2019 Alberta Golfer Magazine

THE ALBERTA

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF ALBERTA GOLF | 2019

The

New Rules Golf &Tacos Bringing Women to Golf

Jaclyn Lee

Junior Golf Road Map to Success ALBERTAGOLF.ORG

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Gallery

Kat Kennedy lines up a putt during her final round 66 at the SunLife Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur.

She would go on to secure the Championship and a new course record.

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Gallery

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Gallery

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Gallery

Brady McKinlay stares down his approach during the final of the Alberta Match Play Championship.

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Discover & Try 24 Junior Golf Roadmap

- The Road to Success for Junior Golfers

Connect & Enjoy 10 Alberta Golf Message 22 Cannabis On Course

- C lubs Deal With Legalized Marijuana

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Golf & Tacos

- Bringing Young Women to Golf

54 Golf in Schools 68 Course Rating Explained

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Power of the Public Player

- Public Golfers Have a Huge Influence on the Industry

69 Alternative Golf

Travel

58 What’s New 70 The Year in Pictures 72 Alberta Golf Thanks You

42

Vancouver Island

64 Royal Portrush

- Home of the 2019 Open Championship 8

Compete & Excel 17 Wolf Creek Hosts The Mens Amateur 18 The Ranch Hosts The Ladies Amateur

Learn & Play 12 Changing the Rules

- Biggest changes to the Rules of Golf in 60 Years

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Jaclyn Lee

- Alberta’s LPGA Rookie Is Making Her Mark

26 10 Tips for Parents of Competitive Golfers 38 The Champions

- A lberta Golf’s Champions from 2018

46 Tournament Schedule 50 Alberta Hosts Two National Events

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Anatomy of a Golf Hole

- The iconic 14th hole at Jasper Park Lodge

28 Alberta Golf’s Rec Series 52 Getting a Head Start

- Early Season Focus for Junior Golfers

56 Wes Heffernan’s Sixth Open Title 62 Hosting Alberta Golf Competitions - W hat’s in it for the Clubs?

66 Western Canada Summer Games

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee is a rookie on the LPGA Tour.

Read about this exciting new phase of her career. Photo courtesy of Golf Canada.

The Alberta Golfer may be viewed online at: www.albertagolf.org 9

Respect In The Workplace One of the things I enjoy doing while managing the direction of Alberta Golf is travelling to the competitions we organize and interacting with all host club representatives. We are fortunate to have such strong relationships on many levels and as we go from club to club, we are always made to feel very welcome. We cannot thank these clubs enough and we do our best to make sure they appreciate all they do for us.

While on-site, I especially like to take in the overall setup and surroundings and gauge what the experience is like for the participants who are investing their time and dollars to support Alberta Golf.

Eventually I make my way to the tournament office where the on-site staff can sometimes be found taking a well-deserved break and enjoying one another’s company. In the back of my mind I recognize the impression this would leave on our volunteer officials who might be on the golf course overseeing the competition.

The setup of our events happens well before the final competitors come down the eighteenth fairway on Thursday afternoon, and long before the first competitors tee off on Monday morning.

Our lead up to drive awareness for the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour will also see the introduction of ten pilot sites throughout the province who will be offering our Youth on Course program where kids can play golf for $5. That’s right….five dollars. The more support we receive from golfers, the more scores that are entered in the Golf Canada Scorecentre, the more kids we can put on the golf course.

Getting new golfers into the game is something we are all interested in. Every golf club, all associations and the entire industry understands this…and we all know that staff cannot do it alone - the support of volunteers is paramount.

We are at a juncture in the evolution of the game in our province and across the country where the staff and volunteer partnership has never been more important. We are proud at Alberta Golf to have partnered with the Respect Group to help us navigate our future as we bring our operation to the gold standard with respect to good governance. We hope this will inspire the same across the board at all clubs.

In closing, let’s hope our 2019 weather cooperates so we all enjoy a great season on the links.

When things are well organized, the activities on-site run smoothly. The reverse also holds true.

Fortunately, we have a team that is always thinking about new challenges and finding ways to make improvements to all the programs and activities organized by the Association. The 2019 season will see the debut of Alberta Golf assuming ownership and leadership of the McLennan Ross Junior Golf Tour as we strive to bring back the grass roots initiative of this tour. We aim to attract interest from all kids who may be teeing it up in a competition for the first time.

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Phil Berube,

Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer

2019 Board of Directors

Peter Major, President – Calgary G&CC Mark Bamford, Vice President – Glendale G&CC Tiffany Gordon, Secretary – Heritage Pointe G C Bill McNaughton, Treasurer – Glencoe G&CC Kendra Koss – Earl Grey GC Chris Leach – Valley Ridge GC Lorraine Moster – Public Players Club Alonzo Strange – Blackhawk GC Tom Zariski – Dinosaur Trail G&CC

2019 Staff

Phil Berube – Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer John Burns – Field Manager, Membership & Competitions Grant Cammidge – Field Manager, Membership & Competitions (Edmonton & Area) Jennifer Davison – Director, Sport Development & High Performance Jack Lane – Director, Competitions & Strategic Projects Randy Robb – High Performance Coach Kevin Smith – Director, Communications Stephen Wigington – Manager, Membership & Golf Course Services

Alberta Golf Contact Info #22, 11410 27 Street SE Calgary, AB T2Z 3R6 P: 403.236.4616 F: 403.236.2915 Toll Free: 1.888.414.4849 Email: info@albertagolf.org www.albertagolf.org

Design & Production

ev+ Agency Suite 203, 15023-123 Avenue NW Edmonton, AB T5V 1J7 P: 780.424.1111 F:780.424.2884 Email: michele@evhq.ca www.evhq.ca THE ALBERTA GOLFER is a print and digital magazine published annually by Alberta Golf in partnership with ev+ Agency. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without written permission from Alberta Golf. Thank you to all the golf clubs which allowed Alberta Golf to conduct provincial championships on their courses during 2018. Please enjoy the 2019 edition of The Alberta Golfer. www.albertagolf.org

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Learn & Play

It took almost seven years, dozens of meetings, countless discussions and revisions, but finally a mulligan of sorts has come into being for the Rules of Golf.

Speaking from Toronto about the revisions that will come into effect in 2019, Adam Helmer, the Director of Rules and Competitions for Golf Canada, said whether you’re a recreational player or more seriously inclined, the switches that are now teed up are a good thing for everyone involved in the game. And, they’ll be more easily understood.

“These are definitely significant changes; the biggest in 60 years. This wasn’t just contemplating the professional level, the elite stream level. It focused on everything to make rules more welcoming,” he began.

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Helmer agreed the guidelines in their previous state were “confusing, complicated and 99.9 per cent of golfers didn’t know the rules,” which made properly applying them during play a slippery slope. Thus, when the blueprint was put together for these alterations, the idea was to make them both easily understandable and applicable.

think these are aligning more with what’s happening in practices on the course,” Helmer continued.

Helmer noted that Golf Canada doesn’t really see one specific rule as being the top dog in the pack. Rather, in combination, everything works together to make the game more enjoyable for all with much of the rules confusion in some areas done away with.

With the changes to the Rules this year, dropping from shoulder height is now a thing of the past.

“Now that they’re here, I think they’ll help with certain barriers people in the industry see, like the pace of play. I

“In playing out of a bunker, the challenge should be to get your ball out of the area and now, with a bunch of loose impediments in the bunker, the rules to lift the ball are relaxed. In penalty areas you can ground your club, move loose impediments. On the putting green you can now repair any damage from ball marks or shoe damage. As well, you can now leave

Learn & Play Alberta Golf Rules Officials will be working hard to help players with the many significant changes to the Rules this year.

“These are definitely significant changes; the biggest in 60 years”

by Gord Montgomery

the flagstick in which is a welcome change, especially for pace of play. If you hit your ball more than once, it’s not going to be a penalty stroke. You just count the stroke itself,” Helmer commented.

One thing it’s thought these many changes will foster is the continued integrity of the game. Known as a ‘gentleman’s game,’ golf is based upon honesty and good character. With the changes that came into effect early in January, Golf Canada suggests more people will now abide by the letter of law. In essence that means they will begin to more often play the game the way it was designed but was rarely done because of the confusion the previous guidelines brought about due to few players really knowing how to properly impose penalties.

“The whole premise, starting in 2012 when this process began and everything was on the table and up for discussion, was that we were going to try and simplify the Rules of Golf,” Helmer said about the beginnings of this movement. “When looking at the principles of the Rules of Golf, the thought was everything should tie back to our principles — play the course as you find it.

Play the ball as it lies. With that in mind, you had to assume that the rules are meant for the honest player.

“If we get down a rabbit hole of thinking about all the nuances of how someone can take advantage of the rules, or cheat if you will, then the rules are going to be that much bigger. So the rules have to contemplate integrity, the honest player.

Now, the rules specifically state ‘Every player is required, or has to enforce,

penalties on themselves and is obliged to tell other players about the rules’.

These are rules, not advice,” as the latter, if offered up during competitive play, is a two-stroke penalty or loss of the hole.

In order to catch up to what’s now become the new standards for the game of golf, there are a few ways the general public can access them. From Golf Canada you can order what’s known as the Player’s Edition of the new rules, a small booklet that for an equally small cost will fit nicely into your golf bag and if the need to look something up arises, it’s there and easily understandable. As well, a larger version of the new doctrine can also be found through the Golf Canada website, and encompasses the many regulations within the game.

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Learn & Play “We’re strongly promoting the Player’s Edition with all players,” said Helmer. “It’s kind of an abridged version of the full Rules of Golf. It’s what you need to know and what you’ll commonly see occur on the golf course. It’s got explanatory images and diagrams, references. It’s more user-friendly in terms of bullet points.”

There are several changes for 2019 to procedures for playing out of Penalty Areas.

The full edition of the Rules of Golf will be penned in the third person and will include illustrations. This booklet is intended to be the primary publication for officials and is expected that Golf Club Committees and referees will use the publication as their primary Rules of Golf resource.

The Official Guide to the Rules of Golf replaces the Decisions book and will contain information to best support committees and officials. It includes interpretations on the rules, committee procedures (available local rules and information on establishing the terms of the competition), and the Modified Rules of Golf for Players with Disabilities. It is a ‘long-form’ resource document intended as a supplementary publication. The full Rules of Golf are more for referees and committees, as it delves deeper into the issues that can come up during play. The Player’s Edition costs $3 while the full set of rules is available for $4 and the Official Guide is $16, for members of Golf Canada.

Given what’s taken place with these rule changes coming into play, golf officials must upgrade their knowledge about how the sport is now governed, Helmer pointed out. That means referees, used in high level competitions, must catch up on the newest instalment of this massive doctrine.

“Basically, anyone that was a provincial or national referee has to re-certify to be aware of all the significant changes coming up,” he stated.

As to becoming a rules official, Helmer said there are clinics put on by Golf Canada to educate both those new to that part of the sport plus those that have been in such a position previously.

“We have a three-tier system that is first a basic introduction to the rules for anyone that’s interested. Level Two is your provincial certification and Level Three would be the international certification,” 14

with such clinics being available through provincial bodies such as Alberta Golf.

So after many years of discussion, the new rules swung into play in January 2019. Along with Golf Canada, the R&A and the USGA worked their way through “...putting this puzzle together, putting the final touches to it. Once we came to the last year, that was the toughest part. Just finalizing the last few changes. It took almost the better part of seven years,” explained Helmer.

In statements on the Golf Canada website, this is what the men and women in charge of making these many changes had to say: “From the project’s inception, our one goal was to make the Rules easier to understand and apply for all golfers. It sets a new standard in the way we write and interpret the Rules and is central to our efforts to ensure a healthy future for golf. We look forward to continuing that process in the years to come,” said Thomas Pagel, the Senior Managing Director of Governance for the USGA. David Rickman, the Executive Director – Governance at The R&A, said, “We are delighted to be rolling out the modernized

Rules of Golf today. This is the biggest set of changes to the Rules in a generation and a major step forward in our efforts to make the Rules, and the sport itself, more accessible and more in tune with the way the modern sport is played.”

While it won’t take seven years to read the new guidelines, a lot of work went into them, summed up Helmer.

“There was a lot of alignment, a lot of synergies. I think they knew where they needed to get to, what the priorities were.

It was just the last kind of short strokes, the topical issues around things like dropping the ball. There was a big push to get an alternative to stroke-and-distance which was a difficult one to get to. I think there was just a lot of stick handling around some of those tougher issues, how the penalty should fit the crime and how you get the proper wording proper for consistent application.”

And in the end, it’s felt all these changes will help not only speed up play but also perhaps speed up the growth of the game as it becomes easier to understand the rules and regulations that govern it.

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Learn & Play #14 - Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club

Anatomy of a

Golf Hole Call it a “cape hole.” A lakeside charmer.

An easy bogey. A world-class short par-4.

The start of one of the greatest finishing runs in golf. Any which way you look at it, the 14th hole at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Course is one of the best – and most beautiful! - golf holes in Canada.

In 1925 Jasper's architect, Stanley Thompson, did not have massive bulldozers at his disposal. It took 200 men, 50 teams of horses, and over a year to remove trees and debris and sculpt the rocky, rolling terrain to create Thompson's masterpiece. Largely unchanged since opening day, Jasper is a relic, a priceless 18-hole “antique” that – due to its exceptional beauty and ahead-of-its-time design merits - will never lose its luster.

It's the classic of the classics.

Not surprisingly, dissecting the many famous holes on the course is a difficult – and lengthy! - proposition. From “Cleopatra” (the wildly popular downhill 9th) to “Bad Baby” (the wicked and wonderful par-3 15th), Jasper is loaded with quirky, one-of-a-kind holes.

Collectively, this is one of the most eclectic, interesting, and downright enjoyable compilations you'll ever encounter on any single course.

So, naturally, choosing the “best of the best” at Jasper can get a little dicey.

Unlike, say, the “Devil's Cauldron” hole in Banff, the par-3 4th, which is the obvious favourite there, in Jasper “the love” is a little more dispersed.

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However, for many people, the exquisite par-4 14th is the crown jewel, the trump card, on a star-studded course. The short stroll down to the tee, which juts into the jade-green water of picture perfect Lac Beauvert, begins the final chapter at Jasper.

It marks the beginning to this exhilarating ending on and around the peninsula.

And, without a doubt, the tee box is a place to linger and revel in the atmosphere.

Ogling the water, the reflections of

by Andrew Penner

lake is a must. It's the classic “cape hole” conundrum. How aggressive do you want to be? Do you ‘feel’it?

“It's my favourite hole on the course,” says Gregg Lown, the Director of Golf at Jasper. “It's not a hole you can overpower.

It has no bunkers. Not one was needed.

Even short hitters can make a birdie. But you've got to think. And you've got to hit two precise shots. It's one of a number of short holes on the course that time and technology have not dampened.”

Canadian golf landscape.

Even Dr. Alister MacKenzie, arguably the best golf course architect of all time, was smitten with Jasper and the awesome challenge that faced golfers at the 14th. In a letter dated September 28th, 1928, MacKenzie offered some simple suggestions (none are significant!) to potentially improve some holes, sight lines, bunker placements, and so on. However, when he gets to the peninsula holes, including the 14th, he simply states, “No changes are needed; they are magnificent.”

But the scenic qualities here quickly morph into strategic questions when the hole itself is examined. The tee shot – a 3-wood? Hybrid? Long-iron? - is paramount to set up the nervy, all-carry approach to the small, perched green.

Hug the left side along the lake and you're rewarded with a flatter lie on the tilted fairway. Bail out right and trees and the fairway's right-to-left slope are problematic. Either way, a solid shot off the tee that carries a sizeable slice of

Fittingly, he introduces his letter with this. “During the last 20 years I have inspected all the reputed best golf courses in Britain, Ireland, the Continents of Europe, North America, and Australia, but not one has created such a favourable and vivid impression on my mind as Jasper.” True, at the time of the writing many great courses had yet to be built.

But, something tells me, if he were to step onto the 14th tee at Jasper today, his lofty opinion would remain unchanged.

Pyramid Mountain and the surrounding snow-dipped mountains, is a mandatory exercise. Like the 4th at Banff, the 6th at Greywolf, the 16th at Cabot Cliffs, this is one of the most scenic spots on the

Compete & Excel

Wolf Creek Hosts

THE MENS AMATEUR

by Kevin Smith #12 - The Links Course at Wolf Creek Golf Resort

Central Alberta will be the central focus for men’s golf in our province the third week in July. Wolf Creek Golf Resort will host the 2019 Sun Life Financial Alberta Mens Amateur Championship.

The popular 36-hole golf resort just off the QE II north of Red Deer is a fitting spot to test the top male amateur golfers in the province.

“It’s good to get a big showcase event like the Mens Amateur back here, that’s for certain.” said Aaron Miller, Wolf Creek’s Head Professional. “We’re excited to have it on The Links course. It’s a perfect tournament venue.”

In 2014 Airdrie’s Riley Fleming won the Alberta Open on the newer Links Course that will be used for this tournament. The 25-year-old professional says the amateurs in this year’s field should enjoy competing on the course, especially if you’re a bomber.

“I love the new course. I think it’s awesome.” said Fleming. “I think it’s a great test; it probably suits someone that can bomb it a bit more. The front nine is definitely a little tighter with some elevation changes and the back nine is

just a really big golf course where you can get aggressive and that’s why I liked it so much.”

Fleming had won the rain-shortened Alberta Open the year before at RedTail Landing Golf Club in Edmonton but said defending his title especially in commanding fashion validated his 2013 victory and made The Links Course at Wolf Creek one of his favourite tournament tracks in Alberta. “The greens are really true which is typical of a links course,” Fleming raved. “The greens are a little different, but I really like them.”

and put up some numbers and test all the shot making abilities on that course. It’s going to make you play a lot of shots that maybe you’re not comfortable with and it really exposes all parts of your game.”

The town of Ponoka and cities of Lacombe and Red Deer are proud to showcase the course and area to the tournament’s competitors. In late May, Wolf Creek will also host the Future Links Western Canadian Junior Championship so course set-up is already underway, but don’t expect anything too manufactured.

The course has more eagle and birdie opportunities on the back nine and lends itself to the type of late round drama you’d want at a provincial championship.

Don’t be surprised if players surge up the leaderboard between holes 10 and 15 and if the 18th hole plays down wind a birdie finish is very possible.

“Being a links-style golf course we might leave that to Mother Nature and let her dictate how firm or soft the course will be,” said Miller, who is well aware the wind will have the biggest impact on scoring. “We will definitely not force it in any direction; we won’t try to dry out a fairway or try to make the rough super thick. We’ll let Mother Nature dictate it, that’s for sure.”

“We are known to be a bit of a tougher golf course but we don’t want to see the winning score be nine over par or something.” said Miller. “We look forward to seeing the most talented players in the province come out

Mid-July in the middle of Alberta, we will find out if the top amateurs in the province discover the same love for Wolf Creek that Riley Fleming still has a half decade after winning there.

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Compete & Excel

The Ranch Hosts

THE LADIES AMATEUR

by Jim Claggett #12 at The Ranch Golf and Country Club

After a great Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur in southern Alberta last year at Willow Park Golf & Country Club, the women are headed north in 2019.

It will be the first time The Ranch Golf and Country Club has hosted the Ladies Amateur, but it most certainly is not their first rodeo, so to speak.

“We’ve hosted PGA club pro championships. We’ve really hosted PGA events here at least one every year over the last decade,” said Murray McCourt, General Manager at The Ranch Golf & Country Club. “The Ranch certainly has a long history of hosting quality events, including some Canadian Tour events back in the early 90’s.”

So, what was it which prompted McCourt and his group to step forward and host the Ladies Amateur July 9-11?

“Over the past couple of years, the ladies golf market here at The Ranch has been on the uptick. More and more women have been coming out here and playing and really enjoying the golf course and what it has to offer,” said McCourt. He engaged in talks with Alberta Golf, feeling the course would be a great fit for this event.

The Ranch will provide a nice balance to test the best women golfers in Alberta with plenty of bunkers, some open holes, welltreed holes and some with enough water 18

to get your attention. “It’s a course where you certainly need a strategy in order to get around and score,” says McCourt.

“Accuracy would be at the top of the list.

If you just grab a driver and try to smash it around here all day, you’re going to lose a golf ball or two, I think,” he said.

The final four holes at The Ranch may provide a turning point for somebody hanging on to win the tournament or trying to make a charge on the final day. “They’re all extremely difficult holes and lots of water comes into play and lots of trees come into play,” said McCourt.

He singled out #18 as one that the women will need to have their focus. It measures anywhere from 254 yards to 439 yards and has two different fairways.

A specific strategy could depend on the tee in play that day. The closer tee means less water to cover but from further back you have trees to deal with so option one might be the fairway on the left which makes for a longer hole with water on the right side.

“So, you have a very narrow landing area that is very punishable on both sides and then you have a long carry to get to the green over a lot of water,” said McCourt, adding there is a grouping of bunkers protecting the putting surface. He advises being below the hole because putting downhill on this green can be a bit tricky.

“It’s just a challenge all the way through to make sure you’re paying attention to your game and never lose focus on any shot around the golf course,” said McCourt. “But there are some holes that are birdie-able and I’m sure some of those better players who are in the field will take advantage and there will be some birdies but there’ll also be some big numbers as well.”

The Ranch will undergo a major bunker renovation before the ladies tee it up with some being removed. Those left over will get a makeover. It remains to be seen if these changes will impact scoring during the tournament, but McCourt says in the end it will make The Ranch a bit more userfriendly for the casual player.

“It’s going to be fun because we’ve never had the best women players in the province play here and we’re excited to see how that looks.”

This being Alberta, weather can impact any golf tournament with wind, rain and even scorching heat. McCourt says if we get a real soaker during the tournament, he’s not worried as the course drains quickly. “But if we get a drought year and we are trying to keep the course green and lush the water still likes to run away, and we dry out a little bit easier than other golf courses,” McCourt said. “If it does dry out, you’ll get a lot more roll on the fairway. It might not make it easier, but the ball might roll into places you don’t want it to.”

Compete & Excel

Jaclyn Lee Alberta’s own LPGA rookie

by Wes Gilbertson With each bit of friendly fire, every good-natured barb, the reality continued to sink in for Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee. Every soon-to-be university graduate has hopes of diving straight into their dream job. Lee, thanks to her superb showing at the LPGA Q-Series last fall, earned the opportunity to do exactly that.

“When I actually did turn professional, my teammates at Ohio State would be teasing me — we would be having a match in the practice facility and they’d be saying, ‘Oh, I’m just trying to beat an LPGA Tour player,’ ” Lee recalled with a chuckle. “And for me, it was like, ‘Oh my God, that sounds so weird!’ It’s actually true — I am an LPGA Tour player — but whenever it is referenced like that, it still is kind of surreal.”

Get used to it, Jaclyn.

Lee, who turns 22 in May, is among the rookie class of 2019 on the LPGA Tour, the biggest stage in women’s golf. She wrestled with waiting until summer to turn professional so she could complete her final year of NCAA eligibility with the Ohio State University Buckeyes, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, she made the leap into the paid-to-play ranks in December.

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Lee, a member at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club and a graduate of both the provincial and national development pipelines, is exempt for all full-field events — excluding majors — during what’s sure to be a season full of pinch-me moments.

“The simplest way to put it is that it’s really cool,” Lee said of her status as one of the new kids on the tee-block on the LPGA Tour. “It’s really cool to look back on how far I’ve come from when I started golf and started tournament golf and started to have this dream of being an LPGA Tour player. At random points, I’ll think about the journey that I’ve been on. I’m not saying that it’s done yet, but just so far — from when I played Alberta Bantams and Alberta Juniors and Alberta Am, throughout the years and just realizing that all my hard work has led up to this moment. I’m just really proud of myself for getting here.”

This journey, in many ways, started in the Wild Rose Province. Lee’s first rounds were at Richmond Green, a city-run shortie in Calgary. She will admit she initially wasn’t crazy about the sport but didn’t grouse because she enjoyed the company — a family foursome that included her parents, Stephen and Maria, and sister Carolyn.

Her trophy-collecting habit started close to home, too. From bantam to juvenile to junior, Lee won each of the provincial age-category crowns. She twice topped the leaderboard at the Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies’ Amateur Championship — first at Whitetail Crossing Golf Club in 2014, then two summers later at Highwood Golf & Country Club.

It was at the 2016 CP Women’s Open at Priddis Greens Golf & Country Club that she started to prove to herself that she could trade birdies with the best of the best.

Then 19 and teeing it up thanks to a Golf Canada exemption, she not only survived the 36-hole cut that week but collected the Marlene Streit Medal as low amateur.

“I mean, you had 97 of the top 100 players at that tournament and for me to make the cut in my first LPGA Tour tournament, that was huge,” Lee recalled. “I think that’s what started to help me believe this is where I was meant to be. And then this past year has been about tapping into that self-belief and knowing you are good enough to compete with them.”

Self-belief has been a focal point of Lee’s work with Golf Canada’s national program — two years on the development squad, followed by three on the women’s amateur team.

Compete & Excel

Calgary's Jaclyn Lee is now focusing on her LPGA career. Photo Courtesy of Golf Canada

The smooth-swinging, usuallysmiling Calgarian enjoyed plenty of positive results in 2018. She won her third collegiate title at the Big Ten Championship and briefly owned the lead during the final round of the NCAA Championship before fading to fifth, still the best-ever result on behalf of the Lady Buckeyes. Her summer was highlighted by a semifinal appearance at the British Amateur and a trip to the quarterfinal round at the U.S. Amateur.

“She’s always been a talented person, but more than that, she’s always worked very hard. And when you combine those two, you tend to see people who progress very quickly,” said Golf Canada’s Tristan Mullally, head coach of the women’s national team. “I think Jaclyn is starting to believe in herself the same way I do.

“When you combine someone who is already talented, who works very hard and is starting to believe in herself and starting to realize what she is good enough to possibly do, you start to see someone who has potential to really be successful.”

Lee was among the success stories last fall at the LPGA Q-Series, a threestage quest capped by an eight-round grind at famed Pinehurst Resort. She completed that 144-hole marathon —

and secured full status for the upcoming campaign — with a score of 7-under 569. Only five competitors finished their business in fewer strokes.

“Going through a process like that, it’s really mentally draining and you have to be mentally tough and also physically tough to put your body through something like that,” Lee said. “If you think about it, including the second stage of qualifying school, it was three weeks in a row of tournaments. But it was different in the sense that it wasn’t just any ol’ tournament. It was three weeks of really intense golf. So that part was mentally draining.

“But I think I just proved to myself that I can do it and I can handle it.

It’s just about knowing my body, knowing my limits and just believing I can play with them.” Now, she is one of them. As an LPGA rookie, she will be inside the ropes with stars the likes of of Ariya Jutanugarn, Inbee Park, Lexi Thompson and Canada’s beloved Brooke Henderson.

“Everyone always says that you have to find a job that you love, and I love competing and I love playing golf. So ultimately playing on the LPGA Tour,

that makes it the dream job,” Lee said. “I play golf for a living now, and it kind of sounds weird to say that it is my job, but it doesn’t feel like a job. It just still feels like I’m just doing what I love. Right now, I can’t think of doing anything else. I truly believe that the LPGA Tour is where I’m meant to be, and I’m going to enjoy it to its fullest extent.”

From Red Deer to Redcliff, from High Level to High River and, of course, in her home city of Calgary, Albertans should enjoy watching one of their own on Golf Channel’s coverage.

“Honestly, Jaclyn is one of the nicest humans I know,” Mullally said. “She has great parents who really do keep her grounded. She’s a really caring person.

She roots for her teammates and roots for other Canadians just as hard as she’s rooting for herself. She’s someone who works hard, someone who represents family and community well and somebody who really does want to try to get the best out of every day.

“It’s hard not to root for her.”

(Ed. Note: Lee enjoyed solid success at her first two LPGA events as a professional in Australia in February, 2019, making the cut both weeks.)

21

Connect & Enjoy

Cannabis Course on

by Andrew Penner After three-putting for the eighth time in nine holes, it's quite clear that Jim's problem with “the yips” has officially reached crisis levels. Bob, his playing partner, isn't faring much better. His slice is wreaking havoc. He's chalked up three doubles, a couple of triples, and, on the fifth, he put a ball through a living room window. Thankfully, they think, there is respite close at hand at the halfway house.

But these two hackers aren't thinking Budweiser. They're thinking bud.

Unless you've been hiding under a rock looking for your Titleist for the past few months, you've probably heard that consuming recreational cannabis became legal across Canada on October 17th, 2018. Depending on whom you ask, the legalization of marijuana has not come with the earth-shattering, society-altering ramifications that some predicted.

However, for golf courses, it's an issue that obviously needs to be addressed.

To cut to the chase, golf courses in virtually every jurisdiction are allowed to set their own rules in terms of marijuana use on their property. From a total ban on “bud” to selling it at the halfway house (not likely given the many 22

challenges associated with getting this authorization!), there are many possible scenarios. But, in Alberta, banning the use of cannabis on golf courses – public, private, and municipal - seems to be the most logical outcome.

“A number of factors were carefully considered...”

“We do not permit smoking cannabis on our property,” says Darren Cooke, the Director of Golf at the Canmore Golf & Curling Club. “A number of factors were carefully considered when we made this decision. For starters, we are a family operation promoting healthy lifestyles.

We're also located next to a community recreation center and a high school. We consider ourselves an integral part of the active fabric of our community. Also, the Town of Canmore's policy is no smoking cannabis on public property. And our executive has followed their lead on this.”

Not surprisingly, other courses are also following the decisions made by their municipal governing bodies on cannabis use. “I don't think this will be a major issue,” says Tim Watt, Director of Golf at the D'Arcy Ranch Golf Course in Okotoks. “But we will have a policy in place before we open in 2019. We are going to follow the town bylaws and will post any signage that they deem necessary.”

Heritage Pointe Golf Club, a semiprivate facility in DeWinton, has also recently determined its policy. Carol Oxtoby is the President and CEO of Heritage Pointe and she spoke about the club’s position. “As a public facility, the use of recreational cannabis is prohibited on all areas of the property, including the golf course, in or around the clubhouse, and in parking lots,” said Oxtoby. “Individuals using cannabis for medicinal purposes must provide proof upon request.”

So, long story short, golfers like Jim and Bob (a fictional duo), may have to look long and hard to find a golf course – let alone one that sells it at the turn – that allows cannabis use on the fairways.

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Discover & Try

Alberta Golf programs provide a clear path for junior golfers to learn the game and perhaps earn a scholarship.

JUNIOR GOLF ROADMAP

by Kevin Smith

One of the many initiatives that Alberta Golf is looking to unveil in 2019 is the establishment of a pathway to help junior golfers navigate the road to postsecondary education. This pathway will be called The Junior Golf Roadmap.

“Our goal is to help clarify the competitive pathway for players in Alberta” said Jennifer Davison, Director of Sport Development and High Performance.

“We often hear from families that there is confusion surrounding the idea of playing competitively in the province and where competitive golf can lead them. We field questions that range from beginner opportunities, all the way to postsecondary opportunities. The Junior Golf Roadmap will help clarify the routes that players can take.”

24

Golf Canada already has a junior competitive pathway but Alberta Golf wants to create one that is Alberta-specific for the players in our province.

To develop The Alberta Junior Golf Roadmap consultation with families was invaluable to find out what struggles they had in guiding their players through junior golf and beyond.

The de Graaf family from Edmonton is one of those families. Marlene de Graaf knew her son Ethan had promise in the sport of golf when he was young, but had no idea how to get him started. She didn’t know how to set him up for success when it came to finding a scholarship in the U.S. or get him on the radar of a Canadian university.

“By the time Ethan was 15 or 16 we had no idea what options were available,” said de Graaf. “The feedback we got from coaches in the U.S. was ‘Ethan looks like a great player but we’re done recruiting for this year; we’re recruiting into 2019 & 2020’. We realized we should have started this process when Ethan was in grade 9.”

The de Graafs realized they were too late to find a U.S. school for Ethan but not too late for here in Canada. Ethan is happily playing in his first year at UBC but they remember all the questions they had when he was young. Those questions included: ‘how do we find out about tournaments, which tournaments should we choose, how do you find a coach, what should our budget be, how

Discover & Try

do we find college recruiters and what exactly is an order of merit’? They would love to see this new roadmap help other families in the future.

“As one of the older parents who’s been through it, I’m having parents come to me in the same position I was five years ago asking, ‘what do we do, how does this work’ ?” said de Graaf. “It was really frustrating when you’re new to the golf community to actually know how to get into all of these things, so a junior golf roadmap will definitely help families that are new to golf or new to golf in Alberta.”

Annabelle Ackroyd is a grade 12 student at William Aberhart High School in Calgary. She has already committed to the University of Minnesota to enroll this fall. Her father Carson says the process to find the right post-secondary option for his daughter started in grade 10.

“It’s important to have somebody to provide some counsel and direction on what kind of events you need to play in,” said Ackroyd. “It’s important to find out what events post-secondary recruiters are going to be at and how to approach them.

Information on how early on you need to start would be incredibly helpful to any family that’s looking to get into that area.”

Which brings us back to Alberta Golf and their plan to give families the tools to get their players to where Ethan and Annabelle are in a much smoother manner. They are looking to expand offerings at Junior and Bantam Championships which include parent meetings and information sessions for players. Coaches will be discussing some of the requirements needed to play post-secondary golf. There will be a big focus on the under-15 bantam level so it’s not overwhelming for parents and so that they don’t think they are going to make unfixable mistakes.

“Expanding our offering at our championship events for juniors will allow for an open dialogue between the players and the association,” said Davison. “Our goal is to be a resource for these players and to help them find the information they need to make the best decision for their future.”

Alberta Golf wants to take the pressure off of families and steer the focus away from just being competitive. They want to make families aware that there are also post-secondary opportunities for players that are more education-focused and not all about high performance golf. It’s a roadmap no different than in hockey. There are recreational players and competitive players and the goal is to make sure that the roadmap feels inclusive to everybody versus just being for highly competitive players. With input from families and key stakeholders in the industry Alberta Golf is striving to provide a clear roadmap for what has historically been a challenging process.

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Compete & Excel

Tips for

Parents of Competitive Golfers

by Randy Robb Foreword by Julie Freedman Smith and Gail Bell of Parenting Power At Parenting Power, we believe that there is more than one right way to parent, and we create a solution for every family.

You know the facts as well as we do.

The relationship between youth sports performance and rising anxiety levels, along with the fact that 70% of kids drop out of sports by age 13 cannot be ignored.

Something needs to change!

The research and recommendations about the roles of the coach, the parent and the

athlete are very clear. Parents have an important role to play in supporting young athletes, but it often gets blurred with the coaching role. While kids are keen to hear from coaches about how they can learn from their mistakes and losses, when they hear it from parents the message can leave kids feeling pressured and unloved.

We can’t ignore the research. The one message we need parents to hear is that, when you are talking to your kids about their sports performance, what matters most is: when you do it and how you do it.

Our Parent-Athlete Agreement worksheet

Your Public Golf & Country Club

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is created for parents and their kids to use together to clearly outline how parents can best support their athletes.

This is not something you do to your child, it is something you do with your child.

Download our free worksheet at www.parentingpower.ca/paa. Take the time to get your agreement written down so that it becomes a working tool for everyone in the family. We know that parents love their kids and want the best for them. This is a way to support your athlete and clarify how your children’s athletic experiences fit into their life-long journey.

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Compete & Excel 5 Eliminate on-course superstitions - Goals need to revolve around helping the junior become as self-sufficient as possible. This will help with their development. There should be no connection between player performance and who is at the course watching the round.

There are numerous online articles about high-performance athletes and tips associated with supporting them. Over the past 15 years I have had the opportunity to be involved with dozens of our best juniors and amateurs. There is no perfect method or textbook to follow when helping to guide your children through the journey of high-performance athletics. However, there are certainly some key areas that should be considered. Here are a few tips to help parents along the journey.

Junior golfers face many challenges as they develop their skills.

1 Nutrition / Well-Being - As part of the integrated support team, taking the lead role in nutrition is key to maintaining daily energy levels and allowing for optimum learning and training.

2 Promote academics - There are three areas college coaches look at when they recruit junior golfers... golf ability, character, and academics. Having good study habits and maintaining a solid GPA will open doors for a wider selection of post-secondary schools.

3 Realistic expectations - Golf is a very 6 Help teach your child how to deal with failure - Golf tournaments are very tough to individual game, both on the course and also how it relates to practice and training. Having win. There will be anywhere from 20 - 200 players competing in an event with only one a good understanding of tournament scoring average and the concept of competing against player holding up the trophy at the end. yourself will help keep expectations in check.

Help keep the scoring expectations realistic and develop ways to deal with those tough 4 Understand the competitive landscape - Try rounds. Remember that half of the rounds to gain a basic understanding of the pathway will be below the scoring average and half leading to the major junior tournaments. will be above.

There are numerous junior events throughout the spring and summer and each has its 7 Promote post round analysis - There are numerous systems that allow a player to place in player development. From early season junior tour events to provincial input a round of golf and are designed to assist with analyzing what went well and championships in July right through to national championships in August, there is what needs work. Helping to set up an account with one of these providers will go a definite pathway of appropriate events to a long way with your child’s development. foster skill development.

8 Stress process, not outcome - The amount of information out there is staggering when it comes to goal setting. A long term goal such as playing college golf or getting a spot at Nationals is motivating, but the key to developing and improving as a competitive golfer is to have a weekly/ monthly training plan that focuses specifically on what your child needs to work on. Golf is a funny game. A player can be rolling along nicely sticking to his or her game plan, then have a couple shots go sideways on the 17th hole. As opposed to only looking at the 18-hole score, help with the concept of process and continuous improvement.

9 Stay involved with team sports Competitive golfers tend to spend countless hours practicing short game and full shots by themselves throughout the year. Tournament golf is playing against the entire field of competitors.

As a parent of a competitive golfer, try to encourage participation in team sports for as long as possible.

Hockey, soccer, volleyball, basketball, football, and lacrosse, to name a few, will help with maintaining good fitness, developing that competitive mindset needed for golf, understanding teamwork concepts and accountability.

10 Find a qualified coach - and then allow them to coach. There are PGA professionals who are trained in all areas of competitive golf training. Whether it’s the pro at your golf club, a high performance coach, or a former tour player, find that junior leader who will help sort through all the many aspects of competing, while enjoying the journey at the same time.

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27

Learn & Play

Alberta Golf’s

Rec Series

by Jim Claggett

In the same vein as having your golf clubs, clothes and shoes fit you, Alberta Golf has what may be the perfect fit for recreational golfers who want to experience tournament play but not the pressure to play well in those settings.

“In talking to recreational players, they like the competition but they don’t like the pressure.

So, if you can come with a couple of your girlfriends or your buddies or even a mixed event with your kids, would you come and just have a fun round and see where you sit?” said John Burns, Field Manager for Competition and Membership with Alberta Golf.

In a nutshell the Rec Series can be defined as a value-based opportunity for recreational players to come and enjoy a round of golf. In other words - fun without the competitive vice grip which many high-end tournaments can produce for some of its participants.

Burns has taken the reins after the series’ rookie year and will guide it through 2019.

He says the season is shaping up nicely 28

with some bucket list courses to play at an easy-on-the-wallet price.

‘Oh, I can do that!’

“I’ve secured Banff Springs, Stewart Creek, Jasper Park Lodge and Canmore Golf and Curling Club to each host a oneday event,” said Burns. There will also be a two-day Net Amateur event using the Stableford scoring system to be held at Wintergreen Golf and Country Club.

The target demographic for this series is quite broad which makes it a very important piece of the puzzle for Alberta Golf as it works towards filling a gap in what they do for golf in this province.

“This is more designed to promote golf to the 50,000 members we have that have never even considered competing in an event either because they don’t think they’re good enough or because they don’t want the pressure of having to qualify or play against players which are head and shoulders better than them,” Burns said.

This series could be a tool which introduces new golfers to the game, expose those recreational players to new scoring formats and more importantly, it will provide some fun in the fresh air.

At its roots, this is a tournament for recreational players regardless of handicap which Burns says is a key component in attracting players.

For example, the Net Amateur was held at River Bend Golf and Recreation Area in Red Deer last year with about 80 men and women taking part. The men’s winner was a 26 handicap. Yep, that’s not a misprint. If there was a poster which

Learn & Play

Rec Series 2019 SCHEDULE Stewart Creek May 12. (Mothers Day) Jasper Park Lodge June 15 Banff Springs June 29 Canmore Aug 22/23 (2-day Ladies Team Classic) Wintergreen Aug 29/30 (Alberta Rec Series Net Amateur Championship)

Alberta Golf 's Rec Series is great fun for players off all ages and abilities on some terrific courses.

speaks to what the Rec Series is all about then Burns says just check out the photo from that event last year.

“These are everyday people. These are the blue collar members who play maybe once a week, a couple of times a month,” said Burns.

“These are not the hard-core tournament chasing people.” If Burns needed more evidence to convince him this series has some merit, he got it from his own experience.

“I sat in a number of scoring tents over the summer and for example, the Senior Ladies Amateur was at Woodside. When the scores started coming in the volunteers I was sitting with would say ‘Oh, I can do that’,” he said.

That was a perfect example of the stigma attached to competitions where everyday players would never sign up for because they feel they aren’t good enough to compete. Burns continued, “But when you see there is now an opportunity to play in an event that maybe caters to your handicap or your

playing level, you’re like ‘yeah, come on let’s go’.”

Burns says he’s contacting men’s, ladies’ and seniors’ leagues around the province to cull players who may be interested in these lowkey events. This doesn’t mean there will be foot-wedges and questionable drops during the round. There will of course be rules to follow and players will get the feeling of being in a formal event but not so rigid they feel the pressure of having to perform.

Players will need to be an Alberta Golf member with a recognized handicap in order to register for each event. Think of it like your league night at your club with your friends and then you sit down for a beverage after the round. “I don’t want it to be loosey-goosey. I want it to be fairly structured but at the same time I want people to come and have fun,” Burns said.

For your entry fee (which could vary from course to course) a player will receive his or her round of golf, a meal and tee prizes. In

addition, there will be something to reward the winners which may be in the form of a gift certificate.

The one-day events will be stroke play but the Net Amateur will remain Stableford scoring which removes even more pressure to score well. In most cases, when you get to double bogey you pick up and move to the next hole.

Burns feels it won’t be hard to get people to play if they know about the series, so he plans to email those who played in last year’s events to get them to register. Word of mouth will also help while he gets the information into courses around the province, so their members are aware of what is happening.

One of the tenets of Alberta Golf is to educate its members as well as grow the game of golf in Alberta and Burns feels this will add fuel to that fire. For many casual players in the province the Rec Series just might fit like a (golf) glove.

Why not try it on for size?

29

Connect & Enjoy

Power of the

Public Player

by John Gordon

#16 at The Links of GlenEagles. Public golfers can enjoy courses of this calibre throughout Alberta. Photo courtesy of PlayGolfCalgary.

The game of golf can be confounding. Hit down on the ball to make it go up. Aim right to make a shot go left. And so on.

Just as confounding in many ways is the history of the game itself. While its convolutions can be unraveled by students of the game, many casual observers are flummoxed. Golf’s recent gyrations have led to misleading headlines announcing the game’s imminent demise.

Time for some historical perspective. Like everything else in this world, golf has proven cyclical over the last 600 years or so. Even in relatively recent history, say the last century, golf has ebbed and flowed in response to social, economic and political tides.

In Alberta, for example, there were only nine golf clubs in 1919, the year after 30

the end of the First World War. A mere 17 years later, there were 66, according to a report quoted in James Barclay’s seminal book Golf in Canada: A History.

Eighteen years after that, there were only 37. Now there are more than 300.

Not long after, another golf boom struck only to be followed by a bust in the 1970s. The ‘80s and ‘90s were a dream for the golf industry, from which it was rudely awakened by the recession of 2008. It can be argued that the industry has never quite rebounded from that blow, but to say it is on life support is to be ignorant of golf’s history and resilience.

Murray McCourt is the general manager of The Ranch Golf and Country Club just west of the Edmonton city limits. Now a PGA of

Canada Executive Professional, he has been in the golf business for almost 30 years.

He’s seen golf flourish thanks to the cash that flowed during the province’s boom.

Things are quite different now, he says.

“We’re not nearly as busy as we were then but we are managing to keep our head well above water. Like every business, we had to take a hard look at our business model, our revenue streams. We had to get leaner, but we couldn’t cut our quality of service. We had to get creative,” McCourt said.

The Ranch now is a totally public course, one that McCourt says may be the “...busiest tournament course in Alberta.”

There are no members as such, but there are men’s and ladies’ leagues. Like The Ranch, McCourt says to be successful, golf facilities must continually evolve.

Connect & Enjoy But is it an “evolution” or more so a case of “back to the future”?

Remember those “600 years” mentioned earlier? That’s how long ago the game was first played over what now is known as the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.

It was, and remains, a public course.

Today, all seven layouts at St. Andrews, including the Old Course, are public courses. While there were (and still are) no members, there were “golf societies,” organized groups that played regularly on one or more courses. Then along came the proliferation of “private” member clubs, most noticeably on this side of the Atlantic, and with them the now-detested “elitist” tag for the game itself. Public golfers were demeaned as the “great unwashed,” “trunk-slammers.”

Now “back to the future” we go. Golf societies are on the rise across the country, as are the number of golf facilities, many of them previously private, open to the public golfer.

“There are numerous diverse groups [in Canada] that have organized themselves to play golf,” said Calgary’s Leslie Dunning in her acceptance speech after being elected president of Golf Canada last year. “As we identify these groups, we will reach out to build relationships with them…It is our aim to create relevancy to more golfers.”

Establishing that relevance is easier said than done, says Dave Stockton, Director of Member Services and High Performance Sport for Golf Canada. Golf Canada currently has about 270,000 members, the vast majority of whom belong to private or semi-private clubs. About 17,000 of those are public players. According to Stockton, Golf Canada’s research indicates there are about a million golfers in the country who play at least 25 times a season and that’s the organization’s target.

Of that pool of a million, Stockton estimates about 350,000 play at some sort of competitive level, whether that be tournaments, leagues or other events, and thus should be tracking an official Golf Canada handicap factor. The remaining 650,000, he says, are recreational golfers “who play a more social form of golf with friends, family or regular playing

partners.” They may not adhere strictly to the Rules of Golf and don’t see the necessity of an accurate handicap factor.

But, Stockton emphasizes, a Golf Canada Gold membership offers many more benefits including incident protection that covers up to $2,500 reimbursement for damaged, lost or stolen equipment such as clubs and range finders; reimbursement for damage up to $1,000 if you break or damage a window; and up to $2,500 for damages caused by a golf cart accident. Plus other benefits that make a membership relevant to all regular golfers—maybe even more relevant to those who don’t necessarily know where their next shot is going or are accidentprone or forgetful.

Somewhere between the strictly itinerant public golfer and those who are attracted to something like VIP Golf are those intrigued by models such as Play Golf Calgary. In fact, says CEO Scott Atkinson, “we try to bridge that gap, to create a relationship, a sense of belonging that a lot of golfers seem to want. It’s actually a basic human instinct.”

Like other industry insiders, Stockton acknowledges the latest paradigm shift in golf. “I don’t think people are necessarily leaving golf. I think they are leaving the traditional golf club membership model for more public golf.”

Atkinson, a past-president of the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada, says there is a continual push within Play Golf Calgary to meet the demand for programs that tend to reflect those at traditional member clubs such as match-play and other leagues, junior camps, tournaments and social activities for card-holders, their families, friends and colleagues.

As a result, there are more options for the public golfer, ranging from public courses like The Ranch to innovative concepts like VIP Golf and Play Golf Calgary. (It should be noted that all encourage their clients to purchase a Golf Canada Gold membership.)

Loosely inspired by the “one membership, more golf” concept developed by ClubLink, which owns multiple courses in Ontario, Quebec and Florida, Rob Wilson came up with the VIP Golf idea 15 years ago. He purchases “tens of thousands of greens fees” at about 100 courses in Alberta and B.C., and then re-sells them to his VIP Golf members at “substantial preferred rates” that can range up to 60 per cent off the rack rate.

The result is the proverbial “win-win-win” scenario, he says. VIP Golf is thriving, its members get great value at outstanding courses, and the courses themselves receive income from carts, retail sales, and food and beverage purchases.

A VIP Golf membership can also serve as a “gateway to membership” at a specific course, says Wilson, when a golfer wants to sample the experience at several clubs before settling on a home club.

Play Golf Calgary is comprised of The Links of Glen Eagles, Blue Devil Golf Club and its Lil Devil short course, HeatherGlen Golf Course and Serenity Golf Club. All are accessible, at various levels, through the purchase of a Play Golf Calgary Card or by opting for a Multi-Course Membership.

“We’re not trying to be the traditional private club. That calls for a whole other financial commitment, among other things. What we are trying to do is provide a setting where they can enjoy the game in a social way. We want to be the best of both worlds. Ultimately, our goal is to create golfers.”

A 2015 report by Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada said there were 2,346 golf facilities in this country of which only 220 were private. There were 312 facilities in Alberta at that time, 23 of them totally private. Among the remainder are semi-private clubs, those which may offer memberships but also welcome public play.

Like the unveiling this year of a totally revamped Rules of Golf which made the code more relevant and relatable, the game continues to adapt to the needs and wants of its modern constituency. The old “evolve or die” scenario. Or, if you prefer, “back to the future.”

Certainly, public golf may not be for everyone. But golf itself certainly is.

31

Discover & Try

Golf &Tacos INTRODUCING It has been said that golf is a good walk spoiled, and for those new to the sport, that can feel all too true. With all the rules, the etiquette and the unforgiving nature of a golf swing, it is a difficult game to navigate, which can discourage newcomers before they even get started.

On top of that, women looking to get into the game are often intimidated by the male dominated atmosphere and can fear encountering the stereotypical stuffiness associated with golf as they try to learn and improve their game. In fact, for many women, golf has become just another four-letter word. Good friends Birkley Doll and Caitlin Buckell are aiming to change that four-letter word – to ‘taco’.

Golf & Tacos is a program that presents young women with an incredible opportunity to learn the game and have a lot of fun in the process. Doll and Buckell founded the group two years ago to fill a need they found in their own lives.

“It came from a place of wanting to get more of our own friends into golf. We decided to come up with a way to make it fun to go out and play golf,” says Buckell.

The duo started an Instagram page to attract young women like themselves to golf so that they would not only have partners on the course but also an increased Rolodex professionally. They looked at finding a good day to organize lessons and landed on Tuesday. They joked that what more could a girl ask for than Taco Tuesdays and Golf & Tacos was born.

The response was immediate; women quickly responded to the Instagram posts wanting to sign up for lessons and Photo Courtesy of Marissa Kampf

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s

Discover & Try

by Rennay Craats

YOUNG WOMEN TO THE GAME to find out what the group was about, which is taking away the barriers that many women experience and creating a welcoming, fun environment in which to learn the game.

working on their consistency whereas spicy players are more experienced golfers looking to fine-tune their skills. Players can decide at what level they are comfortable and where they need to be for their skills to improve.

“We didn’t realize that we hit such a niche market,” says Doll.

Last season Golf & Tacos put together three consecutive sold-out sessions at Golf Canada Calgary Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with each session running five to seven weeks. Intimate groups of eight golfers per session encourages the ladies to really get to know each other. The ideal location boasts a teaching facility that allows players to practice on grass while also offering covered tees with heaters to combat Calgary’s volatile weather.

“ We knew who we were and the target market because it was the people we wanted to hang out with. We wanted to feel comfortable.”

This target market is a big one made up of like-minded women between the ages of 23 and 35 who are new to the game or who played as kids but are just getting back into it. Most important, they are all looking for a fantastic community of supportive women that they can have a blast with. In keeping with the Mexican theme, the ‘chicas’ have the option of joining a mild, medium, hot and now a new spicy level of lessons depending on their experience and golf ability.

Medium players would have some experience on a course and while they occasionally swing and miss, they are

“It really helps take some of the elements out from a scheduling and planning perspective—we can be out there when it’s colder or going to rain,” says Buckell.

“Earlier in the year those heated stalls make a huge difference, especially for beginner or intermediate golfers.”

GCCC Teaching Professional Todd Halpen instructs the women on everything from how to hold and swing a club to which club to use for different shots, all the while encouraging the ladies to visit with each other, listen to music, and have a beer or glass of wine.

“Todd is fabulous. He makes the girls so comfortable, so relaxed and at ease. He’s definitely not stuffy at all, which if you hadn’t been on a course much I think maybe you’d expect,” says Corey Davison, who has been part of the Golf & Tacos family since the beginning.

Davison golfed as a youth but drifted away from it until she recently lost a bet

with her boyfriend that required her to join him on the course. He encouraged her to take up the game again, both because she is naturally athletic and because as a lawyer it would benefit her to be able to take clients out golfing. She knew he was right and signed up with Golf & Tacos.

“It’s really difficult as a female, especially a young professional female, to feel included in the golf tournaments when you’re not quite so comfortable around a set of golf clubs or on golf courses as some of your male counterparts,” says Davison. “Caitlin and Birkley wanted to do away with that uncomfortable feeling or feelings of embarrassment.”

Some Golf & Tacos participants have never set foot on a golf course, and that’s just fine. The lessons are geared toward demystifying the golf world so that ladies understand what they need to do when they arrive for a game, where and how to warm up, how to take part in a tournament, and of course how to successfully move that little white ball around the course.

At the end of the session they head to a host course where the chicas put their newly acquired skills and knowledge to the test. Halpen and other course pros are on hand to walk the ladies through the process, counselling them on how to set up their tees, which club to use when, and where to aim in order to get the ball in the hole. Buckell and Doll mix up the foursomes so the chicas meet people from the other sessions to further expand their networks. There are prizes and, of course, wine and tacos to celebrate the occasion.

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Discover & Try

Golf & Tacos has become a wildly popular program in Calgary with young women eager to get more comfortable on a golf course.

Photo Courtesy of Katelyn Eslinger

“We make it inclusive and make everyone feel really welcome and keep it really fun.”

But once the lessons are over the relationships are just getting started. All of the 170 Golf & Tacos graduates are encouraged to join the group’s Facebook group to keep in touch. There, the chicas can post notes seeking to round out a foursome or organize golf games with alumnae to encourage everyone to get out and golf. Given this, Buckell and Doll are looking at ways to grow the program to facilitate that desire to golf more and to accommodate the growing number of women interested in 34

joining Golf & Tacos. They are looking at opportunities to partner with additional courses and organizations throughout Calgary, add more sessions, expand the brand to other cities, and possibly set up a Golf & Tacos league to get clubs in the women’s hands as much as possible.

After all, that’s the objective – to get more young women playing golf so they can both improve their game and network with clients and senior management. In two short years, Golf & Tacos has grown into

a fun, encouraging, vibrant community of women who are bringing a tough-to-attract demographic into golf courses by making the game approachable.

“We want to remove the barriers to entry as much as possible for beginners and intermediate golfers,” says Buckell. “We make it inclusive and make everyone feel really welcome and keep it really fun.”

And what could be more fun than golf and tacos?

Thank You to Sun Life Financial for 29 years of support for golf in Alberta.

Over 400 advisors in communities across Alberta individually contribute to not only the Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s and Ladies Championships, but to the growth and sustainability of our great game.

environment and the life skills learned by junior golfers are only some of the reasons why golf continues to be the game of our lifetimes.

To contact a Sun Life Financial advisor in your community, please visit www.sunlife.ca

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Compete & Excel

BRENDAN MacDOUGALL Alberta Match Play Championship Brendan MacDougall figured he would hang onto this hardware for another summer. The smoothswinging Calgarian successfully defended his throne at the 2018 Alberta Match Play Championship, winning four head-to-head showdowns to repeat his feat.

“If you go back to an event you won the previous year, it’s kind of like you have a target on your back. The other guys are thinking, ‘I want to take him down. I want to beat him,’ ” said MacDougall, a member at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club. “So to go through that and to be able to win that tournament twice, it was really special.”

MacDougall was trailing in three of his four matches at Silver Springs Golf & Country Club, but he managed to dig his way out of each deficit. He bested youngster Brady McKinlay (Lacombe Golf & Country Club) in the final, prevailing with a par on No. 18 for a 1-up victory.

MacDougall has earned a spot on Team Canada’s national amateur team for 2019. “I don’t even know if it’s a dream come true, because I never thought it would happen,” he said. “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime and I am super excited to be able to wear the maple leaf and represent our country at every event I play in. It’s one of the highest honours that you could have.”

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The Champi

Compete & Excel

WES HEFFERNAN

CHANDLER McDOWELL

RYAN HODGINS

ANNABELLE ACKROYD

Alberta Open Championship

Alberta Junior Boys Championship

Alberta Juvenile Boys Championship

In quick succession, Calgary’s Wes Heffernan scribbled three circles on his scorecard. A couple hours later, they would be engraving his name — again — on the hardware at the 2018 SVR Alberta Open Championship.

Don’t blow it. That was the mindset for Springbrook’s Chandler McDowell as he opened up a commanding lead through three laps at the 2018 Alberta Junior Boys Championship at Sundre Golf Club.

On the drive back home to Medicine Hat, Ryan Hodgins studied the slate of past provincial champions at the juvenile level. He had just added his name to the list.

Alberta Juvenile/Junior Girls Championship

A former touring professional and now instructor at Golf Canada Calgary Centre, Heffernan claimed that title for the sixth time last summer. He was in chase mode during the final round at River Spirit Golf Club before leapfrogging his playing partners, Riley Fleming and Evan Holmes, with a bang-bang-bang stretch from Nos. 11-13. (see p. 56)

“I think I had an eight-shot lead going into the final day, but I still was very nervous going into that final round,” McDowell recalled.

“I remember sitting that night at home and you just think about negatives, because the mind likes to wander. You don’t want to be the guy who had an eight-shot lead and ended up losing. But I really just tried to stick to my game plan. I knew that if I kept doing what I was doing all week, my golf would take care of the rest.”

“They were making a bunch of birdies. It seemed like they were always one or two shots ahead of me,” Heffernan recalled. “And all of a sudden, I made three birdies in a row and then I was leading. And I just never gave it back.”

For Heffernan, it’s nice to have this trophy back in his possession. A proud member at Silver Springs Golf & Country Club and a guy who has teed it up several times on the PGA Tour, Heffernan won five instalments of the Alberta Open during a sevenyear stretch from 2006-12.

He returned to the throne with a three-round tab of 13-under 203 at River Spirit, capped in style with an eagle on the closing hole.

That game plan worked wonders during his final rip around the tree-lined layout. McDowell’s nerves started to settle with a birdie on No. 5. That was one of eight circles on his scorecard as he closed with a 6-under 66, the best score of the week.

When the final numbers were crunched, McDowell (Innisfail Golf & Country Club) had finished 11 strokes clear of the competition with a four-round tab of 10-under 278. “And I topped it off with a birdie on No. 18,” he said. “That made it feel even cooler.”

ions

“It’s really cool, because a lot of really good players have won that before,” said Hodgins, a junior member at Medicine Hat Golf & Country Club. “And I wasn’t expecting to win coming into the week. I mean, it would be nice, but I never really thought of it. It was only my second time playing in the event, and there were so many good players there …so to win? It was really cool.”

The battle for juvenile bragging rights is a tournament-within-atournament at the Alberta Junior Boys Championship. Hodgins finished fourth on the overall leaderboard at Sundre Golf Club and was the class of the 16-andunder category with a four-round count of 5-over 293.

He didn’t miss many fairways or greens that week. He even earned a spot in the final group for his last lap and was proud of the way he handled what can be a nervewracking scenario.

“I learned that even with the pressure, I can keep it together and still have a decent round and have a good finish,” Hodgins said.

Twice as nice.

Calgary’s Annabelle Ackroyd left Coyote Creek Golf & RV Resort with a trophy in each hand after storming to a three-stroke victory at the 2018 Alberta Junior Girls Championship and also triumphing in the Juvenile division.

“This was my last year as a juvenile, so my goal was to win both. That had been something I was dying to do,” said Ackroyd, just the fifth female in Alberta Golf’s history to pull off that dandy double. “I watched Katy (Rutherford) and Jaclyn (Lee) do it before me, so I was able to see how cool it was.

Because they’re giant trophies, and it’s pretty fun to have both.”

Ackroyd completed her three spins of Coyote Creek in 3-under 210.

A member at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club, she clinched both crowns with a bogey-free back nine on the final day, mixing three birdies and six pars on her way back to the clubhouse.

“The year before, I had a threeshot leading going into the back nine and I didn’t play well and I think I ended up losing by one,” Ackroyd recalled. “So playing really well on the back nine when it really counted and finishing under par for the tournament, that was amazing.

That’s what I set out to do.”

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Compete & Excel

KAT KENNEDY

SKYESONG ALEXIS

AJ ARMSTRONG

BRANDON MARKIW

Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship

Alberta Ladies Mid-Amateur Championship

Alberta Mens Amateur

Alberta Mens Mid-Amateur

It was a tough start, and a trophy finish. Thanks to a timely weather delay and a suddenlyscorching putter, Kat Kennedy of Okotoks surged to the top of the leaderboard at the 2018 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship at Willow Park Golf and Country Club.

This could be the start of something special for Skyesong Alexis.

AJ Armstrong is typically a paris-your-friend type. But when the 2018 Sun Life Financial Alberta Mens Amateur Championship turned into a birdie bonanza, the up-and-comer from St. Albert proved he could handle that, too.

Edmonton’s Brandon Markiw had an old buddy on the bag. And this seems to be a dynamite duo.

“It was more than I expected when I walked into the tournament,” Kennedy admitted after her first provincial triumph. “Especially when you snap hook your first shot into the trees … It was definitely a bigger, better outcome that I thought.”

Kennedy was a couple of strokes north of par when the skies opened up during the second round of the three-day slugfest at Willow Park.

That two-hour storm seemed to be a perfect reset. When the action resumed, she couldn’t seem to miss with her flat stick.

A member of the Alberta Public Players Club, she drained seven birdie putts during the final round, closing with a 66 and edging Arizona resident Sydney Colwill by a single stroke with a tournament total of 6-under 210.

“After that rain delay, I was 9-under for the rest of the tournament,” Kennedy recalled. “On the last day, I pretty much attacked all the pins and gave myself a chance with all the putts. And somehow, all the putts were going in.”

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Thanks to her impressive showing at the 2018 Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship, where she claimed provincial bragging rights in the mid-amateur category, Alexis earned an all expenses paid trip to the national showdown in Vancouver. A proud member of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, she made headlines there as the only Indigenous woman in the field. As it turns out, a potential sponsor spotted that coverage.

“He saw my story, and he wanted to help me fulfil my dream,” Alexis said. “He said he saw me on TV and then he read up on me. He saw my story on why I haven’t gone pro and why I haven’t chased my dream before, because I wasn’t financially ready, and then he contacted me and he said, ‘You know what? I want to help you.’ ” With the backing of her new sponsor, Alexis headed south to Florida this winter to practice, train and compete in mini-tour events. Now professional, the mother of two isn’t eligible to defend her mid-amateur title. In her first provincial event since she was a teen, a 29-year-old Alexis fired a three-round score of 4-over 220 at Willow Park to lead the 25-plus division.

In fact, he made two dozen of ’em — plus an eagle — during the four-round shootout at RedTail Landing Golf Club. “I kind of pride myself on making a lot of pars and just being a really steady golfer, but that tournament was obviously a lot different. You had to go low,” said Armstrong, a regular at Windermere Golf & Country Club.

“Being 19-under, that was the lowest four-round tournament I’ve had, by far. And then 64 is my lowest tournament round, as well. So two big milestones there.”

You read that right — Armstrong opened with a spin of 8-under 64 and eventually shaved a grand total of 19 strokes off par.

Despite those video-game numbers, the final round was far from a stroll in the park. In fact, he had company atop the leaderboard at the turn before eventually besting Calgary’s Jesse Galvon (Cottonwood) by a pair of strokes. “Knowing my lead was never really safe was good to not get complacent and just keep firing at flags and trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Armstrong said.

With his childhood friend Dustin Kohn — a guy who knows a thing or two about high-level competition — carrying his clubs, Markiw sizzled to a five-stroke victory at the 2018 Alberta Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship, split between Glendale and Stony Plain.

“He actually caddied for me back in 2004, we won the Alberta Open together,” Markiw said of Kohn, a now-retired defenceman whose resume includes 22 games at the NHL level. “And this was the first time that he’d caddied for me since, so I have a perfect record in provincial championships with him. We had a lot of fun together that week.”

Winning usually is a blast. Or, in Markiw’s case, a blast from the past. After determining that he wouldn’t pursue a career in professional golf, he essentially quit the sport for four years. The proud owner of his own food company, he was starting work at about 3:45 a.m. during tournament week, then racing to the course.

Even with those abbreviated warm-ups and a troublesome wind, the Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club member managed a three-round tally of 3-under 213.

“It’s been a while since I’d really won anything … It must have been 10 years or so,” Markiw said. “So to lock this one up, it was a lot of fun.”

Compete & Excel

BARB FLAMAN

JOHN FESTIVAL

LOGAN GRAF

JAYLA KUCY

Alberta Senior Ladies Championship

Alberta Senior Mens Championship

Alberta Bantam Boys Championship

Alberta Bantam Girls Championship

Sherwood Park’s Barb Flaman needed a pep talk. Fast.

This could have turned into a slippery, slippery slope. Calgary’s John Festival didn’t allow that to happen.

He was tied for the lead, and taking aim at a pond. Gulp.

You might want to remember this name.

Sylvan Lake’s Logan Graf showed no signs of nerves on the final hole of the 2018 Alberta Bantam Boys Championship at Goose Hummock Golf Resort, draining a birdie putt on that splashy assignment to capture his first provincial title.

The winner of the 2018 Alberta Bantam Girls Championship, Jayla Kucy is already carding scores that many adult golfers can only dream of. “Everyone always says to me, ‘Oh you’re 12 … So what do you shoot — 90? 100?’ ” said the enthusiastic up-and-comer from Camrose. “And I’ll say, ‘Low-80s,’ and they’re like, ‘What?!? Really?’ ”

It was the final round of the 2018 Alberta Senior Ladies Championship at Woodside Golf Club, and Flaman’s momentum — and her lead — had just vanished after a quadruple bogey on the eighth hole.

“After that hole, I said to the girls that I was playing with, ‘Oh, just a minute, I’m just going to have a little conversation with my caddie because we need to get a few things straight,’ ” Flaman recalled.

“But I wasn’t playing with a caddie, so I just talked to myself — ‘What the heck?!? What are you doing?’

I came up to the tee box and I said, ‘OK, my caddie and I are on the same wavelength now so we’re good to go.’ They had a good chuckle over that.”

Flaman can laugh about it now because she was able to shrug off that stinker, playing the remainder of her round at even-par and scratching out a one-stroke victory.

Even with that snowman on her scorecard, the Windermere G&CC member posted a stellar three day tally of 4-over 217.

“I was just happy I was able to walk away from that blow-up hole and forget it,” she said.

When Festival reminisces about his triumph at the 2018 Alberta Senior Mens Championship at the Turner Valley Golf Club, he’ll remember some top-notch shots — and terrific company — but also the flat stick follies that could have cost him a shot at the title.

“I’ll tell you the lowlight — it was Hole #9 on the third day,” said Festival, a member at The Glencoe Golf & Country Club. “The pin was in a precarious position, and I fourputted … it was a little unnerving, because I had a downhill threefooter and I thought, ‘If I miss this, it’s eight feet by.’ Sure enough, I missed and it was eight feet by.

“That really set me back, so I had to mentally get myself back into it and tell myself, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. You have to move on and not let it ruin the rest of your round.’ I was pleased that I took it in stride.”

It didn’t ruin his round, or his quest for his first provincial crown. The steady Festival bounced back with two birdies — and just one bogey — on the back nine, finishing one stroke clear of the competition on a crowded leaderboard. He signed for a winning three-round score of 4-over 220.

“It’s a hole that doglegs right around a big water hazard and there was a pretty strong wind coming off of it, so it was kind of scary because I had to play it out over the water and let it come back into the fairway,” recalled Graf, a regular at Red Deer Golf & Country Club.

“So it was a nerve-wracking tee shot, but I put it in the fairway, hit my second shot to about 15 feet and made the putt.

“I knew I needed to have a good last hole if I wanted to win, so it was pretty cool to be able to make that birdie and secure the victory.”

Graf racked up seven birdies at the two-day tournament, posting a total tab of 4-over 146. That turned out to be two shots better than any of his buddies. “After I made that last putt, it was just a feeling of relief that I did it, I won the tournament,” he said.

Yeah, really.

Despite a driver that was ‘a little wonky’, Kucy fired rounds of 8483 at the provincial get-together last summer at Goose Hummock Golf Resort, besting the rest of the bantam girls by 14 shots. “The competitors kept me going. Every single hole, they challenged me,” she said.

Kucy’s rise has already included two trips to the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship at world-famous Augusta National.

This particular title had also been on her wish list. She will have two more cracks at the 14-and-under bragging rights.

“It makes me really happy because I always saw these older girls winning the trophy and I would be like, ‘I’m never going to do that.’

And now I won it,” said Kucy, who has honed her skills at Camrose Golf Course. “I didn’t think I would be able to do this.”

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Travel

Golf Vancou

by Dunc Mills Vancouver Island has been a tremendously popular vacation destination for Albertans for decades. With a climate much more temperate than that of ours, especially in spring and fall, Vancouver Island has been a magnet for those of us from east of the Rockies to enjoy a myriad of sports, recreation and stunning scenery within a day’s drive or a short flight. Albertans sometimes view Vancouver Island only as an option to extend our golf season from early spring into later in the fall, but that’s hardly the case. Vancouver Island has plenty to offer visitors on a year-round basis.

In 2000, a group of eight Island courses banded together as the marquee vacation package of the Vancouver Island Golf Marketing Alliance. Their goal was to more effectively market Vancouver Island as a yearround golf and recreation destination. Over time, the golf landscape on the Island has grown and matured. They have added new golf courses to the consortium and created partnerships with tourism groups to add offcourse activities and recreation opportunities.

A visit to Vancouver Island today will deliver a world class, all-encompassing golf, dining and recreation vacation unmatched anywhere in the country. The island attracts nearly five million visitors a year, not only from Alberta, but from across North America and around the world, and for good reason.

Bear Mountain Golf and Country Club.

All photos courtesy of Golf Vancouver Island

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The consortium now operates under the banner of Golf Vancouver Island. Visitors will discover a smorgasbord of thirteen golf courses from which to choose in four distinct regions stretching from Victoria on the south end of Vancouver Island to about 250 km north in the Campbell River and Courtenay area.

Travel

ver Island Nanaimo, Parksville and Qualicum Beach

Campbell River and Courtenay Olympic View Golf Club

Probably the best known course in this area is Crown Isle Golf Course in Courtenay.

Designed by Graham Cooke, the resort features a spectacular 48,000 sq. ft. clubhouse, luxurious 4.5 star accommodations and superb conditioning. Crown Isle has been a ‘must play’ course since it opened in 1992 and is located less than five miles from the Comox airport.

Nanaimo and area offers up some of the best seaside golf on the Island. Fairwinds Golf Course in Nanoose Bay is another Les Furber award winning layout. Set right on the ocean, Fairwinds is a fun, yet challenging course with stunning views and scenery to go along with an outstanding golf course. Round out your day with a visit to their Wellness Centre for a swim, sauna or some tennis.

Only 25 minutes north of Nanaimo in Qualicum Beach is one of Vancouver Island’s oldest courses and best-kept secrets, the semi-private Eaglecrest Golf Club. The course presents a mix of links-style holes combined with others framed by towering pine and spruce trees. Relax after your round in their completely renovated clubhouse.

Storey Creek Golf Course in Campbell River is another Les Furber gem. Recipient of numerous awards including “Best Value Public Golf Course in BC” by SCORE Golf, Storey Creek is indeed “A Course in Nature” as described on their website. Carved out of old growth forest only minutes from downtown Campbell River, the course presents its guests with a breath-taking walk through nature.

If you’re looking for a ‘less is more’ experience, try out the beautiful nine-hole Quadra Island Golf Course. Only a ten-minute ferry ride from downtown Campbell River, this beauty will provide some delightful golf in a gorgeous seaside setting while leaving you plenty of time to explore the city.

The oldest and the newest course in town is the marvellous Campbell River Golf and Country Club. Locally owned, the course originally opened in 1959 as The Glen Alder Golf Course but has undergone a total redesign under the direction of Graham Cooke. They completely restructured the routing and shaping, and reopened in 2018 as the newest addition to Golf Vancouver Island. In an era where new golf courses often border on the ridiculous in terms of length and difficulty, you will be pleased to know that this new layout is only

6,100 pristinely conditioned yards from the tips. But the most amazing addition to the new Campbell River course is probably the driving range!

The brand new Velocity Lounge and Driving Range is Western Canada's first to offer guests the Toptracer technology so popular now on golf telecasts. Whether you want some great teaching feedback on your game, or just want to hang out with your friends and enjoy some superb food and drinks while playing virtual golf on a choice of hundreds of courses from around the world, this is an entirely new way to play!

Pheasant Glen Golf Resort in Qualicum Beach is ‘big boy’ golf at its finest, stretching to nearly 7,000 yards from the tips to challenge a low handicapper, but with tee options offering a fair test to any player. Their brand as “Nature’s Golf Course” really does the course justice, as this is pure golf with a setting solely devoted to the game.

Cowichan Valley The Cowichan Valley region is famous for its wineries, cideries and restaurants featuring delicious farm-to-table cuisine. The Cowichan Golf and Country Club was designed by the renowned A.V. Macan, who also created other famous B.C layouts such as Royal Colwood, Capilano, Victoria Golf Club and others. The Cowichan course dates back to 1947 when it premiered as a nine-hole facility and expanded to 18 holes in 1985. Their two-night golf and winery tour package is an outstanding value and a wonderful way to explore the region.

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Travel

Highland Pacific Golf Course

Campbell River Golf and Country Club

Storey Creek Golf Course

Crown Isle Golf Course

Victoria

the Junior, Development and Young Pro squads. Junior golfers from across Canada will take up residence on-site at Bear Mountain to train under the tutelage of Robert Ratcliffe, familiar to many Albertans as the Alberta Golf Junior Team coach from 2004-2006. As Canada continues to develop more and more world class players headed for the PGA and LPGA Tours, facilities and coaching available at Bear Mountain will play a vital role in those players’ development.

waterfall framing the green, is one of the most interesting and most photographed golf holes in Canada.

No visit to Vancouver Island would be complete without including The Garden City, Victoria.

Sophisticated and sparkling, yet brimming with old world charm and elegance, Victoria is renowned around the world for its incredible beauty featuring lofty mountains literally springing out of the sea. The golf courses in the city certainly help showcase the variety of dazzling scenery on display.

The flagship resort on the Island is no doubt the Bear Mountain Resort, 36 holes of extraordinary ‘bucket list’ golf only minutes from downtown Victoria. The Mountain Course was the first Jack and Steve Nicklausdesigned course on the Island, and hosted the 2016 and 2017 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship, a PGA TOUR – Champions event. Opened in 2004, the Mountain Course welcomed its sister layout, the Valley Course in 2009, giving Victoria the only 36-hole Nicklaus Design facility in Canada. Both courses are incredible, featuring immaculate conditioning and service combined with mind-boggling views of the city, ocean and mature forests.

Golf Canada has named Bear Mountain Resort as the official Training Centre for Golf Canada’s National Team Program, including 44

The ‘new kid on the block’ in Victoria, so to speak, is Highland Pacific Golf Course, also located right in the city. Carved out of an old quarry, the family-owned course delivers a warm member-oriented atmosphere with sensational golf attracting guests from across the nation. Expanded to 18 holes in 2010, the layout features sensational city views combined with marvellous course conditions and swooping elevation changes. Highland Pacific has been a great addition to the golf landscape in Victoria.

Olympic View Golf Club is very aptly named, featuring beautiful vistas of Washington State’s Olympic Mountains, but don’t let the scenery distract you from enjoying one of the ‘must play’ courses on the Island. Located only 20 minutes from downtown, Olympic View’s signature 17th hole, which features an amazing

Half an hour north of downtown in the heart of the Cowichan wine country is Arbutus Ridge Golf Course. The front nine meanders through the seaside Cobble Hill community while the back nine climbs a ridge overlooking the Satellite Channel. What a perfect opportunity to combine a round of golf on one of Vancouver Island’s best golf courses in the morning with a tour of one of the region’s wineries in the afternoon!

Vancouver Island is so much more than merely enjoying some of Canada’s best golf courses.

Whale watching, the world famous Butchart Gardens, High Tea at the Empress Hotel, the scones at Murchie’s, hopping on a ferry, cinnamon buns at the Old Town Bakery in Ladysmith, salmon fishing at Campbell River, shopping for a Cowichan sweater, galleries, great restaurants and more are all part of the fabric of life on the Island.

It’s easy to get there. WestJet and Air Canada have several flights a day. Or it’s a day’s drive and take the ferry. Click on golfvancouverisland.ca for one-stop shopping for great value golf and accommodation packages.

Compete & Excel

2019

Alberta Match Play Championship June 04-06 River Spirit Golf Club

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

The Alberta Open Championship Presented by:

Alberta Mid-Amateur Championship June 25-27 Earl Grey Golf Club Field: 120 players

June 11-13 Trestle Creek Golf Resort Field: 120 professional and amateur players Format: 54 holes of stroke-play competition with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties

Format: 54 holes of stroke-play competition with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties Eligibility: Must be a 8.0 Handicap Factor or less and aged 25 & over as of the first day of the Canadian Mid-Amateur

Eligibility: Must be a 5.0 Handicap Factor or less * Tournament sites and dates are subject to change without notice.

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Field: 90 male & 30 female players for qualifying round. 16 player bracket for mens championship, 8 player bracket for ladies Format: 18 holes of stroke-play competition to determine seeding in brackets Eligibility: Males and Females. Must be a 8.0 Handicap Factor or less

Alberta Junior Boys & Girls Championships U19 & U17 July 02-05 Highwood Golf Field: 160 players Format: 72 holes of stroke-play competition with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties including age protection Eligibility (Boys): Must be a 20.0 Handicap Factor or less and aged 18 & under as of August 1st Eligibility (Girls): Must be a 30.0 Handicap Factor or less and aged 18 & under as of August 1st

Compete & Excel

Sun Life Financial Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship

Sun Life Financial Alberta Mens Amateur Championship

July 09-11 The Ranch Golf & Country Club

July 16-19 Wolf Creek Golf Resort

Field: 120 players

Field: 120 players

Format: 54 holes of stroke-play competition

Format: 72 holes of stroke-play competition with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties

Eligibility: Must be a 25.0 Handicap Factor or less

Alberta Senior Mens Championship July 30 - August 01 Derrick Golf & Winter Club Field: 120 players Format: 54 holes of stroke-play competition with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties Eligibility: Must be a 20.0 Handicap Factor or less and aged 55 & over as of the first day of the Canadian Senior

Alberta Senior Ladies Championship July 23-25 Pine Hills Golf Club Field: 120 players Format: 54 holes of stroke-play competition Eligibility: Must be a 25.0 Handicap Factor or less and aged 50 & over as of the first day of the Canadian Senior

Eligibility: Must be a 8.0 Handicap Factor or less

Alberta Bantam & Novice Championships U15 & U13 August 26-27 River Bend Golf Club

Alberta Interclub Championships September 03 Kananaskis Country Golf Course

Field: 120 players

Field: 36 teams of four players for men, 36 teams of four players for ladies

Format: 36 holes of stroke-play competition for Bantams. 36 holes of stableford competition for Novices

Format: 18 holes of team gross & net strokeplay competition where the best three of four scores per hole are counted to the team total

Eligibility (Boys): Must be a 36.4 Handicap Factor or less and aged 14 & under as of August 1st

Eligibility: Males and Females. Each team member must be a 20.0 Handicap Factor or less

Eligibility (Girls): Must be a 40.4 Handicap Factor or less and aged 14 & under as of August 1st

47

Compete & Excel

LOCAL QUALIFYING (18 holes stroke-play competition): Elbow Springs Golf Club

Whitetail Crossing Golf Course

May 21 Mens Amateur Regional Qualifier Elbow Springs Golf Club

May 30 The Alberta Open Regional Qualifier Whitetail Crossing Golf Course

May 25 Junior Boys Regional Qualifier Vulcan Golf & Country Club

June 03 The Alberta Open Regional Qualifier Carstairs Community Golf Club

May 26 Junior Boys Regional Qualifier Whitetail Crossing Golf Course

June 08 Junior Boys Regional Qualifier Henderson Lake Golf Club

May 28 Mens Amateur Regional Qualifier Sturgeon Valley Golf & Country Club

June 10 The Alberta Open Last Chance Monday Qualifier Trestle Creek Golf Resort

May 28 Mens Amateur Regional Qualifier Ponoka Community Golf Club

June 17 Mens Amateur Regional Qualifier Turner Valley Golf Club

Speargrass Golf Course

June 23 Mens Amateur Regional Qualifier Junior Boys Regional Qualifier Grande Prairie Golf & Country Club July 08 Senior Mens Regional Qualifier Speargrass Golf Course July 09 Senior Mens Regional Qualifier RedTail Landing Golf Club

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Learn & Play

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Championship Events: $249 (includes meal, two rounds of golf & prizing)

Canmore Golf Club - Ladies Team Classic - August 19 & 20

Wintergreen Golf Club - Mens & Ladies Net Amateur Championship - August 29 & 30 Information/Registration: albertagolf.org Event Inquiries: info@albertagolf.org

49

Compete & Excel

Alberta Set to Host Two

NATIONAL EVENTS

by John Gordon Lethbridge Country Club

When competitors in this year’s Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and Canadian Junior Girls Championship arrive in Alberta, they will not only be playing for history, they will be playing on it.

Red Deer Golf and Country Club plays host to the Amateur from July 23 - 26 and Lethbridge Country Club welcomes the Junior Girls the following week, July 30-August 2.

The Amateur, first played in 1901, boasts an impressive list of champions with World Golf Hall of Fame member Marlene Stewart Streit topping the list. Other winners include Canadian Golf Hall of Fame members Jocelyn Bourassa, Ada Mackenzie, Dawn Coe-Jones, Alberta’s own Marilyn O’Connor, and several others. Brooke Henderson won the Amateur in 2013 prior to embarking on a phenomenal pro career on the LPGA Tour.

While the Junior Girls Championship is comparatively young, dating back “only” to 1955, its roster of winners also includes some of our finest female golfers such as Sandra Post, who won the title in three consecutive years: 1964, 1965 and 1966. Unbelievably, her accomplishment was outshone by Heather Kuzmich who won four straight from 1981 through 1984. Henderson won it in 2012 and other Canadian girls who went on to the pro ranks with a Junior Girls victory on their resume include Maddie Szeryk, Maude-Aimee Leblanc, and Alena Sharp among others.

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Red Deer Golf and Country Club

land in 1919 before moving to its current location in 1922. Similarly, Lethbridge CC was founded in 1913 before moving permanently in the mid-1920s. Each has welcomed prestigious professional and amateur events throughout the years.

In fact, says Brian Huculak, General Manager and PGA of Canada Executive Professional at Lethbridge CC, it was the gratifying experience of playing host to the 2012 Canadian Women’s Amateur that motivated his club to invite another national championship. Current LPGA star Ariya Jutanugarn, then 16, was the winner.

“It was a great experience,” he says. “Everyone from the players to the spectators to our members enjoyed it thoroughly. That’s why we reached out to Golf Canada for another tournament.”

Don McFarlane, General Manager and PGA of Canada Executive Professional at Red Deer G&CC, says his club eagerly anticipates welcoming the Women’s Amateur for a number of reasons. The club loved hosting the Alberta Ladies Amateur a couple of years ago, for one. Showcasing their historic, beautiful and challenging golf course is another, but there is a more altruistic motive, he says.

Like the championships themselves, this year’s venues have impressive histories of their own.

“It’s a matter of giving back to grow the game,” says McFarlane. “In our opinion, every club is obligated to help in any way they can, so when we host any event, we feel we are doing just that. It’s not just about hosting a tournament.

It’s about doing our part for the game.”

Red Deer G&CC can trace its roots (literally) to a rudimentary six holes laid out on leased

Huculak agrees, having seen promising signs of growing interest among girls and women

recently. “It was tough there for a while, but we’re seeing an improvement.”

His observation is reflected by recent research by the World Golf Foundation which reports that the percentage of junior golfers who are female has doubled over the past 10 years. This increase is due to a number of factors including not only more focus on girls by forward-thinking golf facilities, but provincial and national initiatives such as Golf Canada’s Girls Club, part of the Future Links program.

“Girls Club was designed to provide a welcoming atmosphere in which girls can excel at developing their skills and interest in the sport with their female peers,” says Golf Canada. “Developed for girls ages seven to 18, Girls Club hopes to bridge the gap between the high number of boys playing golf in comparison to girls.”

Then, according to Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer, there’s the ‘Brooke Effect’.

“Certainly, from a participation standpoint, we are seeing a bump in girls interested in golf in our country because of the Brooke Henderson factor and I am sure that will surge as she continues to succeed on the LPGA Tour,” says Thompson.

So, if the trend of more girls taking up the game continues, we can thank forward-thinking clubs such as Red Deer and Lethbridge, along with progressive initiatives from Alberta Golf and Golf Canada. But golf can’t progress with just them “growing the game.” It will take a commitment from everyone who cares about the future of the game.

51

Learn & Play

Getting a Head Start Early Season Focus for Junior Golfers

by John Deneer

52

Learn & Play

As the weather warms and the melting snow leaves our golf courses, there is endless excitement about playing this great game and playing at a higher level than we did last season… but how can we make that happen? There are many paths to take and many angles to approach those paths. It’s not easy! Below are a few items and practices that are crucial for early spring focus that can lead to a successful golf season.

Golf Clubs For many junior golfers, the winter months offer an opportunity to grow physically in terms of strength, flexibility and height. Added strength and height can have a big impact on how golf clubs fit your body and your swing, which can affect ball flight. Growing taller will affect the shaft length and has a big impact on posture which leads into the basic swing movements.

Club lie angle is also affected by added height and should be adjusted as you grow. Having an improperly fitted lie angle can lead to the club opening or closing at impact due to the toe or heel contacting the ground before the full sole of the club. This can lead to shots missing to the right or left. An increase in strength over the winter will primarily affect the flex of shaft needed in each of the clubs. Having a shaft too weak or too strong can affect the amount of spin, trajectory and launch angle placed on the golf ball. If you’ve grown a few inches or have added strength, schedule a club fitting with your PGA Professional early in the spring and avoid frustration caused by improperly fitted golf clubs.

Fundamentals For those of us who are not able to hit shots or work on our golf games during the winter months, the early season can be very frustrating when we can’t seem to find the

feel of our previous year’s swing. Ensuring the fundamentals are in place will speed the process of finding the swing which will lead to finding your game. The fundamentals of the game are seemingly very simple (they are) and are a bit boring to focus on (they are) but if the fundamentals are not in place it is very difficult to put effective golf swings on the ball.

So, check your grip, check your posture, check your stance, check your alignment, check the ball position and when swinging, ensure you’re swinging in a balanced, controlled motion.

Get the fundamentals set early and watch your game progress as the summer gets nearer!

Regain Short Game Feel Golf is a game of both technique and feel and with time off, what usually goes first is the feel aspect. The short game requires feel and many repetitions to reach the highest level.

It is crucial that we spend time on the putting green or short game area during the spring and regain the feel for the soft shots in golf – they allow us to shoot those low scores! Begin with simply hitting pitch shots, chip shots, sand shots, lag putts and especially important, short putts. Hitting these shots will bring back the feel for basic short game swing motions, distance control and quality of contact which leads into the next stage – challenges, drills and competition!

Consult with your PGA Professional, search YouTube or scan the internet for challenge-based short game drills, block practice type drills (high repetitions) and challenge your golf friends to short game competitions. The short game is crucial for great play and the golfers who put the necessary focus on improving their short game see success at all levels. Be that golfer!

Play In the early weeks of the spring this is a simple suggestion to starting your golf season on the right foot – get out and play. Practice is important, building feel is crucial but nothing beats playing. So, get on the golf course and play, be that one hole, five holes, nine holes or 18 holes – any number of holes is better than none. Don’t focus on score in the early weeks.

Set up challenges: proximity to the hole from different yardages, record fairways hit, greens in regulation, putts made from six feet and in. If you successfully achieve these types of goals and get back into keeping score, your scores WILL be lower and your golf season will see the success you’re hoping for!

School – Take Care of What’s Most Important For those looking to secure NCAA or U SPORTS golf scholarships, school is a critical piece to the puzzle that many junior golfers tend to overlook. We’ve seen poor grades lead to many gifted golfers failing to reach their goals of being Student Athletes simply because they overlooked a big stage in life – building knowledge through studies. Those whose goals are not aimed at attaining athletic scholarships still need to put their full attention and effort into their school work as it leads to post secondary opportunities which can directly lead to careers we love.

Yes, the golf season is here, and the excitement is real! But, let’s not forget about our school work and responsibilities away from the golf course as they are a big part of our golfing lives and beyond.

If you follow all five points or pick and choose which work for you, your spring golf will be enjoyable and lead to a fantastic 2019 golf season! Enjoy this beautiful game everyone.

53

Discover & Try

Golf Schools

by Curtis Stock The Golf In Schools program provides a solid base for kids to get introduced to golf.

54

Discover & Try The success of the Future Links driven by Acura Golf in Schools program is insatiable.

Created 10 years ago by Golf Canada in partnership with PGA of Canada and Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada), the program is now pushing 3,800 schools - 25 percent of every school in the nation. In Alberta alone it is now part of the physical education classes in 414 elementary schools (grades 1-5), 27 intermediate (grades 6-8) and 50 high schools (grades 9-12). Despite those lofty achievements, organizers are hardly satisfied.

standing on one foot or walking a balance beam and then bending down to put bean bags on top of plastic pylons.“But the thing is the physical literacy that you are teaching these kids through these stations carries over to all sports and as well as certainly to golf: hand/eye coordination, balance, throwing, striking and speed control,” said Goplin.

Golf in Schools uses untraditional training aids to help teach basic golf skills.

“The vision is to see it in every school across Canada,” said Enid Botchett, a volunteer for Golf Canada and Alberta Golf and a former governor with Golf Canada. “The potential to grow golf is huge. It's such a ‘no-brainer’ that it should be in every school in Edmonton,” said Botchett.

“We started in elementary schools,” said Kelly Dawdy, manager of the Golf In Schools programs for Golf Canada. “Then we went to high schools in 2012, and in 2015 we introduced an intermediate level program so now we're in all levels of grade school from 1 to 12. I'm not surprised as much as ecstatic about how fast it has grown.

At the elementary level it all begins with balloons, a balance beam, plastic hockey sticks, bean bags, sticky foam archery targets and Frisbees. “We use a lot of untraditional equipment,” said Trevor Goplin, head pro at Edmonton’s Derrick Golf and Winter Club who, like many of his PGA of Canada brethren across Canada, has instructed teachers and students in the Golf in Schools program.

“You scratch your head at some of the stations and wonder what does that have to do with golf?”

Goplin said of the eight areas that include trying to keep a balloon aloft, throwing a bean bag while

Just one example of the adopt-a-school program is the Mike’s Kids charity which was set set up in memory and honour of Mike Hay, a former physical education consultant who passed away in 2015. Over $8,000 was raised which provided for five Golf In Schools programs - the last two which will be held this year at Prince Charles and Constable Daniel Woodall schools in Edmonton where Werbicki will be helping instruct.

“I’m over-the-moon about it and I’m sure so is Mike,” said Mike's wife, Trudy. “Mike had two passions: physical fitness and golf. This program combines both of them,” she said of her husband who was also a marshall at Lewis Estates Golf Course. “The kids, who have loved it, are so enthusiastic. It provides them with a unique experience - the opportunity to experience golf.

And it’s all so easy to administer.”

“Any teacher can teach it. The instructors/teachers don't have to be golf experts by any means.”

“Golf is such a great sport and with this program we can now introduce kids and get them hooked on a sport they can play for the rest of their lives with their friends and families,” Dawdy continued. “It’s an interesting option to offer something different to a school’s students. It not only teaches fundamental movement skills; it also incorporates life skills such as honesty and sportspersonship.”

stores across the country raised over $70,000 allowing 141 new schools to get the Golf in Schools program in Canada.

“It’s awesome,” said Shannon Werbicki, an assistant at Edmonton’s Royal Mayfair Golf Club.

“There hasn’t been anything like it - getting school age children access to golf as part of the physical education curriculum. It’s a great way to introduce kids to golf - many of them who have never been exposed to golf before. What I really like is it is so flexible. You can run it in a small gym or a big gym. You can have five kids or 30 kids.”

The cost to participate in the Golf in Schools program is $475 for elementary schools, $635 for intermediates and $795 for high schools. Those fees haven’t changed since the program’s inception. Botchett said if the schools can't afford it, an adopt-a-school program has been set up where individuals or companies can provide the kits to the schools.

Furthermore, Dawdy said Golf Town became a “tremendous supporter” of the program two years ago. In 2017, Golf Town adopted 93 schools across the country while in 2018

A relatively new component of the Golf in Schools program is the Get Linked initiative which provides the next step - actually taking kids to golf courses on field trips. Grants are awarded to Future Links facilities to help host local Golf in Schools sites at their course or for golf professionals to go into the classroom and help administer a lesson. In Alberta, 26 schools - all in Calgary and that City’s surrounding area participated in the Get Linked initiative in 2018.

“Taking the kids to the course is an interesting facet to the program because it takes it full circle,” said Dawdy. “It also promotes a healthy, active lifestyle through the sport of golf. The schools and the courses, which must be a Future Links site, work together. Some will do multiple visits; some do it just once a year.

Some clubs work with the same school; others with different schools.

“We have had a high retention rate because clubs see the value of working with Get Linked because it’s good for them as well. It’s an opportunity to promote their clubs and to see the kids become lifelong golfers. It’s great to hear when students come back to the course with their families. At the same time, the initiative promotes a healthy, active lifestyle through the sport of golf. It’s a win/win for everybody.”

To sign up or for further information go to golfinschools.golfcanada.ca. Or, call toll free 1-800-263-0009 (ext. 475).

55

Compete & Excel

Wes Heffernan’s

SIXTH OPEN TITLE

by Wes Gilbertson

If you fancy yourself a contender at the Alberta Open Championship, maybe skip to another story.

Because, fellas, there is bad news.

“Obviously, I’m one of the older guys now,” stated Calgary’s Wes Heffernan, always humble in his birdie-seeking, trophycollecting exploits. “But I think my game is actually the best it has ever been, which is pretty exciting.” Exciting, sure, unless you’re one of the other guys.

Heffernan, who turned 42 in March, ranks among the best Alberta-bred golfers of all time. A member at Silver Springs Golf and Country Club, he earned four titles during his heyday on what was then known as the Canadian Tour. He twice teed up to represent Canada at the World Cup of Golf — teaming with Mike Weir in 2007 and then Graham DeLaet in 2008.

Now a teaching professional at Golf Canada Calgary Centre and proud owner/operator of Dynamic Motion Golf Performance indoor facility, Heffernan reminded us last June why he is a perennial favourite at the Alberta Open, finishing three shots clear of the competition at the 54-hole showdown at River Spirit Golf Club to win Alberta Golf’s marquee event for a sixth time. That’s right, a sixth time.

There’s only one name engraved on the trophy more often. Canadian Golf Hallof-Famer Stan Leonard was crowned the Alberta Open champion on nine different occasions between 1937-55.

Heffernan claimed five titles during a superb seven-year span from 2006-12 — all of those at Carnmoney Golf and Country Club — before struggling through some swing changes. He’s back at his best now.

Wes Heffernan captured his sixth Alberta Open title in 2018

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“He’s the guy to beat every time,” said Calgary’s Evan Holmes, who’s been victorious at the Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur and the Canadian University/College Championship (twice) and settled for a share of second at River Spirit. “I mean, six Alberta Opens … it’s hard enough to just win one, especially when he is playing against you.”

Heffernan closed in style at the 2018

Compete & Excel Alberta Open, sponsored by Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP, carding a 7-under 65 in his last lap of the Millburn-Cattails combo at River Spirit. After chasing Airdrie’s Riley Fleming (Collicutt Siding) and Holmes (Glencoe) through the front nine, he scorched to the top of the leaderboard with three straight birdies from Nos. 12-14 and then punctuated his round with an eagle on the Par-5 final assignment. Heffernan finished the threeround slug-fest at 13-under 203.

Fleming, already a two-time Alberta Open champion, and Holmes split runner-up honours at 10-under, while St. Albert’s AJ Armstrong (Windermere) was the low amateur. “It’s easy to say in hindsight when you actually do it, but even though I had struggled a little bit in the first two rounds, going into that final round, I kind of felt like I was going to shoot a good score,” Heffernan said afterward. “I’d been hitting the ball so well all week, and then I finally made some putts. It just really clicked on that back nine.”

His final-round playing partners can attest to that. “He hit some unbelievable shots,” Fleming marvelled. “It looked like such an easy 65,” Holmes added. “When you watch him, he just doesn’t make many mistakes. It’s really fun to watch but really hard to play against.”

Two years earlier, with RedTail Landing Golf Club playing host to the Alberta Open, the usually steady Heffernan seemed to be in control before an uncharacteristic stumble — a double bogey on No. 17, a bogey at the last. Calgary’s Brett Hogan closed with a chip-in birdie on the finishing hole to triumph by two. That was part of a rash of runner-up showings for Heffernan — some positive, like his near-miss at the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada’s 2017 ATB Financial Classic, and others a bit more difficult to digest.

“I’d been finishing second a lot lately, so it was nice to win something,” Heffernan said. “So to finish this one off, it was pretty awesome.”

On the list of Alberta Open all-timers, second is a pretty impressive perch.

Originally from Vancouver, Leonard’s incredible resume includes three Ws on the

PGA Tour, a pair of fourth-place showings at The Masters and a record-setting eight titles at the PGA of Canada Championship.

When the Alberta Open was on the Canadian Tour schedule, Trevor Dodds and Kirk Triplett were among those to engrave their names on the trophy.

Both would later collect hardware at the highest level.

The list of past tournament winners also features Canadian legends Al Balding, Dave Barr and the one-of-a-kind Moe Norman — considered by some to be the greatest ballstriker to ever live — plus provincial powers such as Keith Alexander, Henry Martell, Doug Silverberg and Bob Wylie.

“When you get to look at the history of the event and you get to add your name to a bunch of those guys, it’s pretty cool.” ~Wes Heffernan

The big question now is whether he can add his name to that list three more times to match Leonard’s record for the most Alberta Open victories. He’ll be shooting for a seventh this summer at Trestle Creek Golf Resort.

“I think that would be cool, for sure,” said Heffernan, asked about the quest to become the all-time king of the Alberta Open Championship. “But I think more importantly, if I can keep playing at the same level that I am, that would be something I would be more proud of. As you get older, obviously golf becomes a little bit harder, but I definitely have sights on The Champions Tour so I’m not going to let my game slide.

“So I’d like to think I have a chance at nine wins or 10 wins at the Alberta Open, because I want to keep my game at as high a level as possible... ” He pauses ever-sobriefly, perhaps pondering a future on the aforementioned PGA Tour Champions, the star-studded 50-and-over circuit that makes an annual stop at Canyon Meadows in Calgary. “And I’m hoping the Shaw Charity Classic is still here in eight years.”

If it is, watch out gents, because this guy has a heck of a record when competing in his own backyard in the Wild Rose Province. “I’m a believer that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

In Alberta, Wes has been that forever,” said Fleming, another touring professional turned instructor and now the PGA of Alberta’s reigning Player of the Year.

“Whether it was a younger generation, my generation, or the guys a little bit before me, Wes was the guy you had to go against and beat. And if you couldn’t, there was no sense thinking you were in that conversation.

“He made you better. I remember the first few Alberta Opens that I played in when I was a kid, he was winning them handily and shooting numbers that at the time, I didn’t think you could shoot on a golf course. So he definitely changed the way I thought about golf and just how good you could be.”

Others crow about his consistency, admire his calm-and-cool exterior and envy his trophy haul, but the humble Heffernan is the wrong guy to ask about his legacy. After all, he’s still shaping it.

“Whenever you win, I think you’re just really proud of yourself for accomplishing something that you set out to,” he reasoned.

“Hopefully, I can win a few more.”

57

Connect & Enjoy

What's New

New and Improved ProV1 and ProV1x 2 Faster casing layer. Because of the thinner cover, Titleist can now thicken the inside casing layer by 14%, creating higher balls speed with lower driver and long game spin, which also improves distance.

3 New 2.0 ZG Process Cores. The outermost portions of the ball’s core have increased in stiffness, helping create higher ball speed and lower long game spin.

For nearly 20 years since the Titleist ProV1 golf ball was introduced to the golf world, it has been the most popular ball on professional tours worldwide and the most popular ball with golfers of all abilities everywhere. But the success of the ProV1 and the ProV1x has not stopped the scientists and engineers at Titleist from continuing to improve the playing characteristics of the ball. Now, Titleist has introduced a new ProV1 and ProV1x ball for 2019, with improved tee-to-green performance.

Golfers at every level crave more distance, but without giving up the ‘feel’ characteristics that help produce lower scores around the green. To that end, the chemists and engineers at Titleist have enhanced the performance of the new ProV1 line in several ways.

1 17% thinner cover. Reducing the thickness of the ball’s urethane elastomer cover delivers more ball speed, resulting in increased distance while retaining the ball’s soft feel and greenside control.

Titleist is also introducing a new preference option for 2019: the ProV1 and ProV1x high optic yellow! It might seem pretty straightforward to just produce the ProV1 ball in yellow as well as white, but recreating the ball’s precision and consistency in yellow required some significant research by the company’s scientists until they got it just right.

The new ProV1 and ProV1x balls, in white and optic yellow, are available now at pro shops and retailers everywhere.

Jim Hogan Updates the Jim Hogan, originally from Jasper, was the first winner of the Canadian Junior Boys’ Championship, held in 1938. His family has always been deeply involved in golf, including his son Kevin who is the long-time head professional at Victoria Golf Club in Edmonton.

In going through some of their late father’s possessions, the Hogan family has discovered confirmation of some of Jim Hogan’s other outstanding golf achievements. Prior to winning the 1938 Canadian Junior, Jim also had captured the 1934 Alberta Junior Boys’ championship and the family has in their possession a trophy engraved with Jim’s name as evidence. Alberta Golf records from that era are incomplete, so learning of Jim’s achievement helps fill in some of those gaps. We don’t know who might have won the 1935-37 Alberta Junior Boys’ championships, for example, or if there were Alberta Junior championships held prior to 1934.

While stationed in Saint John NB during WWII, Jim also found time to win the 1942 New Brunswick / PEI Amateur title. The Hogan family also has found an engraved cigarette case presented to Jim as a semi-finalist from the 1946 Canadian Amateur, held at Edmonton’s Mayfair Golf Club. These two achievements are extraordinary accomplishments, considering that from late 1941 until late 1945, Jim was on active service duty protecting convoys from U-boats in the North Atlantic, and he only had a few months to regain his form after the war ended.

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What's New

Connect & Enjoy

The “New” McLennan Ross Alberta Golf Junior Tour The McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour was founded in 1996, and for the last 23 years has been a prominent part of the junior golf landscape in Alberta. Thousands of youngsters have got their first taste of competition at tour events in every corner of the province over the past two decades. There are some exciting new changes coming for the 2019 season and beyond.

Alberta Golf has acquired the tour as part of its overall investment in junior golf development. Dunc Mills of Edmonton has been the Executive Director of the tour since its inception and will continue to be a mainstay of the tour in 2019 ensuring a smooth transition and maintaining that welcoming atmosphere that many young golfers have experienced over the years. That won’t change.

What is going to change this summer is that the tour is now officially a part of the overall junior pathway of Alberta Golf.

Jack Lane is the Director of Competitions & Strategic Projects and he spoke about the reasons for Alberta Golf taking a more proactive role in operating the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour. “Over the last twenty plus years, young golfers across the province have started playing competitively on the McLennan Ross tour. Many of these individuals have gone on to do great things not only in golf but also academically and in the workforce. A number have gone on to play golf at its highest levels professionally. We wanted to reinforce all of these opportunities through golf and felt like owning and operating the tour was the place to start as we strengthen the tour for the future.”

The tour will continue to provide affordable access to competitive opportunities throughout the province while further supporting golf courses and PGA of Canada professionals employed at these facilities. Other opportunities include rules clinics and education around golf opportunities for juniors, student athletes and

parents. The events foster the development of lasting friendships and a rules education pathway for developing certified referees.

Dunc Mills also commented on the new direction for the tour. “Personally, I am very excited about having the tour as a major part of the Alberta Golf junior program for the future. We have always worked very closely with Alberta Golf in terms of how we have endeavoured to run the tournaments in cooperation with the host sites.

Now, the additional publicity, resources and promotion from Alberta Golf will help increase the number of kids entering the events and will only help make the tour better.”

The first of twenty-five events scheduled on the 2019 McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour kicks off June 8-9 at Henderson Lake Golf Club in Lethbridge. For more information, visit the Alberta Golf |Juniors section at www.albertagolf.org.

Record Book

Sterling silver cigarette case presented to Jim Hogan for making the semi-finals of the 1946 Canadian Men's Amateur Championship.

As a family, the Hogans encourage others to search through their attics and storage chests to hopefully uncover more artifacts of Alberta’s golf heritage.

Information and photos courtesy of the Hogan family: Tim, Daniel, Kevin, Kathy, Mike and David Smith.

1934 Alberta Junior Boys' Championship trophy, won by Jim Hogan.

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Connect & Enjoy

What's New

Northwest Montana Golf Association Golf Course in West Glacier has spectacular mountain views in addition to a lovely golf course. Northwest of Kalispell is the gorgeous Cabinet View Golf Club in Libby. At the far south end of Flathead Lake is the Polson Bay Golf Course, with fairways right on the shoreline of the lake. Bring your fishing rod!

Golf Digest has recognized Northwest Montana as one of the world’s Top 50 golf destinations, and for good reason! Ten golf courses in the area, centered around the bustling city of Kalispell, market themselves as the Northwest Montana Golf Association. The region has long been a very attractive golf destination for Albertans. The golf is spectacular, affordable and within an easy drive from anywhere in the province.

There is an awful lot more to enjoy in the area that just the golf. Many visitors use Kalispell

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Eureka, I have found it! Indian Springs Ranch Golf Course, that is, in Eureka. After your round, take time to explore some of the new shops, cafes and restaurants in downtown Eureka.

It’s a unique step back in time to the Old West.

The town of Whitefish is only a half hour north of Kalispell and features the area’s only 36-hole facility, Whitefish Lake Golf Course. Play 36, and enjoy a delicious lunch in their warm and friendly log clubhouse built in the 1930s!

as the centre of the action, with three NMGA courses located in the city: Buffalo Hill, Northern Pines and Village Greens. Each course offers its own unique features, but they all offer terrific course conditions, great bang for your buck and plenty to see and do after your round is over. Kalispell has some terrific nightlife, shopping and entertainment options to Meadow Lake Golf Resort in Columbia Falls keep visitors busy in addition to the superb golf. has been a favorite destination for Albertans for decades. On-site accommodations, a 4.5 starOther NMGA members are all within about rated golf course, and some of the best scenery an hour’s drive from Kalispell. Glacier View in Montana are all there to enjoy.

What's New

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McCall Lake's New Look for 2019

The City of Calgary’s 18-hole golf course at McCall Lake, open since 1981 and accommodating over 31,000 rounds of golf per year, underwent much-needed renovations in 2018.

The $6.7 million project updated the course to modern design standards, which will make it more enjoyable to play and more accessible to a wider variety of players.

“The course occupies a fantastic area,” says Designer Wade Horrocks of Ground3 Landscape Architecture. “The property thas generous playing corridors, mature parkland character, abundant water features and subtle elevation changes. We built on those strengths, following core values

established during the Golden Age of Golf Course design, and applying them to the modern game.”

As part of the new ‘modern classic’ design, golfers will find enhanced parkland character with more planting around the perimeter, relocation of traps and hazards to match today’s driving distances while making for a more interesting game, improved drainage for a more pleasant experience and the addition of new forward tees to accommodate a broader range of golfers of all skill levels.

The course will reopen on May 17 with an early preview of 9 holes, with the complete 18-holes to reopen later in June. For more information visit calgary.ca/golf.

Blackhawk Hosts 2019 Junior America’s Cup

For nearly 50 years, the Junior America’s Cup has been one of North America’s most prestigious junior golf events. The original JAC consisted of matches between Alberta, Mexico and the Southern California Golf Association, and was expanded to its current format in 1973. Today, the JAC is an annual competition of four-player junior boys teams representing 17 state and provincial golf bodies in the western USA and Mexico, including Canadian representation from Alberta and British Columbia.

BC’S NEWEST GOLF COURSE

Each association takes turn hosting the tournament. Alberta has not hosted the JAC since 2002, when Alberta won its one and only title at Silver Springs Golf and Country Club in Calgary. Using home course advantage to the fullest, Alberta’s team of Dale Vallely, Ryan Yip, Ryan Lecuyer and Collin Norris won by six shots as the weather that week was more like early November than mid-July!

Host sites for the JAC over the years have included such iconic golf courses as Pebble

www.crgolf.ca 250-287-4970 | info@crgolf.ca 700 Petersen Rd Campbell River, BC V9W 4C4

Beach (California), Sahalee (Washington) and Capilano (British Columbia). Blackhawk is a very fitting choice to add to the illustrious list of former venues. Ranked the #14 course in Canada by SCORE Golf, Blackhawk will provide a tremendous test for some of the best junior golfers in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

“We are thrilled to be able to host the Junior America’s Cup this summer”, said Blackhawk’s head professional Kevin Chow.

“The opportunity to host this prestigious event only comes around so often, and we couldn’t be more excited to showcase Blackhawk and the Edmonton area to some of the future stars in the game of golf.”

Dozens of current PGA Tour professionals are alumnae of the JAC. Great players such as Tiger Woods, Adam Hadwin, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Phil Mickelson, Xander Shauffele, Fred Couples, and Kevin Na have all competed in the JAC during their junior careers. Team Alberta will be selected later this spring from CJGA qualifying events in April and May. 61

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RedTail Landing Golf Club hosted the 2018 Sun Life Financial Alberta Mens Amateur Championship.

HOSTING ALBERTA GOLF COMPETITIONS What’s in it for the club?

by Jim Claggett

Since it opened for play in 2003 RedTail Landing Golf Club has been the host site for Alberta Golf events seven times, including the return of the Alberta Open in the same year it opened for play. The most recent turn at welcoming the golf community in the province was in 2018 when the very exciting Sun Life Financial Alberta Amateur Championship was in town.

Head professional Joshua Davison says RedTail Landing steps up so often to host because they feel they offer a solid test for the best players in the province. However, lending support to Alberta Golf is something the membership takes pride in.

“I love hosting tournaments. My team loves hosting events,” said Davison. “I love having big events on the calendar as focal points and things to rally around and get excited about for our team here at the club.”

He says it would be hard to weigh one aspect of hosting against another to determine which may be a favourite benefit.

“It would be a collection of all of that because all of those things put together 62

makes it easy for me to say yes, I want to partner with Alberta Golf. Yes, I want you guys to succeed.”

Just down the QE II and a bit west along Highway 27 is Sundre Golf Club which has been the site of the Alberta Junior, the Alberta Open and the Sun Life Financial Alberta Mens Amateur over the years. Head professional Scott Shouldice says the course is situated in a great spot as players come from Edmonton, Calgary and all points in between so the geography works.

Having a course which can be set up to bring a challenge to all levels of players makes accepting a hosting request easier. There is a revenue stream for the golf course, but it extends beyond the property. Shouldice says the town benefits from any hosting of big tournaments as well.

“It’s great for the whole town having a couple of hundred people come into town, staying at the hotel, eating at the restaurants, shopping at our stores,” he said.

Not surprisingly, there is also a pride factor at Sundre which plays into the decision to take on the task of hosting.

“We love showing off our golf course and our members are actually really good about us hosting these tournaments,” Shouldice boasts.

Of course, volunteers are a huge aspect of hosting any type of event and both Sundre and RedTail Landing have been fortunate to get that commitment. Bill Gyte is a member at RedTail Landing who has worked several of the Alberta Golf tournaments over the years, from carrying scoring signs to spotting on holes.

He’s signed up several times and says it’s very rewarding being an ambassador for the host course and dealing with both spectators and players alike during the tournament . “It gives me an opportunity to interact with some of the players and it’s good that the golf course can do that (host) to showcase the course,” he said.

In addition, Gyte says it’s great how spectators get to see the course and at the

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same time can be up close with some very talented young golfers in our province.

Those players provide another reward for Gyte. “I can honestly tell you they are extremely polite young men on the course,” he said. “They treat all the volunteers on the course with just nothing but respect.”

Gyte says he did experience one incident while volunteering which was a bit awkward, but it worked out in the end. “I was spotting and found one of the player’s balls as he was heading back to the tee to reload. I found his ball and he actually was a little bit unhappy that I found it because he didn’t have a very good lie,” he said. “He probably would have preferred I didn’t find the ball.”

The golf operation side involving staff is another piece of the teamwork required to host so many events. Davison says it acts as a huge team building exercise for his very talented course maintenance crew. “They work tons and tons of hours to prepare the golf course, not only leading up to the event but also during the event,” said Davison.

Sundre Golf Club

“We’ve had times when our maintenance staff camped out, they stayed on site.

They’ve done double cuts late at night after day one of the event.”

He says crews will have a bonfire and barbecue, then get up early the next day to get the course ready for play.

Shouldice says it is a huge request for maintenance crews to get the course in shape and to keep it there given all the wear and tear during a tournament but it’s worth it. The exposure courses get when hosting is quite valuable when it comes to

marketing their product, he said. “People come here, and they love our golf course, they tell all the other members and their friends about what great time they had here at Sundre.”

Davison says golf needs some help in growing the game and hosting events which promote amateur golf is something he feels is extremely important to foster that growth. “You’re giving amateur golfers and junior golfers an avenue and an opportunity, events they can get into, participate in and help feed that excitement and those competitive juices and that passion and love for golf,” he said.

Shouldice agrees and says Sundre has eyes on hosting other events in the coming years, including putting in a bid to host a future Canadian Amateur championship if possible.

“We’re thinking big and we love hosting these big events,” he said. “It’s been very rewarding and a positive experience for us.”

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Travel

ROYAL PORTRUSH HOME OF THE 2019 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

by Wes Gilbertson You can’t miss this sign as you roll into town: ‘Welcome to Portrush, Major Golf Capital of the World.’ With that billing, it’s about time that major championship action returned to this seaside charmer in Northern Ireland.

Situated along the Antrim Coast, just minutes from the landmark Giant’s Causeway, Royal Portrush Golf Club will be in the spotlight as site of the 2019 Open Championship, marking only the second time — and first since the early 1950s — that the Claret Jug will be awarded outside of England or Scotland.

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“It’s been a long time coming,” grinned Northern Ireland’s own Darren Clarke during a trip to Calgary last summer for the 2018 Shaw Charity Classic. “Royal Portrush is one of the best golf courses in the world — it’s brilliant, it is absolutely sensational — and for us to be able to highlight that, going to a global audience, I think it’s incredible. It will be an unbelievable event.”

The global audience should be warned — once you get a glimpse of the Dunluce Links, you will be tempted to immediately book your own trip.

Clarke’s is one of three names on that entrance sign in Portrush, a reminder of his triumph at The Open Championship — around these parts, you should expect a sideways look if you call it the British Open — at Royal St. George’s in 2011. Fred Daly (British Open, 1947) and Graeme McDowell (U.S. Open, 2010) are the other local legends with major victories, while Brooks Koepka’s caddie, Ricky Elliott, also hails from this golf-keen community about an hour north of Belfast. That is a lot of hardware for a town of roughly 7,000 residents.

Travel In July, the best of the best will be digging divots in their backyard. Especially in the era of high-def, you can’t help but watch coverage of the majors and find yourself thinking, ‘Whoa, I’ve gotta play there!’ The good news is that in 2019, it’s more plausible than ever in the past, with three of the PGA Tour’s four biggies being contested at public-access offerings.

Augusta National, of course, remains off-limits to Ordinary Joes and Joans, but the PGA Championship — with its new spring slot on the schedule — is bound for Bethpage Black, while Pebble Beach will mark its centennial by playing host to the U.S. Open.

A fixture on international best-of lists, the prep at Royal Portrush included the addition of two new holes. This linksy layout is every bit as good as the admittedly-biased Clarke says, but golf-trippers are as likely to return talking about the proud and hospitable folks who call this area home. They will point out Dunluce Castle — you’ll be treated to a great view from the fifth green, set smack-dab on the shoreline — and tell you about Michael Jackson’s bid to purchase that historic property.

They can direct you to some of the many Game of Thrones filming locations in this area, or

suggest their favourite spot for a meal and a pint of Guinness. If there’s a downpour of rain (“Just a wee spit”) or a wicked wind (“Just a wee breeze”), they might even offer to lend you their weathertested gear. And most will be tickled to talk golf, not only their dandy Dunluce Links but the others that make this a must-play destination for the par-seeking public.

lot of balls to play golf in Ireland, now you know what it means!”

Just up the road and up the Antrim Coast is the Strand Course at Portstewart, with perhaps the finest front nine you’ll find. Located about two hours away on the opposite side of Belfast is the scenic and stout Royal County Down, which topped Golf Digest’s latest listing of the World’s 100 Greatest Courses. (You won’t have to scroll much further to find Royal Portrush, ranked seventh.)

Royal Portrush has once before hosted the British Open, with Max Faulkner winning in 1951. It’s time for a new chapter for the self-proclaimed ‘Major Golf Capital of the World.’

Its neighbour, cliff-hugging Ardglass Golf Club, boasts the oldest clubhouse building in the world.

On this particular night, just a short drive from Portrush in the pub at The Bushmills Inn, the man at the microphone paused between tunes to poll the polo-shirted crowd. “Have you been humbled by our golf courses?” he asked with a crooked grin. “When people tell you it takes a

Once headline news for all the wrong reasons, there has been peace in Northern Ireland for the past two decades. In July, the spotlight shines on these deserving people and this special destination.

“I’d be foolish to say I ever thought we’d get through the dark times in Northern Ireland to get to this stage where we have the biggest and best tournament in the world,” Clarke told reporters when the R&A announced that his home club would host the 2019 Open Championship.

“Nobody could foresee that coming in the bad old days, so to see how far we have all come has been brilliant. This is going to be absolutely huge for Northern Ireland, and Ireland as a whole. The course is looking sensational and when the world sees it, they will be so impressed.”

Now, you really should see it for yourself.

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Compete & Excel Canada Summer Games 2018 Team Alberta, (L to R) Bill Murchison (Coach), Annabelle Ackroyd, Ethan Choi, Sharmaine Rapisura, Kai Iguchi, Taylor Stone, Max Murchison, Crystal Watson (Coach)

Western Canada

SUMMER GAMES

by Curtis Stock

Golf is very much an individual sport - you against the rest of the field, against yourself or even just trying to have the low score in your regular Sunday morning foursome. But major events like the Western Canada Summer Games which takes place Aug. 9 - 18 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, bring out a very valuable team component.

Just ask 16-year-old prodigy Ethan Choi, who has never played in the Western Canada Summer Games but learned all about golf team play when he competed in last year’s Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg. “It definitely wasn’t your 66

typical golf tournament where you show up and play as an individual,” said Choi, who shot a 12-under 59 as a 14-year-old while winning the Alberta Golf Bantam Championship in 2016 at River’s Edge Golf Club in Okotoks.

“You want the individual gold medal but you also really want the team gold too; you really want your teammates to do well,” Choi said.

“In a regular tournament you finish your round, practise a bit and then have time for yourself.

At the Summer Games it had that social aspect which was different, unique and cool. We did a lot of team stuff.

“We all hung out with the best athletes in their sports in the country. Team Alberta had a games room, we lived together, ate together and travelled together,” said Pincher Creek’s Choi, who finished tied for fourth in the individual component but had to settle for a fourth-place finish in the team segment losing the bronze medal in a playoff to Manitoba.

“Our golf team also all went to watch and cheer on our teammates competing in different sports. We went to the boys’ and girls’ goldmedal volleyball games. Unfortunately, Alberta lost both of those matches with both games

Compete & Excel

going to five sets. “It was just really cool to be a part of it. It was one of the highlights of my life. I was very glad to have been a part of it,” said Choi, who won the PGA of Alberta Junior Masters last year.

Those athletes competing in the Western Canada Summer Games - Alberta will have 435 full-time athletes, coaches and administrative staff in 16 different sports - will almost certainly feel the same way.

“For sure - especially in sports like golf where you usually don’t get much team bonding. said Jerry George, Chef de Mission for Team Alberta. “For many of the competing athletes it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience; for many it may be the only time they get to experience something like wearing their team colours, walking into the opening ceremonies and for the medal presentations.

“Being part of a team environment brings out different energies, nerves and potentially stepping up their games at the highest level against peers you participate against. It adds so much to an athlete’s repertoire because it’s more than just representing themselves. It’s a conglomerate of athletes. Wearing the same uniform builds bigger team mentality.

“In a regular golf competition the players usually individually stay in hotels or have their parents drive them to the course. Here they stay in a dorm, ride the buses together and get the unique experience for a well-rounded athlete,” said George, who has been involved with Alberta Sport Connection - the Alberta government’s funding and support corporation which is part of the Ministry of Alberta Culture and Tourism - for 18 years.

“They also get information on proper nutrition, mental training and sports psychology that they are unlikely to get in any other competition.”

Held every four years, the Western Canada Summer Games are open to athletes ages 13 – 20 years old and are a precursor to other national, international and Olympic competitions. Contested over 10 days, this year’s Games will see over 1,700 athletes, coaches, officials and mission staff from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut attending the 10

Taylor Stone and Ethan Choi with Ron McLean of CBC.

Team Alberta members Kai Iguchi, Max Murchison, Ethan Choi, Annabelle Ackroyd and Taylor Stone at the 2018 Canada Summer Games Closing Ceremonies in Winnipeg.

days of competition. This is the first year British Columbia will not be part of the Games.

“Their government made a decision that it wasn’t a financial priority,” said George. “It’s disappointing for sure. In the big picture BC was always Alberta’s No. 1 competition. It will change the medal playing field when you are missing a strong competitor like BC always was.”

Alberta, on the other hand, will again send a full team in all 16 sports. Golf, which will take place from Aug. 16-18 at the Chinook Golf Course will again include team and individual competitions.

“It will still be the traditional stroke-play score and within that is the team component,” said George. “For the team component the lowest four of five scores on each hole will count.”

Based on a ranking system Alberta Golf will determine the five boys and five girls - along with a coach and manager - who will represent Alberta

in golf. “The selection process will be merit based and is a combination of the 2018 Golf Canada Order of Merit and the 2019 Golf Canada Order of Merit points total as of June 17, 2019 which is the completion of the Future Links Prairie event,” said Alberta Golf’s Jennifer Davison.

George is excited about going to Swift Current. “They are going to do a really good job. It’s a small enough community that everybody in the city will know the Games are going on,” he said. “Anytime we can go to a competition in a relatively small community adds to the energy of the Games. You can get lost in a bigger community.

“In Swift Current, the minute you get there you will see signage; everybody will know something big is happening. In smaller communities everybody has to get involved to pull them off and the venues are all close together so athletes will go to sports they aren’t participating in to cheer their teammates on.”

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Discover & Try

Alberta Golf course raters work tirelessly to provide accurate Course and Slope Ratings for member courses.

By Gord Montgomery

How do the golf courses you play get rated?

Whether you're new to golf or have played the game for years there are probably still items on a scorecard that you're not quite sure of. The course rating and slope numbers probably fall under that category.

As a refresher, the purpose of the Golf Canada Course Rating System is to measure and rate the relative difficulty of golf courses in Alberta so that a player's Handicap Factor is accurate and transportable from golf course to golf course.

The Course Rating System considers factors that affect the playing difficulty of a golf course including yardage, effective playing length and the number of obstacles that factor into play, including topography, elevation, doglegs, prevailing wind, bunkers and more.

You’ll note two ratings, course and slope when looking at your scorecard. Course rating is the playing difficulty of a course for scratch golfers under normal course and weather conditions, while the slope rating is the relative playing difficulty of a course for players who are mid-handicap golfers compared to the difficulty of the course for scratch golfers. Every golf course in Alberta has to be re-rated at least once every 10 years by a team that spends the day walking and measuring the course in addition to any recent changes.

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“Any time a hole is changed, redeveloped or otherwise altered, it’s important to include an updated rating as part of that process,” comments John Burns, Field Manager of Competitions at Alberta Golf.

Landing zones, fairway width, proximity to out of bounds, trees, bunkers and water all factor into the equation the USGA provides to maintain consistent ratings internationally.

Greens are measured for size, number of bunkers in play, undulation and speed.

Alberta Golf has just over a dozen course raters in the province, all certified by the USGA. “Course rating is a fun and challenging feature of Alberta Golf. We’re always looking for new recruits to help, with the level of commitment entirely up to each person,” Burns said. “Alberta Golf in association with the USGA offers training. There are online courses you can take to get up to speed. If you want to join us for a day and see what it’s like, we can place you on a team. You can be as involved as you want or sit back and take it all in. It’s a great day; you’re on a golf course!”

Alberta Golf continues to work in conjunction with its member golf courses to maintain the consistent ratings, both course and slope that its players have come to appreciate. The next time you look at your score card, don’t be surprised…either by the score or the course and slope numbers you see.

Discover & Try

The Fairmont Banff Springs "So You Think You Can Putt" tournament attracted participants of all ages and skill levels.

Alternative Golf BANFF SPRINGS EMBRACES A DIFFERENT TYPE OF GAME

Golf isn’t just about 565-yard par 5 holes, forced carries over 180 yards of fescue, or intimidating bunkers that you need a ladder to get into and out of anymore. Now it’s also about different sorts of skill tests and people are beginning to take notice.

Known as ‘Alternative Golf’, this game hybrid is taking hold in a big way at one golf course in particular, the famed Fairmont Banff Springs. Each year competitors take to the Stanley Thompson 18-hole layout armed only with putters.

Asked to explain what exactly this offshoot style of the game is, Steven Young, the Executive Professional at Banff said, “There are three ways to look at golf. The first is to take the game as we know it. In the last little while one of the solutions to growing the game is to look at the format, to say ‘is there another way’? For example, Skins, best ball, different formats. But also now there are things like foot golf, lacrosse golf, frisbee golf, using the template of the hole and moving toward sinking it in a cup, a basket, whatever.

This variety though uses all 18 greens on a golf course, and lets people use golf carts to move from green to green, which Young admitted, is part of the fun.

The pro said he was told of the putting tourney idea by a golf writer and from that he formulated his own plan of action. “What I came up with is putting is the most elementary, easy part of golf that anybody can do. It’s a pretty safe entry level thing anyone can do.”

The other thing that has made this idea so successful, continued Young, is that putting from distances of as far away as 60 feet on some of the holes levels the playing field significantly. He noted the best putters in the world are those who hit the ball close to the hole in an actual round meaning shorter putts.

With Alternative Golf, everyone starts at the same spot, so there’s no advantage in being an outstanding wedge player.

“Then, there’s the putting competition where you’ve taken an element of the game and made it into the game itself.”

In researching the idea, Young discovered the best putters usually get the ball down with two strokes from “about 30 feet and rarely miss from eight feet” and closer. “In looking for the best putter, I felt I should make the holes more than 30 feet long and make sure that in those attempts the ball will likely come to rest within eight feet so the best putters, when they hit it up into that zone, will be able to make the next putt.”

The tournament, known as ‘So You Think You Can Putt’, is a spinoff of a traditional sort of event played on a mini-putt layout.

To slot an event like this onto a busy tee sheet, times for the putting tournament were slated in after another big event ended. That was largely

By Gord Montgomery

due to there not being enough daylight left for anyone to play a full round of golf but there was enough time to play 18 holes of Alternative Golf.

Originally started with four people per group, that number has now risen to six as the idea’s popularity has grown. The thing is, this is about friendship and socialization more than competition. Sure, there are winners, but that’s secondary to having a good time.

“When you’re just putting, having six players doesn’t slow you down. We did that to make sure it was a lot of fun and people could play with who they wanted to.”

Something else that stands out is skill or age don’t matter much because anyone can contend, if not win. Banff had a 70-year-old woman finish third their first year and golfers with a 10-handicap have won because as Young says, “It’s not because you’re the best golfer — you’re the best putter.”

In closing, Young said the community has grabbed hold of this idea that is now going into its fourth year. “We’re hoping this year we’ll get to 140 (players),” and there’s hope an idea like this will extend beyond the mountain course because this idea is about enjoyment not conquest.

“Primarily, while we’re trying to identify the champion we are focusing on fun. We are not letting the competitive side overrule the fun side. The fun is more important than the trophy going to the top person.”

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Connect & Enjoy

Year in Pictures 1

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2 1. The girls are all smiles after a round at the Alberta Bantam & Novice Championships.

2. John Festival demonstrates his cross handed grip that led him to his first Senior Men’s Championship.

3. Head Professional Leif Hanson poses with some of the many host club volunteers at the SVR Alberta Open Championship at River Spirit Golf Club. These “yellow shirts” help elevate every Alberta Golf event on the schedule.

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4 4. Yee-Haw! The First Annual 7. Inglewood Golf & Curling Golf Canada Calgary Center/ Club captures the first Alberta Golf pancake ever Alberta Ladies breakfast saw cowboy boots Interclub. This inaugural on the driving range. event saw clubs from across the province 5. Barbara Flaman, Kim compete at the Canmore Carrington, and Gail Barros Golf & Curling Club.

(L-R) represent Alberta at the Canadian Senior Ladies 8. Brendan MacDougall Championship in Fonthill, and Brady McKinlay put Ontario. They would go on to on a show for the gallery finish in 3rd place. during the final of the Alberta Match Play 6. The province’s top amateurs Championship held at and professionals showcase Silver Springs Golf Club. their talent at the SVR Alberta The match would go back Open Championship held at and forth with MacDougall River Spirit Golf Club. winning on the 18th hole.

9. Alberta’s top female amateurs get to peek at the hardware up for grabs before teeing off for their final round. Willow Park Golf & Country Club provided the ladies with a beautiful and challenging test.

10. Rec Series participants have more than just the scenery to take in. A free lesson was provided following the round.

11. Rain or shine, these girls get it done. The weather was unable to dampen spirits during the Alberta Junior and Juvenile Girls Championship held at Coyote Creek Golf & RV Resort.

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9 12. An Interclub sweep! The Men’s team from Inglewood Golf & Curling Club follow the ladies’ example, as they pick up the victory at the re-opened Kananaskis Country Golf Course.

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13 . Two team members enjoy the sun during the annual Alberta/Montana Ryder Cup. The 2018 event was held in Whitefish, Montana.

14. A Place in history. Wes Heffernan secures his position as one of Alberta’s all-time greats with his 6th Alberta Open title.

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Lethbridge CC Livingstone GC Municipal

GC

Maple Ridge GC - McCall Lake GC - McKenzie Meadows GC - Meadowlands GC at Sylvan Lake - Medicine Hat G&CC Millwoods GC - Miskanaw G&CC - Montgomery Glen G&CC - Muirfield Lakes GC - Nanton GC Northern Bear GC - Olds GC Oyen & District GC - Paradise Canyon GR - Pheasantback GC - Picture Butte GC - Pincher Creek GC - Pine Hills GC - Pinebrook G&CC Pipestone GC - Ponoka Community GC - Priddis Greens G&CC - Raven Crest G&CC - Red Deer G&CC - RedTail Landing GC Redwater Community GC - Redwood Meadows GC - Richmond Green GC - River Bend GC - River Ridge G&CC - River Spirit GC River Valley Junior GC - River’s Edge GC - Riverside GC - Riverview GC - Royal Mayfair GC - Sandpiper G&CC - Serenity GC Shaganappi GC - Silver Creek GC - Silver Springs G&CC - Silver Tip GC - Silverwing GC - Sirocco GC - Skeleton Lake G&CC Smoky Lake GC - Speargrass GC - Springbank Links GC - St. Paul GC - Stettler GC - Stewart Creek GC - Stony Plain GC Strathmore GC - Sturgeon Valley G&CC - Sundre GC - Sylvan Lake G&CC - Taber GC - The Bridges at Claresholm GC The Canal at Delacour GC - The Derrick G&WC - The Dunes G&WC - The Glencoe G&CC - The Hamptons GC The Legends G&CC - The Links at Spruce Grove - The Links of GlenEagles The Quarry The Ranch G&CC - The Winston GC - Three Hills GC - Trestle Creek GR - Turner Valley GC Twin Willows GC - Two Hills Lions G&CC - Valley Ridge GC - Victoria GC - VIP Golf Vulcan G&CC - Wainwright G&CC - Westlock GC - Whispering Pines G&CC Whitecourt G&CC - Whitetail Crossing GC - Willow Park G&CC Windermere G&CC - Wintergreen G&CC - Wolf Creek GC - Woodside GC - Yellowknife GC

Want to Volunteer? www.albertagolf.org #22, 11410 27 Street SE Calgary, Alberta T2Z 3R6 403-236-4616 | albertagolf.org

Golf Canada facilities are internationally recognized with an official Course and Slope rating.

Alberta Golf would also like to say a special thanks to its volunteers who promote the game and support our events.