Well, folks! That wraps up our final Major of the year! What a great weekend we had out in Sundre playing two amazing golf courses. If you've never made it up to Coyote Creek or Sundre Golf Club... you're really missing out. Both are in tremendous shape all the time and are absolute gems. We had an excellent field out this weekend with four good sized Flights. We had perfect weather on Friday at Coyote Creek, with our awesome sponsor Wild Rose Brewery being there to hand out beer to the players as they came off 18, then ended the night with some food, drink, and laughs. We also had 8 first-timers out this weekend which was awesome as well! We always like seeing new faces and making new friends. The camaraderie on the Alberta Golf Tour is second to none. You only need to play one event to see what we're talking about... and luckily, we have one more left on Saturday, August 8 in Camrose! Alright, let's get to the Major. We had players between 0 and 27 handicaps playing this weekend - we have a spot for ANY golfer! Some of the biggest highlights were some of the great scores we saw by the Champ Flight. After hole 7, Greg Charpentier was 4 under with Scott Wissler being 1 under! Wissler held steady at 1 under for the round while Charpentier finished at a personal best Even for round 1. Three-time winner Andrew Cook was 4 shots back at 3-over with the rest of the field a few more strokes out. For the final round at Sundre Golf Club, the Champ Flighters were the last group out and got sent off the course on before hole 5. As play resumed, some haunting bogeys showed up. The 9 Player Flight made 5 birdies all day, compared to 18 the day before. With scores bouncing back and forth all day, Charpentier came from behind to win by 1 stroke shooting an 80 to Wissler's 82. It was a hard fought battle by all the guys in this Flight and we got to see some really great golf out there. The A Flight was anything but boring this week. There is A LOT at stake at Majors, especially this late in the season. When we've got double Order of Merit Points on the line, double Prizing, and a Championship entry on the line, these tournaments matter. When there is an unfortunate rulings decision that could potentially cause a 2-stroke penalty on multiple participants, that's a huge bummer. After much deliberation with 4 rules officials, only 1 person incurred the 2-stroke penalty. Clem Lozeau's lead after round 1 in the A Flight went from 1 to 3, with Rick Cloney, Greg Forsythe, and Brian Payne all looking to fight for victory the next round. Cloney shot another solid round, with Clem Lozeau coming in with a 2-round tying score which pushed these two into a playoff. We caught every shot of the playoff on the video - you gotta see these guys play! Congratulations to Rick Cloney for overcoming the struggles this weekend and playing some very good golf! It's not often you come across a player who can shoot their handicap consistently in tournament golf. Usually nerves get the most of people, but this player seems to never waver from steady play. To have had the pleasure to watch this player improve from being a 23 handicap just a few short years ago... to consistently shooting low to mid 80's and winning tournaments all over the place has been amazing. Sandra Schell finished the first round at with an 82 giving her a 3-stroke lead over Robert Squibb. Squibby struggled a bit on Day 2, but Karen Kost and Stacy Lindberg exploded with some low scores at Sundre! Excellent playing by both of them, but it was too late to get ahead of Schell, who shot another soid 83 to win by 7 strokes, and lock up the Order of Merit Point Standings, which awards her the FREE ENTRY into the Championship!!! Congratulations Sandra!! Our C Flight saw 3 new players, which is really exciting for us! We understand how intimidating it can be to sign up for a tournament when you are a higher handicap player, but rest assured you will only play with golfers of the same skill level - PLUS, they know how to have the most fun. It was a great weekend for these guys and gals who were 20+ handicaps and we saw some great golf from them too! To quote 4th place finisher Mike Stewart, "I made more birdies in these two rounds than I have in the past two years!" That's what happens when you're having fun and learning from other players! It was Gordon Desjarlais with the best round of the first round shooting a 90! Ryan Powell wasn't too far behind him with a 94. These guys made some pretty awesome shots both rounds... and it was very cool to see the improvement in all of these players just over a 2-day span. Gordon had a rough end to the tournament with a double on 18, but still locked up the C Flight with a 10-stroke victory. Congratulations! The Mid-Tournament reception was a ton of fun and it was a blast having the chance to get to hang out together outside of the golf course! We're all really looking forward to the Championship now, but we still have one more Stableford Tournament to go at Camrose! If you've been wondering what the Alberta Golf Tour is all about, this is the perfect one to test out. No pressure, lots of fun, welcoming, nice people. It's time to come experience the AGT before the season is over! Click here for full results from the Central Alberta Major.
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We had a fabulous day at The Quarry yesterday! Right from the moment we pulled in and had that amazing view coming down the driveway, to dealing with a flat tire on a cart, the tent being blown over, and had some very low scores get carded in each flight. Doesn't that sound like fun? We had a blast (for real)! It was amazing seeing so many new faces yesterday making our first and only Edmonton stop for the year. We heard you... and PROMISE we will have more Edmonton events next year! Make sure you send an email with course suggestions. We had a much smaller Champ Flight than usual this time around, but the guys made the most of it. 2 of the 3 players ended up in a tie for the win shooting 77 from Deck 2. On the first playoff hole, Leon had to take a lateral penalty out of the fescue, and his approach shot ended up in the front left bunker. Zach hit a great shot down the middle, but his approach shot came up short. He chipped on and 2-putted for his bogey, while Leon stuck his bunker shot and tapped in for his bogey. They continued onto the 2nd hole where Zach made a clutch 15 foot putt for a par and the win! The guys in the A Flight were ON their games yesterday... just, WOW. With scores ranging from 74 to 85, it really could have been anybody's win. Cody Snethun opened up with a rough first 3 holes, but as soon as he saw Chris Patterson make a birdie on 3, he knew it was go time. Snethun went on to make 3 birdies in a row to answer Patterson's 2 birdies. Snethun ended up even par after the 3rd hole shooting a 77 with 4 birdies, but Patterson's consistency awarded him his 4th win of the season shooting a 74 with 5 birdies. In the B Flight, a lot of the players struggled with their games thanks to the gusting wind and fescue. Brad Lafreniere must be used to playing in those gusts though, because he came into the Clubhouse with a 6-stroke lead shooting an 84 over 2nd place Brian Payne. It's rare we see the C Flight's winning score lower than the B Flight. But sometimes, you just find a groove at the right time. After shooting a 45 on the front 9, Ken Mercier was teeing off on 18 at 1-under on the back! Unfortunately, he struggled a bit on that hole, but still finished the back 9 at 1-over for an impressive winning score of 82 over 3-time Champion Sandra Schell who shot 85! We had some new faces in the D Flight, and what a pleasure that was! After a back and forth round, newcomer Amanda McAstocker ended up with a 1-stroke lead for the win over Sheila Lavender shooting a 107! Congratulations to everyone on a great day with fun people. Can you believe we only have 2 regular season events left this year? Again, we had to say goodbye to some of you yesterday as you have other things going on the rest of the summer. It's sad we won't get to see your face in competition until next year, but THANK YOU for coming out and we are excited to keep growing. The last MAJOR of the season is this coming up weekend in Sundre, and then one last Stableford event at Camrose on August 8 (use code WINNING for 10% off). The Championship is ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!!! We'll have some teasers for you leading up to the event. Click here to see full results from today's tournament. Well, folks. Today marked the Bucket List Tournament at Innisfail Golf Club, and I'm sure all of the players now understand why it was called the Bucket List! I've driven by many times, always having heard how great it was, but not truly understanding the absolute GEM this course is. The elevation changes, the water, the sand, the trees... all force you to play smart. Let me first start out by saying that you are all awesome. You are exactly what the Tour is about: fun, camaraderie, meeting new people, good times, and good competition. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know each and every one of you over the course of the season, and we can't wait to see you around some more. I know for some, your season had to come to an early end, but we look forward to seeing you next year already! Thank you for coming out, and for showing us why we do this! Today was a day of many things... sun, rain, birdies, bogies, sticking approach shots to a couple feet, sucking approach shots right off the front of the greens, not being able to read greens, draining putts... you name it, I can almost guarantee someone experienced it today! We had 6 players in the Champ Flight (0 - 4.9) today and had 4 players within 4 strokes of each other, so it was a tight race. Andrew Cook ended up long on 18, under a pop up banner. We moved the temporary obstruction and his perfect knee-knocker chip barely made it to the green, then rolled out to 4 feet which he saved for par and his 3rd win of the season on the Alberta Golf Tour! Claire Mitton ended up only 2 shots back playing from the whites, scoring an 81 for her second 2nd place finish of the season. 8 players battled it out in the A Flight (5.0 - 8.9) where we saw 5 players within 6 strokes of each other. These guys had very impressive rounds today as they were playing from the same tees as the Champ Flighters and put up very similar scores. Chris Patterson was in a fairway bunker on 18 with 170 to the pin, and thinned his shot. It was coming hot across the green and hit a spectator's Tim Horton's cup behind the green and stopped dead in its tracks. Patterson got up and down for par from there to shoot a 79 over Mike Rowe's 2nd place 81! These two have been great rivals all year on the AGT and the Alberta Golf Mid-Handicap. Can't wait to see more! The B Flight (9.0 - 11.9) saw some awesome scores today from their 7 players as well. 2nd time player Vinh Luu, fresh off a Palm Springs vacation, came out and shot a solid 81, beating long time veteran Fred Zdanowicz' 83! Great playing by so many people - sorry, no funny obstruction story on this one! The C Flight (12.0+) had 7 players battling for top spot today. Kyle Rock closed out his round with 3 birdies in the last 5 holes. Fun fact: He had more birdies than pars on his scorecard today! However, that solid finish was not enough to get past the solid veteran, Sandra Schell who went out and fired an 86 for her 2nd win of the season! Congratulations to all of the Flight Winners today, and we'll see everyone at The Quarry on Saturday for the AGT Edmonton Open! Click here to see full results from the AGT Bucket List at Innisfail. We had some more great weather today as the players battled in the Day After Canada Day Challenge in Turner Valley! The course was playing tough as the wind picked up throughout the day... some penalties were had, but more fun and good times meeting new fun golf friends. The players had a lot of pressure on them today which added another element besides the wind. Once again, we saw great scores from the field. In the Champ Flight, first timer Doug Skulsky took an unfortunate 2-stroke penalty, but still managed to squeak out a win by 1 shot over Matthew May and Adam Burton with a 78! Great showing, and can't wait to have you back out again to battle in the VERY competitive Champ Flight. The A Flight may have seen almost every number between 79 and 90 today. 2015 Season Rookie, now Veteran, Thomas Reid, managed to shoot an impressive 79 with 2 big numbers on the scorecard for a 3 shot win over Derek Lovlin who is fresh off a T5 finish at the Alberta Golf Men's Mid-Handicap. The B Flight was missing some regulars today, but that didn't mean Fred Zdanowicz wasn't going to go out there and shoot a lights out 81 for an 8 stroke win over the steady Sandra Schell. And with only 2 people in the C Flight, but a hard fight nonetheless... both Members of Turner Valley, it was a very close up and down game between Jason Gooch and first-timer Mike Stewart. Gooch came out on top with a one stroke victory shooting 102. Congrats to everyone! Don't forget our next event is at Innisfail on Monday, July 13. This is a course that should be on everyone's Golf Bucket List - let's all go have some fun. Until then.... ENJOY Stampede! Click here for full results from today's tournament. |
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January 2018
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