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.