Alberta Golf – 7 golfers were within five shots of the lead to start the day at The Calgary Golf and Country Club for the final round of The Alberta Mens Amateur Championship.
Jakob Chicoyne and Paxton Maxwell were co-leaders to start the day. On the uphill par 5, 1st hole, Jakob Chicoyne put his second shot over the green into trouble, made double bogey and had to chase the rest of the day finishing in 5th place.
Above Braden O'Grady from Edmonton won this years Alberta Mens Amateur Championship held at the Calgary Golf & Country Club. Photo: Alberta Golf
Paxton Maxwell held the lead on his own after 5 holes and fought hard the entire day but ended up in a tie for 3rd place.
On the front nine it was clear that Braden O’Grady from Blackhawk Golf Club in Edmonton and Ethan Choi from The Lethbridge Country Club had the hot hand on the course. O’Grady just missed a putt for 29 on the front nine and ended up shooting 30, while Choi, playing in the same group drained a birdie at 9 to shoot 31 on the front.
Kai Iguchi from The Canmore Golf and Curling Club made a couple long putts on the front nine to shoot 33 and heading to the back nine O’Grady, Choi and Iguchi were tied atop the leaderboard at 4 under par.
Ethan Choi took the lead after a birdie on the par 5, 13th hole to get to 6-under par for the day and the tournament. After Choi made a bogey on the par 3, 15th hole he and O’Grady were tied again with Iguchi and Maxwell close behind. Kai Iguchi missed a short birdie putt on the par 4, 16th hole while minutes later Ethan Choi missed a short par saver on the par 3, 17th hole while Braden O’Grady made a clutch par saver on 17, O’Grady was in the driver seat with a one shot lead heading to 18.
Ethan Choi got into a tough spot in the bunker after his drive on 18 and ended up making a bogey to finish in a tie for 3rd with Paxton Maxwell. Braden O’Grady made a clutch 2 putt par on 18 and waited to see if Kai Iguchi could birdie 18 to catch him.
Iguchi made a great effort from 30 feet but it just slid by and Braden O’Grady was crowned champion after shooting a final round 64 for the title. O’Grady finished 3rd in the U19 Championship in Carstairs this summer and was low amateur at The Alberta Open Championship at Wolf Creek Golf and RV Resort 2 weeks ago.
The 17-year-old says winning this title is something he’ll never forget. “Oh ya this will be a week I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” beamed O’Grady. “The Calgary Golf and Country Club was amazing, such a good test of golf, it was awesome.”
Hailey Katona shoots 29 on back nine to take the Alberta Ladies Amateur Title (Photo above: Alberta Golf)
Alberta Golf (Sherwood Park) – Ontario’s Hailey Katona was in quite the battle in the final round of The 2021 Alberta Ladies Amateur Championship.
Starting the back nine she was tied with 2019 Alberta U19 Champion Grace Bell and BC’s Martina Yu. But Katona pulled away going birdie-birdie-eagle to start the back nine and added 3 more birdies for a back nine 29 and 66 for the day to win the title in impressive fashion.
Heather Lee from The Edmonton Country Club is both the Mid-Amateur and Mid-Master champion.