Two familiar faces in the Saskatchewan golfing circuit are champions again following the 2025 Ladies Northern in Prince Albert on the weekend.

Regina’s Kim Walker outlasted the elements, and 59 other players in the field to capture the title on Sunday (June 8) at Cooke Municipal Golf Course.

The Wascana Country Club member had to battle for the win, both Kim Brown and Lauren Fox pushed for 36 holes tying for second just two strokes behind Walker’s 157 (77, 80).

Saskatoon’s Kathy Ziglo won the senior division after rounds of 83 and 79, the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club member was fourth overall.

Rounding out the top-five was Rosetown’s Sue Skinner, the Delisle Valleyview Golf Club player won the first flight with a 36-hole score of 169.

To see the complete results from the championship click here.

With the win Walker takes the early lead on the Women’s Order of Merit Tour (OMT). Next on the schedule is the Saskatoon Women’s Open on June 16 and 17 at The Willows Club. To register click here.

Walker spoke after the win on Sunday in Prince Albert.

The first Lobstick of the season is in the books at Waskesiu Golf Course, and Rick Hallberg has his first Senior Men’s Lobstick championship.

After a couple near misses in recent years, the Weyburn product and proud Golf Kenosee member outlasted the field, and Brad Phelps in the final group on day three to win the coveted plague.

Hallberg posted rounds of 70, 75, and 73 to edge both Phelps and last year’s champion Paul Briske by a pair of strokes.

Hallberg spoke to Golf Saskatchewan after the win on Thursday.

Winning the Super-Senior category for the first time was Saskatoon player Milt Grolla. He carded stellar rounds of 76, 75, and 76.

To see all the results from the week click here.

The next event for Waskesiu is the Men’s Lobstick that begins on June 9.

The Women’s Order of Merit Tour (OMT) gets underway this weekend at Cooke Municipal Golf Course in Prince Albert with the Ladies Northern Championship.

To see the OMT schedules and standing click here.

Current collegiate player Carter Degelman is launching a series of junior golf camps under the tutelage of longtime professional Clinton Schmaltz in Saskatoon.

“Tour Path Junior Camps” will begin next week (June 10 – 12) at Moon Lake Golf and Country Club.

Degelman currently plays golf at Dominican University of California. The idea for the camps came about when Degelman was home from school seeking summer employment. That’s when he decided to reach out to his longtime coach to see if the camps were a possibility.

“When I was a kid there wasn’t many camps for younger kids,” he told Golf Saskatchewan. “There are quite a few now in the city. I wanted to start something like that, I work with Clinton and I wanted to build it off a brand, he had the idea that we go this route.”

Each camp is three hours long and directed to kids from about five to 12 years old. Degelman admits three hours playing golf can be overwhelming for kids that age, so breaking up the itinerary is something they will do to keep the attendees engaged.

“We want to have a fun environment for kids to learn basic skills, but also have games that have other aspects to give them a break,” Degelman said.

He’s currently promoting the camps through Saskatoon’s elementary schools hoping to fill all seven scheduled weeks over the summer. Degelman said golf teaching opportunities are plentiful as the game has grown immensely since he started. He said growing the game is important to most players and feels this camp is another piece in doing so in Saskatoon.

“We are all doing the same thing, we want to give the kids the best experience possible and that’s our goals for these camps,” he concluded.

To register for the camps reach out to 306.270.7344 or visit them on Instagram.

Over 90 junior golfers with many planning to attend the Saskatchewan Junior Championships took part in the Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) event in Lloydminster this past weekend.

In the junior women’s age groups, both Youran Zhu and Tayla Perry picked up their second championships of the MJT season.

Perry took the 15 to 19 age group with a 36-hole score of 158 (82,76), holding off Sarah Henderson of Saskatoon. Henderson was three strokes off the lead at 161, Kyle’s Chloe Wills also made the podium in third with rounds of 81 and 85.

Zhu won the under-15 age category with a two round score of 174 thanks to rounds of 82 and 92. Natalie Maunula of North Battleford was second at 195.

The under-13 men’s division was won by Hudson Deibert of Regina. The 10-year-old outlasted Cohen Bridge (Corman Park) and Caleb O’Brien (Melville) to win the age group by five strokes.

Austin Nesbitt has another bantam (under-15) win on his impressive junior resume. The Pilot Butte product shot 75 and 79 for a 10 shot win over Cooper Roberge of Lloydminster and Lumsden’s Ryker Schmidt.

Mason Kuryvial of Taber, Alta. placed fourth, a shot behind the runners-up.

Taking the overall championship was Sucker River junior Dade Bernatchez who collected his first overall MJT win. Bernatchez shot 80 in round one and 78 in the second round just getting past Regina’s Aiden Walker by two shots.

Walker opened with an 83 and responded with a 77 on day two but couldn’t quite track down Bernatchez. Placing third in the under-19 age group was Graydon Vogelsang of Saskatoon, he was at 161 (78,83).

Regina’s Kai Kriekle who plays at the Wascana Country Club tied Preston Buchner for fourth overall, but Kriekle’s 163 was enough to claim the under-17 division that plays the same yardage as the under-19 division.

Plenty of pressure was behind Kriekle over the two days, Cohen Hepburn of Saskatoon and Finn Silver from North Battleford each posted scores of 164 to tie for second in the age category.

For complete results of the event click here.

Next up on the Saskatchewan Junior Order of Merit Tours (OMT) is the NextGen Prairie Championship in Warman at The Legends Golf Club from June 13 to 15.

To see the updated OMT standings click here.

All photos courtesy Jeff Chambers

A heartbreaking finish for Lucas Sturgeon at the NextGen Western Championships over the weekend at Trestle Creek Golf Resort in Entwistle, Alta.

The Saskatoon Golf and Country Club junior opened the event with a 73, shot 68 in the middle round Saturday and closed with a 75, good enough to force a three-person playoff that was won by Chase Lassman of Edmonton.

Sturgeon earns an exemption into the Canadian Junior Boys’ Championships alongside Casa Rio’s Ethan Hunter and Saskatoon’s Ryan Mosher who tied for sixth overall at 219, just three shots back of the winnner.

Aricin Franklin (Saskatoon), Brady Guenther (Saskatoon), Shae Maunula (North Battleford) and Hudson Heistad (Avonlea) all made the cut and played all 54 holes. Franklin tied for 12th at 223 (71,75,77), Guenther tied for 31st at 229 (76,73,80), Maunula was 34th with a score of 230, Heistad was 43rd at 235.

Three Saskatchewan junior women were in the field.

Grace Odnokon of Saskatoon just missed the cut shooting 81 and 84, Niya Friesen from Swift Current was near the number as well carding rounds of 85 and 81. Onion Lake golfer Ada Dillon shot 84 and 86, the cut line was 163.

To see more on the NextGen Western Championship including the full results click here.

The NextGen Championship schedule continues to roll through western Canada with its next stop at The Legends Golf Club in Warman for the playing of the NextGen Prairie Championship. The tournament will run June 13 – June 15 with a practice round preceding the action on June 12.  

Tommy Danielson has his first big amateur championship after putting on an impressive 36-hole display on the weekend at the MNP Northeast Open in Nipawin.

The Riverside Country Club member tied for fourth at the event last season and right from the first tee in 2025 Danielson wanted more.

He parred the opening two holes at Evergreen Golf Course startig Saturday, went on to birdie the next seven and finish the round tied for lead at 5-under par with Kyle Weibe of Madison.

The wind picked up for day two, but Danielson continued his strong play at one point pushing his score to 11-under par before closing the event 8-under and a five shot win over Shaunavon’s Corey Bailey.

Phil Jonas was the top pro in third place. The complete results can be found here.

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.