Medicine Hat pro misses out on winning Alberta Open by two strokes

The winner Heffernan from Calgary was consistent shooting 67 all three rounds.

Heffernan was excited to win his first Alberta Open title since 2018.

“I’ve been lucky enough to win it a few times, but it’s been six years. And the last few years I’ve kind of been in contention, but not really, and kind of been lapped,” Heffernan said.

“Today it kind of turned out my way, so it was good.”

Heffernan said the competition was strong for the final round.

“It was really tight. I think I was fortunate today to start kind of behind. Mitch [Fox] was two shots ahead, and the guys I was playing with went out really fast. Andrew Harrison, I think was 6-under [par] through 7, so he was coming fast, and Mitch was 4 under [par],” Heffernan said.

“I had to keep up, and I think that helped me kind of get into it and get a good score going, and then I kind of ended up making a couple birdies here and there, and all of a sudden I took over the lead,” he added.

“There was a little bit of faltering at the end, and it turned out in my favor, which was nice. It doesn’t always happen that way.”

Heffernan is familiar with winning the event having taken home the title Alberta Open seven times now.

“I’m one of the older guys in the field, so it’s nice to kind of still be playing well and kind of keeping up to the younger guys,” Heffernan said.

“This was my first time here, and the minute I stepped on the property, I was wowed by the scenery and just the vistas here, and just the quality of this golf course is amazing. So I was blown away with how good it was,” he added.

“I think that helped me play well this week. I just kind of fell in love with the golf course right from the get-go, and the greens were just unbelievably perfect.”

Heffernan plans on coming back to Desert Blume Golf Club after competing at the course for the first time during the event.

“I definitely wouldn’t want to miss this one again. Like I said, I was blown away, so it was a pleasure to play it, for sure.”

Local Michael Valk was the top amateur in the event shooting an 8-under par over the three days, finishing 7th overall.

The finished locked in a spot on Team Alberta at the 2025 Pacific Coast Amateur.

Valk’s score of 65 on Wednesday tied Mitchell Fox and Scott Stiles for the best single round of the tournament.

Local amateurs Ryan Hodgins and Ryan Werre both finished at 2-under par over the three rounds, with Hodgins given the 13th spot and Werre 14th.

The remaining local amateurs and pros golfing the final day all finished above par over the three rounds.

Ryan Vallely (amateur), four-over, 25th
Wyatt Bishop (amateur), six-over, 33rd
Owen Bruins (amateur), seven-over, 35th
Adam Antkowiak (amateur), nine-over, 38th
Nolan Burzminksi (amateur), 10-over, 42nd
Corey Eakins (amateur), 10-over, 43rd
Trevor Ellerman (pro), 12-over, 46th
Brett Buye (pro), 13-over, 49th
Sam Bratvold (amateur), 15-over, 57th
Mark Hutchings (amateur), 22-over, 62nd

The full leaderboard can be viewed through Alberta Golf.

by Jesse Gill

Medicine Hat pro misses out on winning Alberta Open by two strokes

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