WARMAN, Sask. – The Legends Golf Club in Warman, Sask. gears up to host its first-ever Golf Canada event for the playing of the 2025 NextGen Prairie Championship, June 12-15.
The NextGen Championship series returns to the province for the first time since 2023 and welcomes 120 of western Canada’s best Junior golfers – 90 Junior Boys and 30 Junior Girls – for 54 holes of competition. The field will be reduced to approximately the top 52 individuals in the Junior Boys division and top 17 players in the Junior Girls division after 36 holes, with the final round taking centre stage on Sunday, June 15.
Similarly to previous stops on the NextGen Championship circuit this season, exemptions into each of the Canadian Junior Championships will be awarded to the tournament’s top finishers. In the Junior Boys Division, the top six players, including the low medalist following the conclusion of the final round, will earn exemptions into the Canadian Junior Boys Championship set for August 11-15 at Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club in Bathurst, N.B.
In the Junior Girls division, the top six finishers from the event, including ties, will help round out the field at this year’s Canadian Junior Girls Championship taking place August 12 – 16 at Club de golf Sainte-Marie in Sainte Marie, Que. The top two players in both divisions will also earn exemptions into the 2025 Canadian U15 Championship set for August 27-29 at Pitt Meadows Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, B.C.
Notably, the event will also serve as one of three qualifiers to make up Team Saskatchewan for the Canadian Summer Games set to take place August 18-22 at Bally Haly Country Club in St. John’s, N.L. A pair male and female players above the age of 19 will each qualify for the event.
Playing in his home province, Ryan Mosher of Saskatoon, Sask. will look to successfully defend his title after definitively taking the event by three strokes in 2024. The NextGen Prairie Championship will be Mosher’s second appearance of the Championship season, having played in the NextGen Western Championship at Trestle Creek Golf & Resort earlier this month.
Chase Lassman of Parkland County, Alta., Lucas Sturgeon of Saskatoon, Sask., and Ryan Badger of Edmonton, Alta. will also be in the NextGen Prairie Championship field just weeks after competing against one another in a playoff to decide the NextGen Western Championship.
Yeeun (Jenny) Kwon of Vancouver, B.C. will headline the Junior Girls’ division this week and will be vying for her second NextGen Championship victory this month after claiming her maiden title at Trestle Creek Golf & Resort.
“We are so proud and excited to welcome the NextGen Prairie Championship to the Legends Golf Club – partnering with Golf Canada is proving to be a wonderful opportunity,” said Davidson Matyczuk, head golf professional, Legends Golf Club. “The Legends has been a strong supporter of junior golf in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and with this Championship, we are now able to extend that support to the national stage. We are certainly looking forward to welcoming everyone to Warman and the Legends Golf Club this week.”
The Legends Golf Club offers a unique caveat of being a links-style course – the first layout of its kind on the 2025 Championship season. Operating since 2011, the course has become one of the premier golf experiences in Saskatchewan and has hosted provincial amateur championships at the junior, mid-amateur and professional level.
Though the course’s wide and undulating fairways offer a sense of comfort for players off the tee, thick patches of fescue strenuously defend the property and force players to rethink their club choices on every hole.
“Competitors should expect a fair but challenging test of their skills, course management and mental toughness to be successful,” continued Matyczuk. Bunkers at nearly every hole location and water lurking on 10 of the 18 holes makes approaching the green a challenge, pairing up formidably with a series of tight pin locations to challenge the short game of those who dare to be aggressive at The Legends Golf Club.
“Historically having success in a Next Gen Championship will open up new opportunities and provides validation that they can compete amongst the best in Canada. We are confident that our links-style layout will identify the top performers from the field of 30 Girls and 90 Boys as they compete for not only the individual titles, but for exemptions into the Canadian Junior Girls Championship and the Canadian Junior Boys Championship later this summer.”
To follow the live leaderboard of the NextGen Prairie 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.