An invasion of the top men golfers in Alberta will hit Ponoka in about three weeks.
The Ponoka Golf Club will be the host to one of Alberta Golf’s most prestigious provincial championships, the Sun Life Financial Men’s Amateur Championship from July 18 to 21.
A field of 120 will come up against a par-72 course that, during the week, will play just under 6,640 yards over four rounds.
Rob MacPherson, head pro and general manager of the golf club, stated this tournament will feature not only some of the best Alberta has to offer, but also some other Canadian content.
“There is nothing bigger for golfers ages 20 to 50 and, for some, this tournament will be the highlight of the player’s career,” he said.
“We even expect to see a number of Canadians that have been golfing at U.S. colleges with an eye of making the sport as a professional.”
The tournament isn’t just a big deal for the golfers, but also for the club that hosts it.
MacPherson stated that the stature of the Ponoka Golf Club has risen quite a lot in the past six years or so and that has led to being asked to host more of these types of prestigious events.
“It’s good public relations and brings the club to the forefront of people’s minds when they are looking for a good place to play,” he said.
“Our hope is that once many of these players and others that come to watch will look more to us, which could lead to other spin-offs. We are quite excited to be hosting the best of the best golf has to offer in this province.”
There will also be some local flavour to the action, with three Ponoka golfers taking part.
Craig Morrow, who wound up in at tie for 31st place in last year’s men’s mid-amateur, will be joined by James Ursulak and Jared Nicholls who now plays out of Wolf Creek.