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It’s been a summer of reminiscing at Innisfail Golf Club as this historic hangout — long considered one of Alberta’s hidden gems — celebrates its centennial season.

This week, they’ll be gazing into the future as they welcome some of the rising stars in the sport. Innisfail is playing host to the 2024 Canadian Junior Boys Championship, a four-round showdown that runs Tuesday-Friday and will feature the top 18-and-under sharpshooters from across the Great White North.

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“We’re thinking that inside this tournament is probably a future PGA Tour player,” said Dale Tomlinson, the general manager at Innisfail. “And probably even a multiple winner with how good the Canadians have been doing on tour lately.”

Certainly, the engravings on the Silver Cup would back that up.

The list of not-so-long-ago winners at the Canadian Junior Boys Championship is headlined by Nick Taylor, who became a national icon with his playoff victory at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open and was just digging divots at the Paris Olympics, and by Adam Svensson, another dude who is now a mainstay on the PGA Tour. (After a dominant performance against his junior peers in 2006, Taylor beamed: “It’s such a big deal to win this championship.”)

Going back further, you’ll find more marquee names, such as George Knudson.

This course — a 27-hole facility, with the tournament being contested on the Aspen and Spruce nines — has its share of history, too. During the 100th birthday party last month an Innisfail GC, they unveiled one of those towers clocks that you see at many of the top courses.

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“I’m looking at that clock right now, with a Canadian Junior sign right under it,” said Brett Kelly, a longtime member at Innisfail and chair of the tournament organizing committee, during a phone interview. “We wanted to make it kind of a picture spot for the kids, for their selfies and all that kind of stuff. So we set up the sign right by that centennial clock.”

On Friday afternoon, the winner of the Canadian Junior Boys Championship might be standing in that exact spot, snapping selfies with the trophy.

For these talented teens, many who will soon be headed south on NCAA golf scholarships, the key to success will be precision off the tee. It will be a long week for the wild things.

“If you hit it off-line, you’re probably hitting a provisional because it will be in the trees — and right now, you can’t find your shoes when you go in the trees,” warned Kelly, who’s been playing Innisfail for the past 35 years. “There will be some kids who will try to overpower it. Some will be successful in some areas and I’ll be thinking, ‘God, I’ve never hit a shot there in my life. I’ve never thought about it!’ And some will be heading back to their golf bag to grab another ball.”

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The field for the 2024 Canadian Junior Boys Championship includes 17 young birdie-machines from the Calgary area. Among them, Brett Jones (Glencoe) is riding the momentum of a victory earlier this summer at the Alberta Men’s Amateur Championship, while Charlie Gillespie (Canyon Meadows) prevailed at Golf Canada’s NextGen Western Championship.

“The course is in unbelievable shape right now. It’s really primed,” Tomlinson bragged. “It’s going to be a good, fair test for them. It will be tough. But considering how good these kids are, they’ll make some birdies, for sure.

“We’re expecting great things from these kids and we’re expecting some great scores. We’re very, very excited to host it.”

CHIP SHOTS

Lucas Ortega topped the leaderboard at the Calgary Golf Association’s City Amateur, which started with two spins at Water Valley before the action shifted to Inglewood. Ortega signed for a four-round tab of 5-under 281, three strokes ahead of runner-up Tim Hollman (Olds) … Mitch Fox (Speargrass) finished four shots clear of the competition at the PGA of Alberta’s Assistants Championship at Sirocco, where he sizzled to a two-day score of 13-under 131. Fox is, by the way, also a past champ at the Canadian Junior. He earned those bragging rights in 2005 … It was a repeat feat for Celina Lam, who successfully defended her crown at the Alberta Women’s Senior Championship at Pine Hills in Rocky Mountain House. Lam, who plays her home games at Canal at Delacour, posted a four-shot victory at 8-over 227 … David Schultz (Country Hills) had to work a bit of overtime to secure his latest provincial title. Schultz triumphed at the Alberta Men’s Senior Championship at Highwood, defeating Senan Foley on the second playoff hole. Both had finished three laps at 1-over 214.

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