Paradise Canyon tapped to host major tournaments
By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on March 30, 2025.
Herald photo by Al Beeber
Paradise Canyon country club owner, Ron Sakamoto, right, talks with the course's executive golf professional Matt Barkway at Friday's announcement of two major Alberta amateur events being hosted in June.LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com
Paradise Canyon Country Club will play host two a pair of major amateur golf events in late June including the Alberta Mens Amateur Championship which returns to the course for the first time since 1993.
That tournament, featuring Alberta’s top amateur men, runs four days from June 25-27. And some of those golfers will be sticking around for the weekend when the Alberta Golf Tour hits the course for two days on June 28-29.
The two premier golf events were announced Friday at Paradise Canyon, along with a new tourism marketing campaign being launched April 2 by the Lethbridge Lodging Association through its VisitLethbridge.com brand that is aimed at boosting travel to Lethbridge and extending the stay of visitors.
According to the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association, hotel occupancy in Lethbridge last year increased by 8.6 per cent over 2023 for the same period, said LLA project manager Shilpa Stocker. That increase was the highest in Alberta.
The Alberta Mens Amateur will bring 120 golfers to the city, 60 of whom will make the cut to play for the championship, said Paradise Canyon executive golf professional Matt Barkway. A team of four will be chosen to represent Alberta at the Canadian championship.
The Alberta Golf Tour event, which opens the day after the championship, is a wide open affair for golfers of different skill levels from scratch to 30 handicap, said PGA of Canada head golf professional Jae Maegaard who has worked as a pro at Paradise since 2004.
The stroke play event is one of four Alberta Golf Tour two-day events scheduled for 2025, he noted during a morning press event hosted by course owner Ron Sakamoto.
For 26 straight years, Paradise Canyon has been voted the No. 1 golf course in southern Alberta and it is rated among Canada’s top 60 courses.
The golf course, noted Barkway, is working with VisitLethbridge.com to support hotels, businesses and restaurants in the city with thousands of golfers travelling here each year from across Canada.
The mandate of Visitlethbridge.com and the LLA is to see visitors stay in Lethbridge longer, said Stocker, noting that tourism here can also attract potential businesses to establish here and people to set up residency.
The foundation of its new campaign comes from the LLA’s relationship with Paradise Canyon.
Stocker pointed out that American tariffs present a unique opportunity to attract visitors from not only Alberta but B.C. and Saskatchewan while the low value of the Canadian dollar compared to its American counterpart may attract visitors from Montana as well, said Stocker.
The campaign includes golf and stay packages as well as concert packages for those guests of participating hotel properties.
There will also be experience packages for people interested in such things as wine crafting.
“In partnership with local businesses, we hope to encourage visitors to extend their stay in Lethbridge eat at local restaurants, shop and enjoy attractions in addition to the experience that we are offering, says Stocker.
For golfers in the two June events, their experience will on a course that hasn’t seen seen changes since 1993 when the Amateur was last held there but one is the lengthening of hole No. 9 in the early 2000s with the course standing the test of time.
Paradise Canyon has hosted other major events including the Canadian Mens Amateur in 2008 which had among its players future PGA Tour members Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor and Corey Connors. For two years, the course also hosted the Paradise Canyon Open which was an Alberta stop on PGA Canada’s tour.
One stretch that Barkway feels will play a big role in the pursuit of the Charles Scott Memorial Trophy starts on the back nine with the 10th through 12 holes which he says offer tough challenges, particularly when the direction comes into play.
Maegaard says the course’s first three holes on both front and back nines are key to building momentum on a quality round.
“It won’t take long to be frustrated if you hit it short side or long of the pins,” he says, noting that Paradise Canyon is known for its fast, undulating greens where precise approach shots are a priority.
“If you find yourself missing greens by a little margin, you will be working very hard to save pars, he says.
23-22
it best play out WITHOUT more lethbridge tax dollars being sent to the owner, again. a few years back it was $750k our great city hero pocketed via our tax coffers.