What’s new with the AGA? A lot of good things happening
Jeff Ranf, AGA President
The Alaska Golf Association is celebrating its 67th anniversary this year. Since 1959, the AGA has been the heartbeat of the Alaskan golf community, connecting golfers from Juneau to Fairbanks. And, we’ve been going through a lot of necessary changes lately.
One of those overdue changes is launching our new website. With the help of Brian Hild, we have completely revamped and created the new look of the Alaska Golf Association. If you haven’t seen it yet, head over to akgolf.org to take a look.
The site will keep our members informed about not just AGA events happening, but general Alaska golf news. We hope for this to be a hub for all things Alaska golf, not just competitive events. We’re committed to developing, promoting, and preserving the game in Alaska. If you have an event at your home club that you’re interested in promoting via Alaska Golf Association communications, please feel free to share the information via email. We’ll get it posted.
A lot of members have enquired about the status of Palmer Municipal Golf Course. We had a very productive meeting with the course staff recently. Although we are moving our events this year, we’re excited to work with them through this summer and in the future to promote golf in the Mat-Su Valley. They will be hosting an event on April 29th, from 5pm-7pm, and we encourage any of our members to attend and meet the staff.
The AGA has been proactive this year in aligning a schedule that best meets the needs of the organization, its members, and most importantly the courses themselves. Settlers Bay will play host to the first three events of the season beginning with the Spring Jackpot, followed by the Alaska State Match Play Championship, and the Alaska Senior Amateur Championship.
For the first time, in a long time, the AGA will be coordinating two separate Alaska Junior Amateur events. The first will feature players aged 13-17 on July 15th at the Moose Run Hill Course. The second will feature players ages 6-12 on July 22nd at Fox Hollow Golf Course. We are excited about taking on a bigger role in the development of our junior players and look forward to expanding upon this initial experience.
Perhaps the biggest change to occur for the 2026 season is the format changes to the Alaska State Amateur. After deliberating with the USGA, other state organizations, and especially our partner WA Golf, the board determined it was necessary to make changes that align nationally with other state amateurs. Since this event will act as a qualifier for the U.S. Amateur, the national championship conducted by the USGA, participants can apply if they posses a handicap of 7 or less. The winner will gain automatic entry into the U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania on August 10-16. Entries will be capped at 48 players for the Alaska State Amateur, with new qualifying and exemption criteria to be introduced in 2027.
As an alternative to those who do not qualify for the 2026 Alaska State Amateur, we are proud to announce the addition of a new event, The Last Frontier Championship. This event will be a stroke play event for men and women that will feature gross and net scoring with multiple flights. The top two finishers will gain exemption into the 2027 Alaska State Amateur. The Last Frontier Championship will take place at Chena Bend Golf Course in Fairbanks on August 14-16. The first two rounds will be by tee times, and the final day will be a shotgun start.
As part of our duty to the USGA, we will be hosting three USGA Qualifying Events that will be managed by WA Golf. The U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifier, the U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifier, and the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Qualifier will all take place between July and August. Those interested in signing up should direct their attention to the USGA site for registration.
We are happy to announce that WA Golf, on behalf of the AGA, has applied for and received the USGA P.J. Boatwright Intern Grant. The internship will be awarded to a college-aged individual who wants to learn golf administration, tournament operations, community engagement, and expand their horizons beyond playing. So far, we’ve had several individuals express interest in applying, and we look forward to introducing our intern for the 2026 season soon.
We are thrilled with the advancements the AGA has made in such a short time since partnering with WA Golf. Although change is difficult, we believe that the AGA will be in a stronger position to unify the golf community in the state of Alaska and advance the initiatives to improve our organization.
Lastly, we want to remind our members we are now located at 11801 Brayton Dr., home of Fox Hollow Sports Dome & Golf Course. More importantly, we thank Zach Perry & Cathy Geerin, owners of Fox Hollow, for being so accommodating and supportive of the game in Alaska.