The NextGen Championship season resumes on Friday, May 30 at Trestle Creek Golf Resort in Entwistle, Alta. for the playing of the NextGen Western Championship.

Approximately 156 junior golfers – 121 Junior Boys and 35 Junior Girls – will tee off on Friday and look to punch their ticket to their respective junior championships later this summer. The 54-hole event will be preceded with a practice round on Thursday, May 29 before play wraps up on Sunday, June 1.

The field will be reduced to approximately the top 53 Junior Boys and top 17 Junior Girls, including ties, after 36 holes. Members of the Junior Boys division that conclude the final round placed within the top eight of the leaderboard will earn exemption into the 2025 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, presented by BDO, set for August 12-15, at Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B.

In the Junior Girls division, the top eight finishers, including ties, will earn exemptions into the field for the playing of the 2025 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, presented by BDO, August 13-16, at Sainte-Marie Club de golf in Sainte-Marie, Que.

Notable players from western Canada will compete in the event, including Christian Flick of Heritage Pointe, Alta. and Ryan Mosher of Saskatoon, Sask. Flick, a three-time participant, will look to secure his first victory at the NextGen Western Championship after finishing in the top ten three times, including a runner-up finish in 2022. His ambition will be rivaled by Mosher, a proven winner on the circuit and the reigning NextGen Prairie Champion.

Designed by golf architect and fellow Albertan Brad Dupuis, Trestle Creek Golf Resort offers 27 holes of championship-level golf split across a trio of distinctive nines. Opening in 2012, the course has undergone several renovations to expand its unique terrain, spanning across 600 acres of land to include creeks, lakes, forests and hills into its initial design.

“We are extremely excited to host this year’s NextGen Western Championship,” commented Art New – the Head Golf Professional at Trestle Creek Golf Resort. “We feel that the players are really going to enjoy the Brad Dupuis design which encompasses the natural beauty of the terrain. It will pose a challenge to these up-and-coming future stars, and we are quite certain they will enjoy it.”

Trestle Creek Golf Resort has become much greater than a picturesque, affordable and challenging golf hub since its inception and presently surrounds its fairways with resort lots, a sport and water park and a recreation centre to make the property bountiful of outdoor experiences. The course plays its best defense as players get closer to each of the holes, with undulating greens challenging the field’s best putting strokes and forcing players to dial in their short game for the occasion.

“The golf course is fairly generous off the tee,” added New, who believes the strong winds that the property exhibits can also make for a challenge come the final round. “This course is all about your misses approaching the greens. Miss on the correct side depending on pin placement and you can recover. Miss on the wrong side and getting up and down will be a tough challenge.”

To follow the live leaderboard of the NextGen Western Championship throughout the week, please click here.

About the NextGen Championships

The NextGen Championships are a high-performance junior golf series which totals six competitions. From May to July, six championships will take place across Canada where the region’s best junior golfers will compete to earn exemptions into their respective 2025 national junior championships. NextGen Championships provide junior players an opportunity to develop and showcase their skills at the highest level of tournament golf.

Winning team will be awarded NGL title and earn exemption into  
The R&A 9 Hole Challenge at Royal Portrush 

After making its debut ahead of the 2024 RBC Canadian Open, the BDO National Golf League Championship returns on Saturday, May 31 to crown another winner at this year’s site of Canada’s National Men’s Open, TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont.  

104 golfers split across 52 teams will walk the same fairways as some of the game’s biggest stars and battle for the National Golf League championship less than a week before the 2025 RBC Canadian Open gets underway.  

The 2025 BDO National Golf League Championship (NGL) will be contested over 18-holes at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont. using a best ball net Stableford format as the official scoring format of the NGL. Following the conclusion of play, the top two teams (including ties) based on Stableford points will enter into a playoff to determine the national champions. The playoff will take place on the no. 18 and be a one-hole sudden death until the winners are crowned. 

The exciting format was born out of a weather-shortened 2024 NGL Championship, where finalists were only able to play nine holes at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. The playoff pitted the winners of the front nine against the winners of the back nine to determine the inaugural champions. Peter Morse and Tim Charles of Nova Scotia needed just one playoff hole to top Reed Middleton and Brian Thorne of New Brunswick to claim their title.  

In addition to being awarded the second national championship in the league’s modern history, the winning team will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to represent Canada at The R&A 9 Hole Challenge set to take place at Royal Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland on the eve of the 153rd Open Championship in July.  

Reigning NGL Champions, Morse and Charles, placed second in The 2024 R&A 9 Hole Challenge at Royal Troon in Troon, Scotland last summer, stringing together 33 points (net Stableford format) to cap off a memorable debut for Canada. The R&A held its inaugural challenge in 2016 and has used the competition to promote the physical and mental health benefits of golf participation as well as to encourage the growth of the sport’s shorter format. For more information on the 2025 R&A 9 Hole Challenge, please visit randa.org/en/nine-hole-challenge. 

“We are looking forward to the second national finals of the BDO National Golf League as 52 pairings will compete for the national championship this Saturday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley,” said Brian Doherty, Senior Manager, Golf Services, Golf Canada. “The BDO National Golf League has enjoyed two rewarding seasons with growth across the country. We are excited to crown the new champions and support them as they represent Canada at The R&A 9 Hole Challenge in July.”  

Over 10,000 participants teed off in 2024 to cap off the inaugural season of the NGL. Launched by Golf Canada ahead of the 2023 season as a nationwide, season-long competition to enhance weekly recreational league experiences for men, women and junior golfers, the National Golf League embodies 107 leagues across Canada and occurs throughout a six-week period of a club’s league season.  

Within those six weeks, the best four scores from a 9-hole net Stableford format were used to determine the individuals that would advance to the penultimate stage of the competition – the Provincial Championships. 12 courses across all 10 provinces hosted respective regional competitions in the fall of 2024 to determine the field for May’s national championship.  

Deanna Baker and Lisa Fanning of Creston Golf Club, B.C. along with Dwayne Snell and Tim Fraser of Brudenell Golf Course, P.E.I. are two of the teams that will be competing at TPC Toronto, having topped the 2024 Provincial Championship circuit each with 47 Stableford points.  

“We are going to Toronto, and we are beyond amazed at this whole journey and are loving every minute of it,” said Fanning, who along with her partner, Baker, commuted seven hours from their home club to compete in the B.C East Provincial Championship last fall.  

Only one team will return to the 2025 field after competing in last season’s inaugural national championship. John Anderson and Dao Le were one of two teams from the Ranch Golf & Country Club in Acheson, Alta. to qualify last fall, finishing the Alberta Provincial Championship tied for second with 40 Stableford points. The pair finished last year’s national championship in a five-way tie for 13th place with 17 Stableford points. In addition, Chris Hilliard is also in the final field with a new playing partner, Joey Giammaria from the Carleton Golf and Yacht Club in Manotick, Ont., after competing in last year’s finals. 

“We had a blast playing last year even though due to lightning and fog delays, we only played nine holes,” commented Anderson ahead of his second NGL Championship. “Amazing experience and excited to be coming back.”  

To discover more results from the 2024 NGL Provincial Championships and see which teams qualified for the national championship, please click here.  

Those who participate in the NGL season play a lively role in growing the sport in their community as well, with 100 per cent of the league’s proceeds benefiting First Tee – Canada in their respective provinces around the country.  

First Tee – Canada is a youth development program striving to bring accessible and inclusive pathways to golf participants at schools, community centres, and golf courses across the country. Strong charitable incentive towards First Tee – Canada have been a pattern throughout each of the NGL’s first two seasons, with gifts and other forms philanthropic practices directly impacting youth in the province in which the money was raised. To learn more about First Tee – Canada programming and ways to support, please visit firstteecanada.ca.  

Scott Mackay is the 2025 Regina City Amateur presented by Zaba Financial champion.

The Royal Regina Golf Cub member shot back-to-back 73’s on May 24 and 25 at Murray Golf Course and the Wascana Country Club and held off Cole Zawislak and Drayjon Sparvier in a playoff to win his first city am and earn 500 points on the Order of Merit Tour (OMT).

To see the full results click here.

Mackay spoke with Golf Saskatchewan about the win and his thoughts going into the MNP Northeast Open this weekend and Saskatchewan Amateur Championships in Humboldt in mid July.

Autumn Neiszner is a college graduate and leaves behind a solid four year career at Keiser University.

The 2019 Saskatchewan junior champion and runner-up in 2020 joined the Seahawks top-ranked program in the fall of 2021.

Over the four years at Keiser the Seahawks women’s golf team went to the NAIA National Championship each year, placing eighth in Neiszner’s first season, second in the her second year, last season the Seahawks won the national title and just last week the team took home another runner up trophy.

Neiszner spoke about her time at Keiser, the team’s success, tips for future collegiate players and what’s next for the Wascana Country Club member on the course, and in the classroom.

The Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) made a stop in Swift Current this past weekend for the second Team Saskatchewan Canada Summer Games qualifier at Elmwood Golf Club.

Nearly 120 players across six age groups were in the field from May 17 to 19.

In the under-15 women’s division Wynyard’s Alyxa Melsted has her first MJT win on the junior tour. The 12-year-old carded rounds of 88, 98, and 91 for a 54-hole total of 277, one shot lower than Zu Youran of Saskatoon. Placing third at 289 was North Battleford golfer Natalie Maunula.

It was a one-shot difference in the women’s under-19 category as well with Grace Odnokon of Saskatoon taking the championship. The Saskatoon Golf and Country Club member opened with a 78 on Friday, she posted an 85 in round two, then finished with a 78 to hold off Chloe Wills of Kyle for the win. Wills went 73, 89, 80 over the weekend.

Camrose golfer Jayla Kucy rounded out the top three at 245 (83, 86, 76).

Lucas Sturgeon of Saskatoon was the overall champion on the men’s side. Sturgeon won the juvenile age group by three shots and the overall championship by a stroke.

Sturgeon opened with a 71, in round two the 15-year-old battled the elements for a 75, and in the final round he carded a 72 to win the tournament. Chase Strang of Airdrie was third in the under-17 age group; Calgary’s Jayden Arnold was third.

In the under-19 age division Christian Flick of Heritage Pointe, Alta. was the champion with a three-round score of 219 (70, 75, 74).

Brady Guenther of Saskatoon had a strong showing placing second at 221 (72, 76, 73), right behind him at 222 was another Saskatoon shooter, Jack Maharaj.

In the peewee age group another Alberta golfer took the title. Edmonton golfer Oscar Gosgnach won the under-13 category by 15 strokes.

Hudson Deibert of Regina placed second at 240 (83, 77, 80), Magrath, Alta. junior Jase Hansen was third at 257.

In the bantam (under-15) age group Regina’s Jun Lee performed fantastically to win the division. The Royal Regina Golf Club star shot 69 in round one, 79 on a blustery second day and 73 in round three to claim the win.

Austin Nesbitt of Pilot Butte was second at 227 (70, 83, 74). Cole Yurchak of Wainwright, Alta. was third at 231.

There were also two hole in ones in the event. Moose Jaw player Dayton Vickaryous aced hole eight on Friday. Wetaskiwin Alta. player Jay Kary got a one on hole four on Saturday.

To see the complete results click here.

The next MJT event is May 31 to June 1 in Lloydminster at the Golf and Curling Centre. This event will be used as a tune up for the Saskatchewan Junior Championships also hosted by the club. The Junior Championships will also be the final qualifier before the announcement of Team Saskatchewan for the Canada Summer Games. To register click here.

The Junior Order of Merit Tours (OMT) standings are up to date, to view the standings click here.

All images courtesy Jeff Chambers

Anyone with mobility issues but still wanting to enjoy a round of golf in northeast Saskatchewan, the Melfort Golf and Country Club (MGCC) could assist.

Golf Saskatchewan owns three Solo-Rider golf cats, two are in Saskatoon with one being housed at Holiday Park Golf Course and the other being utilized at Silverwood Golf Course. Earlier in May the MGCC received the third Solo-Rider that is now available free of charge.

Darren Flaata is a board member at the golf club. Being active despite having mobility issues is close to the Melfort resident’s heart, his daughter in in a wheelchair. Flaata also assists at Wapiti Ski Resort where he takes kids skiing even with challenges. Flaata said having the Solo-Rider in Melfort hopefully allows anyone in the northeast region to try golf or return to the game following an injury or illness.

“Having more inclusion and promoting this type of thing means a lot to me and my family,” Flaata said.

The Solo-Rider works for players either left or right handed, the chair lifts the player to a standing position and allows them to strike the ball. The Solo-Rider is course friendly and can be driven into bunkers and on greens in a safe manner. Flaata said having the cart at the MGCC hopefully provides more inclusiveness for the sport.

“I think anytime you can promote any type of inclusion and open up avenues to people it’s going to benefit everyone,” he added.

Golf Saskatchewan is continuing the planning process for the championship season that will begin with the Saskatchewan Junior Championships in Lloydminster in early July.

Registration opened for the Saskatchewan Amateur Championships on April 15, the official start of golf season in the province.

As of Tuesday, 79 players have signed up for the Junior Championships. There are 137 players registered for the Amateur Championships in Humboldt. The Senior Championships will be hosted by Chinook Golf Course in Swift Current; 55 players have entered that championship so far.

Some notes for players:

• Payment for championship entry will be processed by Golf Saskatchewan staff on May 15
• All World Handicap Index requirements will be enforced
• The previous five Saskatchewan Amateur Men’s champions if amateur status still exists (Kye Fisher, Danny Klughart) are exempted until May 15, following that date, the field is open
• Players that made the cut at the 2024 Amateur Men’s Championship are exempt, again until May 15

To find out everything you need about all of Saskatchewan’s Amateur Championships click here.

If players require any assistance in getting registered, contact Golf Saskatchewan’s Manager of Championships Carson Olson at 306.852.7727 or Colson@golfsk.org

Will Blake and Luke Cote have seen their spring college seasons at Southern Arkansas University (SAU) end following the NCAA Div. II Midwest/Central Regional at St. Joseph Country Club in St. Joseph, Missouri.

From May 8 to 10 the Muleriders competed with 19 other schools for a chance at punching their tickets to the Div. II National Championship. Unfortunately, SAU placed 11^th and won’t be moving on this year.

Cote wrapped the season with a tie for 72^nd after rounds of 74, 76, and 75, a solid 12-over par. Blake shot back-to-back rounds of 80, he did not play his third round, teammate Jett Stephenson filled in, also shooting 80.

Waskesiu Golf Course junior graduates Alex Swinnerton and Guillermo Salazar were also chasing a chance at the Div. II National Championship with Indianna University of Pennsylvania (IUP) on the weekend. Competing at Whispering Woods Golf Club in Fairview, Pennsylvania Salazar and Swinnerton paced the Crimson Hawks over 54 holes. Salazar, a Calgary resident got better every round shooting 77, 75, and 73 to leave himself in a tie for 14^th overall. He jumped six spots on the leaderboard on the final day.

Swinnerton, from Saskatoon and one of the province’s top ranked amateurs carded rounds of 73, 82, and 72 to land tied at 20^th.

IUP was eighth out of 20 schools competing.

Beginning on Tuesday in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Regina’s Autumn Neiszner and the Keiser University Seahawks will begin the NAIA National Championship at Eagle Crest Golf Club. The Wascana Country Club has graduated and will conclude her college career at the event played over four days and 72 holes.

To follow the live scoring at the championship, click here.

With golf season officially starting nearly everywhere across Canada, it’s a good time to brush up on some rules.

No matter if you’re a once-a-week golfer, a competition chaser, or even a weekend warrior, the rules of the game are part of what makes golf so special.

Enter – thankfully – Mary Beth McKenna, the director of rules and amateur championships at Golf Canada.

McKenna not only oversees things from a rules perspective at Golf Canada, but she’s also been part of the rules team at the RBC Canadian Open (even getting some special TV time when a Rory McIlroy tee shot in 2022 headed right down the middle, and directly into Justin Thomas’ ball).

She’s also here to help!

We asked McKenna for some common situations you might find yourself in this year and what rules could help out.

Speaking of – be sure to download the Golf Canada app as you’ll have access to the Player’s Rule Finder, boasting nearly 30 diagrams and over 50 how-to videos so then golfers can reduce confusion and uncertainty by learning the ins-and-outs of the game directly from the R&A.

“Golfers will be able to determine the specific rule-related situations they encounter on the course more easily through the Player’s Rules Finder interface,” McKenna says. “The integration into the Golf Canada Mobile App allows more straightforward access to the rules of golf.”

Be sure to bookmark this page for your 2025 season and you’ll be able to have quick access to some common rules right at your fingertips, too.

“THAT’S ONE”

We’ve all seen the joke about tapping the ball with your driver accidentally and it falling off the tee. Alas, McKenna says that’s just a joke and not a real situation to get your pencil out for.  

You have to have an intent to hit the ball. So ‘intent,’ meaning you have to make a stroke at the ball. All you do is put it back on the tee and replay it. You can also move the tee to a new location as long as you’re still on the teeing ground. There is no penalty because there has been no intent to hit the ball.

McKenna says there’s actually something cool to note and file away as well.

If you hit your ball and it still (ends up) within the teeing area, you’re able to re-tee your ball. Let’s say you hit it, and it hits a tree and comes back into the teeing area? You can re-tee your ball.

IDENTIFYING YOUR BALL

When you have your ball out in the general area or on the course, it’s important to make sure you’re identifying your ball. You need to make sure you are playing the correct ball.

Identifying the ball can be done by the player, or anyone who has seen that ball come to rest in that area.

You should try to properly identify it with a mark on the ball. That’s a good recommendation for players. If you don’t, you can’t appropriately identify it you would have to declare it lost and go back to the tee.

Recalling the exact same model, brand, condition […] is hard.

You can lift the ball to identify it but you have to mark the spot of the ball, and it can’t be cleaned more than just enough to identify it.

FREQUENT SITUATION – FINDING THE PENALTY AREA

Differentiate what the relief options are between yellow (stakes) versus red (stakes).

More often than not, golf courses are marked with red penalty areas because it gives you an additional option. That’s how we mark it in competitions.

With yellow, you’re mostly going over the water or close to the green which is the main difference. The relief options are, well, you can play is at is lies in the penalty area, but then you can take relief back on a line (at the point of entry as far back as you possibly want to go.

The red stakes means an additional two club-lengths from point of entry which is the commonly used relief option. That’s important to note as a difference between the two. 

DIFFERENT RELIEF SITUATIONS

Golfers often end up looking for relief from their environment.

Typically, there is natural things like a leaf or a pinecone. Sometimes there is a man-made movable obstruction like a pop can. You are permitted to remove a loose impediment on or off the golf course and you can do it by any means necessary. But if the ball moves when you remove a loose impediment it is a one stroke penalty, and you have to replace the ball. If you are moving a removeable obstruction like a pop can and the ball moves you can replace it no penalty.

ABNORMAL COURSE RESTRICTIONS

Like a bench or a cart path – if there is interference in the ball area of the intended stance and intended swing you can take relief anywhere on course, except for when the ball is in the penalty area or when relief is clearly unreasonable.

Say your ball is against a tree but you’re standing on a cart path. If you’re not actually able to make a shot, you can’t get relief from the path because your shot is unreasonable. It’s commonly encountered out there. Relief from a cart path is ‘complete’ relief and you have one club length from that point and drop in that area.

If you end up needing to declare an unplayable ball – anywhere but in the penalty area – you can take stroke-and-distance relief, go back on a line relief, or lateral relief (two club lengths, no nearer to the hole). That’s when there’s just no way you could make a shot at your ball.

NEGOTIATING BUNKERS

You can move loose impediments and objects. There are restrictions on touching the sand in the bunker – you can’t take a practice swing, but you can smooth a bunker for care of the course. You can bring your whole bag in and put them beside your ball if you wanted to, which is interesting.

ON THE PUTTING GREEN

We all aspire to get there. Just focus on the positives on the putting green – you are allowed to improve a lot of things on the putting green that are in the line of your putt, including the removal of sand and loose soil. You can’t, of course, do that in general areas on the course. In 2019 there was also the new rule install about leaving the flagstick in that helps with pace of play.

DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT

How a ball must be dropped, well, it must be done the right way. The player him or herself must drop the ball (you can’t have a caddie or someone else drop it). It must be dropped from knee height without touching a player or equipment.

If a ball is dropped in the wrong way, a player can drop again the right way and there is no limit to the number that player may re-drop.

There is usually the ‘drop, drop, place’ rule. But an incorrect drop does not count as one of the two ‘drops’ in this case. If you’ve done it the wrong way, you are permitted to adjust.

Golf Canada is pleased to provide assistance in any questions that you might have regarding The Rules of Golf and Rules of Handicapping. Have a rules question that needs an answer? Ask An Expert!

Holly Knudsen is the most recent Saskatchewan golfer to wrap up her collegiate career in the United States.

Hailing from Shamrock, Sask. Knudsen walked on to the Minot State University (MSU) Beavers golf team five years ago, now she graduates a leader on the MSU team.

With a degree in hand, Knudsen will return home and join the insurance industry while still playing golf on a more recreational level.

Knudsen joined Golf Saskatchewan to talk about her career in Minot, how important golf is in her life and what’s next.