Dhaliwal & Gillis Claim 2023 Play Golf Alberta - Royal Mayfair Junior Masters Titles
The 2023 edition of the Play Golf Alberta - Royal Mayfair Junior Masters presented by Sundog Eyewear & Blue Tees is officially in the books. Today’s second round saw a continuation of the perfect conditions and our competitors battled all day to try and win their respective divisions and overall title.
Winning her first Junior Masters title in the Overall Girls’ Division was Sophie Dhaliwal (Wingfield GC) who prevailed on the second playoff hole (#18 X2) after making a clutch approx. 5 foot putt for par. Sophie played outstanding golf over both rounds and finished the Tournament at +11 after carding 71 in round 1 and 80 today with a two-day gross total of 151. Finishing in second this year was Carla van Remmen (Pinebrook G&CC) finishing the Tournament at +11 after shooting 73 & 78. Rounding out the top 3 was Gabrielle Roznicki (The Glencoe G&CC ) who finished the Tournament at +20 after firing 78 & 82.
Congratulations to the Winner of the U-15 Girls Division: Alessandra Sundquist(Willow Park G&CC) who finished the Tournament at +10 after carding 75 & 75 and had a two-day gross total of 150. Finishing in Second place was Rhea Deo (Royal Mayfair GC) who finished Tournament at +16 after carding 77 & 79.
In the Overall Boys’ Division, our 2023 Play Golf Alberta - Royal MayfairJunior Masters presented by Sundog Eyewear & Blue Tees Champion is: Ryan Gillis (Pinebrook G&CC) who finished the Tournament at +2 with a two-day gross total of 142 carding 75 yesterday and our low round for today with a -3-under par 67. Ryan had only 1 blemish on his card today with 4 Birdies carding 34 & 33 today.
Rounding out our top 4 was, Josiah Tong (Heritage Pointe GC) who finished the Tournament at +3 overall after firing 71 & 73, Jared Code (Glencoe G&CC) who carded 72 & 72 & Ethan Howes (Broadmoor GC) who carded 69 & 75 and who tied finishing the Tournament at +4 overall.
Congratulations to the Winner of the U-15 Boys Division: Harrison Kiziak (Belvedere G&CC) who finished the Tournament at +2 with a two-day gross total 142 after carding 70 & 72. Finishing in Second place was Chase Lassman (Stony Plain GC) who finished the Tournament at +4 after carding 70 & 74.
Ethan Howes (Broadmoor GC) in the Overall Boys’ Division and Sophie Dhaliwal (Wingfield GC) in the Overall Girls’ Division stood above the rest of the field today to hold the lead in their respective divisions heading into Round 2 tomorrow.
Ethan carded a great 1-under par 69 today, carding 34 on the front nine and 35 on the back-9, with 4 Birdies on the card. Sitting right behind Ethan is two players who both carded +1 over-par 71’s: Josiah Tong & Peter Hlushak who will be looking to catch our Leader. Five other players sit within 3 strokes of the lead heading into tomorrow for R2 with low rounds needed to catch the top of the Leaderboard.
Sophie carded a great +1-over par 71 today, carding 37 on the front nine and 34 on the back-9 with an Ace on #4 and 3 Birdies. Sitting just 2-strokes off the lead is Carla Van Remmen who carded +3 over-par 73 today to remain well in contention for the overall title.
In the U-15 Boys’ Division, Jayden Arnold (Earl Grey GC) had our round of the day carding an excellent 3-under par 67 to sit atop the Leaderboard in his respective division. Jayden fired a 34 on the front-9 and followed it up with a 33 on the back-9 with 5 Birdies today to give himself a healthy 3-stroke lead heading into tomorrow’s final round.
In the U-15 Girls’ Division, Alessandra Sundquist (Willow Park G&CC) sits at the top after carding a great +5 over-par 75 today. Alessandra carded 37 on the front-9 and followed it up with 38 on the back-9. She holds a 2-stroke lead over her nearest competitor.
Round 2 kicks off at 8:00 AM tomorrow with the Boys’ Divisions out first and the Girls’ Divisions following with the last tee time set for 11:00 AM. Players will battle it out so they can take home the 2023 Junior Masters title as well as their respective division title.
PGA of Alberta and Tagmarshall Form New Partnership
The Association is excited to announce a new partnership with Golf Course optimization technology expert, Tagmarshal, as it looks to engage with and add value to PGA professionals across this region. Tagmarshal will be a Presenting Sponsor of the PGA of Alberta Spring Seminar for the 2024-2025 season. The partnership with the Association includes sharing further educational opportunities, such as online webinars and expert sessions.
Tagmarshal’s technology provides courses with full, real-time operational oversight and reporting. Using a hybrid of advanced GPS technology and powerful algorithms based on data from more than 25 million rounds, managers can optimize on-course operations, effectively manage pace and flow of play to enhance the player experience, increase efficiency through automation and generate additional revenue.
“We’re proud to be recognized as a valuable partner of the PGA of Alberta, working in synergy with their team, to grow the game in Canada. We look forward to sharing our data-driven insights and processes with their members,” said Bodo Sieber, CEO, Tagmarshal
The partnership with the Association builds on Tagmarshal’s existing partner network, which includes several PGA Sections, such as Northern Texas, Southern Texas, Southwest, South Florida, North Florida, New England, Metropolitan, Pacific Northwest, as well as the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), PGA Magazine and the Golf Business Network (GBN).
Tagmarshal partners with many private, daily fee, public and resort courses, including 35 of the Top 100 US courses and more than 500 courses globally, as well as several golf management groups. Partners include Red Deer Golf & Country Club, Bearspaw Golf Club, Royal Mayfair Golf Club, Priddis Greens, Earl Grey Golf Club, Canmore Golf & Curling Club, Silver Springs Golf & Country Club and many $30-$50 green fee courses, which are seeing excellent results using Tagmarshal’s optimization technology.
To learn more about the impact optimization will have at your course, please contact Stephen Knoop, Managing Director, at [email protected] or call +353 86 052 5077. Alternatively, watch their short demo at tagmarshal.com/demo.
Tournament News
Kirkness Claims First PING Club Professional Championship Title On Home Turf
Players were treated to a beautiful day for R2 at the PING Canada Club Professional Championship hosted at the picturesque Inglewood G&CC in Calgary. The course continued to be in mint shape for all our competitors and the weather was excellent throughout the day for the entire field.
Our 2023 PING Club Professional Champion, Head Professional of our host venue, is: Samuel Kirkness (Inglewood G&CC) fresh off his strong 6th place showing at the PGA of Alberta Championship 2 weeks ago. Sam had a resolute performance on home turf with a convincing victory of a 5-stroke margin over his nearest competitors in this 2-day stroke play Championship.
Sam started the day tied in the lead (-4) in our final group and began his round on the front foot with the pedal to floor with Birdies on 3 of the first 4 holes. Sam only had 1 blemish to show on the front-9 after carding a strong 4-under par 32, with 5 Birdies, and a healthy lead established over his nearest competitors. He followed it up with a solid 1-under par 34 on the back-9 to cruise in as our 2023 PING Club Professional Champion. Sam had a two-day Championship total of 133 and finished the Championship at -9.
In a two-way tie for Second place was: Scott Stiles (Earl Grey GC) and Kevin Black (Redwood Meadows G&CC) who both put together two great rounds for the Championship to finish with a Championship two-day total of: 138 (-4). Scott carded our low round for today with a blistering 64 (-7), with a 4-under par 31 on the front-9 and carded a 31 on the back-9. Kevin carded a 68 (-3) today shooting 37 on the front-9 and carding a 4-under 31 on the back-9.
In solo Fourth place was: Jamie Gerlitz (Picture Butte GC) who finishes the Championship at -2 with a two-day total 140. Jamie carded -2 today with a 2-under 34 front-9, he followed it up with an even-par 35 on the back-9.
Rounding out our Top-5 for the Championship, in a two-way tie for Fifth place, with two-day Championship totals of: 142 , at Even-Par was: Matthew Mah (Mill Woods GC) & Adam Bruce (GOLFTEC Sherwood Park).
In a two-way tie Seventh place was: last year’s Club Pro Champion, Stefan Cox (Calgary G&CC) & our other host professional, Jason Stanier (Inglewood G&CC) finishing the Championship at +1 with two-day totals of 143.
Rounding out our Top-10, in a three-way tie for Ninth place, finishing the Championship at +3 with two-day totals of 145 was: Weston Gillett (Lacombe G&CC), Matt Freeman (Canyon Meadows G&CC) & former Champion, Scott Allred (Elbow Springs GC).
Special Thank you to our long-time Sponsor: Ping Canada for their continued support, without it, events like this would not be possible!
Thank you to our host venue: Inglewood G&CC for another terrific event and all the help their staff provided making it a memorable Championship.
Tournament News
Kirkness and Bruce Tied For The Lead at PING Club Professional Championship
Round 1 of the Ping Club Professional Championship at Inglewood G&CC is complete. The course was in amazing condition with the greens running smooth and the sun was shining all day.
Local Head Professional Samuel Kirkness (Inglewood G&CC) and Adam Bruce (GOLFTEC Sherwood Park) led the way finishing the day the day at 4-under 67. Sam was out first and shot a 34 on the front with 4 Birdies, then followed it up with a 33 on the back and 3 Birdies. Adam finished up later on carding a 33 on the front with 3 Birdies of his own, and finished his last 9 holes with 3 more Birdies.
Kevin Black (Redwood Meadows G&CC) sits in solo 3rd after round 1, carding a 1-under 70. Kevin was 1-over on the front but heated up on the back with 3 Birdies to close out his day.
In a 3-way tie for 5th, Scott Allred (Elbow Springs GC), Jamie Gerlitz (Picture Butte GC) and Phil McCluskey (Riverbend G&RA) all carded rounds of Even Par 71.
Round 2 will start early tomorrow morning at 7am.
Congratulations to our skins winners: Jamie Kureluk (GOLFTEC Calgary Blackfoot) with a Birdie on hole #1, Brad Gagne who holed out for Eagle on #16 and Larry Petryk (Larry Petryk Golf Academy) with an Eagle on hole #18
After much thought and consideration, the Co-Chairs of the PGA of Alberta Membership & Employment Committee have decided to formally Dissolve the Committee and are excited to announce the commencement of the Application Process to join the new 2023/2024 Committee. Please reach out to either Co-Chair (Jeff MacGregor & Blake Clayton) or Robert Rousselle ([email protected]) or Aaron Mckay ([email protected]) with any questions, comments or application documents.
In the interests of creating a diverse Committee that is representative of the entire PGA of Alberta Membership the application process is open and will run until end of day, 11:59 PM on Sunday, July 30th. All interested Members are invited to apply and letter of intent stating their motivations for joining the Committee and any relevant experiences they feel make them a strong candidate for joining.
The new Committee roster will be announced by the end August, 2023.
The Membership & Employment Committee will sit with a minimum of 8 Members and maximum of 12 and will meet at minimum twice annually to address and review the PGA of Alberta’s Membership & Employment related matters.
Please refer to the Committee Responsibilities list below for a general outline of what is expected from Committee members.
PGA of Alberta By-Laws.
New Member Orientation.
Compensation Survey.
Job Posting Standards.
Membership & Employment Initiatives.
Club Relations.
Association Resource Centre.
Retention and attraction of Golf Professionals in Alberta.
Proactively obtain input from fellow members on their level of satisfaction of the Membership & Employment portfolio and consider suggestions for improvement.
Interacting with other Committees as required on operations and activities that may overlap.
Undertake other activities as may be assigned by the Board of Directors from time to time.
Review the Terms of Reference on an annual basis and make any recommendations for change.
Review with the Executive Director any breach of member misconduct and make recommendations for any fines or suspensions to the Board of Directors for any case related to employment or membership.
Wes followed up a 9-under 63 on Day-1, with an even par Day-2 to take home the Championship. After shooting 36 on the front, Heffernan had 2 Birdies on the back to win by 1 stroke. Wes had 2 putts to win on the 18th green and made his second, approximate 3-foot putt to prevail. He finished the Championship with a two-day total of 135.
In Second place, Mitchell Fox (Speargrass GC) carded a bogey free round of 4-under par 68 with 4 Birdies, to finish the Championship at 8-under par with a two-day total of 136.
In a tie for Third place at 7-under, Mike Belbin (Royal Mayfair GC) and Eric Locke (Priddis Greens G&CC). Belbin had 6 Birdies to shoot one of the low rounds of the day at 67. Locke finished his second round with 4 Birdies to shoot a 2-under par 70 and kept the heat on Wes throughout the day. They both finished with Championship totals of 137.
Rounding out our Top-5, in sole possession of Fifth place, Scott Stiles (Earl Grey GC) carded a 6-under par Championship total, while carding 4-under par 68 today with 6 Birdies and finished with a two-day total of 138.
Samuel Kirkness (Inglewood G&CC) followed up his 67 on Day-1 with an even par 72 to take home Sixth place, finishing the Championship 5-under par with a two-day total of 139.
Finishing our Top-10, in a 5-way tie for 7th, Levi McDermott (Big Buck Golf Centre), David Maccomb (Royal Mayfair GC), Kevin Black (Redwood Meadows G&CC), Matt Bean (Priddis Greens G&CC) and Michael Harrison (Coal Creek GR) after carding 4-under par for the Championship with two-day total’s of 140 respectively.
Congratulations to our R2 Skins Winners: (#6 Keller, Austin, #9 Nutt, Michael, #18 Pilon, Matt) who each take home $560 per skin!
Thank you to our Tournament Sponsors for their continued strong supported, Cobra Puma Golf and Mobilicab who make events like this possible!
Thank you to our host venue, Wintergreen G&CC and their staff for a great two-days and event!
Heffernan Heats Up At R1 Of Cobra Puma Golf & Mobilicab PGA of Alberta Championship
84 of our Professionals’ tee’d it up at the Cobra Puma Golf & Mobilicab PGA of Alberta Championship hosted at the stunning Wintergreen G&CC in Bragg Creek. The course is in fantastic shape and the Leaderboard saw plenty of movement throughout the day which made for an exciting day on the course for our competitors & spectators alike.
One player rose above the field today, Wes Heffernan (Dynamic Motion Golf Performance Centre) who holds a strong 3-stroke lead over his nearest competitor after firing a scorching 9-under par 63 today. Wes carded a blemish free front-9 of 2-under par 33, with a Birdie on #1 & #6. He followed it up with a blemish free back-9 with an unbelievable 7-under par 30 with 1 Eagle and 5 Birdies.
In Second Place after carding an excellent 6-under par 66 today is, Adam Bruce (GOLFTEC Sherwood Park) who carded a 4-under par 31 on the front-9 with 1 Eagle and 4 Birdies. He followed it up with a blemish free back-9 of 2-under par 35 with 2 Birdies.
In Third Place, in a 2-way tie, is Eric Locke (Priddis Greens G&CC), & Samuel Kirkness (Inglewood G&CC), after both carding excellent 5-under par 67’s. Eric carded 3-under par 32 on the front-9 with 4 Birdies and followed it up on the back-9 with a 2-under par 35 with 3 Birdies. Samuel carded 4-under par 31 on the front-9 with 1 Eagle and 2 Birdies and followed it up with a 1-under par 36 on the back-9 with 2 Birdies.
Rounding out our Top-5, in a 4-way tie for 5th, after all carding great 4-under par 68’s is; Michael Harrison (Coal Creek GR), Matt Bean (Priddis Greens G&CC), Mitchell Fox (Speargrass GC) and Braden Chown (Bearspaw GC).
Michael carded a blemish free front-9 of 2-under par 33 with 1 Eagle and followed it up with a 2-under par 35 on the back-9 with 4 Birdies. Matt carded a blemish free front-9 of 5-under par 30 and followed it up with a 1-over par 38 on the back-9 with 3 Birdies. Mitchell carded a blemish free front-9 of 2-under par 33 with 2 Birdies and followed it up with a 2-under par 35 on the back-9 with 1 Eagle and 2 Birdies. Braden carded a blemish free front-9 of 2-under par 33 with 2 Birdies and followed it up with 2-under par 35 on the back-9 with 4 Birdies.
Rounding out our Top-10, in a 4-way tie for 9th after all carding 2-under par 70’s is; Kevin Black (Redwood Meadows G&CC), Matthew Kirlin (Lynx Ridge GC), Mike Belbin (Royal Mayfair GC) and Scott Stiles (Earl Grey GC).
Congratulations to our Round 1 Skins Winner, Samuel Kirkness of Inglewood G&CC with an Eagle on #1 for $1,680.00.
Follow along on the live scoring Leaderboard once Round 2 begins (click here) to see all the changes in real time.
First tee time is 8:00 AM tomorrow and the Final Group of: Wes Heffernan, Adam Bruce and Eric Locke tee it up at 12:03 PM.
Association News
Katy Rutherford finishes Co-Low PGA Professional at the ORORO PGA Women Championship of Canada
PGA of Alberta Member Katy Rutherford of Silver Springs G&CC had a memorable week and great showing at the ORORO PGA of Canada Women’s Championship finishing with Co-Low PGA Professional Honours at Kingsville G&CC in Ontario and an overall T-6th finish for the event!
Check out Katy’s two rounds by clicking the links below.
Cobra Puma Golf & Mobilicab PGA of Alberta Championship - Draw Available
Our first Championship of the season: Cobra Puma Golf & Mobilicab PGA of Alberta Championshipis all set for next Monday, July 10th & Tuesday, July 11th at Wintergreen G&CC. We have 83 Professionals in the field for what should be an excellent test and challenge of their skills over the two-day stroke play competition. We will have a new holder of the Championship Title this year as last year’s Champion is out of the industry currently. Who will rise up to take home the 2023 title?
Laugher Victorious At Seniors’ Division At Lakeside GC
The first PGA of Alberta Seniors’ Division event of the season did not disappoint with many legends of our Association competing and having some excellent playing conditions at the beautiful Lakeside GC in Chestermere.
After a hard-fought battle on the course, Ron Laugher (Priddis Greens G&CC) takes home the title with an excellent score of 1-under 70. Laugher carded a great round of golf throughout today, shooting 35-35 on the front and back nines to seal the victory with 4 Birdies on the card.
Keeping Laugher on his toes and finishing in second was Brian Kollman (Golfuture YYC) who played great today and carded even-par 71 to fall 1 stroke short of our leader. Brian carded 37-34 with 3 Birdies on the card today. Rounding out the top three with a score of 2-over 73 was Scott Orban (McKenzie Meadows GC) who carded 35-38 with 2 Birdies on the card.
Thank you to our players and host venue Lakeside GC for making it a great event!
Congratulations to our Skins Winners today: Ron Laugher with a Birdie on #5 and a Birdie on #13, Glenn Carr with a Birdie on #6, Melvin Dies with a Birdie on #8, Richard Hardy with a Birdie on #12, Brian Kollman with a Birdie on #14 & Blair Oko with a Birdie on #16.
Congratulations to the 6 players who passed the Play Ability Test today at Lakeside GC. Jeremy Dueck (Water Valley GC), Ryan Martino (Mickelson National GC), Duncan Miller (Banff Springs GC), Matthew Foti (Banff Springs GC), Spencer Draper (D’Arcy Ranch GC) & Calder Sutton (River Bend G&RA) all successfully passed after shooting the target score (78) or better (49 years & younger) to become an Apprentice Professional of the PGA of Canada.
