The Season Review Newsletter
Alberta Golf had one of its busiest seasons in recent memory with well over a million rounds played by members of Alberta Golf. Our recreational brand UpSwing continued to grow, servicing 2,500 members and creating a diversity, equity and inclusion grant program. Youth on Course Alberta doubled in participation this season with 3,000 kids aged 18 and under accessing $5 golf across the province. Our 13 championships were full of high performers and great weather, participation was up almost 50% over the past 5 years. Our McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour introduced competitive golf to more than 1,500 golfers at 26 events across Alberta. There’s no doubt all ages and levels of ability were able to enjoy golfing in Alberta this season.
Click here to read our full newsletter and all that was accomplished in the 2024 golf season.
What is an Active Posting Season?
The leaves are changing in Alberta as the fall is in full effect, but the golf season is still very much upon us as golfers in the province continue to enjoy the nice weather that we’ve continued to enjoy over the last few years.
October is often the time that courses are getting ready to close and golfers are still trying to squeeze their final few rounds in, the question must be asked when are you supposed to stop posting scores? The answer to this is never, but there are limitations to every province that stops scores from being a part of the handicap index calculations and these limitations are known as the “Active Posting Season”.
What is an Active Season
An “Active Season” is the set period when acceptable scores from that specific geographical region can be submitted for their handicap purposes. It is the responsibility of each provincial golf association to declare the active and inactive seasons, and the Rules of Handicapping then stipulates that it’s the players job to submit all their scores from courses that were played during their active season.
In Alberta, the active season is defined as March 1st to October 31st of every year. This is because some clubs in the province can open and close later than the other courses in the province. These courses are often found in the south of the province including Desert Blume, Paradise Canyon, and a handful of others.
The rest of Canada observes the following active season dates:
BC = Mar.1 – Nov.15
SK = Apr.15 – Oct.31
MB = Apr.15 – Oct.31
ON = Apr.15 – Oct.31
QC = Apr.15 – Oct.31
NS = Apr.15 – Oct.31
NB = May.1 – Oct.31
PE = Apr.16 – Nov.14
NL = Apr.1 – Nov. 30
Posting Outside of Active Season
The reason for having these active posting seasons is because if a player plays a round at a course that falls inside the “Inactive Season” the course conditions likely will not be consistent with the Course Rating and Slope Rating that were determined for the golf course. This can then impact a players Handicap Index and ultimately would be an inaccurate representation of the golfer. This is why scores posted to a course during the “Inactive Season” are not used in handicap calculations.
What are you supposed to do if you travel somewhere else that is still in their active posting season and your club is not? Players are still responsible for posting their scores from their travels if the course played is in their active season and their home club is not.
A prime example of this would be the lucky snowbirds that travel down south to places like Florida, which has a year-round active season. Players that do travel and play these courses are still responsible for posting this round to their Golf Canada Score Centre account to be included in their scoring record.
For those that also have memberships at a year-round facility, they’re additionally responsible for posting their scores to their USGA accounts as well as their Golf Canada accounts. The Golf Canada Score Centre has tools that allow the Canadian and USGA accounts to link together to ensure scores posted to one account are automatically posted to the other. For more information on this please contact stephen@albertagolf.org or members@golfcanada.ca.
For a complete list of the inactive and active posting schedule for the United States, click here.
To learn more about Course Rating, click here. For more information on Handicapping, click here.
As the season winds down, make sure you’re still taking advantage of your active posting season, and when the winter comes make sure your account is set up for any travels you might take!
2024 Volunteer Wind-Up & Volunteer Of The Year Award
Jack and Chris Wilson, 2024 Alberta Golf Volunteers of the Year
Every year Alberta Golf runs two core services throughout the summer months: course rating and amateur golf championships. These two items have been some of Alberta Golf’s core offerings since its inception in 1912. The smooth operation and running of these two offerings come from the dedication and commitment of our 60 volunteers, as either course raters or referees.
After the dust has settled from another busy golf season, Alberta Golf runs its Volunteer Wind-Up, which is a thank you event for all our volunteers, who spend their summers in the field either lending their expertise of the rules of golf to our championship team, or leading a team of volunteers as they rate the courses in Alberta to ensure accurate handicap indexes for all players. As part of the Volunteer Wind-Up, the Volunteer Of The Year is named for Alberta Golf and their name is sent to Golf Canada to be considered for the national Volunteer Award.
On Monday September 23, the 2024 iteration of the Wind-Up took place out at the famous Banff Springs Golf Club. Volunteers from all over the province made their way out to the course for a day of fun, and the chance to meet the other volunteers at Alberta Golf. A buffet lunch was served, and a set of short presentations followed recapping the year from both the competitions and the handicap/course rating teams. After the presentations the 2024 Volunteer of The Year was named as Jack and Chris Wilson, a husband and wife that help lead the southern Course rating team out of the Lethbridge Country Club.
Jack and Chris have been volunteering with Alberta Golf as course raters since 2011 and have graduated from the newbies to the southern team leads and have rated every course in the province south of Strathmore! They even got the once-in-a-lifetime experience to travel to the Northwest Territories, which falls under the Alberta Golf umbrella, to rate four courses up north. After a short speech and award ceremony, it was time for golf!
As part of the appreciation event, all volunteers are given the opportunity to play golf at the hosting course!
Click here for photos from the event
Chris and Jack’s Story
Jack got into the course rating game after working at Paradise Canyon as a marshal where he found the enjoyment of being in the field. He got his wife involved and the two learned and worked their way up, quickly realizing that their superpower as a team was Jack’s love for being in the field, and Chris’s passion for learning the rules and procedures of course rating.
Over 13 years, the pair have had plenty of highlights from their time as volunteers including introducing their friends to course rating! The two did have varying accounts on their favourite memory from their time, with Jack enjoying rating Crowsnest Pass Golf Club after their renovations were finished. Chris loved their experience and time rating the Northwest Territories courses this summer, to which Jack added that was high on his list of experiences with Alberta Golf.
Looking to become a Volunteer?
Alberta Golf is always on the lookout for more volunteers to add to our team of referees and course raters. If you’re looking for a new and exciting challenge in the world of golf, this might be the right opportunity for you!
For more information on our volunteer process, click here
For additional questions, please email stephen@albertagolf.org.
Newsletter: The Summer Review
Alberta Golf Summer Review: The summer is winding down and a full schedule of Alberta Golf tournaments, events and programs has come to an end across the province. Please enjoy the material below recapping what we’ve been up to the past 3 months, from running elite competitions to our recreational, family and youth initiatives.
28 teams paired up in August at the Canmore Golf & CC for a fun and competitive Rec Series event. Kelly Smith
Justin Berget & Kennedy Turcotte win ACAC North Regional
Alberta Golf (Edmonton)
By Jefferson Hagen
There were 36 male golfers in action in the final round of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference North Regional on Sunday afternoon at Red Tail Landing, but the title race was essentially match play between 2 competitors.
First round leader Michael Harrison held a one-shot advantage over MacEwan’s Justin Berget for most of the round – even stretching it to two at one point. But when the two-time defending ACAC champion made bogey on 15, the duo walked up the 18th fairway all square.
That’s when Berget came up clutch.
“My ball was in the fescue on the right side of 18 and I had 135 (yards in),” he said. “It was sitting up nice, though, so I got a club on it and put it to about 12 feet. Michael got down in two from 25 feet and made par, and I rolled in the birdie on 18 for the win.”
The birdie gave Berget a round of 69 to go with the 70 he shot and Saturday and finish -5 to nip Harrison (69-71) by a shot. Nicolas Pittman of Concordia had the low round of the tournament on Sunday – a 3-under 68 – to finish third at 1-under.
Photo: Justin Berget (Spruce Grove, Alta.) watches his tee shot on No. 13 at Red Tail Landing Golf Club on Sunday (Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics)
While the win is only a regional event and not the coveted ACAC Championship gold medal, for Berget to pull it off still means a lot.
“It just proves that I can,” the Stony Plain GC product said. “I was always close, I felt my game was close, but I was never able to close. It felt good to get it done finally.”
The Women’s ACAC North Regional crown went to Kennedy Turcotte, who shot a four-over, 76 on Sunday to win gold for Concordia University of Edmonton by 13 strokes.
The ACAC South Regional will be held Sept. 21-22, hosted by SAIT at Valley Ridge Golf Course. The ACAC Championship is set for Sept. 27-29 at Coal Creek GC in Ryley, Alta.
- Golf: ACAC North Regional – Round 2, Red Tail Landing GC (Full results here)
Celebration of life held for Alberta Golf volunteer Lyle Cuthbert
Lyle Cuthbert (1943 – 2019)
Lyle was an avid golfer and member at the Elbow Springs GC in Calgary. He started volunteering with Alberta Golf in 2007 and among the many roles he served, Lyle was a course rater with the Association and Treasurer with the Foundation, helping to support students by administering $50,000 annually in post-secondary scholarships.
Primarily, Lyle was regarded as one of the most prominent Rules Officials in the province. He went on to attain the highest level of certification with Golf Canada as a Level 4 Rules Official and was very active with Alberta Golf for the past twelve years, volunteering hundreds of hours of his time at Provincial and City Championships and the Glencoe Invitational.
Lyle was instrumental in passing on his knowledge to all up-and-coming officials at rules seminars he conducted every spring.
A celebration of life was held Tuesday, September 10th at the Eden Brook Funeral Home and Cemetery.
Kouples Golf event in Kananaskis on September 23rd !
Alberta Golf (Kananaskis)-
Kananaskis Country Golf Course is planning their first ever Kananaskis Style “golf event” for couples who want to escape the craziness of their lives and decompress in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. It’s called the Kananaskis Kouples Golf Classic on Monday, September 23, 2019!
Full info here:
Silver Springs & Turner Valley shine at Interclub Championship in Kananaskis
Alberta Golf (Kananaskis) – The final event on Alberta Golf’s championship summer schedule is in the books. It was a gorgeous day at Kananaskis Country Golf Course for the Alberta Interclub Championship.
In the women’s competition Turner Valley Golf Club won the low gross division.
The men’s team from Silver Springs Golf & CC won the low gross competition.
Vulcan Golf & CC won the men’s net competition while the women from the Lacombe Golf & CC won low net.
VIDEO: Drive, Chip & Putt champions get thrilling day at Shaw Charity Classic
Alberta Golf (Calgary) – Earlier in August at Golf Canada Calgary Centre, Jade Carter, Easton Hopkins, Justine Leon and Jalen Apedoe won their age categories at the Shaw Charity Classic Drive, Chip & Putt contest presented by West Island College. The four champions had the experience of a lifetime Sunday during the final round of the Shaw Charity Classic at Canyon Meadows getting inside the ropes access with the leaders and a trophy presentation from this year’s champion Wes Short Jr.
WATCH:
Brar & Frerichs take down Alberta Bantam Titles
Alberta Golf (Red Deer) – 12-year-old Jayden Brar of Calgary was eligible to compete in this year’s Alberta Novice Boys championship but instead decided to test his skills one age level up in the Bantam category. The defending Novice champion who plays out of Priddis Greens Golf & CC won the Bantam Championship by 2 strokes over Kye Krall with an impressive final round of even par 72 at River Bend Golf Course in Red Deer.
Jayla Kucy of Camrose had a one shot lead heading into the final round of the Bantam Girls Championship but Brooke Frerichs from the Glencoe Golf & CC took down the title with the round of the tournament shooting 1 over 73 to win by 4 strokes over Kucy.
VIDEO: Interviews with the winners:
The Novice Girls champion is Edie Nicholson of The Pinebrook Golf & CC while Tate Bruggeman of the Derrick Golf & Winter Club shot a final round 68 to win the Boys Novice title.
