INNISFAIL – Despite unpredictable weather and smoky skies the Innisfail Golf Club is moving boldly forward for its milestone Centennial Year and to host its first ever national championship.
It is doing so under the leadership of club general manager Kendall Keeley, who arrived in town 16 months ago.
He will be helped out with the able hands of new head professional Jeff McDowall, a native of Prince Edward Island, who most recently was a club pro at the Pitt Meadows Golf Club in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
“The pictures don’t do it justice. I was relying on word of mouth and I get out there and I didn’t realize there were that many contours and undulations,” said the 41-year-old McDowall, who was certainly aware of the club’s longstanding sterling reputation but never played on its course before being hired. “And I found the green complex is very distinct, and you see that sometimes from courses at older and well-established clubs.
“Sometimes, depending on the landscape that you build a golf course on, you’d kind of see a green on the side of a hill but this is a different kind of architecture, and it’s phenomenal.”
And so far McDowall has impressed club members and the public with his knowledge of golf and customer service skills.
“The feedback we've received from the membership so far has been very positive,” said Keeley. “It's great to hear from the members how much they enjoy working with Jeff and corresponding with him.”
For the 100th anniversary milestone, Keeley said the club wanted to ensure it was not just about the members but also the community of Innisfail, the past members, and the history of the club.
“There are a lot of people who cannot play golf anymore who are still attached to the club, or maybe those who come and use the restaurant that aren't a golfer that are still a part of our growth and success,” said Keeley. “What we did is just focus all of our energy on having one big day of celebration when we can invite everybody.”
The milestone celebration will be on Saturday, July 13; a day of fun for members and the community that will start at 4 p.m. and feature a complimentary barbecue starting at 5 p.m., and live entertainment by Cole Martin and Devin Cooper.
“One thing when we were talking about with the 100th year anniversary was to do something that we've never done before,” said Keeley. “We thought maybe hosting a national event would be a great hand-in-hand to do during our 100th year celebration and we’ve taken that and are running with it.”
The club’s first-ever national event will be the 2024 Canadian Junior Boys Championship from August 12 to 16.
Keeley said the club’s host committee has been formed with all committee chairs selected. They are now out in the community looking for sponsorship opportunities.
As for the weather, which since early April has been unpredictable, it did create a problem immediately after season-opening day on April 27.
“We opened on Saturday (April 27) and had two great days of golf. Monday wasn't great and then we lost three days with snow,” said Keeley.
“So, leading off we're getting some moisture that we do need,” he added. “We are under drought kind of warnings right now.”
Keeley emphasized there will be restrictions as the Alberta government has been “upfront” about the drought issue as the golf club takes water from the Red Deer River and has a licence with the province.
“We do have to report on how many gallons we're pulling from the Red Deer River,” said Keeley. “It's something that they're going to be on top of more frequently, asking for our meter reads more than once a year.”
However, the Innisfail club has taken its own initiatives to conserve water as it recognizes the current drought issue is “probably not going to be a one-year problem.
One of those initiatives is changing sprinkler heads, from 360 to 180 degrees, as the former ones are watering areas that are not required, especially in a time of drought threat.
“Now we can we can direct the water to where we need it to go instead of wasting water going into different areas,” said Keeley.
