WESTLOCK — Westlock and area golfers are preparing for the RBC PGA Scramble Saturday (July 21) at the Westlock Golf Club.
The tournament is one of several local qualifiers in Alberta taking place from May to July, with winners moving onto regional finals in August.
The RBC PGA Scramble now in its ninth year, is the largest grassroots amateur golf program in Canada that takes place at over 170 locations across the country, including the Westlock Golf Club. Winners of each local qualifier move on to participate in one of thirteen regional finals later this summer and from there, regional final winners will compete at the National Championship at the Cabot Links Golf Course in Nova Scotia this fall.
“Last year we had 18 teams participate. We had a couple of teams from Westlock and we’ve got more teams from Westlock this year but we drew (teams) from pretty much all over northern and central Alberta,” said Ryan Craig, noting Westlock is one of the last local qualifiers before the Alberta north regional finals, which is set for Aug. 29, at the Northern Bear Golf Course in Sherwood Park.
At select local qualifiers and regional finals, one spot will be awarded to the team with the lowest net score and one spot will be awarded to the team with the lowest gross score. There will also be two guaranteed spots at the National Final for all-female teams.
A press release about the event noted the program has steadily grown every year with last year featuring over 12,000 participants from coast-to-coast.
The Westlock RBC PGA Scramble begins at 11 a.m. and continues for much of the day, noted Craig, adding the tournament is played in a modified shotgun format, depending on the number of registered golfers.
“The qualifying team from here actually brings a PGA professional from the course with them. So either myself or (general manager) Ryan Provencal goes with them to the regional final and we play in a team of five there,” said Craig. “It’s a great event.”
For more information or to see a full list of local qualifiers in Alberta visit rbcpgascramble.com/local-qualifiers.
