Alberta Golf (Barrhead) –

By Dunc Mills

Playoffs are always exciting and today’s sudden-victory playoff in Barrhead was no exception. At the conclusion of 18 holes this afternoon, we had three players tied with 2-over par 74s:  Devin Kucy of Camrose, going for his third Tour win in a week, Jarrett Bossert of Broadmoor, locked in a tight battle with Kucy and Chase Bodoano for the lead in their age group in the Titleist Order of Merit, and Justin Schmidt of The Quarry, making only his second Tour start of the year.

Justin Schmidt tees off during playoff

The playoff was held on the dogleg-right par-4 18th at the beautifully groomed Barrhead layout.  Kucy made a great bogey  after hitting it into the trees on the left, Bossert dropped out after ping-ponging it from bunker to bunker greenside, and when Schmidt didn’t get up and down from the fringe, both he and Kucy returned to the 18th tee for their second try.  Kucy chipped tight for a certain par, but Schmidt calmly rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt to capture his first-ever McLennan Ross Alberta Junior Tour win.  We nearly had 4 players in the playoff as 13-year-old Ryan Garbutt narrowly missed the party with a 75.

We had three junior girls on hand today:  Tour regulars Jayla Kucy of Camrose, Brynne Davies of Earl Grey in Calgary and Mia De Freitas of Bonnyville.  As these young women have played in events all summer with each other, the host site had a nice touch of pairing the girls with two junior boys each, and the kids all seemed to enjoy the experience. Plus I think some of the boys got valuable lessons in shotmaking and course management!  De Freitas earned the girls’ qualifying spot  up for grabs today, but she will be out of the country next week and unable to compete at Wolf Creek.

With the Tour Championship coming up next Friday, Aug. 23 at Wolf Creek, opportunities are running out to earn qualifying spots.  Today’s new qualifiers included Justin Schmidt, Seth Properzi of the host club from the flight for boys born in 2005 and later, Justin Auger of Eagle Point GC in Wabasca from the flight for boys born in 2003-04 and Wild Card qualifiers Nick Carpenter of Gilwood GC in Slave Lake and Will Laird of Windermere.  ******  (Nick – you got away before I could give you your information about the Tour Championship.  If you are interested in playing in it, please contact me so I can send you an information letter – Dunc)

Other kids who have qualified for the Tour Championship at various events thru the summer but got away from the tournament before I could get their contact information are as follows and please contact me dunc@parcommarketing.com :

The Tour moves south of Edmonton tomorrow to the always challenging Black Bull Golf Resort at Ma-Me-O Beach.  Entries were a bit slow last week, but we have confirmed with the course today that they expect a field of nearly 40 players, so thanks to you kids who stepped up over the last few days to enter. It’s a 9 a.m. shotgun start.

Next week the Tour returns to Medicine Hat for the first time in over 15 years to Desert Blume GC.  Their entry list is a bit barren at the moment, and I can’t believe we can’t get a strong field of players from the ‘Hat and other clubs in southern Alberta.  Desert Blume is a terrific golf course and we want to make sure we have the best entry list we can muster.  If you are planning on going, please phone Desert Blume NOW!!!

The final event on the 2019 Tour regular season goes next Tuesday in Nanton, one of four charter members of the Tour remaining on the schedule.

These are the top 6 and ties in each age group.  These players earned Titleist Order of Merit ranking points.