Alberta’s Junior Masters To Become Bigger, And Better, For High-Level Players
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- Category: Inside Golf
- Published: 2025-08-24
By Gord Montgomery, Senior Writer, Inside Golf
A two-day event to showcase the best junior golf talent in Alberta is a great way for the young players to showcase their talents to universities. Now, the event, known as the PGA of Alberta Junior Masters, sponsored by playgolfalberta.com, is about to get even bigger and better.
It was announced at the 2024 tourney, held at the Royal Mayfair GC in Edmonton for the fourth year. The event celebrated its 35th year of existence by announcing it will become a three-day tourney for the top 40 male and 20 female junior golfers in Alberta, and maybe spread its wings even further afield in Canada.
Said PGA of Alberta’s Tournament and Communications Coordinator Brendan Ethier, “It’s just to give back to junior golf and the professional association being involved with junior golf,” he said of why this event takes place. “We’re seeing more and more junior golfers coming up through the system and a lot of our pros are responsible for that.”
“The idea is to have a competitive tournament to showcase the juniors we have in Alberta.”
Those taking part in the event are selected by rankings established by Alberta Golf, the province’s amateur governing body, through their Order of Merit. Players qualify in the U19, U17, and U15 divisions through the 2024 Alberta Golf Championships as well as the Maple Leaf Junior Tour’s Order of Merit standings.
“Alberta Golf has their Order of Merit, and they see these kids all the time,” and through the PGA of Alberta office, they coordinate on who will take part each year. “It’s a month-long process - they go back and forth with the tours the Alberta Golf governs. We get input from them on who should be here.”
This tournament in particular boosts the players’ visibility to college scouts, and while some may already have a scholarship tucked into their golf bag, others are looking and hoping for the same type of thing. About the hope to move the tourney to three days, Ethier said the benefits of such a change are huge.
“We’re looking at that so they can get World Golf Ranking points. Then we can post everything to college golf scoreboards,” so school scouts and coaches can see how these players handle tourney pressure. As a three-day tournament, a cut will now be imposed after two days of play, and the tournament itself will involve two courses, a member course of Play Golf Alberta for the first two days and wrap up with the final round at the Mayfair. As a two-day event, there was no cut.
“Maybe they do go on to school. Maybe they don’t,” Ethier said, “but there’s always a career in golf somewhere once they’ve done high school.”
Parker Riou,18, from Strathmore Golf Club, who played in this event for the first time in four years, said his game has changed since back then, but even still, the Edmonton course presents challenges.
“I have a lot more distance now,” the University of Victoria commit noted. “That just meant club changes off the tee. Not so many drivers. Just trying to rely on my approach game,” which worked well as he carded rounds of 71-74.
While the Junior Masters played a role in his landing that Canadian school scholarship, Riou, his parents, and his coaches also played a part. “We went through the recruiting process, my dad and coaches, just sending letters, videos.”
In closing, Ethier noted that by moving to three days of play, rather than the customary two, “That kind of puts us in that upper echelon of top junior events and amateur events. We want to elevate this,” and since the participating parties came to an agreement on the last day, this tourney for top young golfers will move onward and upward, with perhaps even bigger and better fields, including other provinces, in the future.