by Golf NB

Golf New Brunswick (Golf NB) and title sponsor RBC Dominion Securities are pleased to announce that the Fraser Edmundston Golf Club has agreed to host the 2019 RBC Dominion Securities NB Men’s Amateur Championship.

Following the June 14^th announcement that this year’s event would need to be moved from the Westfield Golf & Country Club because of significant winter damage, the Golf NB was forced to pursue other options.  “We were very fortunate, as three of our partner facilities put their hands up right away”, said Tyson Flinn Executive Director of Golf NB.  “The first call we received was from the Fraser Edmundston Golf Club, the second from the Sussex Golf & Curling Club and the third was from Memramcook (Golf Club).”

With choices to be made the Golf NB staff and Championship Committee got to work to evaluate their options.  “There were not doubts that each of these venues would be able to host this year’s championship”, said Golf NB Tournament Committee Chair, Gary Melanson.  “At the end of the day, we wanted to keep in mind our sponsor’s continued desire to have the event moved around to the various regions of the province, while also being sure that we could provide the best championship experience possible for the competitors.”

Having hosted two (2) Canadian Men’s Amateur Championships (1956, 2002) and countless NB Provincial Championships, including seven (7) NB Men’s Amateur Championships (1952, 1982, 1975, 1967, 1963, 1958, 1952), the Fraser Edmundston Golf Club checked all the boxes.

“We wanted to do our part”, said club president Henri Allain.  “We know that winter was very hard on a number of golf courses in the southern part of the province, but our course is in very good shape, our schedule would allow us to accommodate the event and we felt like it would be good for the event, the club and the community.”

With the largest hurdle cleared, finding a venue, the work now begins for both Golf NB and the Fraser Edmundston Golf Club to quickly coordinate their resources in preparation for an event that is now just slightly more then three weeks away.

“Players will be teeing it up on the July 11^th, so there is no time to waste”, says Flinn.  “Having hosted multiple Provincial Championships in Edmundston over the years, we know the venue and the team in Edmundston well, so we are confident that we won’t skip a beat.”

Registration for the 2019 RBC Dominion Securities NB Men’s Amateur Championship will close on Sunday July 7, 2019 and the $225.00 entry fee includes one practice round, four competitive rounds and a tee gift furnished by Golf NB and TaylorMade.

• For more information or the 2019 RBC Dominion Securities NB Men’s Amateur Championship please CLICK HERE.
• For more information or the Fraser Edmundston Golf Club please CLICK HERE.

Now under the Rules, when your ball is lost or out of bounds, your course or can use a Local Rule that does not require you to play under stroke and distance.

Click here to learn more.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Brooke Henderson won the Meijer LPGA Classic on Sunday to break the Canadian record for tour victories with nine.

The 21-year-old Henderson led wire-to-wire for her second victory in three years at Blythefield Country Club, closing with a 2-under 70 in chilly conditions to hold off Lexi Thompson, Nasa Hataoka, Su Oh and Brittany Altomare by a stroke.

Henderson broke a tie with Sandra Post for the Canadian record on the LPGA Tour and also moved ahead of George Knudson and Mike Weir for the overall country mark.

“That’s really cool,” Henderson said. “Earlier this year to get my eighth win and to tie that record was a huge deal for me. To now to kind of breakthrough that is awesome. I’m just really excited for the rest of the summer and hopefully many more wins in the future.”

With caddie/sister Brittany and mother Darlene looking on, father Dave sprayed her with champagne to celebrate.

“It’s really special,” Henderson said. “I’m so happy that both my mom and my dad can be out here to watch my sister and I win this. It’s always special when they’re here, especially on Father’s Day.”

Also the Lotte Championship winner in April in Hawaii, Henderson matched the tournament record of 21 under that she set in 2017 (when the course played to a par of 71) and also was tied last year by So Yeon Ryu. Henderson opened with consecutive 64s, playing 30 holes Friday after rain delayed the start Thursday, and had a 69 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final round.

“It’s a lot like the courses I grew up playing back home in Canada,” Henderson said. “I love it out here. Just trying to hit good shots and hopefully make a lot of birdies. Didn’t make as many as I wanted, but just enough.”

The final putt at @MeijerLPGA that sealed the deal in Canadian #golf history ???? pic.twitter.com/q9i2cIsFZz

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) June 16, 2019

Her lead reduced to a stroke after a bogey on the par-4 16th, she three-putted the par-5 18th from 45 feet for the winning par.

“When I was walking up here I thought maybe I would have to birdie or eagle this hole to get the job done, but when I looked at the scoreboard I was sort of shocked that all I needed to do was three-putt and par,” Henderson said. “I’m really grateful about that because I was shaking pretty bad on those last couple putts.”

Henderson had Canadians from coast-to-coast cheering her on all throughout.

“Congratulations to Brooke on becoming the winningest Canadian professional golfer ever on the PGA or LPGA,” said Sandra Post, Canadian Golf Hall of Fame Honoured Member. “I’m so happy for her and her family and for golf in Canada. I know there are many more wins in store.”

 

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Win No. 9, so fine ???? @brookehendersongolf wins one for the history books, becoming the winningest Canadian golfer of all time ?? #LPGA #meijerlpgaclassic

A post shared by CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) on Jun 16, 2019 at 2:21pm PDT

“On behalf of Canadian golf fans across the nation, we are so proud of Brooke Henderson on her incredible 9th LPGA Tour victory,” said Laurence Applebaum, Golf Canada CEO. “She’s made Canadian golf history at 21 years of age and there is no doubt that the very best is yet to come for this inspiring young athlete. We can’t wait to celebrate this victory and the defense of her CP Women’s Open title this August at Magna Golf Club!”

Thompson followed her course-record 62 in the third round with a 68, closing with an eagle for the second straight day. The 2015 winner at Blythefield, she was coming off a victory last week in New Jersey.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t hit it that great today, but I made some really good putts on my second nine,” Thompson said. “I had a little bit of a muscle spasm in my shoulder all day, but it is what it is, you can’t control that. So, overall great week.”

Hataoka shot 65, also making an eagle on the par-5 18th. Oh had a 66, and Altomare shot 68.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp had a strong tournament, finishing tied for ninth at 13-under with a final round of 72.

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee (71) finished at 2-under while Anne-Catherine Tanguay of Quebec City (74) was at 1-under.

Jennifer Kupcho, four strokes behind Henderson entering the day, had a 76 to drop into a tie for 23rd at 11 under in her third professional start. The former Wake Forest star won the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April.

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the third major championship of the year, is next week at Hazeltine in Minnesota.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Gary Woodland denied Brooks Koepka’s bold bid at history with two clutch shots and made U.S. Open memories of his own, starting with that silver trophy in his hands at Pebble Beach.

Woodland finished in style Sunday. He holed a 30-foot birdie putt for a 2-under 69, giving him the lowest 72-hole score in six U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach and a three-shot victory over Koepka, who was going for a third straight U.S. Open.

Koepka had to settle for a footnote in history as the first player with all four rounds in the 60s at the U.S Open without winning. But he made Woodland earn every bit of his first major championship.

Clinging to a one-shot lead with more pressure than he has ever felt, Woodland seized control by going for the green on the par-5 14th hole with a 3-wood from 263 yards, narrowly clearing a cavernous bunker and setting up a simple up-and-down for a two-shot lead.

Even more significant was a shot from 90 feet.

Woodland hit the edge of the green on the par-3 17th all the way to the right, with the pin on the hourglass green on the other side.

Ahead on the 18th, Koepka’s 3-iron went just over the back of the green, leaving him a chip for eagle to tie, with a birdie likely to do the trick considering what Woodland faced. Koepka chipped to just inside 10 feet and missed the putt.

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Gary Woodland of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 16, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Woodland delivered again. Unable to use putter to get it close, he perfectly clipped a pitch over the mound, and it checked about 12 feet short of the hole and trickled down to tap-in range.

That effectively ended the U.S. Open. Woodland played conservatively down the 18th and made one last birdie that only mattered in the record book. He finished at 13-under 271, one shot better than Tiger Woods’ historic rout in 2000.

The difference was Woods won by 15 shots and was the only player under par. With a marine layer blocking the sunshine, and no significant wind at Pebble Beach all week, 31 players finished under par.

Koepka closed with a 68 for his second runner-up in the majors this year, along with his second straight PGA Championship title.

Justin Rose was the only one who caught Woodland, with a birdie on the opening hole. Rose bogeyed from the bunker on No. 2, and fell out of the race with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the back nine. He shot 74 and shared third with Xander Schauffele (67), Jon Rahm (68) and Chez Reavie (71).

Brooke Henderson wins the Meijer LPGA Classic (for a second time), collecting her 9th career LPGA title — the most ever by a Canadian.

YORKTON, Sask. – Josh Nagy came from behind, while Hyeji Yang maintained her second-round lead to win the boys and girls division, respectively, at the Future Links, driven by Acura Prairie Championship at Deer Park Municipal Golf Course.

Yang, from Langley, B.C., moved into the lead during the second-round and topped the field by seven strokes at 11-over par 227. Birdies were at a premium throughout the tournament in the girls division, but Yang’s two back-nine birdies on Sunday helped her secure the victory.

“I think I played not bad overall this week,” said Yang. “Today my game was struggling on the front nine and I couldn’t make some birdies when I had a chance. On the back nine I was pushing myself. On 13 my shots started coming back and on No. 15 I made a 15-foot birdie putt which helped me get more confidence and momentum.”

Sherri Yang finished in second at 18-over. The Richmond, B.C. product held the lead following the first-round, but was unable to withstand the charge from Hyeji Yang. She finished a stroke ahead of Calgary native Brooke Frerichs, who put in three consistent rounds to end up 19-over.

Autumn Neiszner of Regina and Kaitlyn Wingnean of Edmonton round out the top-five earning exemptions to the 2019 Canadian Junior Girls Championship from July 29-August 2 at Lethbridge Country Club in Lethbridge, Alta.

In the boys division, Josh Nagy cemented himself atop the leaderboard with a tremendous final round. The Saskatoon native made a double bogey on the par-4 second hole, but went on to make eight birdies to finish the day at 6-under par 66 and 3-under par 213 for the tournament.

Ranked No. 2 on Golf Saskatchewan’s Order of Merit, Nagy shot only the second under-par round of the tournament. The other round belonged to Calgary’s Richard Dou, who carded a 2-under 70 during the opening round.

“It’s an honour,” said Nagy. “I came in playing alright, and it was really nice to be able to turn the week around in the last round. I had a little hiccup on No. 2, and then I was able to bear down on the greens.”

Finishing seven strokes behind Nagy was second-round leader Tae Kyoung (Eric) Yun of Richmond Hill, Ont. Yun shot even-par on Saturday, finishing 4-over for the tournament.

An even-par final round from Neel Soni secured T3 for the Winnipeg product, tied with fellow Winnipegger Jacob Armstrong at 6-over.

Dou rounded out the top-five at 7-over.

Each of the top five finishers received an exemption into the 2019 Canadian Junior Boys Championship from August 11-15 at Covered Bridge Golf & Country Club in Hartland, N.B.

Full results can be found here.

Mary DePaoli (EVP & Chief Marketing Officer for RBC) sums up a fantastic 2019 RBC Canadian Open.

by Golf NB:

With a difficult winter in the rear view mirror, it is no great surprise that “Mother Nature” has taken her toll on some of New Brunswick’s top golf courses.  With later than normal openings for much of the province, and significant damage from winter ice storms, the 2019 golf season has gotten off to more of a trot then a sprint.

Few venues have experienced a more difficult spring then the Westfield Golf & Country Club.  Set to celebrate its centennial birthday by hosting one of Golf New Brunswick’s (Golf NB) crown jewel events, winter kill, ice damage and poor growing conditions have forced the club to withdraw its commitment to host the 2019 RBC Dominion Securities NB Men’s Amateur Championship.

“I drove the golf course last night (June 12th) with our superintendent and members of our greens committee”, said Westfield’s Head Profession Steve LeBlanc.  “We analyzed each green and discussed how each one would play in a month.  In the end, the committee felt that hosting one of Golf NB’s flagship events this season just was not in the best interest of all parties involved.”

“We are devastated for the club”, said Golf NB Executive Director Tyson Flinn.  “We have been in constant contact with Steve and the rest of the organizing committee for weeks and we know how hard they have worked, how much they were looking forward to celebrating 100 years with the RBC Dominion Securities NB Men’s Amateur Championship, and we know how difficult a decision this was for them to make.”

Ultimately, neither the Westfield Golf & Country Club, or Golf NB, could wait on the weather any longer.

“With July fast approaching, we needed to be fair to both Golf NB and the players”, said Peter McCarthy, President of the Westfield Golf & Country Club.  “Mother Nature dealt us a bad hand this year, and we just didn’t see how we would be able to get the golf course to an acceptable playing standard in time for the event.  Regardless of how badly we wanted to host this year’s event, and make it a part of our centennial, we needed to give everyone time to plan accordingly and make the require changes.”

“While it was a very difficult decision for the Westfield Golf & Country Club, Golf NB sincerely appreciates the club’s professionalism, courage and fortitude in making this decision early enough to allow us some time to find an alternative venue”, said Flinn.

With that in mind, the search is on, “four weeks from today, someone will be hitting the first tee shot”, says Flinn, “so we need to get a move on!”

Having been kept well informed throughout Westfield’s decision-making process, Flinn believes Golf NB is well down the path of securing an alternate venue.  “We have spoken with our sponsor, and with some of our partner facilities, and we are confident that we will have a new host venue in the very near future.”

A steadfast supporter of golf in the province, RBC Dominion Securities remains ever optimistic.  “We are disappointed for the Westfield Golf & Country Club”, said Tom Gribbons, Vice-President, Branch Manager & Associate Portfolio Manager for RBC Dominion Securities in Saint John.  “We know and understand the challenges that Mother Nature can bring to bear, and while Westfield certainly would have made for a great championship venue, New Brunswick is fortunate to have an abundance of great golf courses and we know wherever this year’s tournament lands the players will be treated to a first-class event!”

• For more information or the 2019 RBC Dominion Securities NB Men’s Amateur Championship please CLICK HERE.

When you drop in relief areas defined by one or two club-lengths, in the 2019 Rules, a club-length will always mean the length of the longest club in your bag, except your putter.

Click here to learn more about the Rules of golf.

Thank you to the fans, the volunteers, the tournament organizers and the sponsors for a fantastic end to a fantastic tournament!

A picturesque end to the day, nothing beats the last group walking up the final fairway to a thunderous ovation from an adoring crowd. We couldn’t have written a better end to the day, with Rory McIlroy, the darling of the golf world, taking home the championship (in a Toronto Raptors jersey to boot!)

The perfect end to a perfect day, but there is a lot of work that goes into it. The fairytale ending we all experienced today is not what it is without the thousands of volunteers tending the ropes. Dedicated golf fans that are teachers, police officers, members of the host club, retirees, and a million other things. These are the lifeblood of Our Open. They are the engine that drives the wheels of our championship.

And we owe them a massive thank you. For the 25,000 people in the sold-out crowd on Sunday, there were volunteers everywhere, making sure that the tournament was as great as it turned out to be. The unsung heroes of the championship, they are the ones that drive the parking lot shuttles, hold the “Quiet eh?” signs in the air for hours on end, keep the players and crowd safe, tend to the hospitality tents and make sure the complicated effervescent tangle of gallery rope line is in working order.

These people come together from all walks of life and descend upon the host golf course, working a long week and longer hours. They partake in the beehive-like efficiency of running a PGA TOUR event – but why? They do it because they love it.

They love the players, the TOUR, the golf course, the RBC Canadian Open, the experience of being inside the ropes, the experience of helping people, and the experience of showing the game they love off to the country, the players, the patronage and the world.

Les Palango, Hamilton radio personality, said that “I love to volunteer because it gets me in the action, I can man the ropes and the players all walk right by me. You see them on TV all the time, but to have Rory McIlroy walk by you and personally thank you for doing your job, that makes it worth it to me.”

It’s the spirit of the volunteers, the thousands of them that sign-up for forty-nine PGA TOUR events all over the country (but especially ours), that is the heart and soul of the game. The grow the game initiative comes from the passion of people like these. It’s awe-inspiring the passion of the golfer.

As the day was wrapping up, and our champion golfer McIlroy was signing his scorecard before the trophy presentation, I turned to a volunteer standing on the 18th green and asked him his favourite part of the week, “This,“ he told me. That was all he needed to say. This was everything. This moment. Thousands of people carved into the natural amphitheatre, all sharing the collective consciousness of pride in their tournament. They were chanting for the Raptors, Rory, singing Oh Canada, and not a soul had left since the final putt dropped. They all wanted more. “Wow eh?,” was all I could muster back to him, and we both stood there, taking in the moment, knowing exactly what we were talking about without saying anything.

So sign up to be a volunteer. Get more. Show the game you love to your friends, your family, a total stranger. Within your passion will ignite their passion.

The amazing experience of being a volunteer at the 2020 RBC Canadian Open is right around the corner, and you don’t want to miss out.

Click here to learn more.