Westlock's Men’s Open title heading north

WESTLOCK – Thirty-six holes wasn’t enough to decide the winner of last weekend’s Westlock Golf Club’s Men’s Open with Slave Lake’s Chad Caron defeating Jadan Patel on the third hole of a four-hole playoff to claim the title.

Caron and Patel dominated the championship flight of the Aug. 5-6 event, posting identical scores of 152 to force the Sunday-afternoon playoff — Caron opened the tournament with a 79, then posted the best round of the weekend with a 73 on Sunday. Course general manager Ryan Provencal said it was an exciting finale that capped a great weekend of golf, that saw 49 men spread across four flights. Although he would have liked to see a few more golfers take part, Provencal said they’ll probably look to change the date in 2024 to not conflict with the long weekend.

“The play was really high. Chad shot a 72 on the final day and the young Patel put up a 75 on Sunday so it was good,” said Provencal.

The course will be busy for the remainder of the month with the Par 3 Shoot-out Aug. 19, while the Club Championship goes the weekend of Aug. 26. The annual shootout, which is fundraiser for the club, sees all 18 holes converted to Par 3s with golfers having 18 chances to win $10,000 for a hole-in-one, while there are also five, $1 million prizes.

“It’s a fundraiser strictly for us and goes directly to improvements at the course. We’ll max it out, so there’ll be more than 100 golfers,” said Provencal.

Provencal loving his new gig

Provencal is in the first year of a two-year contract to manage the facility and said the job is a dream come true.

The Westlock native, who previously owned the NAPA Auto Parts store, took over in the spring and said he’s been getting nothing but positive comments. Provencal, who dabbled in the game as a kid but started taking it more seriously in his 20s became what’s termed an “apprentice professional” of the PGA of Canada in 2020. Joining Provencal at the course is Ryan Craig, another Westlock native, who’s also an “apprentice professional” and spent the last two years in Barrhead.

“I love it. The course is in great shape and members seem happy,” said Provencal. “My goal this year was just to create a more personal feel and I think we’ve been successful. And with me and Ryan, we have two professionals on staff, which is unique for a small-town course.”

Provencal said they’ve been trying to rebuild good will in the community and grow the game by offering more junior-level programs.

“We’re seeing faces we haven’t seen in a long time,” said Provencal. “Honestly, I hope I can stay here until I can’t work anymore. Sure, there’s long days and challenges just like any job, but I just love it here.”