Gord’s Alberta Golf Notes
- Details
- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2021-03-18
By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf
After a reasonably decent weather, at least by Alberta standards, it appears, so far at least, that Mother Nature is in a giving mood as temperatures have warmed quickly. As such, a few courses in the southern part of the province have opened their doors, or are looking at doing so in the near future. One in particular, Henderson Lake GC in Lethbridge, appears to have opened the earliest of anyone but it’s assumed others will soon follow suit if the weather continues to be moderate. Further north, there’s still snow on the ground but it’s disappearing quickly so the hope is golf can begin earlier than usual at almost every course in the province.
Speaking of further north, the first outdoor facility to open in the Edmonton area, in mid-March no less, was the Canada Golf Card Driving Range, which is under new ownership this year. With temps touching the mid-teens, co-owner Art New said the facility was hopping and so busy they hadn’t even had time to fully clear all the snow off the landing areas before local golf ball bombers were out warming up for a new season.
A late congratulations need to go out to PGA of Alberta member Dean Ingalls, who is now the head professional at Carmoney GC in Calgary. He copped a pair of PGA of Canada awards earlier this year. Ingalls won the provincial awards as Head Professional of the Year and then as the Retailer of the Year for his work at Silver Springs G&CC. He then went on to duplicate those wins on the national stage.
The PGA of Alberta has successfully launched their Digital Marketplace, an idea that was featured in the Inside Golf Alberta newsletter a few weeks back. This idea stems from the fact there were no consumer golf shows in Calgary or Edmonton this year so instead, all the PGA-affiliated courses in the province are listed in this site. Ashley Van Kroonenburg noted that as the weeks go by, the site’s information will grow with special pricing on green fees, sales of merchandise and so on. To access this unique, and interesting site, go to pgaofabmarketplace.expofp.com.
And finally, Alberta Golf has just released their competitive season schedule for 2021 and it appears that there will be plenty of tourneys for skilled players to pick and choose from. Things kick off with a brand new event, the Alberta Mid-Master Championship, for men 40 years of age and older. It will take place on June 7-8 at The Inglewood Golf & Curling Club in Calgary. Then In late June the Alberta Ladies Amateur goes at the Broadmoor Public Golf Course in Sherwood Park from June 22 to 24. Things stay busy in the Edmonton area as the Alberta Mens Mid Amateur Championship will be held June 28-30 at The Edmonton Country Club. The best U19 boys and girls in the province will be teeing it up at the Carstairs Community Golf Club July 6 to 8. the Alberta Open, a popular pro/amateur event takes place at the popular Wolf Creek GR from July 13 to 15. The competitive events continue in Lethbridge with the Alberta Senior Ladies Championship from July 20-22 at The Lethbridge Country Club. The Calgary Golf and Country Club then hosts the Alberta Mens Amateur from July 27-29. It’s then off to the Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club in St. Albert as they host the Alberta Senior Mens Championship from August 3-5. The Alberta Match Play Championship will be held August 11-13 at River Bend Golf & Recreation Area in Red Deer. The kids swing back into action in late August Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Red Deer hosts the Alberta U17, U15, U13 Championships, August 23 and 24. The season wraps up at the beautiful Kananaskis Country Golf Course on September 8 with the Interclub Championship for 2021.
Registration for all events opens on April 1 at albertagolf.org.