Alberta Golf (Calgary) – Tuesday April 1 is registration day for our 2025 Championships, McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour as well as our recreational UpSwing events. Here’s what you need to know to make sure it’s a smooth process to get into your events this season.

2025 CHAMPIONSHIP REGISTRATION: Registration for our 2025 Championships opens at 9am on Tuesday April 1. Make sure you have your active Golf Canada membership, a verified handicap index, and your birthdate listed. If you play in a qualifier, your fee will be applied towards the championship if you qualify for the event. 3-day events are WAGR ranked and also act as qualifiers for Golf Canada National Championships (excluding the Alberta Open). Pace of play will be a major focus once again this season at our championships. Please refer back to Golf Genius pages for updated information on each event including information for practice rounds, championship meals, quota spots, and any other item.

Alberta Golf Championship Schedule

2025 JUNIOR TOUR REGISTRATION: Registration for the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour opens at Noon on Tuesday April 1 for all players who are under 19 as of August 1, 2025. Registration fees for all 25 events on the tour range from $59 to $69. New this year are 2 showcase events for parents and players who want to learn more about the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour. The showcase events with a registration fee of $30 will be held June 28 at Rundle Park Golf Course in Edmonton and June 29 at Lil Devil Golf Course in Calgary and will have 9 hole play on the par 3 course with lunch, prizing and an information session.

McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour Schedule

2025 UPSWING REGISTRATION: Registration for our recreational UpSwing events are open at 9am on Tuesday April 1, the lone exception is our year end wrap up event at Silvertip Resort which opens on Tuesday July 1. In order to register for an event you will need an UpSwing account. To sign up for UpSwing and register for an event go to the UpSwing website. You can include a pairing request for events by emailing info@upswinggolf.ca

UpSwing Website

Hope these tips help you during registration on April 1 and we’ll see you on the fairways at our events this season.

Magrath Golf Club is known by many as the hidden gem of the south and has a reputation since its inception in 1925 as a must play golf course in the province. As part of its centennial year a lot is happening at the course this year including the hosting of the 2025 Alberta Men’s Super Senior Championship. 

The Men’s Super Senior Championship is open to male golfers aged 65+ as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship. There are no qualifiers for this event, registration will open on April 1^st at 9am, and a player’s Handicap Index must be 30.0 or lower. This is the third year of this event being separated from the Men’s Senior Championship and continues to receive praise from the players excited about an additional competitive opportunity and a chance to compete against players their own age. The Super Senior has two championships up for grabs, the Super Senior and the Diamond division, which is specific for players aged 70 and above. The previous two iterations of this event have had the same winners both years with Howard Broun winning the Diamond Divisions and David Schultz winning the Super Senior championships. Schultz has had a flare for drama both years with a playoff win in 2023 and a comeback win in 2024. 

Magrath is sure to be a great host and a great test for the players. With pristinely manicured fairways, lush landscaping, and beautiful vistas the players can surely enjoy. It’s the quick greens, stunning par 3’s, shot maker par 4’s, and go for broke par 5’s that will make the players be sure to show up on top of their games. The course is also set to host the 2025 Alberta-Montana Junior Ryder Cup in August and the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Invitational in May. 

While the centennial celebration will be in full effect when players show up for the first round on August 26, the celebration of the eventual winners will have to wait as they’ll have to navigate their way around this challenging yet beautiful hidden gem for two days. The beautiful vistas will surely provide a great view for the winners and add another chapter to the course’s history books. 

Alberta Golf (Calgary) The 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Voting Members of the Alberta Golf Association was held virtually on Thursday March 20.

2024 saw a strong year for golf in the province where Alberta Golf eclipsed 60,000 members, 30 High Performance athletes and 14 coaches received $55,000 in funding, while 2,200 golfers competed in Alberta Golf championships. 1,500 juniors played in our affordable McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour while we also cemented our relationship with title sponsor McLennan Ross LLP through the 2027 season. Participation in our grassroots Youth on Course program soared from 1,500 kids in 2023 to 3,000 in 2024, with subsidized rounds of $5 golf also doubling from 8,000 in 2023 to over 16,000 in 2024. We had more activations than ever in our recreational UpSwing brand that now has 4,000 golfers and 14 courses took advantage of our Upswing grant program. Our Hall of Fame and Volunteer initiatives also grew in 2024. Entry points in the game of golf for everyone has never been greater as we head into the 2025 season and beyond.

Subsequent to the AGM, the Board of Directors met and the following officers were named:

OFFICERS

President: Brent Bailey

Vice President: Kendra Koss

Treasurer: Ross Nesbitt

Secretary: Chris Leach

Brent Bailey starts his third year as President after taking over from Mark Bamford in 2023 who provided Alberta Golf with two successful years of leadership, where a continued emphasis was placed on diversifying the Association’s many relationships and enhancing its governance structure.

Brent Bailey, a retired Scotia McLeod Investment Advisor, is well known in most provincial golf circles as a result of his strong competitive play spanning several decades. The past president of the Windermere G&CC has won multiple Club Championships, won the 1971 Alberta Junior Championship, was a member of 3 Alberta junior teams and represented Alberta nationally as a member of the Willingdon Cup Team in 1973.

FULL BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Brent Bailey: Windermere Golf & Country Club (Edmonton)

Mark Bamford: Glendale Golf & Country Club (Edmonton)

Jennifer Biernaskie: Public Players Club (Calgary)

Kim Carrington: Cottonwood Golf & Country Club (De Winton)

Ken Knowles: Windermere Golf & Country Club (Edmonton)

Kendra Koss: Earl Grey Golf Club (Calgary)

Chris Leach: Valley Ridge Golf Club (Calgary)             

Lorraine Moster: Public Players Club (Edmonton)

Ross Nesbitt: Public Players Club (Okotoks)

VIEW THE 2024 ANNUAL REPORT HERE

VIEW THE 2024-2027 ALBERTA GOLF STRATEGIC PLAN HERE

Highwood Golf is a common sight on many players competitive schedules in the past few years. It has played host to the Men’s Senior in 2024, the Men’s Mid-Amateur in 2022, the U19 Championships in 2019, and the Women’s Amateur in 2016. The course has a tradition of getting the event winner to sign the championship banner and hangs each of them in their maintenance facility. In 2025, a new sign will be going up for an event they’ve never hosted, the Women’s Senior Championship. 

The Women’s Senior Championship began in 1963 and to no surprise the list of winners encompasses some of the best female amateurs throughout Alberta Golf’s history. It’s where Diane Williams became a Hall of Famer, where Marilyn O’Connor and Betty Stanhope-Cole continued their battle for the most championships, but most importantly it’s been where the older generation could provide knowledge and experience to the younger players. The event is open to players aged 50+ as of the first day of the Canadian Women’s Senior Championship and is open registration for players with a Handicap Index of 30.0 or lower. In recent years, the event has been a favourite for many out-of-town players including a contingent of BC competitors including the great Jackie Little, Sandra Turbide, and many others. The event has three championships that players are competing for based on their age, the Senior (aged 50+), the Super Senior (aged 60+) and the Diamond Division (aged 70+). 

Highwood Golf is an impressive 27-hole facility located just south of Calgary in High River. The 18-hole championship course is made up of the Heritage and Mountainview nines with each presenting a unique test for the golfers to enjoy. The additional 9 holes are the Spitzee 9 which is a peaceful and picturesque gem which runs along the Highwood River. The layout offers great golf for families, beginners, and even the experienced golfer looking for a quick round. The course is a staple of the community with plenty of fun events being hosted throughout the season and different league options for the members. The club has a great community with many members volunteering their time to help take care of the facility and a plethora of repeat volunteers at each provincial championship that have been hosted over the years. 

In 2025, competitors can expect much of the same from Highwood Golf. An amazing community feeling upon arrival, a tough golf course with a knack for causing drama on the last hole, and three new champions to be crowned at the end of day on July 24. Highwood will anxiously await the new champion’s signature and new decor for its facility as the three-day event will get underway on July 21.  

In between Red Deer and Edmonton, there lies a golf course that is consistently recognized as one of the top courses in the province. The facility requires no introduction to golfers since its inception in 1984, as it boasts an impressive 36-hole layout designed by Rod Whitman. The facility is Wolf Creek Golf Resort and in 2025, it finds itself hosting the 2025 Men’s Senior Championship. 

The Men’s Senior Championship is one of the most well attended championship events on the Alberta Golf schedule with three qualifiers scheduled around the province every year. The event is open to players aged 55+ as of the first day of the Canadian Men’s Senior Championship. Players are required to have a Handicap Index of 20.0 or less and players must qualify at one of the regional sites which are scheduled to be held at Nanton Golf Club on May 29, Ponoka Golf Club on June 2, and Edmonton Garrison Memorial Golf & Curling Club on June 6^th. The Alberta Men’s Senior Championship has also proven to produce some of the top players in the country with the great names like Wylie, Alexander, and Tait continuing their dominance in the 80’s as individuals and on interprovincial teams. This has continued with the new crop of players like Broun, Schultz, Van Dornick, Foley, Laubman, Griffith and others creating their own dominance at the national event as a team. The championship also proves to be a place of great camaraderie with wives coming out as caddies and friends of old looking forward to the yearly catch up after the winter. 

Wolf Creek is a staple to the golfing scene in the province. After its inception in 1984 as a 27-hole facility and then the expansion to 36 holes in the 90’s this course has consistently found itself in the Top 100 Score Golf Rankings and for good reason. The course gained world-wide publicity as a regular stop on the Canadian Tour and a consistent host for the Alberta Open Championship. The course has seen many of the greats of each generation walk the course including Kirk Triplett, Moe Norman, Keith Alexander, Darryl James and many more. For this year’s event, the players will face a familiar foe in the Old Course, the original Rod Whitman design. It’s a pure inland links course with plenty of strategical decisions to be made and the keys to success will surely be the creative shot making and precision, just the way the predecessors of the game had intended.

As the snow continues to melt around the province, the Old Course at Wolf Creek awaits its chance to show its fangs once again with its return to the Alberta Golf schedule. The competitors will surely need to come prepared for more than just the catch-up with friends, but as history has proven, this crowd is always ready to play. 

Last year, River Spirit Golf Club played host to Alberta Golf for the first time since the Alberta Match Play in 2019. The course saw the best female golfers in the province competing for one of the oldest and most prestigious trophies in amateur golf. In 2025, River Spirit will play host again for one of the oldest and one of the newest trophies at Alberta Golf, as it hosts the 89^th Alberta Open Championship on August 11-13.

 River Spirit Golf Club underwent a rebrand in recent years, trying to put a new spin on the game of golf. Their focus was to separate themselves from the traditional game and focus on creating community, uniqueness, integrity, and most importantly growth within the game of golf. Their 27-hole facility, paired with the scenery at the course, and their charming clubhouse allows everyday patrons to relax and unwind at this one of a kind facility. The course is no cakewalk, and will challenge the best golfers in the province with tight tee shots, a course yardage close to 7,000 yards, and a course rating of over 73.0 from the tips. While the course difficulty is one of the reasons to go back to River Spirit, their focus on growth within the game makes it the perfect host for the 89^th Alberta Open Championship.

 The Alberta Open Championship has been around since 1912 but has had plenty of cancellations throughout its history including sponsorship issues, World War 2, and low registration numbers. Despite this ‘The Open’ has remained a staple for the best male professional and amateur golfers to prove themselves, with the likes of Stan Leonard, Moe Norman, Kirk Triplett, and Wes Heffernan all competing for the trophy. With its storied history, 2025 marks the start of a new chapter with the addition of a professional and amateur women’s division, along with the women’s open component. Females with a Handicap Index of 10.0 or lower will now be able to compete without qualifying, with 40 spots being reserved for the best female golfers in the province. The professionals will be competing for a yet to be announced purse, while amateurs will be competing for a chance to play in the PNGA Women’s Amateur in 2026.

 With River Spirit as the host and the new additions to the Alberta Open, the 89^th playing of this prestigious event will be a new chapter as Alberta Golf and River Spirit continue to focus on growing the game of golf, while preserving the important traditions that lay as foundations for the sport.

Naturally, the best golf holes in the world are, at their essence, exceptional in their design merits. But they almost always have a setting, an ambiance, a natural beauty, that truly makes them worthy of the accolades. In other words, they playbeautifully and they look beautiful! The par-5 11th at Blackhawk is such a hole.

A gorgeous, down-the-hill, par-5 that begins the exceptional stretch of “valley holes” at the private Blackhawk Golf Course near Edmonton, the 11th always serves up one of the most exciting moments of the round.

Of course, “excitement” accompanies the golfer throughout a round at Blackhawk. The routing, which features plenty of perched tees, breathtaking bunkering, cunning contours, and heroic shot options, is, rightfully regarded as one of the top private golf experiences in the country. Last year Blackhawk, which is located just southwest of Edmonton along the pine-coated banks of the North Saskatchewan River, was ranked No. 15 in SCOREGolf’s rankings of the Top 100 Courses in Canada.

Designed by architect Rod Whitman (an Albertan who grew up just an hour, or so, south of Blackhawk near Ponoka), Blackhawk was to some extent, a groundbreaking achievement. Although it boasts similar trademarks of his earlier work at nearby Wolf Creek, this was one of the first courses in the country to embody the contemporary “minimalist” style.

Unquestionably, Whitman gravitated to that style – think heavy use of natural features, non-formulaic and highly-strategic holes, hand-carved bunkers that appear natural, fairways that simply follow the lay of the land, etc. – thanks to his extensive work with arguably the two most important pioneers of the “Golden Age” renaissance. That would be the late Pete Dye and his good friend, Bill Coore.

The “Golden Age” of golf course architecture was, predominantly, the 1920s when great architects such as Alister MacKenzie, A.W. Tillinghast, and Canada’s Stanley Thompson built many of the world’s finest courses.

Not surprisingly, this influence is noticeable throughout Blackhawk, including, of course, the fantastic par-5 11th, which is dubbed “Peninsula.”
“First of all, the setting there is stunning,” says Whitman. “From high on the bench where the tee is situated, you’re treated to a beautiful sight of the valley and the river. The anticipation is always high.”

Indeed, with many pivotal holes yet to come, this is definitely “gut check” time for the golfer. And the 11th is a hole where many things – some good, some bad! – can happen.

“To me, the fact that everything is running away from the golfer on the second shot is ideal,” says Whitman. “When it plays firm and fast, which it’s supposed to, even the average player has a chance of knocking it on the green in two here and making an eagle.”

Fittingly, it’s the low running shot that uses the natural landforms that is the ideal play to the green. However, as Whitman is quick to point out, there is plenty of trouble.

“Having the main hazard behind the green and also to the right of the green presents issues. The good player must control distance. And missing to the right is one of the most common mistakes in golf. So needless to say, there is plenty of trouble, yet there is a great opportunity for a low score on the hole.”

While the hole, which covers 532 yards from the regular member tees, isn’t “short,” the big elevation change and firm-and-fast fairway certainly makes it play much shorter. A clutch of beautiful bunkers (the hole features a massive bunker complex down the right side) and a newly added wood bulkhead around the green (the Pete Dye influence?) are other key aspects of the hole.

“This hole is always a favourite with our members,” says Blackhawk’s Head Golf Professional, Kevin Chow. “It kind of has it all. In my opinion, it’s truly one of the great holes in Alberta.”

Just east of Calgary, lies the stunning Chestermere Lake and the town of Chestermere. The lake draws plenty of visitors every year for a variety of summer activities including waterskiing, kayaking, and paddleboarding. This August however, the last weekend before school starts will have a new focus, the Alberta U13 & U15 Championship, hosted by Lakeside Golf Club.

The U13 & U15 Championship, previously part of the U17, U15, & U13 Championship, is for the youngest generation of golfers in the province looking to compete. Open to both male and female players, the championship is open to players who will be under the age of either 13 or 15 by August 1, 2025. This championship is the first choice for most players to experience golf at the provincial level. The separation of this age group from the U17’s allows for a less pressure filled environment for the kids, a more appropriate yardage range to play, and a clearer path for the younger generation to try their hand in competitive golf as they graduate from club programming and the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour. This move will help build community amongst these young aspiring juniors as they continue to age through the system and begin playing outside tournaments together. In 2024, Camilla Ruesga-Rojas and Sela Ogada won the female U13 and U15 divisions, and Oscar Gosgnach and Bennett Love won the male U13 and U15 divisions.

Lakeside Golf Club is familiar territory for Alberta Golf, last hosting the 2020 Women’s Amateur won by Yeji Kwon, with a multitude of young Albertans finishing just behind her. The course sets up impeccably well to a variety of golfers with large greens, stunning yet difficult water features, and eight different options to tee off from, making it the perfect place to host the young but hungry juniors. The course’s full pro shop will boast plenty of options for the kids to spend their winnings and its proximity to the lake will surely offer a great post-round escape for the youth to enjoy before heading back to school on Monday.

We are excited to be hosting the new U13 & U15 Championship for 2025. We know of one of our junior members for sure will be playing in the event. I’m sure we will have a few more play, but it will depend on the cut off for their date of births. We feel like the U13 and U15’s are going to have a lot of fun playing Lakeside, and we feel that the golf course sets up well, so we are expecting some great scores. The eventual winners will probably have to have a good couple of days with the putter and over the course of two days will have to limit the amount of penalty strokes, as the water penalty areas can come into play quite often at Lakeside, especially on holes 9 & 18.

Tyler Willner, Head Professional

While August is still months away, the youngsters are surely anxious for the snow to melt to get back on the course, to the lake, and out of school. All juniors are welcome to register for this championship, with registration opening on April 1 at 9am. For players looking to try competitive golf before this event, the McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour offers one day events throughout the province offering a stress-free environment focused on education and fun for the kids, with top players getting an invite to compete in the newly minted Alberta U13 & U15 Championship.

Nestled in central Alberta just outside of Red Deer is one of the top public golf courses in Alberta, Alberta Springs Golf Resort. Alberta Springs is a course that requires no introduction to the junior golfers in the province, as it has played host to the Alberta U17, U15, & U13 Championship for many years, but in 2025 the course will host the first ever Alberta U17 Championship.

The Alberta U17 Championship is the stand-alone championship for the best juvenile golfers in the province under the age of 17 as of August 1. The event will be open to both male and female golfers, like years previous. It was decided to separate the event after a plethora of feedback was received from players and parents supporting the change to help with competitive development. This new change will include a lengthened yardage to better reflect the ability of Alberta’s top U17 players and serve as a more appropriate step toward the U19 Championship. An additional day will be added allowing the event to become WAGR ranked which helps with college recruiting. The U17 Championship has several well-known winners including Dustin Risdon and Heather Lee in the 90’s, and more recently Katy Rutherford and Ryan Hodgins winning their respective U17 Championships before turning pro. In 2024, it was Patrick McLarty that won the boys division with an impressive 68-66, while Saylar May continued her dominant play on the junior golf scene edging her competition by one stroke.

Alberta Springs has received numerous awards since opening in 1996. With plenty of tee boxes to choose from, superb amenities, and a stunning aquatic driving range, this course offers golfers of every level an enjoyable experience. The membership has proven to be an avid supporter of Alberta Golf with the same host club volunteers consistently offering their support in previous years, with no reason to expect different for 2025.

While the young juniors get ready for a new chance to compete for provincial golfing glory, the course will be anxiously waiting for its chance to show its teeth to the new crop of golfers, and the membership will be ready for the players with a smile and words of encouragement.

For the younger generation in Alberta, summer usually means no school, time with friends, better weather, and trips with family. For the up-and-coming golfers in the province, summer means competition season and this year one of their travel destinations is Water Valley Golf Club, the host of the 2025 U19 Championship.

 The U19 Championship combines the best 140 male and female junior golfers in the province, as they compete for their respective titles. Players must be under the age of 19 as of August 1^st that year. The event has undergone plenty of name and format changes over its history, but what has never changed is the number of great players who have ‘cut their teeth’ at this event. The likes of Jaclyn Lee, Katy Rutherford, Max Sekulic, and Hunter Thomson all won their respective U19 Championships which helped propel them to where they are today including the LPGA Tour, The PGA of Canada, PGA Tour America’s and Michigan University standout. The U19 Championship is no stranger to fireworks and 2024 was much of the same, with a female course record and a hole-in-one on Day 1, and an albatross on Day 2. Ultimately, Ryan Gillis and Sarah Armstrong won the U19 Championships in their divisions. In 2025, two new champions will be crowned as the best young stars descend on Water Valley.

 Water Valley Golf Club has been around since 1994 but has truly cemented themselves as a hidden gem of Alberta in recent years. Only 30 minutes north of Calgary, Water Valley offers a tough layout with tight tree-lined fairways that will make it hard for the juniors to “bomb and gouge” the course. The course’s newly redesigned clubhouse and community of members help the course live up to the ‘Alberta’s Jewel’ tagline. In recent years, Water Valley has played host to a variety of Alberta Golf events, including the last iteration of the Alberta Match Play in 2022 and the 2023 Women’s Amateur won by Jieming Yang. At both previous championships, the membership came out in droves to support the players, help as volunteers, and showed off the welcoming community at the club.

 As the membership anxiously awaits the snow to melt and the arrival of the golf season, the juniors will continue their off-season preparation with their sights set firmly on Water Valley and a chance to propel their golf careers.