(Photo courtesy/Melfort Golf & Country Club)

By Ben Tompkins

Melfort Golf

Father-son duo win Gary Brandon Left/Right

Jun 9, 2025 | 12:40 PM

The 39th annual Gary Brandon Left/Right tournament was held in Melfort over the weekend, as golfers from across Saskatchewan, and even across Canada, returned for arguably the biggest tournament of the year.

This year, in particular, it was a newly formed father-son duo who took home the trophy.

“It’s very exciting, I’ve been playing this with my dad for probably the last 30 years, so it’s crazy, I never would have guessed my name would be on that plaque. My dad and I worked our way up from the fifth flight to the first flight, which we won a couple of years ago, but we had never won the championship flight. My son was finally of age this year, and I always told him, when he gets of age, we’ll probably switch things around, so it’s pretty exciting to play with my kid, he’s a bit of an upgrade, it was really fun, and it felt great,” explained Tyler Degelman.

“Growing up in Melfort, this was always the big tournament every year, so to win it is pretty cool, and I’m quite happy that my son and I get to put our names on the plaque with some pretty great other names of Melfort golfers… had to kick my dad off the team this year to get a little younger, so now I’m the dad and the old guy that’s not needed as much.”

Tyler played with his father Bob for the longest time, and now is ‘riding the coattails of his son’ Carter, who he described as a bit of a ‘ringer’.

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“He didn’t really get fully invested in golf until he was about 13 or 14. Hockey was more so the focus, but as he quickly got better, it made me try a little harder at the sport. He slowly started beating me and then really began to excel, and now he’s just finished his first year at an NCAA Division II school down by San Francisco,” Tyler added.

“It was definitely nice to be able to play alongside him, he’s definitely a bit of an upgrade, and it’s pretty to watch him swing… luckily I’m left-handed, I probably wouldn’t have a partner if I were right-handed. I guarantee you we wouldn’t have won this tournament without my son.”

The Degelman duo won the tournament by defeating a set of twins, Scott and Nolan Johnson, in the final match.

A chilly final match, and in its entirety, a cold and rainy weekend, as the tournament had to be postponed on Saturday, compiling nearly two full rounds into Sunday for a majority of the competitors.

Despite the challenges, however, the Degelmans persevered and made a memory for life.

“It’s a special tournament to me because I grew up here, and it’s the one time a year I come back to Melfort. Getting to come back to hang out with my mom and dad and play on my hometown course, with my son, it’s a full circle moment. It always had a special place for me, I was always excited to play this tournament, and I only play one tournament a year now, and that’s this one, so it was pretty cool,” Tyler concluded.

“I definitely think we’ll be back here again next year. Carter enjoyed it, the people are nice, he liked the course, and he really enjoyed the tournament, so as long as he can make it, we’ll be here again. He plays a lot of tournaments now, so it was nice to hear him say how much he liked this one too.”

For the full list of flight winners, visit the Melfort Golf & Country Club Facebook page.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8