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Sylvan Laker putt to Alberta Junior Championship title

Carter Graf, 18, topped the scoreboard with one under par at Highwood Golf and Country Club
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Sylavn Lake’s Carter Graf, 18, smiles after his Alberta Junior Championship win at Highwood Golf and Country Club on July 5. Photo Submitted.

The Alberta Junior Championship golf title is held by a Sylvan Laker.

Carter Graf, 18, played his way to the title at Highwood Golf and Country Club in High River July 2-5.

Graf secured the victory by a single stroke coming in at one under par.

“I knew coming into that final hole that I had to make par, which made it really stressful because it’s not the easiest hole,” said Graf, who golfs out of Red Deer Golf and Country Club, “… in a situation like that it’s a lot harder. It feels like the hole shrinks for sure.”

After the first two rounds Graf was sitting at seven under and was feeling confident about the tournament, but had a rough third day pushing him back towards the rest of the field on the leaderboard.

He said the last round of play was on edge from the first shot to the last putt.

“It was definitely really stressful, but I love that about tournament golf,” Graf added. “It’s where you get put into those situations to really see what you’re made of.”

Graf has been playing the tournament for several years and went in looking for a win.

He says the win is something he “wanted really bad” and was relieved to see that final putt drop.

“It’s my provincial junior, it holds a special meaning, so to get it done was pretty exciting,” Graf said.

The golfer describes the Alberta Junior Championship title as one of the bigger wins in his career, if not the biggest.

The win showed that his hard work paid off and gives him confidence moving forward, explained Graf.

“It was awesome,” gushed Graf of finally securing the tournament’s top spot. “I’ve had lots of buddies win and I’ve always looked up to those guys who’ve won it.”

Next for Graf is the Alberta Amateur tournament and then a U.S. Amateur qualifier in Montana before heading off to university. The freshman will play with the North Carolina State University.

His advice for young golfers looking to work their way up through the rankings is to have fun with it

“Just keep on practicing and working hard and it will go somewhere,” said Graf.