The second event of the 2026 championship season finished yesterday with the Men’s Mid-Master Championship at Water Valley Golf Club. After both Mid-Master qualifiers were delayed due to weather, everyone was ready for some sunshine. The weather cooperated all three days allowing the players to focus on their game without the added challenge of rain. With nearly a full field of players, this championship welcomed back familiar faces such as the 2025 defending champion Tom McKinlay Jr, 2025 Senior defending champion Howard Broun, and 2024 and 2025 Senior Interprovincial team member Senan Foley.
Day 1 saw many competitive scores with twelve players shooting par or less. Day 2 played trickier for some of the players as only 6 of them shot par or less. Going into day 3 there were two key players to watch as they were the only ones to shoot par or better on both day 1 and day 2: Ryan Tutak and Matthew Kern. Having both shot 71 and 72 in the first two days, it was clear they were not going down without a fight on day three.
Tutak started strong with 3 birdies in the first 4 holes to put him at 4 under quickly. Kern also had a good start with 3 pars and a birdie, but Tutak’s hot start left Kern chasing for the rest of the round.
After an impressive first 8 holes, Tutak bogeyed 9. When asked about how he moved past it he said, “I tried to make the putt for 4, and was happy I made the putt for 4 and then forgot about it when I stepped on the tenth tee.” Despite the bogey and close scores, Tutak maintained his composure and shot an impressive 68 to finish the tournament at -5.
In addition to winning it all, Tutak placed first in the 40-49 division. Dan Soley placed first in 50-59 division finishing the tournament at +4. Senan Foley placed first in the 60+ division finishing at +3.
The full leaderboard can be found at the link below, including scoring data from all the players.
Notable Highlights
- This was the first year the Men’s Mid-Master had qualifiers due to high demand to play in the tournament. Players who placed in the top 32 will not have to qualify for the 2027 Championship.
- Grant Lee had a hole in one on hole 2 (138 yards) during the first day.
- Ryan Tutak captured his first Alberta Golf Tournament win after competing in other events with high finishes. With this win, he earned a spot to the 2026 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship in August.
- Up next, Alberta Golf has a double championship week starting July 6 with both our Women’s and Men’s Amateurs kicking off. The Women’s Amateur will take place at The Hamptons Golf Club in Calgary, while the Men’s Amateur gets underway at the Fort McMurray Golf Club.