Some of the best golfers in Alberta will tee off at the Paradise Canyon Golf Resort at the end of June for the 2025 Alberta Men’s Amateur Golf Championship.
It’s the first time the course has held the event since 1993.
“In terms of competition in Alberta, (it’s) the No. 1 event for amateur golfers,” said Matt Barkway, executive golf professional at Paradise Canyon.
“You’re going to see qualifiers in the north region, mid-central region and south region. People actually have to qualify to get into this event—you can’t just sign up.”
The June 25-27 event will see 120 amateurs compete for the title.
The top golfers of the championship will go on to compete in the Canadian Men’s Amateur Golf Championship—an event that has seen PGA Tour players Nick Taylor, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin compete.
“We could turn this golf course into a nightmare if we really wanted to as far as playability,” said Jae Maegaard, head golf professional at Paradise Canyon.
“We feel we don’t need to do that because if we get our trade winds and our normal prevailing winds here at Paradise, the first three holes on the front nine and the first three holes on the back nine will speak to what your score is going to be by the end of the day, so we’re pretty confident we have a course that can hold to the test of time and the skill level that is out there.”
While tournament action will run three days, Barkway expects golfers will each look to have at least one practice round before the event, with some staying in Lethbridge for up to one week.
The championship will also be open to spectators to take in the action for free.
“It’s always good to give back to the city and support everything here. For us to have an event like this and have that many people coming in, they get to see the city, see the sights, support local businesses—it’s pretty special for us,” said Barkway.
Experience Lethbridge longer
With hundreds of people anticipated to visit Lethbridge during the championship, the Lethbridge Lodging Association has launched its new Experience Lethbridge Longer campaign.
“When you have a premiere event in Lethbridge, we want to market everything else that there is to do for folks,” said Shilpa Stocker, project manager with the Lethbridge Lodging Association.
The campaign will offer special packages with a focus on getting visitors to stay in the city longer throughout the summer.
“The campaign, which will roll out across digital and social media platforms on April 2, will highlight the best of Lethbridge, from the award-winning Paradise Canyon, exciting concert lineups at VisitLethbridge.com Arena, to local experiences unique to Lethbridge,” said Stocker.
The association saw an 8.6 per cent increase in hotel bookings in 2024 in Lethbridge compared to the year before.
“Once people visit here and experience what we have, and especially if they stay a little longer, they view this community as a great place to invest, as a great place to stay,” said Stocker.
Those involved say the championship and new marketing campaign will go hand in hand to benefit the community as a whole.
“We’re advertising in Montana, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and all of Alberta to bring people down to Lethbridge, so that will really help to boost our economy,” said Ron Sakamoto, owner of Paradise Canyon.
Following the amateur championship, Paradise Canyon will host an Alberta Golf Tour stroke-play event on June 28-29.
