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Three tied at the top heading into the Mid-Am final round

Three are tied at the top of the 2018 Alberta Mid Amateur Championship after two rounds. Jamie Cartwright, Wes Chapman and Brandon Markiw all sit at one-under-par for the championship after battling tough, windy conditions today at the Glendale Golf & Country Club. Sixty-five players made the thirty-six hole cut.

Twenty-five quota spots are available tomorrow for the 2018 Canadian Men’s Mid Amateur Championship. The eventual champion and runner-up, along with the Mid-Master champion, will make up the interprovincial team.

Ken Griffith leads the Mid-Master contest for those aged 40 years of age and over. He sits an even par for the championship and will look to win the double tomorrow.

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Amateur

Markiw and Chapman tied for the Mid-Am lead

One hundred and fifty Alberta Mid Amateurs (those aged 25 and over) were split between the Stony Plain Golf Course and the Glendale Golf & Country Club as they embarked on their pursuit of the prestigious provincial title.

Stony Plain played nearly five shots easier on day one. Competitors will swap courses tomorrow as they look to make the thirty-six hole cut to the low 60 players and ties for the third and final round.

Wes Chapman of Lethbridge and Brandon Markiw of Edmonton both shot four-under-par 68’s to sit in a tie for first. Both men made five birdies and a single bogey at Stony Plain.

Day one photographs

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Amateur

Preview: 2018 Alberta Mid Amateur Championship

Edmonton –The 2018 Mid Amateur contest is set to begin Tuesday as 150 players of the age 25-and-over variety descend upon Stony Plain and Glendale to compete for one of the provinces top prizes.

Competitors will play 18 holes at each facility over the course of the next two days. The field will then be cut to the low 60 players and ties for the final round to be held at Glendale on Thursday.

“We are thrilled to be conducting the 2018 Mid Amateur on two tremendous golf courses. Both facilities are supportive of the dual host concept and are ready to welcome Alberta’s best Mid Am’s,” said Stephen Wigington, Alberta Golf’s Manager of Competitions and the Tournament Director for the Mid Amateur.

KEY INFO

Dates: June 26 – 28th

Courses: Stony Plain Golf Course & Glendale Golf and Country Club

Yards/Par: Stony Plain: 6,473/72; Glendale: 6,626/72

Field: 150

2017 champion: Neil Thomas (@TimothyTour)

Format: 54 holes of stroke play with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties

Social: #abmidam

LOOKING BACK

The 31-year-old Neil Thomas, of the Edmonton Golf & Country Club, will look to defend his title. Thomas won the 2017 edition with a clutch birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole at the Grande Prairie Golf & Country Club to defeat Tom McKinlay Jr.

HISTORY

The Alberta Mid Amateur Championship was first contested in 1986. Originally designed for the best players aged 40 and over the championship transitioned in 2015 to include those aged 25 and over to align with other provincial, national and international Mid Amateur competitions. There is a Mid Master contest for those aged 40 and over.

2013 – Alan Stewart

2014 – Frank Van Dornick

2015 – Kevin Temple

2016 – Jordan Irwin

2017 – Neil Thomas

NOTABLES

  • Neil Thomas – Defending Champion
  • Kevin Temple – Champion (2007, 2010, 2015)
  • Floyd Kilgore – Champion (2003)
  • Brian Laubman – Champion (2005)
  • Senan Foley – Champion (2008)
  • Tom McKinlay Jr – Four-time Mid Amateur Interprovincial Team Member

FAST FACTS

  • Competitors will be playing for one of 25 quota positions in the 2018 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. The national championship will be contested at the beautiful and historic Victoria Golf Club August 21-24th.
  • The 2018 Interprovincial Mid Amateur Team will be comprised of the eventual champion, runner-up and the mid master champion. The three-man team will represent the province at nationals.

ABOUT THE COURSES

Stony Plain Golf Course

Glendale Golf & Country Club

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Amateur Professional

Heffernan wins sixth SVR Alberta Open Championship

Wes Heffernan has won the SVR Alberta Open Championship for the sixth time.

That’s the second most all-time tournament victories only behind the legendary Stan Leonard who won the event nine times between 1937 and 1955.

The 41-year-old veteran closed with a 5-under stretch on the final seven holes to win by three strokes over fellow professionals Riley Fleming and Evan Holmes who finished in a tie for second place at 10-under-par.

“On the back nine we were kind of going back and forth. Every stroke was really important. It was pretty stressful but at the same time really fun. It’s awesome to have three guys in it until the end,” said Heffernan after the round.

Heffernan finished in style with a back-nine score of 31 highlighted by a closing putt made for eagle on the par 5, eighteenth hole to put an exclamation mark on the victory.

When asked about the host venue, River Spirit Golf Club, Heffernan said “the greens were fantastic. If you missed a putt this week it was your fault. Any time you play perfect greens you can shoot numbers like 65.”

The victory comes on the heels of a T6 finish on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada stop in Victoria, BC just over a week ago.

“Next week I have the PGA Championship of Canada in Ontario. I’m looking forward to that and this is a good step towards that. Hopefully I can carry this into next week”, added Heffernan. The PGA Championship of Canada runs June 25-29 at the Credit Valley G&CC.

St. Albert’s AJ Armstrong, a senior at Washington State, claimed low amateur honours and a trip to the 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship.

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Amateur Professional

Fleming gunning for third SVR Alberta Open title

Riley Fleming won the event as an amateur in 2013 and backed it up as a professional the following year. He will shoot for his third SVR Alberta Open title tomorrow at River Spirit Golf Club. Hot on his heels and only a shot back of the lead is five-time champion Wes Heffernan who continues his strong play on home soil. 2016 Alberta Mens Amateur champion Evan Holmes is tied for second place with Heffernan and is looking for his first win as a professional.

In the race for low amateur honours is 2014 Alberta Mens Amateur champion Tyler Saunders at five-under-par. He leads by two over St. Albert’s AJ Armstrong. The amateurs are playing for a 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship team position.

The field was cut to the low 60 players and ties after today’s second round. The cut fell at +13 with 64 players left to compete in tomorrow’s final round. Final round tee times can be found here.

 

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Amateur Professional

Ryan Werre leads after round one of the SVR Alberta Open

With a strong field of contenders at River Spirit Golf Club, there are two past champions sitting one stroke back of first-round leader Ryan Werre from Redcliff, Alberta. Werre had a bogey-free round including three birdies in a row putting him on top of the leaderboard. The Team Alberta alumni leads the field of twenty-nine professionals competing for the $18,000.00 purse.

Michael Harrison of Camrose, Alberta shot a three-under-par sixty-nine to lead the group amateurs in the field. A 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship team position awaits the low amateur at the conclusion of the event.

Click here for photographs from the first round action.

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Amateur

Calgary’s Blake qualifies to challenge field at U.S. Senior Open

Even with several days to let this accomplishment sink in, to plan his trip to the 2018 U.S. Senior Open, Calgary’s Steve Blake chokes up as he details the moment he realized he had qualified for his first major championship.

“Sorry, just getting emotional a bit … That tells you how I felt,” Blake said, no apology necessary. “It was just one of those things that I’ve been waiting for so long, you know?

“I was almost in disbelief. When the last numbers went up on the board there, my wife (Kelly) just sort of lost it. It was just … It was awesome.”

Part of the fun of any U.S. Open is storylines like Blake, a 50-year-old financial advisor who will be strolling the fairways from June 28-July 1 alongside some of the legends of the sport.

Blake tried his hand at pro golf as a twenty-something, chasing the old Canadian Tour from stop to stop, hoping to advance through Monday qualifiers to eventually cash a paycheque later in the week.

Also a former instructor, he guesstimates he’s played his way into a dozen or so events over the years but never on this sort of stage.

When Blake arrives next week at the historic Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., he will be trading pars — birdies, preferably — with the starry likes of Bernhard Langer and Davis Love III and Tom Watson and (if healthy) Fred Couples.

Those guys were automatically exempt thanks to their hall-of-fame resumes.

Blake, the reigning club champion at Hamptons, was among 2,379 divot-digging dreamers who signed up for a shot at joining them.

With his wife — a high-school phys. ed teacher — carrying his clubs, he fired a 2-under 70 at a sectional qualifier last Monday near San Diego to turn that dream to reality. (His 19-year-old son Connor, recently named captain of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Grande Prairie Storm, will be on his bag at Broadmoor.)

“The outpouring has been just crazy,” said Blake, whose support system and fan club also includes 16-year-old daughter Brooklyn, another sometimes-caddie for her proud pops and already committed to play NCAA Div. I soccer at Oakland University in Michigan. “There’s one guy that I hadn’t heard from in a while, and he said: ‘Yeah, I just heard from a roofer that you qualified for the U.S. Senior Open.’

“That’s kind of neat. There’s a buzz that is running through the community a bit, and not just the golf community. It’s been great.”

There have been countless pinch-me moments for Blake over the past week, and the fun is just getting started.

As he watched coverage of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, he marvelled at the fact those same USGA flags would be flying at Broadmoor. (And crossed his fingers that the rough won’t be quite so gnarly for the older gents.)

The staff at Hamptons e-blasted their members to spread the news, so he’ll be bombarded with messages of support and congratulations during his prep sessions.

When Blake tees it up this week at the SVR Alberta Open at River Spirit, he’ll be pointed out on the range. You know, there’s the guy …

“He’s just a first-class person,” said Gord Courage, the director of golf at Hamptons. “He’s low-key, not boastful, but he’s just a great personality. And he’s not this pizzazz type of player. He has a simple little swing. He doesn’t swing at it hard. He has great tempo, and he’s one of those guys that just doesn’t make many mistakes, and then you look back and say, ‘Holy cow, he’s hit some great shots!’

“I’ve played with enough of those seniors in the qualifiers over my years to know that he can compete with them. And he has that mental (approach), almost like a Dustin Johnson, where if he hits a bad shot, it doesn’t really bother him. His emotions don’t really change. He doesn’t get too up, and he doesn’t get too down, which is perfect for golf.”

Johnson, of course, was among the centres of attention at Shinnecock.

Blake will try to play his way into the spotlight at the U.S. Senior Open.

“Just showing up and to be on the same side of the ropes and to be hitting balls beside those guys, it’s going to be special,” Blake said. “But the other side of it is that I’m still a golfer and I’m still competitive, so ultimately I want to go down there and I want to compete and I want to win. Just because of where I come from and my lack of experience, I don’t think that should curtail that any.

“I want to make the cut. And I have to realize, too, I’m not playing necessarily against those guys. I’m just going out there to play my game, put a number up on the board and I’m just hoping it’s good enough to get me through the first two days. And if I’m lucky enough, I’ll be somewhere in contention on the last day.

“As a golfer and as a competitor, that’s always the ultimate goal.”

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Amateur

Quebec’s Papineau surges to four-shot victory at Glencoe Invitational

Etienne Papineau patiently posed for photographs after winning the 2018 Glencoe Invitational.

When the shutterbugs stopped, he had a simple request.

Papineau handed his iPhone to a tournament organizer. The 21-year-old golfer from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., needed a trophy shot for his own collection.

“I’ll probably send it to my family, my friends back home, my coaches … ” Papineau said with a smile. “I have a very supportive environment back home. So it’s great for myself, but it’s great for them, too, because they’ve always been supportive to me.

“It’s great to have this win for them.”

The 7,505-yard Forest Course at Glencoe Golf & Country Club is arguably Calgary’s toughest test, and with Mother Nature presenting another set of challenges over the past few days, there were a grand total of 10 sub-par rounds during the latest instalment of the Glencoe Invitational.

Papineau was the only golfer to post two red numbers at the three-day amateur shootout.

A graduate of Golf Canada’s national development program and currently midway through his collegiate career with the NCAA’s West Virginia University Mountaineers, Papineau closed with a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s last lap, punctuated by a birdie on No. 18.

He signed for an overall tally of 1-over 217. When the final putts had dropped, the closest competitor was four strokes in his rearview mirror.

Vancouver’s Scott Kerr owned a one-shot lead after two spins of the Forest Course, but that disappeared when the 21-year-old stumbled to a triple-bogey on Saturday’s opening hole.

Jeevan Sihota, a 14-year-old phenom from Victoria, B.C., climbed to the top of the scoring charts, but his back-nine card included a pair of 6s — one a double-bogey, the other a triple on No. 17 that turned a potential nail-biter into a sure-thing celebration for Papineau.

Ponoka’s Jared Nicolls finished as runner-up at 5-over 221. Kerr and Sihota split third spot with Calvin Ross of Fredericton, N.B., each at 6-over 222.

Papineau’s biggest blip Saturday was a double-bogey on the third hole. The eventual champ rebounded with five birdies to more than erase the damage.

“You really have to play smart here, and that’s what I did today,” Papineau said, while the drizzle started again shortly after the trophy presentation. “This is my fourth time playing the Glencoe (Invitational), and I’ve got better every year. And before coming here, my game was really good. I’d played some great tournaments over the past month, so I was really confident.

“This is a big one for me … It was a great week, a great learning experience … and it’s just going to help me.”

Thanks to this steady performance, Papineau joins impressive company — the list of past champions at the Glencoe Invitational is headlined by PGA Tour full-timers Graham DeLaet and Mackenzie Hughes and rising-star Jared du Toit.

“It’s something special,” Papineau said. “I’m always going to be proud of it, and nobody else can take it away from me.”

On the heels of his triumph at the Alberta Match Play Championship, Glencoe’s own Brendan MacDougall was the leading local, closing with a 1-under 71 to climb into seventh.

Original Article

Amateur Professional

Preview: 2018 SVR Alberta Open Championship

CALGARY – The 2018 SVR Alberta Open Championship is set to begin on Tuesday at River Spirit Golf Club. Defending champion Dustin Risdon is not in the field leaving it wide open for the strong field of 120 competitors.

“We are excited about the expansion of the SVR Alberta Open Championship to 54 holes this year. We have a strong field of touring and club professionals, as well as top amateur and junior competitors. We are in store for an exciting few days at River Spirit,” said Stephen Wigington, Alberta Golf’s Manager of Competitions and the Tournament Director for the Open. Wigington goes on to say that “this is the first year the SVR Alberta Open championship has a 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur team position available to the low amateur finisher.”

KEY INFO

Dates: June 19th – 21st

Course: River Spirit Golf Club

Yards/Par: 7,090 /72

Field: 120

2017 champion: Dustin Risdon (@RizzyGolf)

Format: 54 holes of stroke play with a 36-hole cut to the low 60 and ties

North Qualifying Results

South Qualifying Results

Social: #abopen

LOOKING BACK

The 2017 SVR Alberta Open Championship saw Dustin Risdon make 10 birdies on his way to a one-stroke victory over fellow professional James Love.

HISTORY

The Alberta Open Championship began in 1935. There was a brief pause in the tournament from 2000–2002 which ended with the next Open champion being awarded in 2003. The distinguished Championship continues to bring together some of Alberta’s most outstanding touring professionals, club professionals, amateurs and juniors vying for the coveted “Alberta Open Champion” title.

2008 – Wes Heffernan

2009 – Ryan Yip

2010 – Jamie Kureluk

2011 – Wes Heffernan

2012 – Wes Heffernan

2013 – Riley Fleming

2014 – Riley Fleming

2015 – James Love

2016 – Brett Hogan

2017 – Dustin Risdon

NOTABLES

  • Wes Heffernan– 5-time Alberta Open champion (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012) is back and in good form after a T6 finish at the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Victoria stop.
  • Evan Holmes – The 2016 Alberta Mens Amateur Champion has recently turned professional and will be looking to kick-start his pro career with a victory on home soil.
  • Jamie Kureluk – “Mr. 25” is in the field and will look to re-kindle the magic from his Alberta Open victory in 2010 where he opened with a 10-under-par 61 including a record setting back nine score of 25.
  • Riley Fleming – The 2-time Alberta Open champion (2013, 2014) has settled into his teaching career but still has the game to compete at the highest level.

FAST FACTS

  • The SVR Alberta Open champion will earn a team position for the 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur Championship. They will also be joined by the Match Play Champion (Brendan MacDougall) and the champion of the 2018 Sun Life Financial Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship.
  • The field features a wide range of ages including one 16-year old, Theo Sekulic and a veteran competitor, Terry Filewich at age 65.
  • The 29 professionals in the field will be competing for the $18,000.00 total purse.

ABOUT THE COURSE

River Spirit Golf Club is one of the most gorgeous golf clubs in all of North America, nestled along the edge of the Rocky Mountains. The Elbow River and Millburn Creek provide a breathtaking backdrop to many of River Spirit’s signature holes. But there’s more than just beauty to this course, with three different 9-hole layouts for a total of 27 holes that can be combined into various interesting layouts. The amenities at River Spirit Golf Club are sure to satisfy even the most discriminating tastes, this is truly a must-play Alberta golf course. More information on River Spirit Golf club can be found here.

ABOUT THE SPONSOR

Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP is a multi-service law firm based in Calgary, Alberta. Since its establishment in 1986, Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP has become one of Calgary’s leading legal service providers, focusing on delivering high quality, efficient solutions for clients. The partners, associates and staff of Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP come from a wide range of backgrounds, and this experience enables us to offer responsive, effective and creative legal solutions to our clients.

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Amateur

Calgary’s Scraba shares golf victory with dad on Father’s Day

Calgary’s Sydney Scraba had some extra motivation for Sunday’s final round of the Future Links Prairie Championship.

One of her biggest fans — her dad, Dwayne —was following and cheering her on.

It was, of course, Father’s Day.

And what better gift for her proud pops than a triumph and trophy presentation at the three-day regional showdown in Manitoba?

“It means a lot to me. And especially with my dad there on Father’s Day, it means even more,” said Scraba, who is part of the Class of 2018 at Ernest Manning and headed south in August to join the women’s golf squad at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “I wanted to do it for him, for all that he’s done for me.”

Scraba, a junior member at Canyon Meadows, finished three laps of Portage Golf Club in 13-over 229, surging to a four-shot victory.

The difference was Saturday’s spin of 1-under 71, the only sub-par round among the girls at one of six Future Links events on the summer calendar. Scraba sandwiched that superb score with a pair of 79s.

The 17-year-old hit her driver especially well over the first two days, putting herself in position to attack pins. Although she wasn’t as solid off the tee Sunday, she scrambled with a sharp short game and continued to sink key putts.

Dwayne must have enjoyed every minute of it.

“When I came off the 18th green, he was smiling,” Scraba said post-round. “He’s quite proud of my success today.”

On the boys’ side, Calgary’s Jakob Chicoyne (Glencoe) tied for second at 1-over 211, three shots off the pace. Chicoyne sizzled to a 4-under 66 in his final round.

CHIP SHOTS

Next on tee? The SVR Alberta Open is slated for Tuesday-Thursday at River Spirit. Dustin Risdon (National Golf Academy) isn’t in the field to defend his title, but fellow teaching pros Riley Fleming and Wes Heffernan have history with the hardware and should be considered among the frontrunners at the three-round provincial slugfest … Fleming, now an instructor at National Golf Academy after several seasons on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, has been a force on the PGA of Alberta’s tournament circuit. The 24-year-old topped the leaderboard at a two-day shootout at Lynx Ridge, sizzling to a score of 10-under 132 en route to his third victory in just five starts this season … Fresh off a record-setting season with the NCAA’s Ohio State Buckeyes, Jaclyn Lee (Glencoe) finished T-35 — tops among Canadians — as an amateur at the LPGA Meijer Classic in Michigan. Among the highlights of her week, the 21-year-old was grouped with Taiwan’s Yani Tseng — a five-time major champion and former world No. 1 — in Saturday’s third round. Lee will represent Golf Canada’s national amateur team this summer and then return for her senior campaign at Ohio State, where she set a school record in 2017-18 with an overall scoring average of 71.14 … With a three-round tally of 1-over 217, Quebec’s Etienne Papineau finished four shots clear of the competition at the Glencoe Invitational. In addition to a one-on-a-kind carved trophy, the 21-year-old earns an exemption to the Mackenzie Tour’s ATB Financial Classic at Country Hills and a berth in the final qualifier for the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open … Fan favourite Rocco Mediate — best-known for his playoff duel against Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open — has officially booked his ticket to compete at the Shaw Charity Classic later this summer at Canyon Meadows. Mediate, now 55, was the inaugural tournament champion in Calgary.

wgilbertson@postmedia.com

http://www.twitter.com/WesGilbertson

View the full article from the Calgary Herald here.