win it,” CarrierReilly said.

Mary Bishop Marg Ward Championship

Mary Bishop had a blast at the 2014 Marg Ward Championship. And that was even before the surprise ending. “I was absolutely flabbergasted when I found out I had won,” Bishop said. “I didn’t even go look at the scores when I finished the second round, so it totally surprised me.”

Bishop had a simple reason for signing up for the 2014 Alberta Ladies Mid-Handicap/Marg Ward Championship — the two-day tournament was at her home track in Camrose. Now she understands why some ladies consider it a can’t-miss event on Alberta Golf’s calendar. “I really enjoyed every minute of it,” Bishop said. “It was nice to be at our home course, and I enjoyed the camaraderie of all the ladies from all around Alberta. It was a lot of fun. I highly recommend it.”

Frank Van Dornick

Country Hills Golf Club Alberta Men’s Interclub

The boys from Country Hills Golf Club played well.

Even better, Mother Nature played nice. The crew from Country Hills GC in Calgary — Don Blair, Clay Brunette, Jeff Diduck and Jody Welder — claimed bragging rights at the Alberta Men’s Interclub event, outlasting the team from Turner Valley GCC in a playoff. “We finished our round and we were sitting around having a beer and the rain came down for about a half-hour. But when we found out we had to go out for a playoff, the sun came back out,” Diduck said. “It was beautiful. It just turned out to be a fantastic day.” Three of four gross scores are counted on each hole at the Alberta Men’s Interclub. Diduck and his pals posted a tally of 1-under 212 in the one-day competition at Canmore Golf & Curling Club.

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Frank Van Dornick Alberta Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship

Frank Van Dornick was, in his own words, “returning to the scene of the crime.” And he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

When Van Dornick arrived at Athabasca Golf & Country Club for the 2014 Alberta Men’s MidAmateur Championship, he couldn’t avoid the painful reminders of a final-round collapse 15 years earlier in the same event and on the same tree-lined test. “What I was going into with that tournament with was the memory of losing with a five-shot lead on the last day,” Van Dornick said. “I was really hoping I could make amends.” He sure did. Van Dornick once again pieced together a five-stroke lead after two rounds and finished the job with a 2-under 70 in his last lap. He signed for a three-day score of 2-under 214, finishing five strokes clear of the field. “It was nice to change my memory of that course,” Van Dornick said.

A unique golfing experience, Shadow Mountain introduces 19 of the most breathtaking holes imaginable. Traversing through local pines, across rolling mountainous terrain and finishing with arguably the four most visually stunning holes in Canada. Standing 125 feet above the fairway two of the four finishing holes leaves you breathless and exhilarated all at the same time.

Each hole was unique in creativity, unsurpassed in playability with bent grass tees, fairways and greens in addition to strategically positioning each hole with views of the beautiful mountain peaks such as Fisher Peak, the Steeples and the Purcell mountain range.

P: 250-426-3306 TF: 1-877-426-3306 www.shadowmountain.ca 52 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

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Rules Wrecks Where Did I Go Wrong?

T

he Rules of Golf can seem very complicated. But the Rules can be our friend on the golf course, too. In my experience as a Rules Official for Alberta Golf, I have found that there are some common mistakes that players make repeatedly. Here are three of the most prevalent.

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1. Determining where to drop when using a Nearest Point of Relief drop is a multistep process.

On many occasions I have observed a player taking relief from a cart path by measuring one club length from the side of the path where his ball was situated, picking up his ball and dropping it within one club length no closer to the hole. The correct procedure for taking relief from an Immovable Obstruction (optional), an Abnormal Ground Condition (optional) or a Wrong Putting Green (required) involves a bit more process and attention to ensure we get it right and play within the Rules.

1. Find the nearest point of relief. Use the club you would most likely use if the condition were not there. Find the closest point on the golf course that is not nearer the hole and provides you complete relief for your stance, swing and ball position.

When taking relief from a cart path, first determine your nearest point of relief. In this case, the nearest point of relief for these right-handed golfers is on the left side of the cart path where the player’s clubface is soled on the ground.

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2. Drop within one club length of this point no closer to the hole.

Common mistakes: Using the most convenient point of relief instead of the closest point; not taking complete relief from the condition; taking two club lengths instead of one.

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Golf is a game where for the most part we police ourselves. One of the fundamental principles of golf is that we accurately keep our score for each hole. One of the most common mistakes made by a professional is that the player incurred a penalty sometime during the round and did not realize it. The player then did not include a penalty stroke(s) in the score for that hole, subsequently signed his scorecard for what was an incorrect score lower than he actually made, resulting in disqualification. A common mistake made by recreational and amateur tournament golfers is that our marker inadvertently writes a score down incorrectly and we don’t check it properly before leaving the scoring area. This would also result in disqualification if we signed for a score lower than we actually took, or we have to accept the score if we signed for a number higher than we actually made.

Tip for Players: Keep your own score separately so that you have a cross reference to compare with your marker in the scoring area.

56 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

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2. Player signs for an incorrect score on a hole.

We have all seen instances on television where a PGA Tour player is disqualified because he didn’t sign for the correct scores on his scorecard. We are always amazed at how this could possibly happen. Are they cheaters, are they forgetful? Actually it occurs frequently and is not done intentionally.

Rules Official Herb Schlotter instructs player Borden Woytkiw to drop the ball within one club-length of his nearest point of relief.

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3. Ball in Water Hazard played from hazard but doesn’t get out.

When a player finds her ball in a Water Hazard or Lateral Water Hazard in a playable position it is quite acceptable to try to play the ball out rather than having to take a penalty stroke and drop it out. Sometimes however the player doesn’t get the ball out of the hazard and the player is then in a quandary as to what to do next.

If you play your ball and it is still in the hazard, you have a number of options: 1. Play it as it lies again.

2. Drop a ball from where you played your last stroke from outside the hazard.

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3. Take relief using the point where the ball last crossed the margin of the hazard under Rule 26 which covers your options for both Water Hazards and Lateral Water Hazards.

Common mistakes: The player doesn’t realize she still has relief options and then proceeds to take several strokes at the ball while it is still in the hazard, or proceeds to take relief incorrectly which may result in further penalties that could even result in disqualification.

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2015 Alberta Golf

Tournament Schedule June 1, 2015

June 9,11,12, 2015

Alberta Open Qualifying North

June 1 Millwoods GC

South

June 1 River Spirit GC

Field: Maximum 120 players at each site

Field: Maximum 16 players

Alberta Men’s Amateur Qualifying

Event: 18 holes of stroke play.

Qualifying positions determined by regional participation

North

June 9 Mighty Peace GC

South

June 11 Picture Butte GC

Eligibility: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 5.0 at registration close

Central June 11 Olds GC

Entry closes: May 26, 2015

Alberta Junior (U19) & Juvenile (U17) Qualifying North

June 7 The Dunes GC

South

June 7 Henderson Lake GC

Calgary June 8 Fox Hollow GC Edmonton June 9 Twin Willows GC

Eligibility: Alberta Golf members under 19 years old as of August 1st each year, and have a maximum certified Handicap Factor of 15.0 at registration close Scan this code to view full schedule on your device.

Entry closes: June 1, 2015

Eligibility: Lowest 16 amateur scores from the Alberta Open will be invited to compete

June 22, 2015

Calgary June 12 Muirfield Lakes GC

Event: 18 holes of stroke play.

Qualifying positions determined by regional participation Eligibility: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 8.0 at registration close Entry closes: June 5, 2015

June 15 – 16, 2015 Alberta Open Championship presented by

Alberta Senior Men’s Qualifying North June 22 Sturgeon Valley G&CC South June 22 McKenzie Meadows GC Field: Maximum 120 players at each site Event: 18 holes of stroke play.

Qualifying positions determined by regional participation Eligibility: Alberta Golf members 55 & over as of the first round of the 2015 Canadian Senior Men’s Championship, and have a maximum certified Handicap Factor of 20.0 at registration close Entry closes: June 16, 2015

Field: Maximum 120 players at each site Event: 18 holes of stroke play.

Qualifying positions determined by regional participation

Event: Matchplay

Edmonton June 12 Sandpiper G&CC Field: Maximum 120 players at each site

June 7,8,9, 2015

June 17 – 18, 2015 Alberta Match play Championship

Carnmoney Golf & Country Club

June 29 – July 1, 2015

Field: Maximum 96 players Event: 36 holes of stroke play Eligibility: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified Entry closes: May 26, 2015

Alberta Men’s Mid Handicap Stableford Championship Pinebrook Golf & Country Club Field: Maximum 120 players Event: 36 holes of gross & net stableford competition Eligibility: Alberta golf members 19 years & over as of August 1st each year and have a certified handicap factor between 6.0 – 30.0 at registration close Entry closes: June 18, 2015

Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club

Henderson Lake Golf Club

Field: Maximum 120 players

Field: Maximum 48 players Event: 54 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut to low 30+ ties Eligibility: Alberta Golf members under 19 years old as of August 1st each year, and have a maximum certified Handicap Factor of 25.0 at registration close Interprovincial Team Selection: Low three (3), Junior Girls Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Junior Girls Team Entry closes: June 23, 2015

June 29 – July 2, 2015 Alberta Junior (U19) & Juvenile (U17) Boys Championship presented by

Henderson Lake Golf Club Field: Maximum 120 players Event: 72 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut to low 60+ ties & age protection Eligibility: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified Interprovincial Team Selection: Low three (3), Junior Boys Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Junior Boys Team Entry closes: June 1, 2015

58 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

July 20 – 23, 2015

Alberta Junior (U19) & Juvenile (U17) Girls Championship presented by

June 24 – 25, 2015 Carnmoney Golf & Country Club

Red Deer Golf & Country Club

Lynx Ridge Golf Club

Event: 72 holes of stroke play. 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties Eligibility: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified

Alberta Mid-Amateur Championship

Interprovincial Team Selection: Low three (3), Men’s Amateur Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Men’s Amateur Team.

Coyote Creek Golf & RV Resort

Entry closes: June 5, 2015

July 7 – 9, 2015

Field: Maximum 120 players Contest 1: 54 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut to low 60+ ties Contest 2: Mid-Master; 54 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut within Event 1 cut of low 60+ ties Eligibility: Alberta Golf members 25 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Mid Amateur Championship. Mid Master competitors must be 40 & over as of the Canadian Men’s Mid Amateur Championship.

Handicap Factor Eligibility: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 8.0 at registration close Interprovincial Team Selection: Low two (2), Mid-Amateur Championship medalists, and low Mid Master Championship medalist will be selected as the Alberta Mid-Amateur Team Entry closes: July 1, 2015

July 14 – 16

Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship

July 28 – 30, 2015

Lynx Ridge Golf Club Field: Maximum 120 players Contest 1: 54 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut to low 30+ ties if the field is over 50 players; if under, a cut will be at the discretion of the Tournament Committee Contest 2: Mid-Amateur; 54 holes of stroke play Contest 3: Mid-Master; 54 holes of stroke play Eligibility: Maximum Certified Handicap factor of 25.0 at registration close. Mid-Amateur competitors must be 25 years & over as of the first day of competition. Mid master competitors must be 40 years & over as of the first day of competition Interprovincial Team Selection: Low three (3), Ladies Amateur Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Ladies Amateur Team Entry closes: July 8, 2015

Alberta Senior Men’s Championship Red Deer Golf & Country Club Field: Maximum 120 players Contest 1: 54 holes of stroke play.

36 hole cut to low 60+ ties Contest 2: Super Senior; 54 holes of stroke play. 36 hole cut to low 60+ ties Eligibility: Alberta Golf members 55 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship.

Super Senior competitors must be 70 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship.

Handicap Factor Eligibility: Players that are exempt or those that have qualified Interprovincial Team Selection: Low three (3), Senior Men’s Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Senior Men’s Team Entry closes: June 16, 2015

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 59

Courses Hotels Amenities Rates

2015 Alberta Golf Tournament Schedule August 18 – 19, 2015

August 25 – 26, 2015

Alberta Bantam Championship Alberta Senior Ladies Championship

Goose Hummock Golf Resort

Glencoe Golf & Country Club

Contest 1: Championship – 36 holes of stroke play

Field: Maximum 120 players Contest 1: 54 holes of stroke play.

Contest 2: Super Senior; 54 holes of stroke play.

Eligibility: Alberta Golf members 50 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship. Super Senior competitors must be 65 years & over as of the first day of the Canadian Women’s Senior Cha mpionship.

Handicap Factor Eligibility: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 30.0 at registration close Interprovincial Team Selection: Low three (3), Senior Ladies Championship medalists will be selected as the Alberta Senior Ladies Team

Field: Maximum 72 players

Entry closes: August 5, 2015

Barrhead GC

South

River’s Edge GC

Event: 36 holes of four ball net stroke play. Teams divided into flights based on their overall team handicap

Eligibility: Alberta Golf members under 15 years old as of August 1 each year will be eligible for the Championship. Members under 13 years old as of August 1 each year will be eligible for the Novice division

Entry closes: August 12, 2015

North

Field: Maximum 120 players at each site (60 teams)

Contest 2: Novice – 36 holes of stableford competition

Handicap Factor Eligibility: Maximum certified Handicap Factor of 36.4 for boys and 40.4 for girls at registration close. Novice players are required to have at least 4 verified 9 hole scores under 64

By LINE

GFTC Ladies Team Classics

Eligibility: Teams must possess a combined Handicap of 25.0 or more Entry closes: August 19, 2015

Canmore Golf & Curling Club

Eligibility: Alberta golf members 19 years & over as of August 1st each year and have a certified handicap factor between 12.0 – 40.0 at registration close

RED ROCK GOLF TRAIL

Entry closes: August 26, 2015

September 10, 2015 Alberta Men’s Interclub

September 2 – 3, 2015 Alberta Ladies MidHandicap / Marg Ward Stableford Championship D’Arcy Ranch Golf Club Field: Combined 120 players

Canmore Golf & Curling Club Field: Maximum field of 32 teams; 4 players per team. Maximum quota of 4 category II clubs and 28 category I clubs; registration on a first come first serve basis

Contest 1: 36 holes of gross & net stableford competition

Event: 18 holes of stroke play. Best 3 out of 4 scores per hole are counted – gross and net prizing

Contest 2: Marg Ward; 36 holes of gross & net stableford competition for higher flighted competitors

Eligibility: Certified handicap of 20.0 or lower at registration close Entry closes: September 4, 2015

10 Courses 189 Holes 365 Days

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2015-03-30 3:13 PM

My Golf Trip Planner

Courses

REDROCKGOLF .COM

them all if you dare! That’s 189 holes to get your game on. Oh, and not to mention we’re open for play 365 days a year. In this dry and temperate desert climate it’s always good weather for golf.

Off season? No such thing in St. George.

With nine franchised hotels that offer resonable rates, comfortable beds and hearty breakfasts, you’ll find accomodations that meet your expectations.

So pack your bags, shine your clubs, and get a new sleeve of your favorite golf balls because by the time you’re done with this brochure you’ll be booking the golf trip of your dreams. You’ll see how affordable and easy it is on the Red Rock Golf Trail.

Course Info 1 of 10 | | Holes......27 Par........108 Yards......10,240 Rating.....73.0 Slope......137 Golf Pro...Reed McArthur Tel........435.627.4400

GAME ON!

The Point - Hole 5 Sunbrook Golf Club is right in town and has a great variety of what the Red Rock Golf Trail has to offer. Play from the top of the bluffs to the desert floor. Shoot through black lava rock and try to avoid the red sand traps. With beautiful views of red rock formations and nearby alpine mount-

In

It’s time for a golf getaway, and you’re ready for some serious tee time. How about a new golf destination with a small town atmosphere and big time golf? There is a place where you can get away and focus on your game.

Comfortably nestled in the southwest corner of Utah, St. George is only 90 minutes north of Las Vegas right on I-15. Experience impeccable greens, impressive accommodations and eclectic dining, with plenty of other great activites to keep you busy while you’re not on the greens.

The Red Rock Golf Trail will take you for the ride of your life without breaking the bank!

We’ve got 10 challenging courses to choose from. Play

Sunbrook Get your

There is a Place...

|||

TOWN

ians, you’ll be in awe over the amazing landscapes that surround this course.

Bridges, water hazards and elevation drops make every hole an adventure. There is even a par 3 island hole that will leave you dreaming about a hole in one.

The Ledges Course Info 2 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........72 Yards......7145 Rating.....74.2 Slope......137 Golf Pro...Michael Sweet Tel........435.634.4640

- Hole 12 The Ledges Golf Club comes with unique views of it’s own. The red rock panoramas from the rim of Snow Canyon State Park make you feel like you’re playing golf in a postcard. Designed by renowned golf course architect Matt Dye this course has a friendly

atmosphere with an upscale pro shop and delightful restaurant. Four separate tee boxes with long and open fairways promise a rewarding round for everyone in your group. The front nine is set up well to help you break in your driver, and the back nine is a great test to see how well you can control your irons.

||| Courses YARDAGE

Sand Hollow

Falcon Ridge

Course Info

Course Info

3 of 10 | | Holes......27 Par........108 Yards......10,310 Rating.....73.7 Slope......137 Golf Pro...Adam Jasperson Tel........435.656.4653

5 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........72 Yards......6550 Rating.....71.6 Slope......138 Golf Pro...Brian Wursten Tel........702.346.6363 Desert

Most

REDROCKGOLF .COM

Sand Hollow Golf Club has it’s own standard for unique course design that includes an 18 hole championship track as well as a walkable 9 hole links style course. Have you ever played golf on a cliff? Well, get ready because on this John Fought course, you might find yourself teeing one off

Falcon Ridge Golf Club is another desert gem on the Red Rock Golf Trail. Just 40 minutes south of St. George, it’s totally worth the drive. This course has so many water features you’ll forget you’re golfing in the desert. With all its elevated tee boxes you’ll see a side of golf you’ve never seen before.

over the edge just to see how far you can make it fly. Combine that with the reflecting sunset on the Virgin River as you finish your round and you’ll be wishing you had your best buddy there with you (and I don’t mean your new driver).

Sky Mountain

Watch out for the white sand bunkers just ready to swallow up your strays. Scoring opportunities come quickly at first, and good thing because you’ll definitely need the extra strokes later. Bring everyting you’ve got for this one, including your smile - you’ll be glad you did.

Coral Canyon

Course Info

Tactical Strategy |

4 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........72 Yards......6363 Rating.....70.9 Slope......131 Golf Pro...Kent Abegglen Tel........435.635.7888

Sky Mountain is as scenic as it is challenging. Don’t be fooled by the yardage, you’ll earn every stroke here. But when you shave one or two off, it’s all the more satisfying. The course is appropriately named for the amazing views from the

GEM

Hole 6 Par 3 Yards 122 -1 shot to the green -Long putt for the birdie

-Avoid the ball-eating bunnies

elevated tee boxes. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself gazing off at the cliffs of Zion National Park and the azure rim of the Pine Valley Mountains in the distance. Anywhere you look and anytime you play, it’s simply gorgeous!

Coral Canyon Golf Club is all about the colors. You will be amazed at how green the fairways are in this rustic desert. The way the sunshine and blue skies brighten up the greens will make you feel like you’re playing golf in paradise. The fairways here

Course Info 6 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........72 Yards......7029 Rating.....73.5 Slope......142 Golf Pro...Marco Leoni Tel........435.688.1700

are wide and nicely forgiving ‒ so go ahead, flex your muscles and go for your longest drive. The most common thing golfers say about Coral Canyon is just how fun it is.

Golf? Fun? Hmmm, now there’s an idea.

Courses

REDROCKGOLF .COM

Southgate

Course Info

Course Info

7 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........72 Yards......6859 Rating.....73.5 Slope......138 Golf Pro...Nick Neeley Tel........435.673.7888

8 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........71 Yards......6270 Rating.....69.2 Slope......119 Golf Pro...Eron Deming Tel........435.627.4440

might find yourself wanting to tee off a couple extra balls just to see if you can cut the corner to the green. This course will leave you with plenty of great stories and a deep desire to return for another chance to try again.

St. George

Adding

Southgate can be a walkable course for those looking to mix a little exercise in with their golf game. This is a “doable” course that weaves alongside the Santa Clara river ‒ just close enough to make it beautiful and keep the game interesting.

Eight of the first nine holes have water features,

Local

Green Spring Golf Club is a favorite among locals and guests. Holes 5 and 6 have you shooting across red rock ravines that will get your heart racing. There is plenty of water here to have fun with, especially on number 15. You

Green Spring

TRADITION

Course Info

so you’ve got to be accurate. But the fairways are wide, so there’s usually a safe place to play. The back nine, however, is a different story. The narrow fairways and hills make you justify your front nine score. If you’re not happy with your results, Southgate also has a game improvement center with PGA professionals to help you dial things in.

EXERCISE

Dixie Red Hills Course Info

9 of 10 | | Holes......18 Par........73 Yards......7217 Rating.....73.7 Slope......126 Golf Pro...James Hood Tel........435.627.4404

St. George Golf Club is a course you won’t want to miss. Open since 1976, this course is a local tradition with large greens that make for long and rewarding putts. It’s another great course to walk to mix a little exer-

|||

10 of 10 | | Holes......9 Par........34 Yards......2733 Rating.....66.1 Slope......119 Golf Pro...Allen Orchard Tel........435.627.4444

cise in with your game. There are three par 3’s over water that you’ll have fun with, along with a couple holes where the greens are on a small peninsula. As the only par 73 on the trail, you’ll see why this course has been a favorite forever.

Dixie Red Hills is the pioneer of St. George golf, opening for play in the mid 1960’s. If you want to play in the red rocks, you can’t get any closer than this. You’ll be calling shots off the boulders, around the cliffs and through the trees as

you find your way to the green. The fairways are lined with large cottonwood trees which are great for shade and keeping your game on track. It’s a perfect place for a quick nine holes right in the heart of St. George.

Jet Air Service

Via Denver and Salt Lake

St. George Utah Airport is conveniently located only 15 minutes from town with flights on United Airlines via Denver and Delta Airlines via Salt Lake City. With these major connecting hubs, you can fly right in to our state-of-the-art SGU municipal airport literally any-

where from around the world.

Not finding a flight connection? No problem. Golfers love that we are just 90 minutes north of Las Vegas which has hundreds of flights every day.

So what are you waiting for?

You’ll find everything you’ve been looking for, more affordably than you could imagine and more scenic than you’ll believe.

DESTINATION

Destination

with endless options Aside from impresseive golf courses, St. George offers a wide variety of additional activities. Only 40 minutes away, the world-renowned Zion National Park attracts over 3 million visitors each year.

Here you can hike the famous Narrows and Subway slot canyons, or take in the grandeur of the Great White Throne and

Angels Landing. It’s an experience that will change your life.

That’s why people come to St. George over and over again, because there are endless affordable options for both the soft adverturer and the adrenaline junkie. We’ve got it all. That’s why we’ve adopted the slogan “Everything from A to Zion.”

365 DAYS OF PLAY

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Weather Information Precip. .9 in. .9 in. .9 in. .5 in. .4 in. .2 in. .6 in. .6 in. .6 in. .7 in. .6 in. .9 in.

Season peak peak peak peak peak off off off peak peak off off

indus t ry

Century at ‘Shag’

B

ob Rintoul’s love for golf began more than 70 years ago at the Shaganappi Point Golf Course. Rintoul was 12, a child of the Great Depression, when his parents bought a season’s pass. It was 1942 and somehow the family found enough money to play.

“We had very little,” he remembers. “We couldn’t even afford balls. So we’d go as a family into the ravine at Shaganappi and hunt for them. I think green fees were 25 cents for 18 holes but the yearly pass was affordable, even for my parents.”

This summer, Shaganappi celebrates its 100th anniversary.

Built in July, 1915, it was a bare-bones site that had once been home to a cemetery. But rocky topsoil proved too difficult for digging graves. When the cemetery was relocated, the city of Calgary decided to convert the property into the second public course in Canada, opening one year after the Victoria Golf Club in Edmonton.

Tournament ac

Package Rates Peak Season 4 Nights 4 Rounds

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“It’s the 100th anniversary of the municipality providing an affordable, recreational opportunity for Calgarians,” says Kyle Ripley, the city’s manager of golf course operations. “Golf affords the opportunity to get out and be physically and mentally active in a social setting. It’s a wonderful game from that perspective.”

eight to 98, from all walks of life; it was incredible how much they enjoyed playing Shag”

Jay Wilson agrees. He joined the course as club professional in 1978 after more than a decade at two of the country’s most prestigious and exclusive clubs – Jasper Park Lodge and the Victoria Golf Club. He never regretted moving to the municipal course. “People, ages eight to 98, from all walks of life; it was incredible how much they enjoyed playing Shag,” Wilson says.

That bond between Calgarians and Shaganappi formed quickly.

Between the first day of play and the remarkably late closing on November 30 that first year, eager citizens played 2,153 rounds.

Shaganappi was built in 26 days at a cost of $637.26 and total receipts that first year were $419.85. By March 1916, keen golfers were back playing and total rounds more than tripled.

Today, Shaganappi averages about 72,000 rounds each year. From a business operations perspective its traffic makes Shaganappi Calgary’s flagship facility among the eight city-owned courses.

tion at Shagan

appi Point GC,

cir

ca 1930. would putt on greens that were simply holes cut in a fairway; or made of sand and oil.

In later years they played on tiny grass greens. Land would be annexed. A nine-hole short course was built and became a hit especially with seniors.

Shaganappi, or “Shag” to the locals, sits high on a bluff overlooking the downtown’s west end. In its early days the course was a typical brown, barren prairie landscape. Today it’s a green oasis. The 137-acre site – small by normal design standards – accommodates a safely routed 18-hole course and a nine-hole executive Valley 9.

“People, ages

So stop day dreaming. It’s time to make it reality. Go to RedRockGolf.com, and click on My Golf Trip Planner. Really, it’s that easy. Before you know it you’ll be on your way and enjoying the golf adventure of your dreams.

Month Ave.Temp January 54 February 54 March 66 April 74 May 85 June 95 July 102 August 99 September 92 October 80 November 65 December 55

By Mike Dempster

Nothing, however, matched the changes started in 1997. For five years Shaganappi underwent a $4.5-million renovation. Multiple tee boxes, large, proper greens, a modern irrigation system and a new driving range transformed the facility.

What we never lost was the “fun” factor, says Lisa Lanctot, golf courses business development coordinator. The par-68, 18-hole layout appeals to the recreational golfer who wants to spend time with friends and have an enjoyable outing.

The par-32 Valley 9 is an executive style course that the now retired Wilson affectionately calls “Little Augusta”. Wilson believes a secret to Shaganappi’s success is its playability. All three nines are relatively short and it’s possible for anyone to score well.

Encouraged by their success and enjoyment, many men, women and kids stuck with the game. Wilson remarked that thousands of people then moved on to private courses when they could afford to join.

They were people like Bob Rintoul. He emerged from the Great Depression to work in the oil and gas industry and travelled the world playing iconic courses like Pebble Beach and the Old Course at St. Andrews. Golf, he says, has created a lifetime of memories – great times that began at Shaganappi.

From its first year, Shaganappi’s layout would change. Records show that as early as 1916, tee boxes and holes were being moved at the suggestion of golfers. Over the decades, players

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 69

People

By Jefferson Hagen, The Calgary Sun

Daryl James

Q & A

D

aryl James has been one of the top teaching and playing professionals in Alberta for decades.

A former four-time Alberta Men’s Amateur champion, James made a late-season splash in 2014 that had the Calgary golf community buzzing. The National Golf Academy teaching professional qualified for the Shaw Charity Classic Champions Tour event at Canyon Meadows, shooting rounds of 74, 75 and 69 to finish in 80th place. After also making it to the final stage of the Champions Tour Qualifying School, James has big plans to continue the momentum in 2015. Jefferson Hagen of The Calgary Sun sat down with James over the winter to catch up on his plans for the coming year.

Q: You’re coming off a pretty tremendous finish to the season. What was that experience like for you?

A: It was a lot of fun. It was kind of nice to get out there and play against some guys I played with in college. It was pretty cool.

Q: Who were some of those players?

A: Bill Glasson and I were roommates at Oral

Roberts University for awhile. I played against Willie Wood, who went to Oklahoma State, as well as Brad Faxon and Corey Pavin in the same era.

Q: To what do you attribute the uptick in your game, qualifying for the Champions Tour event?

A: I always thought my game was good enough

to be there. I just never put in enough time into actually going out there and doing it. When I qualified for the Shaw Charity Classic, I thought to myself, ‘this is what I want to do and should be doing!’ It has given me the incentive to do this again.

Q: Did you make any major swing changes? What was the difference that made the light go on, so to speak?

A: I’ve been trying to change my swing – I think

as an instructor we tinker a bit more than we should at times. But I’ve been drawing the ball my whole career. The last couple of years I’ve been trying to get the ball to fade a little bit.

When I saw Bill Glasson, he said ‘Why don’t you just go out there and play your natural shot? Just try to hit everything with a hook.’ So I did and I started to play better, so I’ve gone back to trying to draw the ball.

Q: What have you been working on over the winter, a continuance of that?

A: Yeah. I videotape my swing all the time and I’m just trying to get it where I’m more still over the ball. I have a tendency to move a little bit, so I’m really working hard on that. My ball striking is pretty good right now.

Q: Coming as close as you did, does it make

you hungrier for next year? Where do you see yourself this next season?

A: This year I’m going to go and try to do some

Champions Tour Monday qualifiers plus events like the U.S. Senior Open, the British Senior Open, and of course, the Shaw Charity Classic again. If I can get into some tournaments, it will give me more of that exposure. I think I can definitely play with anybody out there.

70 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

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By Brad Ziemer, The Vancouver Sun

industry

UBC is

Alberta Strong P erhaps Alberta should consider enlisting the help of Chris MacDonald to get that pipeline built to carry its oil to the west coast. After all, MacDonald, the longtime coach of the University of British Columbia men’s and women’s golf teams, has been highly successful in moving a different type of commodity from Alberta to British Columbia.

That would be collegiate golfers.

Their lengthy run of success has been due in no small part to significant contributions from a large number of Alberta imports. The current 11-member men’s team has five Albertans, while the sixmember women’s squad has two players from Wild Rose Country.

MacDonald credits a strong relationship with Alberta Golf with helping to identify and recruit a number of key players. “Alberta Golf has a full-time player development coach and I find that to be a really helpful resource to get good information,” MacDonald says. Convincing players to attend UBC is generally an easy sell to Alberta recruits. Vancouver is not too far from home, the golf program is a strong one featuring a U.S. schedule, and players get a quality education when they’re not swinging their clubs.

“It has been a pretty good fall and I hope to continue that this spring,” said Holmes, who credits his improved play with some time spent this past summer with a mental development coach recommended by Alberta Golf. Holmes posted a UBC record score of 14-under par when he won last fall’s 54-hole Western Washington Invitational at Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

“Evan is just someone who is not afraid to shoot under par,” says MacDonald. An economics major, Holmes says coming to UBC just made sense on a number of different levels. “I had a few options down south, but they were smaller schools,” Holmes says. “I feel like UBC was the perfect balance of education and athletics. Coming here has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Wood, who tied for fourth at last summer’s Golf Canada Canadian Junior Boys Championship, echoes those sentiments. Wood also had options south of the border but is happy he chose to commit to UBC. “I couldn’t be happier,” says Wood, who is majoring in kinesiology. Wood says his game has improved dramatically since joining UBC and having the ability to play year-round.

The UBC golfers play and practice at Shaughnessy “For a lot of students it is Alberta players have been key to the success of the UBC golf team.

Golf & Country Club, which their first chance to get is located just a couple of away from home so they are away but they are not too far away,” par-5s away from the UBC campus and has been the site of two MacDonald says. “With our increased length of season from recent RBC Canadian Opens. “I am getting a lot better,” Wood November through March, they can play here almost every day says. “Shaughnessy is really challenging and they have a firstinstead of having to hit balls indoors all winter. class practice facility. “ “I have found that there has been a long history of Alberta Wood also had a terrific fall season for the Thunderbirds. He won students coming to UBC to attend our university. The last couple the Concordia Classic in Portland, OR and fired an eight-under of players we recruited have had a big impact on our program 64 in the final round of the Western Washington tourney. “Jack is and are doing a great job in school as well. ” another player who came from a suggestion from Alberta Golf,” says MacDonald is speaking about Jack Wood and Evan Holmes, two key members of his men’s team. Both are in their second year at UBC, although Holmes is regarded as a junior because he transferred to UBC after one year at the University of Calgary.

Wood, who hails from Banff, and Holmes, a Calgarian, had stellar fall 2014 seasons for the Thunderbirds. In four events, Holmes won twice and also finished second and third.

72 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

MacDonald. “We’re very lucky to have him. He is very mature on the golf course, drives the ball well and his irons are so accurate.”

Wood says having some familiar Alberta faces on the UBC team made the transition an easy one for him. “Evan and I played lots of junior golf together growing up,” Wood says. “I also knew Scott Secord. It was really good to come out here and know people already.”

Scott Secord of Calgary

Jack Wood of Banff

Secord, now in his final semester at UBC, was one of the original Alberta pioneers. His collegiate career highlight came last summer when he won the individual title at the Golf Canada Canadian University and College Championship in Winnipeg with a seven-shot win in the 72-hole event. Like his teammates, he came to UBC in part because of its strong academic reputation.

“Of course education is important,” Secord says. “Many of us could have gone down to the States, but we would not be getting the schooling we need to excel outside of golf.”

a time, it looked the golf teams might get chopped but both teams now appear to be on solid financial footing with the university.

Secord jokes that he had one big concern about coming to UBC. “One of my fears was not being able to play in the rain,” he says with a laugh, adding that four years later he’s gotten used to having an umbrella as the 15th club in his bag.

“It was hard, not so much for myself because if the program did get cut, we’d still have one or two more years,” Secord says. “Losing the program would have been unfair, especially to the younger guys.

It really would have set back university golf in Canada.”

“MacDonald credits a strong relationship with Alberta Golf with helping to identify and recruit a number of key players.”

Secord is hoping he can end this year with an even bigger bang. He thinks the T-Birds, currently ranked third overall, have an opportunity to make a run at an NAIA national championship late this spring. Secord says, “We have great depth. Obviously, Evan and Jack had a stellar fall. I hope the rest of us can step up and win a national championship this year.” The other two Albertans on this year’s team are third-year player Scott Malo of Calgary and freshman Brett Pasula of Red Deer.

MacDonald began coaching the women in 2001 and the men in 2006, but the program had to go through some nervous moments last year when UBC underwent a review of its sports programs. For

Alberta has also been well represented over the years on the women’s team at UBC. Edmonton’s Kylie Barros helped lead the UBC women to NAIA titles in 2010 and 2012 before graduating. “She won both the NAIA and two Canadian university individual championships,” MacDonald says.

Reagan Wilson of Calgary, a fifth-year senior and Kat Kennedy of Okotoks are current members of the NAIA’s fifth-ranked UBC women’s team.

“Reagan has been a big part of our success and is our captain now,” MacDonald says. “She really rallies the girls well and is always contributing.”

That Alberta pipeline will deliver a couple of new recruits next fall. Edmonton high school champion Emily Creaser will join the women’s team, while former Canadian Juvenile champion Andrew Harrison of Camrose will play for the men.

“We have had some really good hard-working young people from Alberta who wanted to have success here,” MacDonald says. “It has worked out very well.”

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albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 73

industry

By Dunc Mills, executive director McLennan ross junior Golf tour

20years touring 2014 Tour Champions: Kenna Hughes (L) of Willow Park & Jared Nicolls (R) of Wolf Creek

of

I

hand to take souvenir photos of the players and before long, word of mouth and some terrific publicity in the Edmonton and Calgary Suns started to drive up interest in the Tour. Ryan Vold made Wolf Creek available to host our first Tour Championship and even though we finished practically in the dark that September afternoon, we could see a bright future for the Tour.

University, Srixon / Cleveland, Dairyland, Sobeys, PowerAde, Callaway, Original Joe’s, Avison Young, ATB Financial, and many more. Some were with us a year or two; others almost since the beginning but all have been very important and much appreciated.

We have had some fantastic sponsors over the years, without whose help the Tour could never have prospered. McLennan Ross has been our Title sponsor the entire way, and the Sun newspapers were our major media partner for 17 years. We have had some great Presenting Sponsors as well, including Crowe Mackay at this time but others such as Husky Oil (remember those stuffed Husky dogs?), AT&T Canada, Canadian Western Bank and Golfing Card.com.

White, Barrett Jarosch, Nicole Forshner, Ryan Yip, Susan Nam, Todd Halpen, Kaitlin Allan, Dustin Risdon, Mitch Evanecz, Jocelyn Alford and others come to mind from our earlier years and I’m sure I have missed many more fine players. More recently, outstanding players like Nick Scrymgeour, Jennifer Ha, Wilson Bateman, Jaclyn Lee, Tyler Saunders, Sabrine Garrison, Matt Williams, Kylie Barros, Andrew Harrison and Emily Creaser have all cut their competitive junior golf teeth on the Tour.

Our host sites make their courses available free of charge to the Tour for their Junior Opens. Four sites from our 1996 schedule remain on the Tour to this day: Lacombe, Ponoka, Innisfail and Our first few years, we were gradually growing the Tour as more Nanton, and we continue to hold the Tour Championship ever and more courses wanted to add their Junior Opens to our year at Wolf Creek thanks to the generosity and schedule. Within a few years, we had grown support of Ryan Vold. We have had tournaments from those first nine events in 1996 to over over the years in every corner of Alberta plus twenty tournaments per summer and with the Yellowknife (artificial greens and sand!), and unprecedented interest in junior golf, we had “our more Golden BC. We’ve been to Blackhawk and no lack of players to fill the fields. The Tour was immediate goal Glendale, Connaught and Sundre, Northern maturing too, as we fine-tuned our policies and is to continue to Bear and Royal Mayfair. Some courses were on procedures in our efforts to make Tour events make the Tour the Tour for years; others only once but all were fun, a great learning experience, and good as positive an terrific hosts that opened their doors to the kids. competition. By the turn of the century, we had experience as settled into a schedule of about 25-28 events per we can for the We have had some great junior golfers compete summer, as we were able to attract additional players” on the Tour. Who were some of the best? Names corporate partners willing to invest in junior golf. like Mike Mezei, Bari Erais, Dale Vallely, Adrienne

We have had outstanding support from Alberta’s corporate community over the years, including partners like Koch Ford Lincoln who have supplied us a Tour vehicle since 1998, MacEwan

What were some of the best rounds? Ryan Swelin’s 66 at the Tour Championship comes to mind, as does Chase Teron’s 69 at Wolf

2 0 th anni v ersary

t was twenty years ago today…….

With apologies to Sergeant Pepper, can it really be twenty years that the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour has been helping teach kids to play? Tens of thousands of players, nearly 500 tournaments and who knows how many strokes later, here we are celebrating our 20th Anniversary season!

Twenty years ago, the internet was in its infancy, Facebook and Twitter were pipe dreams and the OJ Simpson trial was getting underway. Tiger Woods was still an amateur, eBay and DVD’s launched, and Nintendo 64 was released.

In the winter of 1995-96, plans for a junior golf Tour in Alberta were put together by Randy Parker of Parcom Marketing, Craig Martin, the publisher of The Edmonton Sun, and Ryan Vold, owner of Wolf Creek Golf Resort. These men felt that there was a great opportunity in Alberta to ride the explosion of interest in junior golf that was being fuelled by the rise of Tiger Woods, Mike Weir and Lorie Kane. With a modest schedule of nine tournaments in our first summer in 1996, we set out to see what we could do to help provide more opportunities for young Albertans to get additional tournament experience close to home.

I still remember our very first event at River Ridge GC in Edmonton. We didn’t know really what to expect, but about 45 kids showed up. The Edmonton Sun had a photographer on Look at them then! Former Tour Champions: Ryan Plitz & Adrienne White, 2002 (L), Mitch Evanecz, 2003 (C) Ryan Swelin, 2001 (R)

74 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 75

indus t ry

By LINE

Wolf Creek Golf Resort has hosted the annual Tour Championship since the Tour’s first year in 1996.

Creek in horrendous wet and cold weather. Joel Shackleton’s 63 in 2008 at Montgomery Glen still stands as the boys’ Tour scoring record. Nicole Zhang’s 68 at McKenzie Meadows was superb and I don’t want to forget Adrienne White’s 72 at Wolf Creek the year after she and three other top junior girls got DQ’d after playing five holes from the wrong set of tees! Tyler Saunders’ 65 at Camrose that featured a 29 on the back nine was pretty special, too. We have had nearly 20 hole-in-ones, two double eagles, dozens of career rounds, and some crushing disappointments, too.

The Tour helps develop great players. Jennifer Ha (L) and Tyler Saunders (R) when they won the 2010 Tour Championship at ages 17 and 14. Look at them now!

It hasn’t all been sunshine and roses, though. We have sent some kids packing for club throwing and temper tantrums and some kids were in need of some arithmetic lessons. It happens, but for every case like that, the letters and emails we get from kids and parents thanking us for what we do with the Tour and the platform we provide for their children makes it all very worthwhile. For all the players who have gone on to play professionally, we are just as proud and more so of the thousands of other young people who hopefully have learned things about life and about themselves through junior golf that have driven them to be successful in school, in business and as parents of their own children.

What’s the future hold for the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour? I doubt I will be doing this at 75, but our more immediate goal is to continue to make the Tour as positive an experience as we can for the players who enter our events. We have an outstanding variety of host courses with very affordable entry fees and great competition.

We are starting to see a second generation of players as young parents who competed on the Tour in our early years now have junior golfers of their own. I have no doubt that junior golf in Alberta will continue to remain healthy. We are very proud of our first 20 years of achievement and look forward to many more to come.

76 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

2015 JuNior Tour Schedule 2014 TOuR CHAMPIONS: Kenna Hughes (L) of Willow Park & Jared Nicolls (R) of Wolf Creek.

June 6 | Drayton Valley GC Drayton Valley 780.542.3602

July 29 | Pinebrook GCC Calgary 403.246.3315

June 20-21 | Henderson Lake GC Lethbridge 403.329.6767

July 30 | Strathmore GC Strathmore 403.934.2299

July 2 | Barrhead GC Barrhead 888.674.3053

August 4 | Whitecourt GCC Whitecourt 780.778.3531

July 7 | Innisfail GC Innisfail 403.227.3444

August 6/7 | Goose Hummock GR Gibbons 780.921.2444

July 8 | Lacombe GC Lacombe 403.782.3951

August 10 | Stony Plain GC Stony Plain 780.963.2133

July 13 | Ponoka GC Ponoka 403.783.4626

August 12 | Edmonton Petroleum GCC Edmonton 780.470.0700

July 14 | Whitetail Crossing GC Mundare 780.764.3999

August 13 | Trestle Creek GR Entwistle 780.727.4575

July 15 | Montgomery Glen GC

August 17 | McKenzie Meadows GC Calgary 403.257.2255

July 16 | Camrose GC

August 20 | Black Bull GR Ma-Me-O Beach 866.586.2254

Wetaskiwin 800.419.2913 Camrose 780.672.2691

July 20 | Turner Valley GC Turner Valley 403.933.4721 July 21 | Carstairs GC Carstairs 403.337.3382 July 22 | Olds GC Olds 403.556.8008 July 27 | Canmore GCC Canmore 888.678.4785 July 28 | Country Hills GC Calgary 403.226.7777

August 24 | Nanton GC Nanton 403.646.2050 August 25 | Blackhawk GC Edmonton 780.470.4790

August 31 TOuR CHAMPIONSHIP Wolf Creek Golf Resort 866.783.6050

Plan Your 2015 Tour Schedule Now! It is easy to enter. Just pick out the events in which you wish to play and phone the host club to enter. Entry fees for one-day events will be in the $50-60 range; slightly higher for multi-day tournaments. Enter as many events as you like; there is no maximum.

Space is limited, and there are entry deadlines for each tournament, so enter early to avoid disappointment. Be prepared to pay entry fees in advance to ensure your entry is accepted. Official handicap factors are required to be eligible for net prizes. If you are not a member at a golf club, you can join the Alberta Golf Public Player Club to obtain and maintain an official handicap factor.

Tour competitors MUST adhere to the dress code of the host club as well as the Tour’s Code of Conduct.

For complete details on how the Tour works, visit our website at www.mrossjrtour.com

AGE ELIGIBILITy!

Tour events are open to any boy or girl born in the CALENDAR year of 1996 or later.

SRIxON ORDER Of MERIT

Earn Ranking Points at Tour events for the Srixon Order of Merit. Three age groups for boys plus Junior Girls.

See how you compare with other juniors on the Tour.

Wolf Creek Golf resort

By Andrea Kosa, AKPT Physiotherapy services

industry

Is Poor Posture Ruining Your Golf Game?

P

osture is something we can all improve, whether we play golf competitively or just for the fun of it. Building a solid posture base is important both for injury prevention and to improve performance. Once you have a solid base, there are many exercises to help improve overall strength, flexibility and speed.

posture, leaving muscles in your neck, chest, shoulders and back tight and weak. This reduces your mobility and negatively affects your ability to swing a golf club efficiently.

Hunching over a tablet or sitting in a poor position at your desk eight hours a day can lead to a prolonged change in your

For more information regarding a golf-specific physical assessment, please visit www.yourgolfbody.com

Bridge Goal is to keep lower back neutral while raising up off the floor using your buttocks (glutes). Keep hamstring activity to a minimum. Start with ten reps, holding each at the top momentarily.

Foam roller angels Goal is to reduce effects of slumping throughout the day. Relax the lower back. Slide the back of your hands up as high as possible. Keep your elbows on the floor. Start with five reps, holding each for five seconds.

ENT

TOURNAMENT D A T E S 2 0 1 5

1 4

n

Men’s Open

&

Saturday, July 18 & Sunday, July 19

oss r

McLennan Ross Junior Tour

21

Thursday, August 20

HPA 2015.indd 1 80 BlackBull | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

By Scott Simmons, CEO, Golf Canada

Here are two exercises that can help you build a solid base for your posture. Doing them correctly and without pain is more important than building up to a large number of reps.

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Black Bull Golf Resort, Ma-Me-O Beach, AB T0C 1X0 Located 3 miles west of Ma-Me-O Beach on Hwy. 13

A Systematic Approach to Player Development A

ny country with aspirations to excel in sport needs a long-term player development model and a strategy that nurtures participation at an early age, creates lifelong recreational enthusiasts and supports a high performance system to develop world-class athletes. Canadian golf is no different. This is why Golf Canada, in partnership with the PGA of Canada, is proud to launch the second iteration of the Long Term Player Development (LTPD) Guide for Canadian golf.

A key in player development is continuous improvement across age and stage appropriate benchmarks. Understanding LTPD also means embracing the important and sometimes sensitive role that parents play in athlete development. Unique to golf’s LTPD guide is the important Golf for Life stage, embracing the notion that over the course of a lifetime golf enthusiasts and competitive athletes alike can enjoy the health, social and recreational benefits inherent in the game.

The principles of LTPD are consistent across Canadian sport. Rooted in the Canadian Sport for Life initiative, Canadian golf’s LTPD guide is a sport specific version of Sport Canada’s Long Term Athlete Development framework and put a golf filter over nationally recognized best practices for developing sport. While the core audience includes coaches, instructors, facility managers, parents and participants, any sport enthusiast could benefit from the insights presented.

Regardless of the sport, the depth of participants impacts high performance success. More participants at every stage of development can have a direct correlation to results at the highest levels of competition. With a print version, web portal and downloadable smartphone app, the LTPD Guide is sure to be a tremendous resource for the Canadian golf community.

Find our more at golfcanada.ca/LTPD

LTPD is the blueprint for grassroots junior and high performance programs carried out by Golf Canada as the National Sport Federation along with our provincial partners such as Alberta Golf.

The international golf community has lauded Canada’s systematic approach to sport development. Working in lock step with our partners at the PGA of Canada and provincial associations, LTPD has presented a national framework rooted in best practices and benchmarking.

blackbullgolf.com 2015-03-30 1:53 PM

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 81

industry

By Craig Loughry, Golf Canada Director, Handicap & Score Centre

app_ad_8x1075-EN.pdf

M

What is the purpose of having a handicap in the first place? The beauty of golf is that players of different abilities can compete on a fair and equitable basis, whether it is for a small wager, or a club championship. In theory, an average weekend golfer could compete with Graham DeLaet or Michele Wie and have a fair match with the use of handicaps. Having and maintaining a handicap properly also provides you with a method to measure your ability, track your progress and chart your performance relative to other players.

2014-02-27

5:46 PM

Make the last stroke of your game with your finger.

Handicapping Made Easy

ost golfers have a general understanding of the word ‘handicap’ when it comes to golf. We could all probably come up with a pretty good definition of the system without having to look it up, but the terminology that defines the handicap system can be very challenging. Words and phrases like: handicap factor, handicap index, course handicap, differential, slope rating, gross score, net score, and target score can all be confusing. This article will hopefully help more clearly define some of the key aspects of having a golf handicap and using it properly.

1

Introducing the Golf Canada Score Centre Mobile App.

How do you get started? Virtually every golf club provides access to computers that calculate and adjust your handicap after you post your scores for every round. If you don’t already have a handicap, see your club professional or manager and he or she will help set you up in the system.

How do we determine how well golfers played on each course?

Some courses are more difficult than others, and some golfers play from different sets of tees. The handicap system automatically calculates what is called a differential, with a formula built into the computer taking into account your score adjusted for Equitable Stroke Control minus the course rating, multiplied by 113 (the average slope rating of all courses) and divided by the slope rating for the tees you played that day. It’s a little confusing at first, but it works! The system provides a handicap factor for you after as few as five rounds, so it is easy to get a handicap established.

Your handicap factor is a measurement of the potential scoring ability of a golfer. It is commonly thought that your factor, (called a handicap index in the States – it’s the same thing) is your

average score but that’s not exactly the case. The cool part of the system is that your handicap factor travels with you no matter what course or tees you play, with adjustments made for the relative difficulty of every course. You should “play to your handicap” only about once every five times you play.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Posting your scores to the Golf Canada Score Centre has never been easier.

• Post scores to GolfCanada.ca • Find rated courses near you • Look up a friend’s Golf Canada Handicap Factor • Calculate your Course Handicap

Post all of your scores properly. Know your handicap factor so you can convert it to a course handicap before playing. Know the number of handicap strokes you are entitled to for the course and the tees you play. Adjust your score for Equitable Stroke Control before posting. Every Alberta Golf member club has a certified Handicap Chairman to help answer your questions, or just phone Alberta Golf for assistance.

Download your FREE copy When you get to a different course, you today for iPhone or Android. can find out your course handicap for that Love the game. Grow the game.

Golf Canada and Alberta Golf are very day from handicap tables and conversion good at looking after the technical parts of charts at the course. These charts take the system, such as rating courses, and into account the slope rating for the tees providing the software and formulas. These services allow you to you wish to play that day and your handicap factor you brought simply go out and enjoy your round, track your improvement, set with you. This information is also available online or on the goals, or just have a friendly match with friends to see who buys new Golf Canada Score Centre app (see p. 86) which can be the first round after your game. The handicap system can help downloaded to your smartphone. The Golf Canada Score Centre make your golf more enjoyable, and isn’t that why we all play in makes it easy by tracking all of this for you, but players have the first place? responsibilities, too.

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Life’s brighter under the sun albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 83

WHAT’s New

What ’s new

Glencoe Invitational is Back!

2 01 5

F

New Holes in Olds!

Olds Central Highlands GC has long been one of Central Alberta’s top layouts. The community-owned course has more than enough challenge to have hosted several Alberta Golf events over the years.

General Manager and Head Pro Wade Bearchell has been the man in charge in Olds for 12 years. Bearchell oversaw a substantial renovation and upgrade program last fall with Nisku’s Puddicombe Golf Design and Construction in charge of the makeover.

“We have completely changed our 6th and 7th holes,” said Bearchell. “The 6th hole was a fairly easy reachable par-5, but it will now be a dogleg left par-4 that will play at 440 yards from the tips. The new green complex will be short and left of the former site of the 6th green.”

The 7th hole got a completely new look as well. Formerly a mid-length par-3 playing up to 170 yards, the new hole will now be a signature par-3 where the golfer will have to negotiate water as well as sand.

Alberta Sport Connection (ASC) is a notfor-profit Crown Corporation with a mission statement “to enhance, advocate and inspire participation and partnerships, as Albertans strive for excellence in sport.”

ASC is the organizer of provincial multisport games such as the Alberta Summer and Winter Games, the 55 Plus Summer and Winter Games, as well as participating in multi-provincial platforms such as the Canada Summer and Winter Games, Arctic Games and the Western Canada Summer Games. Tens of thousands of Albertans have taken part in these games as a participant, volunteer, official or spectator, not only in golf (see p. 92-93) but in a broad spectrum of other sports.

The Board of ASC is chaired by wellknown Edmonton sports personality and journalist John Short. Alberta Sport hosted a series of meetings over the winter with representatives of 95 provincial sport associations, including Alberta Golf, to help create Going The Distance: The Alberta Sport Plan 2014-2024. This ten-year initiative calls on all sports stakeholders in 84 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Puddicombe Golf did additional work on other areas of the course, upgrading some tee boxes and improving drainage. “Golfers who played here in late September got a preview of what the new holes will look like,” Bearchell raved. “We expect to have those changes in play by mid-summer, and until then the course will play as before.”

Fred Couples will be back at Canyon Meadows this summer to defend his Shaw Charity Classic title.

Shaw Charity Classic Wins President’s Award from The Champions Tour

“We expanded the water hazard that had been short and right of the green on #7,” said Bearchell. “This hole will without a doubt be the most picturesque and challenging par-3 on the course.”

Going the Distance witH the province to collectively align efforts and activities across a wide variety of sports.

Golf can learn from volleyball; hockey can learn from swimming, and so on.

Feedback obtained at the conferences and from the general public continues to reveal a broad spectrum of individual, community and societal benefits from sport. These benefits help contribute not only to the physical, psychological and emotional development of individuals, but also underlines how sport helps develop community cohesion and the impact of sport on universal concerns such as health care and overall quality of life.

Going The Distance will continue to investigate issues such as noncompetitive participation, affordability and skill development while striving for athletic excellence.

To learn more about Alberta Sport Connection, their mandate and programs, please visit their website at www.albertasport.ca

or many years, The Glencoe Invitational was one of the top amateur tournaments in Canada, annually attracting a field of outstanding amateurs from around the world, including Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. After a three-year hiatus, the Invitational is back!

R. Bruce Bailey & Thomas P. Wood

In Memoriam

Canada’s golf community mourns the loss of two well-known Albertans, both former presidents of the Royal Canadian Golf Association. R. Bruce Bailey and Thomas P. Wood, both of Calgary, passed away in March, 2015 within a few days of each other. Both Mr. Bailey and Mr. Wood were former presidents of the Royal Canadian Golf Association; Bailey in 1978 and Wood in 1987. Bailey was president of the Alberta Golf Association from 1971-72 and Wood was president of the AGA in 1970.

Bruce Bailey was a long-time member of the Calgary Golf and Country Club and an avid sportsman. His dedication and passion for the game of golf were evident to anyone who knew him. Bruce was 93 at the time of his death.

Tom Wood was a founding member of the Derrick Golf and Winter Club in Edmonton and one of a group of likeminded individuals who conceived of, lobbied for, and helped create Alberta’s iconic Kananaskis Country Golf Course. Tom was 87 when he passed away.

The contributions of these two gentlemen were substantial and long-lasting, both at the provincial and national levels. Their passion, dedication and love for golf will be missed.

The Shaw Charity Classic has quickly earned the reputation as one of the top events on the Champions Tour.

In only its second year of operation in 2014, the tournament earned the 2014 President’s Award, one of only four Tournament Awards presented annually by the Champions Tour, to honour and recognize their achievements.

Miller Brady, Senior VP & Chief of Operations for the Champions Tour, presented the award to Sean Van Kesteren, Tournament Director for the Shaw Charity Classic, at an awards dinner at Champions Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL last November. “The Shaw Charity Classic was an exceptional event in its first year and elevated its performance and stature on the Champions Tour in its second,” said Brady. The tournament thrilled huge galleries with arguably the most exciting finish of the Champions Tour season as fan favorite Fred Couples fired a course record 61 in the final round capped by an eagle-3 on the final hole to get into a playoff, which he then won with a birdie on the first extra hole.

But the real winners from the tournament were local charities, as Calgarians and other Albertans helped raise a staggering $2.4 Million dollars for charity! “Receiving this prestigious award in just our second year of operation shows the commitment of Shaw Communications not only to the Shaw Charity Classic, but to the local community and the Champions Tour as a whole,” said Van Kesteren.

“We could never have achieved this recognition without the efforts of our sponsors, volunteers, staff and fans.”

The Shaw Charity Classic also gets a new date from the Champions Tour this year. The event will once again be at Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club, but moves a few weeks earlier, to be held August 5-9, 2015. “Holding the event a little earlier provides a greater chance for better weather and attracting even more fans to the tournament,” said Van Kesteren. “We believe this schedule change will allow us to take the tournament to an even higher level.”

The Glencoe Golf & Country Club has undergone a $7M renovation of their spectacular Forest course, which was ready to re-open in June, 2013 but suffered a major setback during the devastating flood. Forced to rebuild parts of the course before it had the chance to re-open, the team at The Glencoe has returned the Forest course to its former glory. The 20th installment of the event will be held June 4-6, 2015 with a top field of amateurs to be drawn from the Alberta and Golf Canada Orders of Merit, the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Willingdon Cup members, Canada’s National Team and players invited from other golf associations across the country.

Over 65 former participants and champions of The Glencoe Invitational are now competing on professional tours around the world, including 2005 champion Graham DeLaet. The 2015 champion will earn an exemption into the 2015 Canadian Amateur, the ATB Financial Classic, and the final round of qualifying for the RBC Canadian Open. In addition, the low Albertan will be awarded a spot on the 2016 Pacific Coast Amateur Team. Welcome back to The Glencoe Invitational!

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 85

By LEIF HANSON, PGA OF ALBERTA, manager of tournaments & events

What ’s new

industry

What is the PGA of Alberta?

T

he Professional Golfers Association of Alberta is one of nine Provincial Zones of the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association, one of the oldest Professional Golf Associations in the world dating back to its founding in 1911.

Hole #10 at Trestle Creek GR

Second 9 Set To Open at Trestle Creek

O

ne of the top new courses to open in northern Alberta in the last few years has been Trestle Creek Golf Resort, located about 80 km west of Edmonton just off the Yellowhead Highway near Entwistle. The first nine of what will eventually be a 27-hole golf and home site resort opened two years ago to rave reviews, and owner Alvin Clark says their second nine is set to open this July.

“The golf course is coming along beautifully,” said Clark. “We were very pleased with the conditioning of our first nine holes when we opened, and the launch of our second nine holes this summer is an exciting next phase in our resort’s long term development.” The third nine holes is perhaps two to three years away, but having a full 18 holes ready for play this summer will no doubt really help ramp up the interest in this terrific new addition to the golf landscape in the Edmonton area.

The signature hole at Trestle Creek will be #10, a spectacular island green par-3 that will play anywhere from 75 to 176 yards from four sets of tees. “Our guests are in for a treat with the new nine,” Clark says. “The tenth hole is amazing, but the rest of the course is equally outstanding.”

An impressive driving range and practice area also opened last summer which added to the course’s list of amenities. Trestle Creek is less than an hour from Edmonton’s west end, and well worth the drive.

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The association also organizes golf tournaments, trade shows and conferences to foster and promote the growth and development of its members’ skills, while at the same time building and solidifying the game of golf in our province.

By working closely with other industry organizations as well as the media and the golfing public, the PGA of Alberta continually promotes its members, their success stories and the value they bring to the hundreds of golf clubs and teaching centres located throughout the province that employ PGA professionals.

PGA on Wheels

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Appsolutely all you need!

As a not-for-profit organization the PGA of Alberta continually trains and educates its members through various teaching workshops, accreditation programs and industry seminars, designed to ensure that its members remain leaders in the golf industry.

The PGA of Alberta is focused on growing the game. Getting the next generation of golfers involved with the sport is key to our industry’s health and well-being. PGA professionals play a key role in helping inspire children to have a passion for golf that will last a life time. The PGA of Alberta is now taking this initiative on the road with the PGA on Wheels Program, designed to promote the association and growing the game at local events throughout the province. We are taking a proactive first step in reaching out to community residents rather than waiting for them to visit their local golf course. The goal and expectation is that this will attract new people to the game of golf and help these new golfers build a lifelong passion for the game.

PGA of Alberta Scholarships

One of the main focuses of the PGA of Alberta has been junior golf.

PGA of Alberta professionals use their expertise to create, organize and facilitate junior-oriented events. The scholarship program is one more step in the overall development of our current programming.

The mission of the PGA of Alberta is to provide junior golfers from around the province the opportunity to be recognized for their outstanding achievements, while promoting and providing access to continued education. This program has presented 31 scholarships since 1998.

ALBERTA, Thank you for sending us your very best. We look forward to supporting your finest student-athletes reach their golf and academic goals.

Congratulations to our recent Alberta graduates!

Scott Secord Reagan Wilson

Kylie Barros Casara Hong Scott Malo

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In 2015, the PGA of Alberta will be awarding four more junior scholarships, two for children of the PGA of Alberta members, with no golf experience required and two for other junior golfers in the province. All applicants must be under the age of 18 and meet the criteria listed on the application form found on our website at www.pgaofalberta.com.

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albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 87

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Make the last stroke of your game with your finger.

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Introducing the Golf Canada Score Centre Mobile App.

By Gord Montgomery

Miskanaw’s Massive Makeover

I

n the game of golf, patience is a good thing. Most golfers in Fort McMurray were blessed with that trait as the lone public layout in the city underwent an expansive, and expensive, makeover.

The $7 million, six-year rebuild of the Miskanaw Golf Course was completed in September, 2014 but to get to that point there was a lot of turmoil for players. The work was done in three-hole stages which sounded good at the outset but in fact didn’t turn out that way.

“They had 18 holes and built three more,” Rob MacGregor, the CPGA Director of Golf and Grounds explained. “The plan was to take three holes out of play each year and work on them and then we would still be left with an 18-hole course. That worked better in theory than it did in practice.

“As far as patience went, we (the construction staff) were probably the most impatient. The members were the ones that would say, ‘Don’t worry; you’re going to get it done. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.’ They were very understanding.”

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The course was originally built in the 1960s as a sand green, ninehole track that was put together by a consortium of oil companies. It expanded to 18 holes and 6,000 yards in the late 1980s. That original build, where debris such as tree stumps was used for fill, eventually gave way leading to some “…huge, huge sinkholes, six, seven, eight feet deep. That was very hard on our machinery and carts… and it wasn’t very golf-like either,” MacGregor explained.

So a plan was put in place to take the A massive 6-year construction makeover at municipally-owned Miskanaw GC in Ft. McMurray is now complete. track from what it was to what it is today — a gem on the northern landscape. With the new course now in play, MacGregor noted that no new fees will be imposed on past members to help offset the hefty renovation price tag. Fees in general had been on a gentle rise during the entire construction period to alleviate one big bump when all was said and done.

Current usage of the course remains very strong. “Programs for Ladies Night, Men’s Night and our Men’s League are excellent,” said MacGregor. But one of their biggest success stories has been the growth in junior golf. The club has embraced the National Golf in Schools program and over the last six years have exposed over 10,000 local kids from Grades 3-7 to golf, resulting in a handsome increase in the number of juniors playing at the club. “We now have over 80 junior members and have been able to reduce our junior fees from $335 to $199 which includes a range membership,” boasted MacGregor.

The makeover has seen numerous physical changes to Miskanaw, including lengthening of the layout substantially. Length now ranges from 5,233 yards from the forward tees to 7,031 yards from the tips.

The new #16 island green par-3 is a spectacular ‘signature’ hole.

“Every hole was completely turned over,” said MacGregor.”If you played here 10 years ago, you wouldn’t recognize it now!” The course is now a much more modern looking layout.

MacGregor suggests there are now several great holes on the renovated layout he describes as “…a contemporary golf course; a hybrid of all styles. Some holes are lined with fescue; others are back in the trees, shielded from the wind.”

As with any golf course there is one special hole and Miskanaw’s is an eye-catcher — a par-3 that measures out anywhere from 88 yards off the front deck to 165 yards from the back.

“We built an island green that cost $2 million,” MacGregor continued.

“It’s our signature hole. We’ve got a 10 million gallon pond around the green and it is an actual island with three bridges coming to it.”

However, it isn’t the only hole that makes this “new” place so special.

“Our finishing three holes are phenomenal, as are our opening three holes,” boasts MacGregor. “We are proud of the entire course, we wanted to include some special stuff over the last few holes.”

This renovation now places Miskanaw in the category of those courses you remember once you tour them. “You’ll definitely remember our #16 island green, whether you make a 2 or a 13,” MacGregor chuckles. “Our 17th and 18th holes are also outstanding.”

When all the rebuilding “scars” heal, MacGregor feels Miskanaw GC can, and hopefully will, host major golf events. “We’re more than willing to entertain any major Alberta Golf events. If the Fort McMurray Golf Course wants to share the Boreal (PGA Tour Canada) Open with us, we’d be willing to look at that as well. Now that we’re finished construction, another year of growing in will put us in great condition.”

In closing, MacGregor said it was important to get players out onto the new course as soon as possible and that was achieved through the use of sod to finish off some fairways. “We wanted to make sure our members could get onto the course the same year it was finished instead of having to wait a whole year to see it.”

All it took was some patience, a trait all golfers need.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 89

industry

By Ryan Laverty

“ Get The Kids!

We’re Going Golfing!”

Y o u th De v elop m ent i s Key

I

n a world where immediacy trumps patience and where a myriad of hot, new distractions fill the App store on a regular basis, many in today’s golf industry would admit that without the proper amount of buffing, golf’s luster will undoubtedly dull over the coming years.

Yesterday’s youth, sparked by the heyday of Tiger Woods 1.0, flocked to the game through the late 1990s and early 2000s. What wasn’t to like about a sport that featured a brash, young fist-pumping superstar who seemed to effortlessly destroy his competitors week-in and week-out? Golf in the United States blew up, with thousands of new courses constructed across the nation. Canada was no different.

Golf was cool and attracting new golfers to the sport was pretty easy. In recent years it has been a different story. Research shows that the number of people entering the game is roughly equal to those leaving. The game also needs more engaged and loyal consumers – arguably more than it needs new participants.

“We have definitely started to see a decline in our membership numbers in Canada as a whole and in Alberta as well,” said Jack Lane, Chief Operating Officer for Alberta Golf. “That’s not to say that golf in Canada is in decline or facing free-fall,” Lane comments. “But it represents a shift in how golfers are getting engaged in the game. More people are now playing at different courses rather than the traditional way of joining a private or semiprivate facility.”

Lane goes on to say, “We have a solid group of competitive players who are still really committed to the sport. But our

90 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

to Golf’s Growth focus over the last few years has been on making sure we are getting the occasional and new golfers more involved in the game and letting them know about the benefits of membership in Alberta Golf.”

Perhaps the most important piece to the future health of the game is getting more youth involved in the sport and Lane says that this is a major focus of Alberta Golf and Golf Canada. “By bringing more youth to the game through the school system and club programming, we can expose thousands of Canadian kids to golf. If they start at a young age they are far more likely to play the game and stay in the game as adult.”

A study conducted for the National Allied Golf Associations in 2012 revealed that there were roughly 5.7 million golfers in Canada but surprisingly approximately 75 per cent of those said they could “take it or leave it” when asked about their views on the game.

Challenged by claims that the game is too expensive, too time consuming and flat out too hard, golf traditionalists have had to rethink their value proposition to today’s youth in order to attract athletes away from a myriad of other options.

“We need to make golf fun and attractive for young people,” says Tyler McConachy, Manager of Youth Development with Alberta Golf. “There are a lot of creative and innovative ideas being put out there and all of us in the industry need to take a hard look at these ideas. What we need to do is

Two young girls learning golf through the National Golf in Schools program.

Tyler McConachy, Manager of Youth Development for Alberta Golf (C), helps some eager juniors to learn the game.

help everyone realize there are so many different ways to find fulfillment and enjoyment in golf.”

the pin than the standard forward tees. This has helped speed up the game and made success easier to grasp for beginners.

Alberta Golf and Golf Canada have made youth development one of their top priorities.

In the U.S. a few burgeoning ideas have started to take hold and appear to be bringing a younger crowd to the game. FootGolf, played with a soccer ball and cleats rather than a golf ball and clubs, has taken to fairways across North America, following great success at courses in Europe. It’s a novel concept that appears to be gaining traction quickly.

Golf Canada introduced its National Golf in Schools program for elementary-aged students in 2009-2010 as a means of introducing the game to kids between the ages of six and ten.

Last year 333 schools across Alberta purchased the NGIS Bigger still might be the latest evolution of the driving range, program kit, giving more than 46,000 students exposure to which has been given a facelift south of the border by a company the game. Most recently a high school appropriate program called TopGolf. Branding itself as the “Ultimate Venue for Fun,” was introduced and plans for an intermediate program kit are TopGolf is a combination sports bar, night club scheduled to be rolled out in 2015. This means and driving range all rolled into one that has that all students now have the opportunity to created an incredible buzz with the 18-25 yearbe playing the sport as part of their physical old crowd. education curriculum. In addition, the “We need to introduction of the Field Trip program as part of “I think all of these sorts of ideas are needed make golf fun the CN Future Links suite of programs took that to grow the game. It’s about innovation and and attractive effort out of the school gym and delivered it to an creativity,” said McConachy. “A lot of people for young actual tee box. don’t want to play the traditional game when they

people”

“The Field Trip program is about giving these kids exposure to what it’s like to be at a golf course because some of them have maybe never had that opportunity,” said McConachy.

“The kids may not actually get out on the course when they go on a Field Trip, but it’s a good introduction and a way for them to realize that there are opportunities to get involved as a sponsored junior at a lot of facilities.”

Sponsored junior programs are not a new concept, but for many private and semi-private clubs it has become a more pronounced part of their offering as a means of growing the game.

“We typically offer about 20 spots for sponsored juniors every year,” said John Seymour, Head Professional at Lynx Ridge Golf Club in Calgary. “Not all their parents are necessarily involved in the game, but my motto has always been that if you make the juniors happy, you’re going to make the parents happy and they’ll want to keep coming back.”

start out, but we need to do whatever it takes to get people started.”

Enjoyment, McConachy explained, is the primary element required to get today’s youth involved in golf. It is also the foundation of Golf Canada’s Long-Term Player Development Guide. The newest version of this guide, termed LTPD 2.0, was released this year with a key goal of developing high-performance amateur and professional Canadian players.

“The industry is doing great things in order to drive youth participation and engagement”, Lane explains. “By delivering bestin-class programming and becoming better partners with facilities and schools, we will see more youth engaged in the game.”

For more information on how to get your youngsters involved with golf, please visit www.albertagolf.org/youth-development.

Also, McConachy said some courses have started to introduce Family Tees, which can be more than a hundred yards closer to

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 91

industry

By Randy Robb, Manager, High Performance Sport, Alberta Golf

Analyzing Your Game

O

ne of the big initiatives this year for all four Alberta Junior Teams is to train our top players to understand how to analyze their own games to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses. In the latest statistics being collected by the PGA Tour, the concept of where strokes are gained or lost on the rest of the players in a tournament has come to the forefront.

A few years ago, Mark Broadie of Columbia University developed a program that identified how many strokes it should take an

Strokes Gained expert player to get the ball into the cup from every distance on the putting green. Broadie’s research revealed that from a distance of 7’10”, top players made 50% of their putts. In other words, if a player made a putt from that distance, he would pick up half a shot on the field and if he missed, he would lose half a shot. For longer putts, the statistics showed that 33 feet was the average distance from which pros would two-putt. Therefore, if a player three-putted from 33 feet, he would lose a full shot to the field. If he drained it, he would gain a full shot.

comparison to the players at the PGA Tour level.

The process has now been taken a step further by calculating the average number of strokes taken to get the ball in the hole After spending 15 minutes or so entering the information from from all distances on the golf course. We have found that it is their rounds into the Strokes Gained Calculator, the players and an excellent way for players to gather meaningful information coaches get a pretty good idea what happened during that about what is happening during their rounds. particular round. Players can then readily see For example, a player might miss a couple of where they gained or lost strokes in four main four-footers coming down the stretch but didn’t areas: Tee Shots, Approaches, Short Game, and realize that his putting stats were actually quite Putting. the concept of good up to that point in the round due to the where strokes Over an extended period of time, ideally up to a two 20-footers he knocked in earlier. are gained or year, the player and his or her coach can then During a recent Team Alberta trip to a tournament lost on the rest begin to structure practice sessions around those in California, the Alberta juniors were asked to of the players specific areas that require the most attention. It is write down two simple things for each shot – the in a tournament Alberta Golf’s goal this year to help become the distance they had to the hole and the lie of the has come to the link between observing the players in competition golf ball. Tour stats indicate that when a stroke forefront and helping the player’s personal coach or club is played from a better lie in the fairway, scoring professional understand where the player needs averages were slightly lower than for strokes the most improvement. played from the rough. That might seem pretty If any golfer wishes to receive more information obvious, but having the players track their actual performance about the Strokes Gained process, please email me at randy@ provided accurate feedback for post-round analysis. albertagolf.org.

Team Alberta Boys Development Coach Luke Workman has been l would be pleased to see if I can help you improve your game instrumental in putting together a scorecard and spreadsheet as well. that allows the players to see for themselves where they are in

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sportsmanship, integrity and team work. It will also be a different atmosphere for a lot of these kids in terms of playing in front of crowds. It’s a unique experience.”

Western Canada Summer Games

T

his is it kids: your one and most likely only chance to play in the Western Canada Summer Games.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Tyler McConachy, Manager of Youth Development for Alberta Golf said of this year’s Games which will take place Aug. 7-16 in Wood Buffalo. “Essentially the kids only get one crack at this.”

The reasoning is simple enough. For starters, the Games only take place once every four years. Then there are the age limitations; only golfers 16 and under (as of Aug. 16) are eligible.

“As a result it’s very unlikely that anyone would get a chance to play in the Western Canada Summer Games more than once,” said McConachy.

Golf, of course, is just one component of the Games which will attract some 2,500 athletes in 18 different sports. The golf will take place at the Fort McMurray Golf Club, another hidden Alberta gem sculpted out of the thick Borealis Forest along the banks of the Athabasca River.

All four western provinces and the three Territories will participate in the Games which were established in 1975. “The Games are a stepping stone to making Team Alberta, the National Development Team, and the National Team. This opportunity

helps them continue to grow as a junior competitive player,” said McConachy. “The Games are also one more way for Alberta Golf to ensure our athletes are exposed to events outside of Alberta.”

This is just the second time that golf will be a part of the Games – much like golf being a part of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the first time since 1904.

Four years ago, Alberta finished second in the Western Canada Summer Games in Kamloops, BC. “I guess we will have to rectify that,” said Jamie Reimer, who teaches golf at the Golf Canada Calgary Centre which acts as Golf Canada’s training centre for Alberta. Reimer will coach the initial pool of 16 candidates for the team, which will be reduced to eight players who will make the cut for the Summer Games. “I’m completely convinced that our top players can kick it with anyone else in the country,” boasts Reimer.

The eight-player Summer Games Team – four boys and four girls – will be selected from a variety of competitions: two CN Future Links events, two Maple Leaf Junior Tour events and two Canadian Junior Golf Association tournaments, all to be held this spring throughout Alberta.

Team Alberta golf medalists at the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games.

Reimer say the Games are a good way to judge how this province’s elite junior players stack up with those from other provinces and to help assess how the Alberta Golf Development Program is doing. He says, “If Alberta wins, we must be doing something right. If the BC players finish way ahead of us, then maybe we have to step it up more.”

Reimer said whoever stands out at the Games could very likely not only be candidates for the 2020 Olympics, but also possibly eventually represent Canada on the PGA or LPGA Tours. He said, “We know what some of our elite young players are capable of doing. With the right development anything can happen.”

The golf format for the Games will be 36 holes of stroke play for the team event and an additional 18 holes of stroke play for individuals. It’s the team component that has Reimer and McConachy excited.

“The team atmosphere is not very often used in golf. As well as helping a player develop as an athlete, the Games is a great opportunity to learn about life lessons such as honesty, respect,

“The chance of playing on a team like this and representing their province is a great opportunity,” added Reimer, who has been a golf instructor for seven years and who competed at amateur, college and junior levels. “It’s something that they will look forward to all spring to try to earn their spot on the team.”

Alberta has several strong players that Reimer expects will contend for places on the squad. He listed youngsters such as Landon Stellingwerf, Logan Carver, Chandler McDowell, Annabelle Ackroyd and Jaden Baustad as front runners.

This is the first year that Alberta has introduced a new high performance program – The Alberta Development Team, similar to Golf Canada’s Development Team. “The goal is to have a feeder system for Team Alberta, the National Development Team and the National Team,” said McConachy. “The Development Teams help stress the importance of the Long Term Player Development Guide 2.0 which was developed by Golf Canada in partnership with the PGA of Canada. It’s a blueprint for the path and progression each individual golfer undergoes over the course of his or her career. Each development stage in the program establishes performance benchmarks that allow these players to measure up against one another and identify strengths and weaknesses in their games.

“We’re all very excited to see how we do in Fort McMurray.”

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By Wes Gilbertson, The Calgary Sun

indus t ry

Team Alberta Pipeline

The addition of a male and female development team is a big step for Alberta Golf, too. To date, Ontario is the only other province with a similar model.

oo much talent.

It’s a nice problem to have.

With no shortage of competitive and skilled junior golfers across the province, Alberta Golf has bolstered its high-performance program for 2015, nearly doubling the number of smooth-swinging youngsters in the system by adding a boys and girls development squad.

“The design of the 2015 team programming is the next step for us in the evolution of Team Alberta and our high-performance sport initiatives,” said Jack Lane, the Chief Operating Officer for Alberta Golf.

“The addition of the development squads allows our coaching staff and integrated support team of experts to start working with more juniors, more often and earlier in their development. Our goal is to develop these athletes to eventually reach their goals of performing at the highest levels of provincial, national and international competition.”

The roots of Alberta’s current program can be traced back to 2009, when golf was added to the lineup of sports for the Canada Summer Games in Charlottetown, P.E.I. Around that same time, there was an international push for golf to be reinstated as a Summer Olympic event, a successful crusade that will see Rory McIroy, Lydia Ko and the other stars of the sport going for gold in Rio de Janeiro next summer.

“With golf heading towards the Olympics, there was an opportunity to start treating it more like a team sport,” recalled Randy Robb, the longtime coach of Team Alberta’s boys and now also Manager

It shouldn’t be a surprise, either, that there’s already a history of Team Alberta alumni having success at higher levels.

Led by Calgary’s Jennifer Ha, who was selected for a third season with the national teams (two years with the women’s amateur team and one year on the development squad), the Wild Rose province will be well represented on Team Canada in 2015. Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee is once again on Golf Canada’s Women’s Development Squad, while three of the six members of the national Men’s Development Team — St. Albert’s AJ Armstrong, Crossfield’s Patrick Murphy, and Tyler Saunders from Sturgeon County — hail from Alberta.

“It was one of my goals for the past few years to try to get on Team Alberta,” said Calgary’s Brendan MacDougall, a 17-year-old member of the provincial boys’ squad for 2015. “Growing up, you see the higher-profile players on Team Alberta and then moving on to Team Canada, and this was clearly a big step for them. So this is the next step I have to “Our goal is to take to become the best player I can be.”

The

T

on everything from nutrition and stretching to how to make the most from practice rounds and even how to prepare a yardage book for competitive play. The many perks include tournament exemptions, some trendy Team Alberta clothing and trips to represent the province at various events.

Dean Spriddle, Head Coach Team Alberta Girls, helping an Alberta junior girl develop her game.

of High Performance Sport for Alberta Golf. “The guys, right from the start when we pulled them together, they would push each other. We would play a practice round and then we’d spend a couple of hours on the range after, and it was always a case of trying to pull them off the range. It was like, ‘Hey guys, we need to go. It’s time for dinner.’ I think that’s always been fairly consistent, with them being really keen to practice and to play.”

Team Alberta’s summer itinerary will include plenty of practice — they’ll meet for monthly training camps — and competitive play-time, but the program goes well beyond what you can learn on the course or driving range.

By the time they’re selected for the provincial team, these young athletes can already make birdies in bunches. The goal is to arm them with the many tools necessary to be successful at the university/college level and beyond.

The winter programming in 2015 included fitness testing and work with a sports psychologist. Members of the team receive guidance

Team Alberta is selected based on performance, behavior and etiquette, and there are usually more solid candidates than available spots on the roster.

The same criteria are used to pick the development teams. As the program matures there will likely be further criteria added in order to select top talent and potential.

Ha was among those chosen to tee it up at the 2009 Canada Summer Games in Charlottetown.

She graduated from Team Alberta to the national development program in 2013 and has also celebrated a handful of NCAA tournament victories with the Kent State University Golden Flashes.

Last summer, she survived the cut and finished second among Canucks at the LPGA Tour’s 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

develop these athletes to eventually reach their goals of performing at the highest levels of provincial, national and international competition.”

“When I was a junior golfer, I was always one or two spots below that top team in Manitoba, and if you’re not on the team, it felt almost a bit like ‘better luck next year’,” said John Deneer, who will coach the Alberta Girls’ Development Team and also help Dean Spriddle with the female provincial squad.

“That’s why I love this idea so much. It’s for the kids who aren’t quite there yet, because of age or other circumstances. Now, Alberta Golf has a team that is going to help them develop and work towards eventually being on that top team.”

“The culture of Alberta Golf is so strong, so to expose more players to that culture will be very beneficial,” added Luke Workman, the coach of the Alberta Boys’ Development Team. “This will allow these kids to see what level of commitment and preparation is needed to take their game to the Team Alberta and Team Canada level, but to also show them that these are attainable goals. We hope to prepare them so that it won’t be a surprise to them to see how hard they have to work and how professional they need to act.”

Another high-profile alumnus of Team Alberta is Airdrie’s Riley Fleming, who is the two-time reigning Alberta Open champion and who had an impressive 2014 rookie season on PGA Tour Canada.

“I really loved being part of Team Alberta,” Ha said. “It was cool because they opened up a lot of doors initially. We played in a lot of tournaments over the winter in places like Arizona and California, so you get to travel with a group of people. I learned responsibilities. I wasn’t with my parents all the time. I had to take care of things on my own, and being able to experience that from an early age led to all the success I’ve had in team environments.

“I’m still friends with the people I played golf with then. At the time, you think you’re just competing with them or you’re just having fun with them, but you’re really building life-long relationships. It has been amazing to see how well everyone is doing now who was with me then on Team Alberta.”

It is clear that Alberta Golf’s high performance sport initiative is developing not only Canada’s next crop of top athletes in golf, but also developing quality individuals.

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Scholarship

Austin Biletsky

California State University

Mikaila Buszowski

Queens Univeristy

Brianna Carrels

University of Victoria

Andrew Coulthard

University of Alberta

Geoffrey Coulthard

University of Alberta

Bari Erais

NAIT

he Alberta Golf Foundation (AGF) was created to facilitate the distribution of scholarship awards to deserving young Albertans to assist them in their post-secondary education. Each year, the scholarship committee of the AGF meets to review dozens of applications from young men and women throughout Alberta to allocate awards based on a combination of academic excellence and financial need. This year, the AGF was pleased to receive a very high number of scholarship applications, making the task of allocating the available funds very challenging to the committee.

Tom Fuhr

University of Alberta

Patrick Gobran

Longwood University

Liam Hirch

University of Lethbridge

Brett Hogan

Texas, San Antonio

Kat Kennedy

University of British Columbia

Alissa Kuhn

University of Lethbridge

Kristyn Kurio

University of Alberta

In 2014, the AGF awarded 35 scholarships totaling $58,000 to students attending post-secondary institutions in Alberta, across Canada and in the United States. The funds to make this program possible came from a variety of sources, including individual contributions from Alberta Golf competitors, foundations and corporate partners, and other patrons of Alberta Golf interested in helping further the education of these young people who will help shape the future of our province. The AGF also raises significant scholarship funds from a casino fundraising initiative that has been very beneficial in making larger awards possible in recent years.

Carolyn Lee

University of British Columbia

Melissa Mah

University of Alberta

Erin Martens

Sonoma State

Scott McNichol

University of Victoria

Brett Pasula

University of British Columbia

Eric Praught

University of Victoria

Matt Ritchot

University of Lethbridge

Graydon Robb

Vancouver Island University

Tyler Saunders

Texas State University

Amanda Sha

University of Alberta

Brody Snider

University of Ontario

T

awar d w i nners

Any individuals or corporations interested in contributing to the AGF may do so by following the appropriate link on the Alberta Golf website at www.albertagolf.org. The generosity of our patrons allows the AGF to build and grow the scholarship program and increase our awards on a year to year basis. Please contact the AGF for more information of how to establish your own legacy in this very worthwhile program.

Shelby Szostakowski York University

Thank You!

Jesse Teron

University of Victoria

Thank you to the following patrons for their generous contributions to the AGF in the past year:

Ben Throndson

University of Alberta

Rebecca Todd

Lethbridge College

Cara Vanderham

University of Pennsylvania

Tyler Vandermeer

University of Alberta

Shae Wagner

MacEwan University

Mackenzie Walker

University of British Columbia

Brodie Wilson

University of Calgary

Jack Wood

University of British Columbia

Christopher Zeglen

SAIT

Charles C. Reid Foundation Frank Lindsay Memorial Foundation McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour Christa Spahmann Memorial Fund Lola Rozsa Jeff Llewellyn Memorial Fund Sun LIfe Financial Bob Rintoul Memorial Fund R.E. Courage Memorial Fund

98 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

In 2 0 14, $ 58,0 0 0 was awarded i n post- second ary scholarsh ips to d eserv i ng yo ung Albertans b y the Alberta G olf Foundat ion

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 99

By Kevin Smith, Global TV

Peopl e

College Bound C

anada currently has six golfers on the PGA Tour and the province of British Columbia can boast the development of half of them. It’s amazing to think the birth dates of Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan are all within a year of each other and that they pushed each other on the golf scene growing up in BC. Team Canada development squad coach Robert Ratcliffe says Alberta is also now a hot bed of young talent. “I look at what’s happening in Alberta today and it mirrors what happened in BC four or five years ago when Taylor, Hadwin and Sloan were all driving each other to get better,” Ratcliffe remarked.

This year alone half of Team Canada’s six player Men’s Development Team is from Alberta and these young men are all looking to make a big impact at major NCAA universities in the United States.

Patrick Murphy of Crossfield will play collegiate golf at UCLA.

St. Albert’s Tyler Saunders is a freshman at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. Last summer Saunders (see p. 12) won the Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship by an amazing nine shots, dominating the best adult amateurs in the province as a junior! Joining Saunders in the States this fall will be Patrick Murphy from Crossfield who will be the first ever Canadian to play golf for UCLA, one of the most prestigious golf programs in America.

St. Albert’s AJ Armstrong is heading to Washington State University in Pullman, WA and can’t wait to see his Team Canada friends at competitions. “Patrick and I will both be in the Pac-12 conference so we will end up playing against each other a lot at tournaments, which will be very exciting,” Armstrong said.

often and creating a competitive bond with each other. Robb says it is very important for the coaches to know the players’ personalities, their parents, as well as the strengths of their golf games.

Robb says that wasn’t always the case a decade ago when players qualified for Team Alberta. “Some of the time I would be meeting these kids for the first time in July and the national championship would be only three or four weeks away. You couldn’t really do any coaching at that point.”

Ratcliffe goes on to say that these players have a better chance to fit in at big U.S. schools now because they have already competed at a high level with Team Canada. For example, this winter Saunders, Murphy and Armstrong traveled to the South American Amateur Championship to compete against many players who are poised to turn professional. Ratcliffe says, “I am a big believer that you have to learn to win at the junior level, but you also can’t be afraid to be thrown into the deep end of the talent pool. They learn to swim very quickly.”

That approach is something Patrick Murphy has really appreciated. “I think Alberta Golf has done a really good job because they understand what a golfer needs to do in order to move on from provincial tournaments to play internationally and in the NCAA.” Lee, who is finishing up high school at Central Memorial in Calgary, couldn’t agree more with Murphy.

“At my high school I don’t know anyone who plays golf. Being part of Team Alberta has allowed me to meet so many different people,” she said.

On the ladies side Jaclyn Lee of Calgary has signed a letter of intent to attend Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. Lee, the 2014 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Champion (p.12) is thrilled to have been recruited by Ohio State. “I was looking for a school that had solid academics and a good golf team. We will be a young and motivated team and I am excited to join an atmosphere where we can push each other to do better. They have exactly the team environment I was looking for in a university.”

Armstrong is a big fan of the PGA Tour and follows it very closely. He says watching what players like Taylor, Hadwin and Sloan are doing at the highest level is a huge boost for him heading into his college career.

Why is Alberta poised to produce so many golfers that could make an impact on the national and international stage in the coming years? Team Alberta coach Randy Robb says one of the reasons has been being able to get all of these players together more

And it will also be cool to follow the progress of this impressive pipeline of young Alberta golfers.

100 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Armstrong says, ”We were at a Team Alberta camp in Phoenix two years ago and Nick Taylor was out there helping us. At that time, he barely had status on any tour and now two years later he’s a winner on the PGA Tour! That’s pretty cool.”

Elite printing fp

Peopl e

The Year in Pictures

1

8 1. The Class of 2014! The Alberta Golf Hall of Fame welcomed three new members – Brent Ellenton and Sylvia Blaskin in the Distinguished Service category and David Schultz in the Player category.

2. The Alberta Girls Ryder Cup Team battled

Montana at Whitefish Lake Golf Club last August.

They didn’t win the matches but developed new friendships both home and abroad.

2

9 3. Alberta’s newest foursome. These young kids are trying golf for the first time in their physical education class thanks to the National Golf in Schools program.

4. Talk about a bird’s eye view! There was plenty of great golf to watch at the 2014 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur hosted at Desert Blume in Medicine Hat. 5. Jaxon Lynn doing his best to escape the nasty rough at Desert Blume during the sun-soaked four days at the 2014 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur.

102 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

3

4

5

10

11

6. The crowd assembles in the amphitheater around

the 18th green at the Bearspaw Country Club to catch the final round action of the Alberta Junior & Juvenile Championships under blue bird skies.

9. Perhaps Alberta Golf’s most veteran first tee starters, Ted Thresher (L) and Florin (Fuzzy) Bergh (R) strike a pose behind the signage at the 2014 Alberta Open Championship.

7. Jaclyn Lee (L) and Kenna Hughes (R) recite an oath

10.

as part of their Alberta Junior & Juvenile victories at the 2014 Alberta Junior Championships at Bearspaw Country Club. The pair were ‘white hatted’ to celebrate their achievements during Stampede week in Calgary.

8. Max Murchison keeps a close eye on his short iron shot during an Under Armour Performance Camp hosted by Alberta Golf and Golf Canada at the Golf Canada Calgary Centre facility.

6

Alberta Golf was fortunate to participate in an International Sport Exchange with Japan through the Alberta Sport Connection. This group was photographed just prior to their match in Hokkaido, Japan. The Japanese team is on the left. Inside right is Noah Lubberding, far right is AJ Armstrong.

7

12

11. Tournament Chair Varley Weisman with the

champions and their hardware following a blustery final round at the 2014 Alberta Senior Ladies Championship hosted by the Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club. Joanne Saunders, Super Senior Champion, Jackie Little, Alberta Senior Champion, and Maureen Turner, Low Net Champion (L to R).

13. Volunteers make all the difference and this Standard Bearer assisted with the walking leaderboards during the final round of the Men’s Mid Handicap Stableford Championship at the Glendale Golf and Country Club.

12. Scott Secord of the UBC Thunderbirds and past Team Alberta member lapped the field with a wire-to-wire win and a 7-shot victory at the Golf Canada Canadian University/College Championship at the Southwood Golf and Country Club.

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 103

industry

Tournament Notes

Alberta Men’s Amateur Willingdon Cup Team

Alberta Canadian Men’s Mid- Amateur Team

Left to right: Jack Wood, Banff Springs GC; Tyler Saunders, Glendale GCC; AJ Armstrong, Sturgeon Valley GCC Host Venue: Elmhurst GCC, Southwood GCC, Winnipeg, MB Team Champions: Ontario Team Alberta: 2nd Place Notable: Matt Williams low Albertan finishing T16th

Left to right: Harry Aime, Glendale GCC; Sean Samoluk, Priddis Greens GCC; Kevin Temple, Country Hills GCC Host Venue: Barrie CC, Barrie, ON Team Champions: British Columbia Team Alberta: 2nd Place Notable: Rob Ferguson finishes as low Albertan in 13th place

Alberta Pacific Coast Amateur Team

Alberta Ladies’ Canadian Amateur Team

Left to right: Sang Gyun Lee, Country Hills GC, Jessie Galvon, Inglewood GCC, Evan Holmes, Earl Grey GCC Host Venue: Pine Canyon Club, Flagstaff, AZ Team Champions: Southern California Golf Association Team Alberta: 13th Place Notable: Jared Dutoit of Kimberley was the top Canadian finishing tied for 21st

Alberta Canadian Junior Girls’ Team

Left to right: Tyler Saunders, Glendale GCC; Andrew Harrison, Camrose GC; Jack Wood, Banff Springs GC Host Venue: Legends on the Niagara (Battlefield), Niagara Falls, ON Team Alberta: Champions Notable: Patrick Murphy, Crossfield, finishes as low Albertan in 3rd place

Left to right: Jaclyn Lee, Glencoe GCC; Sabrine Garrison, Country Hills GC; Bria Jansen, River Spirit GC Host Venue: Thornhill GCC, Thornhill, ON Team Champions: Ontario Team Alberta: 5th Place Notable: Devon Spriddle, Lethbridge, finishes as low Albertan in a tie for 9th place

Alberta Canadian Senior Ladies’ Team

Alberta Canadian Senior Men’s Team

Left to right: Jennifer Ha, Glencoe GCC; Jaclyn Lee, Glencoe GCC; Becky Martin, Medicine Hat GCC Host Venue: Craigowan Oxford GCC, Woodstock, ON Team Champions: Ontario Team Alberta: 2nd Place Notable: Team Canada member Augusta James wins by 6

Left to right: Gaylene Donald, Silver Springs GCC; Lynn Kuehn, Lacombe GC; Kim Carrington, Willow Park GCC Host Venue: Milby GC, Sherbooke, QC Team Champions: Ontario Team Alberta: 6th Place Notable: Joan Wilson, Calgary, finishes as low Albertan in a tie for 13th place

Left to right: Pat McGowan, Heritage Pointe GC; Frank Van Dornick, Camrose GC; Jim Russell, Bearspaw CC Host Venue: Capilano GCC, West Vancouver, BC Team Champions: British Columbia Team Alberta: 2nd Place Notable: Jim Russell, Calgary, finishes as low Albertan in a tie for 4th place

Alberta-Montana Junior Ryder Cup Team Host Venue: Whitefish GC, Whitefish, MT Boys left to right: Brendan MacDougall, Glencoe GCC; Alex Corrigan, Glencoe

Alberta-Montana Junior Ryder Cup Team Girls left to right: Annabelle Ackroyd, Silver Springs GCC; Jaden Bausted,

GCC; Chris Horton (Front), Country Hills GC; Landon Stellingwerff, Glencoe GCC; Logan Hill, Red Deer GCC; Scott Walker, Earl Grey GC

104 | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | albertagolf.org

Alberta Canadian Junior Boys’ Team

Cottonwood GCC; Daphne Rantung, Silver Springs GCC; Emily Creaser, The Derrick GWC; Kenna Hughes, Willow Park GCC; Courtney Dickson, Innisfail GC

albertagolf.org | The Alberta Golfer 2015 | 105

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