Alberta Senior Men’s Championship underway at Desert Blume Golf Club

By JAMES TUBB on August 4, 2022.

NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Medicine Hat's Kelly Risling lines up his final putt for the first day of the 2022 Alberta Senior Mens Championship hosted by the Desert Blume Golf Club.

jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The City of Medicine Hat and Desert Blume Golf Club are playing host to some of the province’s best senior golfers.

The Alberta Senior Men’s Championship teed off Tuesday at Desert Blume Golf Club, with the three-day event run by Alberta Golf hosting 120 players from across the province to compete not only for the title but for the opportunity to play at the Canadian Championship in Red Deer from Sept. 6-9.

The first round got underway early Wednesday morning with some scores in the 60s, and ties making the cut following round two on Thursday.

Trevor Ellerman, general manager of Desert Blume Golf Club, said the tournament is an opportunity to showcase the course and city.

“It’s quite exciting. We have 120 of the best senior golfers in Alberta coming out to play our golf course and get the opportunity to showcase our facility course and the city of Medicine Hat as well,” Ellerman said. “We’re quite excited to host them and see how much they like the city and course.”

He said it’s the first time under this ownership group they have hosted an event of this calibre and said he is excited they can get their feet wet at it.

Of the 120 senior golfers in action, there are nine locals teeing it up and competing at the tournament.

Hatters Bill Bishop from Desert Blume and Kelly Risling from Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club, both sit tied for 10th place after an opening day round of 74, putting them two over to start the tournament.

Risling said he played well in his opening round but did not get the putting he needed to get a lower score.

“I hit 17 greens in regulation but had five three putts, so I was 37, 37 and 74 for two over, which isn’t terrible,” Risling said.” But putting, it’s difficult if you leave the approaches in the wrong places. It’s hard to two putt; I did that about three times today and they turned into three putts. It was a solid round, I didn’t shoot myself out. You can’t win it the first day, as they say, but you can lose it the first day.”

Risling is part of the Medicine Hat Sports Wall of Fame for his golf game, having won dozens of local tournaments in the past. He was the Alberta mid-amateur champion in 1996 and runner-up in 2009. In 2015, Risling earned a spot at the Canadian Senior Men’s Championship, also at Desert Blume, where he represented the Gas City by finishing tied for 16th.

He said it’s nice to have a provincial tournament within the city limits.

“It’s really good, you will sleep in your own bed,” Risling said.

Warren Gnam from Connaught Golf Club sat tied for 17th after his opening round with a score of 75 for three over par. He said he was excited for the tournament, especially because it was in Medicine Hat.

“I was looking forward to it because it’s the seniors provincials, you only get it once a year,” Gnam said. “I haven’t played that many tournaments because of COVID and everything going on, so it’s nice to get it together and meet some of the guys I’ve met through the years.”

Warren Clunie from Cottonwood Golf and Country Club had an opening round of 79, putting him tied for 39th to start the championship tournament. Hatters Brad Norton from Desert Blume and Perry Rasmussen from Connaught both were tied for 48th after shooting 80 on Wednesday. Darin Dunlop from Cottonwood shot an 83 in his opening round, putting him tied at 73. Sparky McCulloch from Desert Blume finished his opening round with a score of 85, tying him for 87th. Bryan Cowan from Cottonwood was tied for 96th after shooting 86 on Wednesday.

Allan Ross from Calgary Golf and Country Club sat atop the leaderboard with an opening round of 67.

Editors note: A previous version of the story stated there was eight local golfers participating in the tournament, there are nine. Bryan Cowan from Cottonwood was tied for 96th after shooting 86 on Wednesday.