Gord's Golf Notes: Team Alberta Triumphs; Popular Course Gets Mulligan On Problem Hole

By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf

While the professionals from Alberta may have invited their counterparts from across the country to join them for the annual PGA of Canada Assistants Championship at the Winston GC in Calgary they didn’t let their guests walk away with all the top-end hardware.

In the InterZone Championship presented by @CallawayGolf, the foursome of Mitchell Fox (Spear-grass GC), Wes Heffernan (Dynamic Motion Golf Performance Centre), Riley Fleming (Lynx Ridge GC) and Dillon Batsel (Desert Blume GC) captured the title by eight strokes over the PGA of Ontario team.

In individual play, Branson Ferrier from the Vespra Hills GC in Minesing, ON., took top honours with a 54-hole score of (-11). He finished two shots clear of Kevin Stinson from Cheam Mountain GC in Chilliwack, B.C., while Alberta’s Riley Fleming and Dillon Batsel were part of a four-way tie for third place.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch: In a PGA of Alberta event, the Senior Championship was contested at The Ranch G&CC outside of Edmonton, where a local pro captured top honours. Greg McGarry from the nearby Glendale G&CC carded rounds of 70-73 to finish one stroke ahead of runner-up Scott Westman from the host club as he put together two even par rounds of 72.

Another shot behind him in third place was Calgarian Darrel James from the National Golf Academy at Shaganappi. This event was so close that the fourth-place finishers, Grant Cambridge from Edmonton’s Jagare Ridge and Kent Fukushima from Calgary’s Redwood Meadows were only one stroke in arrears of that score. In all, 11 players finished within eight shots of the winner.

News From Lefty's Layout: Down in Calgary, things continue to bloom on the byways and fairways at Mickelson National GC. There, ground has been broken on the new clubhouse that will be home to the members, and guests at this new facility that has sparked interest, and rave reviews, since its soft opening a couple of years ago.

A Hole New Look: To the north-central part of the province, where a change is taking place on one of the most popular rural courses in the province, the Coal Creek Golf Resort. The ninth hole, long a nightmare for almost everyone that has teed it up and taken on this par 4 challenge, is about to get a facelift. Simply put, the fairway is being levelled and sight lines improved on what had to be the hardest hole at this popular playpen. But, warns Head Pro Jerry Lukasewich, while the hole is changing, it doesn’t mean its going to get a whole lot easier. For more, see the upcoming story at InsideGolf.ca in the near future.

This is most likely the last Golf Notes for this season, unless we hit a long and not-too-cold fall season. If this is the finale, thanks for taking the time to read these tidbits of info and I look forward to continuing with them next golf season. - Gord Montgomery/iG