The 2024 Saskatchewan Junior Golf Championships will be held at Deer Park Municipal Golf Course in Yorkton next July.
Already a busy golf course for competitive junior events in the province including the Maple Leaf Junior Tour and the Canadian Junior Golf Association, Director of Golf Services Allan Sauser said they have noticed an uptake in junior golf in the city and the excitement of hosting the provincials will only help grow the game.
“It is really exciting for us,” Sauser said. “We have seen a strong resurgence with the junior membership this last year. With the Dr. Brass Academy, we have seen some solid golfers playing a little more golf and being affiliated with a school, that’s certainly the right direction for us.”
The 18-hole championship course last hosted a provincial event in 2020 when Sauser and the Deer Park staff took on the task of hosting the Senior Championships on short notice during the pandemic. The last time the under-19 championships were held in the east-central Saskatchewan city was in 2015. A pair of Prince Albert golfers were crowned champions that year with Brooke Hobson and Cory Selander each won in playoffs. Sauser was there for the event, and many others over the years. He said with the addition of the recently built clubhouse the event and course will provide the players with a great week.
“It’s been a few years, so it is exciting. It’s always nice to host a provincial tournament or a national tournament every few years. It’s exciting because people from other areas come to the golf course, also the new clubhouse, it’s also a good opportunity to get some fresh faces in there as well,” Sauser said.
Since the 2020 senior event the course has made some alterations not including the clubhouse. The signature par-3 hole-8 has been redone, still a magnificent par-3, plus the new seventh green will be in play as it was under construction in 2020. Sauser said those improvements simply add to an already fantastic layout at the course.
“Number eight has always been a fantastic hole and it’s hard to believe they could improve on what it was, so it’s turned out to be a great hole. The new green, the other one was flat, this one has more angulation and is definitely trickier. The new holes are definitely making the golf course a little more exciting,” he said.
The 54-hole championships will be held from July 3-5, with practice rounds being played on July 2. New junior champions will be crowned in Yorkton, as defending champions Sarah Armstrong and Luke Cote each graduated to amateurs. Golf Saskatchewan Manager of Championships and Rules Alex Schmidt said Deer Park will provide everything needed for a great week of golf.
“Deer Park has always been a great place to visit and play,” she said. “The course is playable from all tees, the staff is always fantastic, and now with that beautiful new clubhouse, a couple hole renovations, I can’t wait to see how everything plays out in July in Yorkton.”
Registration will open on April 15.
