BY DUNC MILLS
Yesterday was the Silver Anniversary Tour Championship for the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour, but when 124 juniors from across the province had completed play at Wolf Creek Golf Resort, the day and the entire 2020 season felt like a golden moment.
Six months ago, who could have predicted how the golf industry as a whole and junior golf in particular would have experienced such a resurgence? From days back in March and April when we weren’t even sure we would HAVE a golf season in Alberta this year, the industry has enjoyed its best season in a decade or more. Families and kids have been flocking to golf courses everywhere, and the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour rolled out a series of 22 tournaments all over Alberta so that young players could help sharpen their games with excellent competition on outstanding golf courses.
VIEW PHOTO ALBUM FROM TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPÂ
Facilities had to adjust how they presented themselves to players, and Alberta Golf as tournament organizers had to adjust how we could help run successful events while doing our utmost to keep participants safe. After a very busy summer, with sold out fields the order of the day tournament after tournament, I would like to think that things turned out pretty well.
Wolf Creek Golf Resort has been the host site for the Tour Championship since the Tour’s inception in 1996.
Owner Ryan Vold was a co-founder of the Tour, and even though Alberta Golf now operates the Tour, Ryan’s dedication and support of junior golf in Alberta remains unchanged. Thousands of junior golfers have earned their right to compete at the season-ending event over the last 25 years, and the Tour Championship trophy has many very well known names engraved on its face. Jaclyn Lee, Tyler Saunders, Jennifer Ha, Ryan Swelin, and many more. We have two more names to add to the trophy today, but only one new one.
Jayla Kucy of Camrose became the first three-time winner of the Tour Championship, as she completed her three-in-a-row streak of championships in very exciting style.
Locked in a battle with Jenna Burggeman of the Derrick Golf & Winter Club, Kucy was in fact a shot behind Jenna as the players arrived on the 17th tee. Fairly calm early morning conditions had given way to more typical Wolf Creek weather with sunny skies, but very gusty conditions as all the players did a great job of battling through the winds. Jayla’s par on 17 pulled the players even heading to the final hole, and when Kucy rolled in a 20-footer for birdie and Bruggeman made bogey, the three-peat was complete. What an exciting finish!
WATCH VIDEO: 1 ON 1 INTERVIEW WITH JAYLA KUCYÂ
Brooke Brezovski of Glendale completed the podium with an 80 for her 3rd-place finish and rising star Eileen Park of Red Deer finished another shot back on 81. Park is certainly going to be a player to watch in Alberta junior golf as she has already had a sensational year at the tender age of eleven!
While the junior boys’ division didn’t have quite the drama of the girls’ flight, the play was no less outstanding. Zach Haydamack of Mickelson National GC in Calgary has really elevated his game this summer at age 15. Haydamack finished T20 in the Alberta Open Championship in July on Wolf Creek’s Links Course competing against Alberta’s best professionals and adult amateurs, and he finished T4 last week at the Alberta Golf U-17 championship at Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Red Deer. On Friday, Zach toured the Old Course at Wolf Creek in an outstanding even-par 70, three shots clear of clubmates Braden O’Grady and Cole Ruelling of Windermere. Considering the strong winds that most of the older junior boys played through during most of the day, that’s some great golf!
WATCH VIDEO: 1 ON 1 INTERVIEW WITH ZACH HAYDAMACK
Connor Czirjak of The Winston and Alberta Golf U-15 Champion Jon Vinge of Pinebrook finished T4 and both will be names to watch over the next few years.
The Titleist Order of Merit battles came down to the wire in all three boys’ divisions. Jayla Kucy had clinched the girls’ OOM title prior to yesterday, but with points doubling at the Tour Championship, several players entered the day in contention for the boys’ age group titles. Form held in the flight for boys born in 2001-2003 as leader Cole Ruelling widened his margin of victory by finishing tied for 1st in his age group on the day. In the flight for boys born in 2004-05, Josiah Tong of Heritage Pointe held a narrow 40-point lead over Sirocco’s Jeremy Hart to start play, and when Tong finished out of the top six, and Hart ended up solo 5th, the 40 points he earned left the two players in a dead heat from their summer’s efforts. In the flight for boys born in 2006 & later, on-site yesterday in the heat of the moment, I had mistakenly announced that Ryan Garbutt had edged Scott Levey for the OOM title by a razor-thin 5 points. Ryan DID win the OOM, but while Scott was awarded 1st-place prize money on the day by virtue of a comparison of scorecards ( he had a better back 9, 41 to 42), to decide the OOM ties, unless there is an on-course playoff, as in for overall first place for a tournament, the OOM points are split equally for any ties in the top six placings. I will do up the final OOM standings over the weekend, but I wanted to explain this here in the write-up to alleviate any confusion over the matter for the players. The correct player did win, but the margin was the 75 points that Ryan held to start the day, not 5 points as announced at the event. Sorry about the mix-up, everyone!
Throughout the year, we generally have listed only the top six and ties in each age division, mostly due to time constraints to get the results up on the Alberta Golf website as quickly as possible after the tournaments. Today, we are going to list the scores of every player who competed yesterday, not because we are trying to embarass any youngster who maybe had a bad day on a very difficult golf course, but to recognize and celebrate their achievements of qualifying for the Tour Championship in the first place. There were hundreds of juniors all over Alberta who gave it their best efforts in tournaments all summer who didn’t make it to Wolf Creek, but their participation and efforts deserve our applause as well as those players who made the trip to Wolf Creek on Friday.
We will do a full Year in Review report in due course as we chart what might be ahead for the Tour and junior golf in general in Alberta, but for now, here are yesterday’s results.
OVERALL TOP TWENTY
1. Zach Haydamack           Mickelson National     70
T2. Cole Ruelling             Windermere           73
T2. Braden O’Grady           Windermere           73
T4. Connor Czirjak            The Winston          74
T4. Jon Vinge                Pinebrook             74
T6. Aidan Fong               Country Hills          75
T6. Greg Gurba               The Quarry           75
T6. Jeremy Hart              Sirocco               75
T9. Nate Kasowski            PPC                  76
T9. Daniel Humbke            Lacombe            76
T9. Rory Wutzke              Camrose             76
T9. Christian Hansen         River’s Edge          76
T9. Colin Pasitney            St. Paul              76
14. Mason Kucy              Camrose              77
T15. Blake Reimer            Windermere          78
T15. Spencer Florchuk        Ft. Saskatchewan      78
T17. Kennedy Bailey-Borges   Windermere           79
T17. Sebastian Berube        Priddis Greens         79
T17. Braeden Van Dusen      Lethbridge CC         79
T17. Aneesh Kaura           Pinebrook             79
T17. Scott Levey             Belvedere             79
T17. Ryan Garbutt           Windermere           79
BOYS BORN IN 2001-2003
T1. Cole Ruelling            Windermere           73
T1. Braden O’Grady         Windermere           73
3. Greg Gurba              The Quarry             75
T4. Nate Kasowski          PPC                   76
T4. Rory Wutzke            Camrose               76
6. Mason Kucy             Camrose               77
T7. Blake Reimer           Windermere           78
T7. Spencer Florchuk        Ft. Saskatchewan      78
9. Kennedy Bailey-Borges    Windermere          79
T10. Tai Robichaud          The Hamptons        80
T10. Erik Bouck             Camrose              80
T10. Ethan Couch           Glendale              80
T13. Quinn Laidlaw         The Winston           81
T13. Devin Kucy            Camrose              81
T15. Ben Lovrod            Grande Prairie         83
T15. Nolan Edwards         River’s Edge           83
T17. Jacob Dorton          Desert Blume          84
T17. Spencer Drummond     Canyon Meadows      84
T19 Brennan Tailfeathers    Paradise Canyon      86
T19. Owen Lai             RedTail Landing        86
21. Bailey Butz             Ft. Saskatchewan       87
T22. Connor MacLeod      Sylvan Lake            89
T22. Braeden Petro         Lethbridge CC          89
24. Hayden Prins           Goose Hummock        90
24. Thijs van Lankvelt       Wintergreen            91
24. Blake Hammel          Ft. Saskatchewan       92
T27. Nathan Mochulski      The Quarry             93
T27. Tyler Lau              Derrick                93
29. Brody Theophile         Stony Plain            102
BOYS BORN IN 2004-2005
1. Zach Haydamack         Mickelson National      70
T2. Connor Czirjak          The Winston            74
T2. Jon Vinge               Pinebrook              74
T4. Aidan Fong             Country Hills           75
T4. Jeremy Hart             Sirocco               75
T6. Christian Hansen        River’s Edge           76
T6. Colin Pasitney           St. Paul               76
T8. Braeden Van Dusen      Lethbridge CC         79
T8. Sebastian Berube        Priddis Greens         79
T8. Aneesh Kaura           PInebrook             79
11. Ethan Howes            Ft. Saskatchewan       80
11. Reid Casavant           Westlock               81
T13. Kylin Fraser            The Winston           82
T13. Brandon Lailey         The Winston           82
T15. Matthew Mayowski      Drayton Valley         83
T15. Josiah Tong            Heritage Pointe         83
17. Brady Bruns             Lacombe              84
T18. Quinn Brown           Edm. Petroleum Club   85
T18. Jace Shannon          Forestburg             85
T18. Jaden Patel            Inglewood             85
T18. Cooper Chalcroft       Country Hills           85
T18. Wyatt Bishop          Desert Blume          85
T22. Kye Fisher            Leduc                  87
T22. Nathan Piers          Riverside              87
24. Carson Conger         Inglewood             91
T25. Kole Keenas          Strathmore            92
T25. Sahaj Klair           RedTail Landing        92
T27. Ryker Flikinger       Pine Hills              93
T27. Ben Lehmann         Willow Park            93
29. Aiden McGilvery        Two Hills              94
29. Evan Williams          Silver Creek            97
29. Cooper Joy             Wainwright            99
BOYS BORN IN 2006 & LATER
T1. Scott Levey             Belvedere            79
T1. Ryan Garbutt           Windermere          79
3. Christan Flick            Carnmoney          81
T4. Shay Anderson          Pheasantback        82
T4. Cole Phillips             Willow Park         82
T6. Zach Lehmann           Willow Park         83
T6. Mateo Kern             Canyon Meadows     83
T6. Ryan Badger            RedTail Landing      83
T6. Jalen Apedoe            Serenity             83
T6. Kohen Yeske            Valley Ridge         83
T11. Jace McFaul            RedTail Landing      86
T11. Jake Brooks            Innisfail             86
T13. Owen Bruins            Desert Blume        87
T13. Lyndon Kurvial         Lethbridge CC       87
T13. Chris Colberg           Valley Ridge         87
16. Patrick McLarty           Carnmoney         89
T17. Jared van Hecke         Ft. Saskatchewan    92
T17. Payton Benneweis       Edmonton CC       92
T17. Saahir Sharma          Edmonton CC       92
20. Ryan Zhang              Windermere         93
T21. Brae Rogalczyk           Olds               94
T21. Chase Lassman          Stony Plain         94
T21. Harley Mohr            Ft. Saskatchewan    94
T24. Chase Strang            Woodside           95
T24. Russell Quinn           Wainwright          95
26. Parker Evans             Royal Mayfair        96
T27. Brady Weiss             Links at Spruce Grove 97
T27. Cole Serdachny          Windermere         97
29. Peter Hlushak            Windermere         99
JUNIOR GIRLS
1. Jayla Kucy                Camrose            74
2. Jenna Bruggeman          Derrick            76
3. Brooke Brezovski           Glendale          80
4. Eileen Park                Red Deer          81
T5. Emily Cornwall            Springbank Links  83
T5. Kaitlyn Wingnean          Derrick           83
7. Brynne Davies             Earl Grey            85
T8. Belle Brezovski           Glendale            86
T8. Jade Carter               Pinebrook           86
T10. Kalee Seto              Royal Mayfair        88
T10. Tessa Ion               Pinebrook           88
T10. Zoe Banack             Edson              88
T13. Tasha Wallace            PPC               89
T13., Kali Yeske              Valley Ridge        89
T13. Kristine Dixon            Lynx Ridge         89
16. Carla van Remmen        Pinebrook          90
17. Saylar May               Pine Hills            91
18. Serin Girard              River Bend          92
T19. Ella Gifford              Coloniale            93
T19. Nicole Rohr             Camrose            93
21. Justine Leon              Lakeside           94
T22. Brooklyn Campbell        Didsbury          95
T22. Taylor Foord             Woodside          95
24. Ellie Johnson              Derrick            98
25. Cici Zhang                Lynx Ridge          99
T26. Sarah York              Belvedere          103
T26. Olivia Leung             The Winston       103
28. Sydney Chuong            The Winston        104
29. Aliyah Hull                Lakeside            106
30 Neige Dunn               The Hamptons       116
31. Samantha Lin             Jagare Ridge        119