INNISFAIL, Alta. (Alberta Golf) – On a moving day that featured the top 64 players in the province playing in perfect conditions, the competitive course record at Innisfail Golf Club appeared to be in jeopardy. Evan Holmes posted a spectacular front nine score of 30 and had the gallery buzzing about what could be. The Earl Grey Golf Club member and UBC Thunderbird was flawless on the Aspen nine, making six birdies (including four in a row on holes six to nine). He cooled off on the back nine, eventually shooting a 67 and finishing at eleven under par overall. Holmes holds a three shot advantage over Matt Williams and Scott Secord, who sit three shots back at eight under par.

When asked about his hot start, Holmes said, “Scott (Secord) and I were kind of feeding off of each other on the front. We were trading birdies back and forth and got into a nice little rhythm. It was fun.”

Holmes has finished in the top five at the previous three Alberta Men’s Amateur Championships, including a second place finish in 2013. That year he held the third round lead overnight and eventually lost by a single stroke to Riley Fleming. Holmes will look to draw on that experience heading into tomorrow’s final round. Holmes commented, “this is a little bit less of lead so I can’t be so complacent as last time. It should be good. We play in the same group again tomorrow so it should be fun.”

TOP 10 – AMATEUR LEADER BOARD

The top three competitors will make up the Team Alberta Interprovincial Squad at the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship on August 8-11 at the Royal Ottawa G&CC & Eagle Creek GC. The Champion will also earn a spot on the 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur Team to be played at Chambers Bay in University Place, WA on July 25-28, 2017. 

 The 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship is being played at the Innisfail Golf Club. The event is 72 holes of stroke play competition conducted on the 6,605 yard, par 72 Aspen & Spruce courses. The Men’s Amateur was last hosted at Innisfail in 2002. For more information on the Innisfail Golf Club, please visit their website here. 

 The championship concludes tomorrow, with a morning crossover starting at 7:00 a.m. The final group will tee off of hole #1 at 8:50 a.m. For final round pairings, click here. For photographs from the championship, click here. Follow the action all week long on Twitter using the official hashtag #ABMensAm.  

 

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For Immediate Release

July 20, 2016

NEWS RELEASE

Matt Williams lead is trimmed to one as 12 players are under par after two rounds

Scott Secord sits one shot back at seven under par

Pictured: Matt Williams

INNISFAIL, Alta. (Alberta Golf) – The Innisfail Golf Club played almost a full stroke easier on average in round two of the Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship. The leaders played solidly in warm and calm conditions. First round leader, Matt Williams shot a one under par 71 to carry a one shot advantage over Scott Secord of Country Hills Golf Club heading into Thursday’s third round. Perhaps the most consistent player in the field so far is Evan Holmes of Earl Grey Golf Club, who has only made two bogeys during his first two rounds. Holmes has shot 69-69 to sit at six under par and alone in third place. He will join Williams and Secord in the last group tomorrow.

When asked for comment after finishing on hole eighteen, Williams said, “I made some poor errors on the front nine that cost me. I was lucky to birdie four of the last six holes which kind of saved my day. I had a double bogey on the par four 17th hole which was a blemish on my card. Overall I picked up a few (strokes) on the back, which puts me in good position heading into tomorrow.”

Notable: Jack Wesche of Country Hills Golf Club bounced back after an opening round of 79 with a score of 65, matching the low score of the championship. He now sits at even par in a tie for 13th.

Notable: All four members of the host club made the 36 hole cut. Congratulations to Brandan Lyster (T13), Colby Massignan (T21), Kyle Neilson (T48) and Ron Harder (T51).

The top three competitors will make up the Team Alberta Interprovincial Squad at the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship on August 8-11at the Royal Ottawa G&CC & Eagle Creek GC. The Champion will also earn a spot on the 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur Team to be played at Chambers Bay in University Place, WA July 25-28, 2017.

The 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship is being played at the Innisfail Golf Club. The event is 72 holes of stroke play competition conducted on the 6,605 yard, par 72 Aspen & Spruce courses. The field has now been cut to the low 60 players and ties for the final two rounds. There are 64 players who will compete over the next two days. The Men’s Amateur was last hosted at Innisfail in 2002. For more information on the Innisfail Golf Club, please visit their website here.  

TOP 10 – AMATEUR LEADER BOARD

For the full leader board, click here.

The championship continues tomorrow, with a morning crossover starting at 7:00 a.m. For round three pairings, click here. For photographs from the championship, click here. Follow the action all week long on Twitter using the official hashtag #ABMensAm.   

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For Immediate Release

July 19, 2016

NEWS RELEASE

2012 Alberta Junior Champion Matt Williams sits atop the leaderboard after a solid opening round of 65

Geoff Fry and Scott Secord sit two shots back after shooting five-under 67

Pictured: Matt Williams

INNISFAIL, Alta. (Alberta Golf) – Matt Williams, the smooth swinging lefty and University of Houston Cougar played near flawless golf under sunny skies in round one. The Glencoe Golf & Country Club standout made seven birdies on the day including five in a row on holes eighteen through four (his ninth to thirteenth holes). His bogey free score of 65 has him two shots ahead of the rest of the field.

When asked about the highlights from his round Williams said, “definitely stringing together five birdies in a row from hole 18 to hole 4. I was honestly pretty shocked when I realized what I had done after I made my putt on 4. That’s the stretch of the golf course where you need to take advantage of some wedge opportunities and I’m just glad I was able to do that.” When asked what his focus will be going into tomorrow’s second round Williams commented that the “focus for tomorrow won’t change at all. I played really conservative today as I didn’t hit a single driver. My focus was simply keeping the ball in play. I trust my wedge game and putting so the goal is just to be patient off the tee and give myself as many opportunities as possible.”

The top three competitors will make up the Team Alberta Interprovincial Squad at the 2016 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship on August 8-11at the Royal Ottawa G&CC & Eagle Creek GC. The Champion will also earn a spot on the 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur Team to be played at Chambers Bay in University Place, WA July 25-28, 2017.

The 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship is being played at the Innisfail Golf Club. The event is 72 holes of stroke play competition conducted on the 6,605 yard, par 72 Aspen & Spruce courses. The field will be cut to the low 60 and ties after 36 holes. The Men’s Amateur was last hosted at Innisfail in 2002. For more information on the Innisfail Golf Club, please visit their website here. 

 

TOP 10 – AMATEUR LEADER BOARD

 

For the full leader board, click here.

The championship continues tomorrow, with the morning crossover times starting at 7:00 a.m. For round two pairings, click here. For photographs from the championship, click here. Follow the action all week long on Twitter using the official hashtag #ABMensAm.  

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Innisfail Hosts Men’s Amateur

This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.

THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW CHANGES SINCE THE LAST TIME THE INNISFAIL GOLF CLUB HOSTED THE SUN LIFE FINANCIAL ALBERTA MEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP.

The Bill Robinson-designed course, which opened in 1924, added nine holes and a new club house since the Amateur’s last appearance there in 2002. A new nine was opened in 2006, giving the already beautiful layout 27 holes while a sparkling new club house opened earlier this year.

“Having 27 holes gives us a different look than the last time we hosted this event,” said Innisfail head professional Jim Boomer. “It was easy for Alberta Golf to make a decision on which 18 they would use when we only had 18 holes, but this year there are some interesting options.”

Despite having the full 27 holes available, Alberta Golf will stay with the same 18 hole rotation for each day of the 72-hole 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship, set for July 19-22.

Boomer feels the calibre of player in the field will go a long way in determining the layout. “There are so many good young players now in Alberta that have NCAA experience that I think we want the best layout given the high calibre of competition,” he said.

Playing from the tips the Aspen – Spruce layout comes in at slightly over 6,700 yards. “At first glance, the course looks short by today’s standards, but there are other factors that come into consideration,” said Boomer.

“The landing areas are often very tight, and the hills and undulations on the course limit the roll the players will get.”

“On many holes, players will be hitting irons or hybrids off the tee, so the course will play longer. But in Innisfail, it almost always comes down to the players’ short game and putting.”

Of course, there are the tight, tree-lined fairways to overcome, but the course’s calling card has always been the lightning fast, immaculately groomed and always tricky greens.

“The greens are always a big factor here,” said Boomer. “When we hosted in 2002, Ryan Yip won at even-par for the tournament, despite shooting 64 one day and 81 the next,” recalled Boomer. “We had some of our notorious Central Alberta weather come through a couple of days.”

Another defence for the course is the dense undergrowth lining many of the fairways.

“You don’t often miss a fairway and make only a bogey,” said Boomer. “If you’re consistently missing fairways, you may not be in contention for very long.”

Boomer was pleased to see the Aspen nine as part of the championship layout.

“There are so many different things that surprise you on that nine,” he said. “In a lot of cases it appears there’s a lot of room, but in the end the Aspen nine doesn’t play as roomy as it first appears and that nine also features generally larger greens.” Boomer adds, “When it comes to the greens on Aspen, we have the ability to put the pins in a lot of different, and difficult positions.”

Key holes on the Aspen nine are the 510-yard par-5 dogleg left second hole, featuring water along the left side up to the green, the 570-yard par-5 fourth with a blind tee shot, and the 183-yard par-3 fifth hole, all carry over water.

“We made some great changes to our Spruce nine as well, with the most significant being improving the greens on seven, eight and nine,” explained Boomer. “Previously, a competitor had a significant advantage if you had local course knowledge, but the improvements makes these greens fair for everyone.”

“IF YOU’RE CONSISTENTLY MISSING FAIRWAYS, YOU MAY NOT BE IN CONTENTION FOR VERY LONG.”
– JIM BOOMER

The latest and most impressive change to the facility is the spectacular new $1.9 million club house, which will be open by tournament time.

“We felt for some time the old club house was the least presentable aspect of the course,” said Boomer. “We have a great course, but the one thing we felt that wasn’t up to snuff was the club house.”

Construction began in the fall of 2015 and thanks to the great winter has progressed quickly.

“The decision was made to build something we will have for the next 30 years,” said Boomer. “We still have our tournament house, but now we have so many other options for food and beverage service and to host other smaller events,” said Boomer. “The main room can seat up to 120 people in a variety of configurations, including the outside deck.”

“This is something we really needed to complement a golf course of this calibre, and to serve the entire community” said Boomer. Some landscaping and viewing area enhancements are yet to come, but Boomer hopes the exposure the club will receive from hosting the 2016 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur will gain the attention of Golf Canada to consider Innisfail as a possible future site for a national championship.

“The Board of Directors would like us to be considered for something nationally when it’s Alberta’s turn,” Boomer said. The Innisfail layout would be a picture-perfect layout for any provincial or national event.

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Innisfail Hosts Men’s Amateur

This article was originally published in the 2016 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.