It feels strange for something to be celebrated in 2020 — questionable, almost. How? Why? But there’s no doubt in my mind that in Canada these last 12 months, golf was the sport of the year.
“When you look at it from a grassroots perspective — we were able to play. We had one of the most memorable years and more people played golf than in our recorded history, which is an amazing thing,” Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum told Sportsnet.
“When we sat here after the first quarter of the year, we really weren’t sure when things were going to happen … and then we were able to play. We were able to play safely. We were able to play robustly. And all of a sudden we became one of the things people really looked forward to with friends, family, and colleagues.”
Unlike in America, there is no organization here that oversees and tracks rounds played. However, Golf Canada has an online portal where its members can enter scores, and in 2020 they were entering them in record numbers. All of June, July, August, September and October broke previous high marks. Outside of golf-travel companies and courses that sit close to the U.S.-Canada border and rely on American traffic, it was a great year for the sport in terms of who played, and how much.
Applebaum said he and his team were very aware of the economic, physical, and mental hardships so many had to endure this year. That’s why, he said, he felt more responsible for golfers’ safety in 2020.
“People returned to the game, they came to the game for the first time, and the golf courses around the country did an amazing job in welcoming people safely to the tee in a way that we’ve never seen before,” said Applebaum.
One thing that didn’t happen in 2020, however, was the playing of the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open. The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada also cancelled its 2020 campaign.
Despite the Toronto Raptors playing out of Tampa, Fla., and rumours swirling that the NHL will have an all-Canadian division in its upcoming season, Applebaum said the organization is still focused on hosting the RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s Golf and Country Club (in Toronto) and the CP Women’s Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club (in Vancouver) in 2021.
“All of our energy is towards these two great sites, and working with officials at every level – city, provincial and federal – to make that a reality,” said Applebaum.
Still, Applebaum said there was plenty for Canadian golf fans to cheer about in 2020 in terms of professional golf.
The sport was one of the first to return to action and, despite a handful of positive tests, the travelling roadshow pressed on. New tournaments were added on both the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour, timelines were pivoted, and golf was played.
The PGA Tour was also the first major sports league to announce its schedule for 2021.
Applebaum’s top three moments of 2020 were seeing four Canadians tee it up at the Masters together (especially after Nick Taylor’s second career PGA Tour victory in February); Brooke Henderson playing so well at the majors (the LPGA Tour’s final two events of the year are happening in mid-December); and to see Mackenzie Hughes go on a wonderful run in the second half of the year, making it to the Tour Championship.
Taylor’s second PGA Tour victory – which came in February at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after a Sunday battle with Phil Mickelson – all but guaranteed him a spot in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. Everyone with two or more PGA Tour victories are already elected members.
Hughes missed nine of his first 11 cuts to start the season, but he finished runner-up at The Honda Classic right before the three-month COVID-19 break. After that he missed only one cut the rest of the way and had five top-15 finishes to end the season.
He and his wife, Jenna, just welcomed their second child (a son, Cohen Alan) to the family, and Hughes said he can look back on the season-that-was with confidence.
“I started to get on rolls and get momentum going and confidence built up. From there I just started playing golf and not thinking about too many things,” said Hughes of his hot streak.
Hughes’ mom, Sandra, is a nurse back in Hamilton, Ont., and he said he spent the year admiring her and the efforts from all the front-line workers. During the COVID-19 break he said he was able to take on new perspectives from being forced to be home for a long period of time – something he doesn’t get to do as a professional golfer.
Looking ahead to 2021, he’s already excited at the opportunity to tee it up at the Masters, and to keep tightening the screws on a couple parts of his game that he said need improvement.
For the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, Hughes was in the top 10 in two key short-game statistical categories, but he was 168th and 172nd in two key long-game categories.
“I look at the stats and I’m very aware of them, but I know the most important stat is your score,” said Hughes. “There are areas to be better at, but I still had this great season.
“I just need to hit it like my pal Corey Conners, and [keep] putting and chipping the way I am and I should be all set.”
Thoughtful holiday gifts for the golfer in your life
Gift card to a big box store? OK. You can buy stuff. Gift card to a Golf Club? WAYYY BETTER. You can buy stuff, play golf, rent a cart, buy lunch, buy refreshments, use them towards memberships, enter events….etc…etc… Buy them online at https://t.co/DXeg1f7AsN
— Listowel Golf Club (@lgc1920) November 23, 2020
“Golf clubs have the answer to the eternal question of what to buy the golfer,” says the tweet’s author, Brenden Parsons. Parsons, the club’s director of operations, says your local golf facility most likely offers a variety of gift options that will make for a very special Christmas for the golfer on your list — or yourself.
Here are a few examples. Check with your local golf facility to see what they offer.
Online Shopping
Listowel GC offers an online store featuring gift cards of various denominations, golf clubs, footwear and apparel. One unique option is the Christmas Date Night Box which, depending on which level you select, offers a variety of appetizers and even wine. Share it with your partner or even arrange a Zoom party where everyone enjoys their own “Date Night” selection at home. Call it a virtual office Christmas party. “Our food and beverage team came up with the concept,” says Parsons. “It somewhat offsets the fact that there will be no Christmas or New Year’s parties this year.”
Visit the Golf Canada online shop to select logoed gear ranging from apparel, footwear, bags and balls to mementoes of the association’s 125th Many items are discounted for holiday shopping.
There’s a selection of top-level golf garb in FootJoy’s online Holiday Gift Guide and a dozen personalized Titleist balls is a perfect stocking stuffer.
Check out your provincial association’s website for golfy gifts. For example, a couple offer 2-for-1 cards for green fees and Golf Ontario hosts a “12 Days of Christmas” auction. Worth a look!
The ubiquitous gift card is put to good use by many golf clubs. The options range from cash value redeemable at the course to paying part or all of a membership and/or a cart package, packs of green fees, lessons, club fittings and other services. “This reinforces the value of the club professional,” says Adam Frederick, communications manager for the PGA of Canada. “They are great retailers and experts in instruction and club fitting. This is especially important if you are looking for a gift for a new or junior golfer. Get them started on the right track.”
Donations
Make a donation to the Golf Canada Foundation in the name of the gift’s recipient. The Foundation, a registered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association, raises and grants funds for the advancement of golf in Canada in five main areas: junior golf, collegiate golf, women’s golf, high-performance golf and heritage.
Members at Cataraqui Golf and Country Club in Kingston, Ont., get a chance at an additional 20 per cent off their holiday purchase if they drop off a non-perishable food item at the pro shop.
If you live in the Greater Toronto Region, how about a gift certificate for a one- or two-hour fitting session at the Titleist National Fitting Centre located at Eagle’s Nest Golf Club? (Call 905-553-8555 for details.) Specialty shops like Modern Golf, TXG, GolfTEC and others offer winter specials for club fittings, lessons and more.
Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto offers a variety of services including a holiday cooking class and their own label honey and chutney. Glencoe Golf and Country Club in Calgary has an online holiday marketplace.
Aside from providing great value, patronizing your golf club helps support the industry which, like us all, has suffered due to the economic downturn caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Another aspect of giving a gift certificate for future golf-related activities or purchases is that it provides a much-needed sense of optimism for a 2021 golf season full of promise, good health and lots of time outside on the course.
Merry Golfmas!]]>
Henderson, Sharp in 156-player field at U.S. Women's Open
MIDLAND, MICHIGAN - JULY 19: Teammates Brooke Henderson (L) and Alena Sharp walk to the sixth green during round three of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational at Midland Country Club on July 19, 2019 in Midland, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced that the field for the 75th U.S. Women’s Open Championship is complete with the addition of 28 players who earned their way into the championship through the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. The final major championship of the 2020 golf season will be contested Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. The 156-player field for the championship is composed entirely of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The historic 75th anniversary field boasts nine U.S. Women’s Open champions, while 42 players will be making their championship debuts in Houston. The field will also have seven Texas residents, including 2016 champion Brittany Lang, who grew up in McKinney.
The 28 players who gained entry via the Rolex Rankings are: Hae Ran Ryu, Sophia Popov, Ayaka Furue, Yuka Saso, Sakura Koiwai, Na Rin An, Song Yi Ahn, Erika Hara, Yuna Nishimura, Ji Hyun Kim, Anne van Dam, Alena Sharp, Lala Anai, Eri Okayama, Cristie Kerr, Pornanong Phatlum, Jun Min Lee, Ji Hun Oh, Emily Kirstine Pedersen, Mi Jeong Jeon, Maria Fernanda Torres, Bo Ah Kim, Teresa Lu, Wei-Ling Hsu, Ye Rim Choi, Asuka Kashiwabara, Sarah Schmelzel, and So Yi Kim.
Hae Ran Ryu won the Jeju Samdasoo Masters in 2019 to earn her LPGA of Korea Tour card and successfully defended her title in August. The 19-year-old also has two runner-up finishes among her six top-10s this year. She will be making her U.S. Women’s Open debut.
Popov will be making her second U.S. Women’s Open start. Since turning professional in 2014, Popov has mainly played on the Symetra Tour, but she earned three tournament wins on the Cactus Tour during the COVID-19 break before earning her first major victory at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon in August.
Kerr is one of the nine U.S. Women’s Open champions set to compete in Houston. The seasoned veteran earned her first major title in the 2007 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, finishing two strokes ahead of the runners-up. Kerr has 20 LPGA Tour wins, including a second major championship title at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2010. This is Kerr’s 22nd straight Women’s Open appearance, with seven top-10 finishes in addition to her victory.
The USGA announced on April 3 that the 75th U.S. Women’s Open, initially scheduled for June 4-7, would be moved to Dec. 10-13. To account for reduced daylight, the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club will be used in Rounds 1 and 2 along with the Cypress Creek Course, which was originally slated to host all four rounds of championship play. In June, the USGA announced that the championship would be conducted without traditional qualifying and on Oct. 21, the USGA announced that the championship would not have fans on-site due to health and safety concerns resulting from the ongoing pandemic.
Considered the world’s premier women’s golf championship, the U.S. Women’s Open is one of 14 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. The championship began in 1946 and its winners include Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright, Hollis Stacy, Amy Alcott, Meg Mallon, Annika Sorenstam, Se Ri Pak, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Inbee Park and Michelle Wie.
Click here for the full field.]]>
Kevin Blue named Chief Sport Officer of Golf Canada
The press conference to introduce the new Atheltic Director Kevin Blue on May 17, 2016.
“Golf has impacted my life in extraordinary ways,” said Blue. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to return home and help to extend the reach of our sport to more Canadians. I’m also very excited to partner with our athletes, coaches, and many others in the golf community nation-wide to continue building Canada’s global prominence in the sport we love.”
As Director of Athletics for the University of California, Davis, Blue oversaw a $41M athletic department featuring 25 collegiate teams. He led record-setting fundraising campaigns at UC Davis that supported coaching endowments, athlete scholarships, and the construction of multi-million-dollar facilities including a $52M student-athlete performance centre currently under construction. In addition to facilitating all-time academic results for student-athletes and competitive success on the field of play, he implemented a formal diversity, equity and inclusion strategy for coaches and senior-level hires as well as mandatory implicit bias training for all employees.
Prior to joining UC Davis, Blue honed his executive management skills over three years as the Senior Associate Athletic Director, External Relations with Stanford University where he had oversight of key external business units including ticket sales, sponsorships, marketing, communications, business strategy, ticket operations, fan experience, and video. As a key member of the athletic department senior executive team, he contributed to strategic planning, policy, personnel, sponsor relations, and university integration in addition to launching the Pac-12 Network at Stanford. As a Lecturer at Stanford, he taught an introductory Sport Psychology course and constructed a curriculum that surveyed topics related to peak performance, talent development and mental health. He also taught a graduate level course on Strategic Management for Sport Business at the University of San Francisco.
Other leadership roles during his time at Stanford included three years as Associate Athletic Director and two years as an Athletics Department Fellow. Prior to Stanford, Blue was involved in high-performance golf, providing sport psychology and short game coaching to professional and elite amateur golfers.
An accomplished amateur golfer growing up in Toronto, Blue played in numerous provincial and national amateur competitions and spent time with Golf Canada’s National Junior Golf Team (prior to the formation of the Team Canada program) and represented Canada at the 2001 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan. He attended Stanford University on a varsity golf scholarship where he earned his B.A. in Psychology, was a captain on the golf team, and was an NCAA Academic All-American.
He went on to attend Michigan State University where earned his Ph.D. in Sport Psychology and then completed an executive education program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Blue has authored a multitude of articles on topics related to sport, education, and business.
Blue will be returning to Canada with his wife Betsy and their four children and is set to begin his role as Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer in early January 2021.
NOTE: pictures of Kevin Blue are available here.]]>
We carry less cash – it is all about contactless digital payments. We go to school less – it is all about virtual distance learning. We do not go to work as much or see people face-to-face – it is all about remote working and Zoom meetings. So much for seeing your doctor in their office – we are now using Telehealth. Friday night at the movies or concerts have become almost nostalgic – it is now all about on-line entertainment and the increase of endless streaming services. We shop on-line like never before. We are ordering take-out like never before and we connect with loved ones using the internet much more than we ever would have imagined. The COVID-19 digital transformation is now part of the fabric of our lives and there is mostly likely an app for that or it is in the works.
“Many businesses across this land have been extremely busy creating and expanding digital platforms to maintain or grow their business, while connecting with old and new consumers in creative ways,” added Morbi. “The launch of Golf Canada’s bilingual app on August 1, 2020 was a perfect parallel with the smartphone app boom. It has hit a real sweet spot with Canadian golfers.”
Golf Canada experienced a tremendous 175% increase in net-new downloads of its app between August 1 and October 1. Monthly active users soared 77% over last year and monthly app sessions are up 67%. Score posting for handicap purposes has been hugely popular with users of the new app. Score posting for September 2020 was up 28% versus September 2019.
“In my books Golf Canada really hit a home run with this app and I’m looking forward to seeing what they have in store for 2021,” says Frank Novello, a member at Dundas Valley G&CC in Ontario. “I love the new interface. It is so simple to use. I really like the new options and user experience. Everything is at your fingertips. It’s awesome actually.”
Golfers can enter their scores on the app as they play hole-by-hole or at the end of a game. Shot-by-shot GPS is also hugely popular. Golfers can track a variety of stats including driving accuracy, greens in regulation, putting strokes, sand shots and up & downs. You can also add friends and track those scores following their rounds.
“All my buddies at Dundas Valley use it. We have a little Saturday morning match for a beer and we use the app to keep track of how everyone did. It is a ton of fun,” Novello adds, noting that due to COVID-19, the club, like many others, eliminated traditional scorecards and pencils as a safety precaution.
In September, Novello went on a buddies’ golf trip. The two foursomes played Lora Bay, Batteaux Creek, Monterra and Cobble Beach in the Collingwood area.
“Once you start using the app it simplifies the game,” he added. “It was easy to determine our handicaps for each of the courses based on slope and course rating of each course and using the GPS feature on a course you’re not familiar with proved to be a real shot saver.”
As the 2020 golf season winds down, Golf Canada is delighted with the success of the app to date. During a time when Canadians have been separated and distanced from each other as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the app allowed golfers to better connect with the game they love and those they play it with.
The app is available for download for both iOS and Android mobile devices from the App Store and Google Play at no cost. Some benefits and features require a Golf Canada membership to use.
“COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of digital readiness, which allows business and life to continue as usual – as much as possible – during pandemics,” Morbi says. “The Golf Canada App was our leap forward during a challenging year. We are preparing to include exciting new features including Shot Tracer and gaming for 2021 to build on the momentum and create a more connected golf community among our 1,400 member clubs and those who play the game.”
To download the new Golf Canada App – a free tool for Canadian golfers to enhance their course experience and go digital with their game – click here. ]]>
PGA Tour gets share of European Tour TV as part of alliance
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL - JANUARY 19: PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan addresses the media and employees during the PGA TOUR Global Home press conference at TPC Sawgrass on January 19, 2018 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The PGA TOUR unveiled the plans for a new 187,000 square-foot headquarters, which is expected to be completed in 2020. (Photo by Tracy Wilcox/PGA TOUR)
golf schedule around the world.
The deal effectively makes the two leading tours more partners than rivals. The tours said in a statement the alliance would allow them to collaborate on commercial opportunities and global media rights in certain territories.
“The PGA Tour moves from a competitor to a partner,” Keith Pelley, chief executive for the European Tour, said on a conference call.
While seen as a pivotal first step, any notion of a world tour _ which golf executives have contemplated for more than a decade _ remains some years away. The immediate goal is to figure out a schedule that keeps the tours from competing against each other and strengthening events on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
Pelley offered few details on scheduling, access to tours or even negotiating media rights.
As part of the agreement, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan will join the European Tour board as a non-executive member who would have a vote. “They have a monetary investment in our business,” he said of the PGA Tour.
Pelley said the board’s approval of the partnership was unanimous.
The announcement is likely to put an end to the Premier Golf League, which a year ago was courting the world’s best players for a team-based circuit and funded in part by Saudi money. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka rejected the idea right before the pandemic.
Pelley said The Raine Group, a private equity firm behind the Premier Golf League, presented a “compelling offer to take the European Tour to another level but in a different direction.”
“We felt partnering with the PGA Tour was the best option,” he said.
Pelley said the partnership grew out of golf organizations having to work together at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to rearrange the major championship season for men and women.
“We shared the challenges of working through a year neither of us could have ever imagined and we found definite synergies in many areas of our respective tours,” Pelley said.
The announcement comes toward the end of a devastating year financially for both tours. The PGA Tour has lost more money than the European one because of its size, though it had more in reserve to handle the crisis.
The PGA Tour shut down for three months, and then resumed June 8 and played a tournament every week except for this one, with no reduction in prize money. Two of its Asia tournaments, in South Korean and Japan, moved to the western U.S. with a purse of $9.75 million (CJ Cup at Shadow Creek) and $8 million (Zozo Championship at Sherwood).
The European Tour resumed in July with a series of new tournaments geared toward giving its members events to play while maintaining a strict bubble to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Players would stay in regions such as the Iberian peninsula and the U.K., though the total purse was rarely more than 1 million euros.
The exceptions were the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the flagship event at its headquarters, the Scottish Open and the DP World Tour Championship next month in Dubai.
The gap between the tours has grown so much in the last decade there have been rumblings of a merger of the tours, or even a takeover, given the PGA Tour’s wealth. Monahan referred only to a partnership, and said “we look forward to working together for the benefit of the men’s professional game and for golf fans around the world.”
Pelley strongly disputed the notion of a merger, suggesting that would happen only if the tour had financial difficulties or there were significant benefits for the players. He said the European Tour had a strong balance sheet, which allowed it to create 15 new events during the pandemic and spend $3 million on a health and safety plan.
“This is not a merger,” he said.
A week before the pandemic, the PGA Tour announced a new media rights deal that starts in 2022 and is said to be worth $7 billion over nine years, which includes digital. The tour also has a 12-year deal with Discovery, which owns Golf TV.
London-based Discovery also is a rights holder for the European Tour, which has various contracts with TV companies, given its schedule that plays in more countries than any tour.
The PGA Tour has become so lucrative that Europe’s best players have taken up membership on both tours. Of the 20 Europeans among the top 75 in the world, only four are not PGA Tour members.]]>
Corey Conners wins $300,000 for charity through Birdies Fore Love Program
MAMARONECK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 15: Corey Conners of Canada smiles on a tee during a practice round prior to the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 15, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
CHICAGO – (November 24, 2020) – Canadian golfer Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., has won $300,000 through RSM’s Birdies Fore Love charitable giving competition. Conners won for recording the most birdies (or better) over the first 11 events of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season.
The top three players who accumulated the most birdies (or better) throughout the fall, concluding with The RSM Classic at Sea Island, Georgia, were awarded with $300,000, $150,000 and $50,000, respectively, for charitable donations to the players’ choice of children- and/or family-focused charitable organizations.
Patton Kizzire recorded the most birdies (or better) at this year’s RSM Classic, winning $50,000 for his charity of choice to wrap up the 2020 RSM Birdies Fore Love program.
In addition, players who recorded the most birdies (or better) in each fall event earned $50,000 for charities of their choice, bringing the total raised through the Birdies Fore Love on-course competition to $950,000 through this year’s program.
For a list of the weekly Birdies Fore Love winners from this year’s fall events, as well as final scoring results, visit the PGA TOUR website.
Winning players donated funds to charitable organizations focused on building tomorrow’s middle market business leaders through programs that support education, as well as organizations committed to improving the lives of youth through a focus on hunger, housing and/or health.
“This year’s RSM Classic has certainly been like no other,” said Davis Love III, 21-time PGA TOUR winner and RSM Classic tournament host. “I am extremely proud and humbled by the success of the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition. The generosity of the RSM team, its clients and friends is truly remarkable. Our tournament and the charitable dollars we raise would not be possible without RSM, one of the best Title Sponsors in golf.”
Over the past three years, RSM’s Birdies Fore Love has helped PGA TOUR players support more than 30 deserving nonprofit organizations. Since The RSM Classic began in 2010, RSM and the Davis Love Foundation have donated more than $21.6 million to deserving charities.]]>
Golf Canada announces 2021 National Amateur and Junior Squads
OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the names of the 29 athletes, male and female, who have been selected to represent Team Canada as part of the 2021 National Amateur and Junior Squads.
Fifteen athletes will compete on Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad, consisting of eight players on the men’s squad and seven on the women’s squad.
The announcement marks a significant increase in roster size, adding six athletes to the previous year’s team. The roster expansion is due in large part to a restructuring of team resources in addition to increased funding support from the Golf Canada Foundation’s network of Trustee partners.
“We are very pleased to extend the reach of the Team Canada program to support more of the country’s top athletes,” said Derek Ingram, Head Coach of the National Men’s Squads. “The new program structure allows our coaching staff to focus more resources on training and sport science with each athlete’s individual results used to determine their respective competitive schedule.”
Team Canada’s 2021 Squad members have all competed and achieved impressive results at regional, national, and international competitions, including medals at the Pan-Am Games, NCAA tournament wins and victories at prestigious amateur competitions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all athletes from the 2020 Squad were able to return in 2021, provided they met team eligibility criteria.
“We are very excited with the athletes selected – they represent a mix of returning team members as well as talented up-and-coming athletes,” said Tristan Mullally, Head Coach of the National Women’s Squads. “It is a new chapter for amateur golf in Canada and we have a tremendous group of ambassadors representing our country.”
The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2021 Amateur Squad:
WOMEN’S AMATEUR SQUAD
Taylor Kehoe | Strathroy, Ont. – West Haven Golf & Country Club
Alisha Lau | Richmond, B.C. – Marine Drive Golf Club
Noémie Paré | Victoriaville, Qué. – Club de golf de Victoriaville
Mary Parsons | Delta, B.C. – Mayfair Lakes Golf Club
Sarah-Ève Rhéaume | Québec, Qué. – Club de golf Royal Québec
Brigitte Thibault | Rosemère, Qué. – Club de golf de Rosemère
Brooke Rivers | Brampton, Ont. – Brampton Golf Club
MEN’S AMATEUR SQUAD
Matthew Anderson | Mississauga, Ont. – Credit Valley Golf & Country Club
Cougar Collins | Caledon, Ont. – TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley
Laurent Desmarchais | Longueuil, Qué. – Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu
Noah Steele | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf & Country Club
Henry Lee | Coquitlam, B.C. – Public Player
Brendan MacDougall | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf and Country Club
Étienne Papineau | St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué. – Club de golf Pinegrove
Johnny Travale | Hamilton, Ont. – Glendale Golf & Country Club
Click here to read full player bios.
National Junior Squads
The National Junior Squad—a U19 program—features fourteen athletes (seven girls and seven boys).
In September, Golf Canada hosted a selection camp at Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C., to evaluate Canada’s top juniors. In partnership with the Provincial Golf Associations, all golfers were run through a series of testing modules followed by a 54-hole competition.
From March through early June, the Junior Squad will practice out of Golf Canada’s National Training Centre at Bear Mountain—the fourth year that the program has provided centralized training, accommodation and education for athletes during the second semester of their school year. Team members will be immersed in a focused centre of excellence, surrounded by world-class technical coaching staff and experts in the areas of mental performance, physiotherapy, biomechanics, and nutrition.
The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2021 Junior Squad:
JUNIOR GIRLS SQUAD
Angela Arora | Surrey, B.C. – Beach Grove Golf Club
Katie Cranston | Oakville, Ont. – Oakville Golf Club
Nicole Gal | Oakville, Ont. – Oakville Golf Club
Jennifer Gu | West Vancouver, B.C. – Seymour Golf & Country Club
Lauren Kim | Surrey, B.C. – Morgan Creek Golf Club
Michelle Liu | Vancouver, B.C. – Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club
Emily Zhu | Richmond Hill, Ont. – National Pines Golf Club
JUNIOR BOYS SQUAD
Willy Bishop | Victoria, B.C. – Victoria Golf Club
Félix Bouchard | Otterburn Park, Que. – Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu
Malik Dao | Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Qué. – Summerlea Golf & Country Club
Ashton McCulloch | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf & Country Club
Owen Mullen | Shortts Lake, N.S. – Truro Golf Club
JP Parr | St-Célestin, Qué. – Club de golf Ki-8-eb Golf
Hunter Thomson | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf & Country Club
Click here to read full player bios.
Team Canada Coaching Staff Announced
Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 2021 Team Canada coaching staff that will support both the National Amateur and Junior Squads.
For the amateur squads, Derek Ingram of Winnipeg returns as men’s head coach with support from assistant coach Andrew Parr of London, Ont. On the women’s side, Tristan Mullally of Dundas, Ont., returns as head coach.
On the junior side, Robert Ratcliffe of Comox, B.C., will lead the centralized Junior Squads at the National Training Centre in Bear Mountain for the fourth year. He will receive support from newly named coach Jennifer Greggain, also of Comox, B.C.
Players will have access to Team Canada’s sport science staff, which includes physiotherapist Greg Redman and Psychologist Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood supporting the men’s team with physiotherapist Andrea Kosa and mental performance consultant Christie Gialloreto supporting the women. The Junior Squads will continue to receive sport science support from the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific in the areas of strength & conditioning, physiotherapy, mental performance, and nutrition.
“Team Canada has shown tremendous success and the coaching staff is well-positioned to lead the increased roster of athletes along with the centralized training program at Bear Mountain,” said Laurence Applebaum, Golf Canada Chief Executive Officer. “Along with every area of the business, we will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 to ensure the health and well-being of the athletes and coaches. We now look ahead to helping shape the bright futures of Canada’s top up-and-coming athletes looking to follow in the footsteps of graduates such as Brooke Henderson, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.”
Mullally, Ingram, Ratcliffe, Greggain and Parr are all PGA of Canada members.
Golf Canada will announce the selection of the 2021 Team Canada Young Pro Squad in January.]]>
New Brunswick is home to the highest tides in the world, a rich and vibrant heritage, the warmest salt water in Canada, and award-winning golf courses. Whether you choose to golf by the ocean, or nestled within the stunning colors of our hardwood forests, New Brunswick has a course for you.
The 2021 Golf NB 2 For 1 Card has 24 single-use coupons at 24 wonderful courses, and we hope you will get to enjoy them all! Play more for less this year and explore New Brunswick with the Golf NB 2 For 1 Card.
*Due to COVID-19, the Golf NB Office is closed to the public. To purchase a 2 For 1 Card we encourage you to utilize our online store and take advantage of our user-friendly checkout.*
The Golf NB 2 For 1 Card is a true 2 for 1 opportunity that allows two individuals to play for the cost of one regularly priced green dee. The 2 For 1 Card is not a 50% off card.
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Conners posts top 10 at the Masters, secures invite for next year
Corey Conners (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Nothing ever comes easily for Dustin Johnson in the majors, except for when he slipped his arms through that Masters green jacket Sunday.
Johnson overcame a jittery start that conjured memories of past majors he failed to finish off. He turned that into a command performance, making sure this one-of-a-kind Masters with no fans also had no drama.
Not even close.
Johnson tapped in for par on the 18th for a 4-under 68 to finish at 20-under 268, breaking by two shots the record set by Tiger Woods in 1997 and matched by Jordan Spieth in 2015.
His five-shot victory was the largest at the Masters since Woods won by 12 in 1997. All that was missing were the roars from a crowd for any of his pivotal putts early and his birdie putts on the back nine that put it away.
“It still feels like a dream,” Johnson said. “As a kid, you’re dreaming about winning the Masters, having Tiger put the green jacket on you. I’m here and what a great feeling it is. I couldn’t be more excited.”
The Masters, postponed from April because of the COVID-19 pandemic, was forced to do without patrons for the first time. Johnson still received a warm reception coming up the 18th from club members and their wives, his partner, Paulina Gretzky, and a few champions.
Two-time champion Bubba Watson was there to congratulate him.
“I always dreamed of having one of those,” Johnson said as he went to sign his card. “Now I got one.”
Johnson’s four-shot lead was reduced to one after five holes, and then he quickly restored control. Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im each shot 69 and were the only ones who really had a chance.
Smith got quite the consolation. He became the first player in Masters history to post all four rounds in the 60s, and all it got him was a silver medal. Johnson became the 12th Masters champion to never trail after any round, and his closing 68 broke another record held by Woods — it was his 11th consecutive sub-par round at Augusta National.
Canadian Corey Conners shot a 3-under 69 following through on a streak of solid gameplay that began with the Listowel, Ont., native posting a 65—the lowest score of the second round. An overall score of 9-under 279 earned him a tie for 10th place, securing a Masters appearance in 2021 for the fourth time in his career. The first appearance took place in 2015 as a member of Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad when he qualified via the U.S. Amateur and finished as the lowest scoring amateur on the course.
Nick Taylor (Abbotsford, BC.,) finished off his first Masters appearance in a tie for 29th, after a round of 72 and a final score of 3-under 285. 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir (Brights Grove, Ont.,) shot a 76 during his fourth round and closed the tournament at 2 over, finishing tied for 51st.
No one had a better finish than defending champion Tiger Woods, but only after the five-time Masters champion posted the highest score of his career — three balls in Rae’s Creek for a 10 on the par-3 12th hole. He finished with five birdies over the last six holes to salvage a 76.
The betting favourite and biggest basher in golf, Bryson DeChambeau, couldn’t even beat 63-year-old Bernhard Langer, who shot 71 and wound up one shot ahead of the U.S. Open champion.
These were only sideshows on a quiet Sunday at Augusta National.
Johnson, the first No. 1 player in the world to win the Masters since Woods in 2002, was the main event. He won for the 25th time worldwide and his second major — he won the U.S. Open from four shots behind at Oakmont in 2016 — comes with some big perks. He can return for the rest of his life and will host the Masters Club dinner next April for champions.
But even a record score, and the widest margin of victory since 1997, didn’t mean it was easy. This is Johnson, after all, who for all his talent has dealt with more than his share of misfortune, not all his own doing.
He was the 16th player to take at least a four-shot lead into the final round of the Masters, and only four had failed to win, most recently Rory McIlroy in 2011.
That lead was down to one shot after five holes.
From short of the bunker on the par-5 second, Johnson muffed his flop into the bunker and had to scramble for par at the easiest hole on the course Sunday. After he settled himself with a birdie on No. 3, he came up short of the green and took three putts for bogey, then found a fairway bunker off the fifth tee, had to lay up and made another bogey.
Im started with two birdies in three holes, and saved par with a fabulous flop over a bunker behind the fifth green. Suddenly, he was one shot behind. Ahead of them was Smith, suddenly two shots behind.
Just when it looked as though Johnson might he headed to a meltdown, it all changed on one hole.
Johnson’s tee shot to a pin on the top-right shelf at the par-3 sixth settled 6 feet away for birdie. Im chipped from just behind the green to 3 feet and missed the par putt. Johnson’s lead was back to three.
Then, with Johnson blocked by pine branches and having to punch low into a front bunker at No. 7, Im from the fairway sailed the green into a bunker, blasted out through the green and made bogey.
Smith was still within two shots when they made the turn, and the wind was stronger that it had been all week, but the Aussie could manage only one birdie, and by then it was too late.
Nothing is sweeter than that walk up the steep hill to the 18th green with a five-shot lead and a green jacket waiting. Except in this case, there was no one to cheer, hardly anyone to watch.
There were no roars this week. White and pink blooms of azaleas and dogwoods were replaced by gold and brown hues of Augusta in autumn. It really was a Masters unlike any other, except there was no mistaking that green jacket.
It’s a good fit for Johnson.]]>
