The Alberta Men’s Amateur is one of the most prestigious events in the golfing landscape, tracing its origins back to 1907. The event has been played at a plethora of different golf courses over the years, and in 2025 the event will return to a course that it hasn’t visited since 1993. Paradise Canyon Country Club will play host to the top 120 male amateur golfers in the province for the 113th Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship on June 25-27.
The Men’s Amateur Championship is wrapped in history with a wide variety of champions throughout its playing. The event has been used as a springboard into professional careers for players like Henry Martell, Darryl James, Wes Heffernan, Scott Stiles, and plenty more. The event has also seen many of the great amateurs in our province compete with Doug Silverberg, Keith Alexander, Bob Wylie, and Ken Wasslen all being crowned champions. With three qualifiers and over 250 players trying to qualify each year, getting into the championship field is a major accomplishment. Registration for qualifiers opens in early April each season and players hoping to qualify need to have a Handicap Index of 8.0 or lower to register.
Paradise Canyon Country Club promises to be an amazing host for the 113th Men’s Amateur. Having hosted its own professional event in 2018 and 2019, and hosting the Canadian Men’s Amateur in 2008, the course is no stranger to the best of the best competing on its fairways. With an unpredictable Lethbridge wind, the course is sure to offer challenges from the first tee shot to the final putt. A key stretch on the course starts on the back 9 with holes 10, 11, and 12 often causing movement on the leaderboard. Hole 12 is the course’s signature hole, a beautiful elevated par 3 where players can see the Old Man River and the coulees surrounding it. With deep bunkers protecting the front of the green, fescue and badlands on either side, and the river right behind, club selection here can easily decide the winner of the event.
In 1993, the Alberta Men’s Amateur at Paradise Canyon Country Club was won by Darryl James, who would go on to become a top PGA of Alberta Professional. Since then, plenty of players have gone on to win the event including names like Mike Mezei, Ryan Yip, and Riley Fleming. Many things have changed since James’ win, but in Lethbridge the wind remains constant and players in the 113th Men’s Amateur will have to find a way to navigate this challenge, just as James did, to be crowned the best in Alberta.