Rules of Golf: Substituting damaged ball
If you have reason to believe your ball has been damaged during play of a hole, you are allowed to mark the spot of the ball and then lift it without cleaning it, unless your ball is except on the putting green.
Click here to learn more about the modernized Rules of golf.
2019 NB Men’s Four Ball presented by TaylorMade set for the Sussex Golf & Curling Club
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by Golf NB
NB Men’s Four Ball – 1st Round Pairings & Tee-Times
For Immediate Release:
The 2019 Golf NB Championship Schedule, presented by Argus Audiology, kicks off the weekend of May 25th & 26th, 2019 at the Sussex Golf & Curling Club with the Golf NB Men’s and Senior Men’s Four Ball, presented by TaylorMade.
The NB Men’s and Senior Men’s Four Ball, presented by TaylorMade will continue with its historical two-day, 36-hole, format with 16 and 21 teams respectively.
With brothers Darren & Jason Roach of The Riverside Country Club not returning to defend their 2018 crown, the quest for the Ralph Costello Shield, as Amateur Men’s Four Ball Champions is wide open. Looking to push for top spot will be three-time NB Men’s Four Ball Champions Bob Brown of the West Hills Golf Course and his partner Tony MacKinnon of the Fredericton Golf Club (2009, 2004, 2000) and 2018 runners up Stephane Boudreau and Colin Manning of the Moncton Golf & Country Club.
The Senior Men’s division includes defending champions Steve Wilson and Dave Stewart of the host Sussex Golf & Curling Club. As with the amateur men’s division, the Senior Men’s field is very strong as 2018 co-runners up Brent Matheson & Rick Howatt of the Petitcodiac Valley Golf & Country Club and Robert McIntyre and Gary Swain of the Hampton Golf Club will both be in attendance looking to again challenge for the Senior Four Ball title.
The deep and diverse fields in both the Men’s and Senior Men’s divisions should make for an exciting weekend filled with great competitive golf.
- For more information or to register for the 2019 NB Men’s Four Ball please CLICK HERE.
- For more information on the Sussex Golf & Curling Club please CLICK HERE.
Golf New Brunswick (Golf NB), a not for profit organization founded in 1934, is the official governing body for amateur golf in New Brunswick. In January of 2006, the New Brunswick Golf Association (NBGA) officially merged with the New Brunswick Ladies Golf Association (NBLGA), resulting in one united governing body for amateur golf in the province. Programs offered by Golf NB to its 8,000 members include: 12 provincial events, rules of golf education, course rating and handicap services, junior golf development programs and member club marketing initiatives.
Rules of Golf: Replacing a ball
During a round, if your ball is moved or lifted by someone else, it must be replaced either by you or that person.
Click here to learn more about the Modernized Rules of Golf.
Why it took 4 majors for Koepka to get his due
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Majors matter more than any other golf tournament.
They are not the sole measure of greatness.
And that might be one reason it took Brooks Koepka winning four majors – as many as Rory McIlroy, one more than Jordan Spieth among his contemporaries – for the 29-year-old Floridian to get the kind of attention his game deserves.
Never mind the No. 1 ranking that came with his victory Sunday in the PGA Championship. That could change in two weeks.
Koepka now is at that level – and it took back-to-back titles in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship to get there – that he makes people look when he walks onto the range, that he’s considered a top favourite wherever he goes without anyone having to look up the odds.
Why wasn’t it enough when he won last summer at Shinnecock Hills to become the first repeat winner of the U.S. Open in 29 years, and only the second player to successfully defend the U.S. Open since Ben Hogan in 1951? Same major, yes, but Erin Hills and Shinnecock were entirely different tests.
What kept him from megastar status when he added the PGA Championship last summer at Bellerive to join Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Hogan and Gene Sarazen as the only players to win the U.S. Open and the PGA in the same year? That kind of company is as elite as it gets.
What made Koepka different was that he seemed to show up only at the big events. That’s a nice problem to have.
Koepka now has won four of his last eight majors, a stretch not seen since Woods won seven of 11 in an amazing run through the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. The only other tournaments Koepka won during his run of majors was the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan in 2017 (by nine shots) and the CJ Cup last fall in South Korea.
Woods won 19 other times during his stretch of majors, 15 of them on the PGA Tour.
Roger Maltbie’s description of Woods at Pebble Beach – “It’s not a fair fight” – goes well beyond that 2000 U.S. Open. It’s never fair to compare Woods with anyone. He won at a rate never before seen in golf, and it probably won’t happen again.
Koepka is aware that his trophy collection is weighted heavily toward the majors. Justin Ray of a golf analytics group called “15th Club” pointed out over the weekend that Woods and Koepka are the only active players who have more victories than missed cuts in the majors: 15-9 for Woods, 4-2 for Koepka.
Don’t get the idea that Koepka would trade any of his four majors for a few more Texas Opens or Phoenix Opens. It simply explains why it took longer for golf fans to embrace what he has done in the last two years.
Koepka touched on this Saturday night after he had a seven-shot lead – a PGA Championship record – and faced questions that were intended to find out what he was doing differently to win majors so regularly.
“I’m just that much more focused,” Koepka said. “I think I’m more focused than anybody out there. My focus probably goes up, I don’t know, tenfold of what it does in a tour event – which isn’t good. I mean, it’s good that I’m doing it in the majors, but I need to do that in regular weeks.”
Consider some other players from his generation.
McIlroy won 12 times starting with his first major in the 2011 U.S. Open through his fourth major in the 2014 PGA Championship. Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015 when he chased the Grand Slam, but he also won the Valspar Championship, the John Deere Classic and the Tour Championship that year. Spieth was 23 when he won the third leg of the career Grand Slam at the 2017 British Open, and he already had 11 titles on the PGA Tour (14 worldwide).
They also had name recognition before they turned pro. McIlroy was the low amateur at Carnoustie in the 2007 British Open when he was 18. Spieth tied for 16th in the Byron Nelson Classic when he was 16.
FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK – MAY 19: Brooks Koepka of the United States poses with the Wanamaker Trophy during the Trophy Presentation Ceremony after winning the final round of the 2019 PGA Championship at the Bethpage Black course on May 19, 2019 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Koepka?
His last name was pronounced “Cupcake” on the first tee at the Phoenix Open in 2015, his first PGA Tour victory.
The game was always there.
His caddie, Ricky Elliott, recalls being asked to work for Koepka in the 2013 PGA Championship. He saw him for the first time on the range at Oak Hill. “I watched him striping it and thought to myself, ‘Happy day,”’ Elliott said.
In a 2015 interview with Golf Digest, Steve Williams, who was on the bag for 13 of Woods’ majors, was quoted as saying: “Once in a great while, a player comes along who hits a golf ball the way it was meant to be hit. Powerful, piercing, the perfect trajectory. Of the young players out there, one I’ve seen has that special ball flight: Brooks Koepka.”
Majors should never be dismissed for their value, for the legacy they create. At this point, Koepka really doesn’t need to win more PGA Tour titles to add to his reputation.
“Now he’s got it. And he got it in the right way,” Paul Azinger said Tuesday. “He has built his brand through self-belief and intestinal fortitude. By not getting attention, he has become a (tough guy) with a chip on his shoulder who says, ‘I can do anything you say I can’t.”’
That should do.
Nick Taylor and Mike Weir qualify for 2019 U.S. Open
DALLAS, Tex. – Canadians Nick Taylor and Mike Weir celebrated their long weekend in style by qualifying for the 2019 U.S. Open. Both Taylor and Weir finished in the top 10 on Monday, May 20 at Bent Tree Country Club and Northwood Club to nab two of ten available spots.
Taylor put together two phenomenal rounds over the 36-hole qualifier. The Winnipeg product went bogey free, shooting 10 under par to finish tied with American Brendon Todd for the low qualifier spot.
Both of Weir’s rounds were in the 60s, with a 1-under-par 69 in round one and a 4-under-par 67 in round two. Weir’s tournament wasn’t without some drama, as he bogeyed holes eight and nine in round two before knocking in three birdies on the back nine to finish just ahead of the cut line with a share of 5th at 5 under.
Monday’s field featured a total of nine Canadians. In addition to Taylor and Weir, Mackenzie Hughes and Jared Du Toit were both in the hunt for qualification, but narrowly missed out by shooting 3-under-par. Amateur Thomas Allkins finished at 1 over, Wes Heffernan, Joey Savoie and Mitchell Sutton each shot 2 over, and Chase Komaromi finished at 8 over.
Excited to be headed back my favorite course in the world Pebble beach for the us open in a couple weeks!
— Weirsy (@MikeWeir) May 21, 2019
Sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open consists of 36-holes over a single day, sometimes at two different courses (as was the case Monday in Dallas). The May 20 event was the first of 12 sectional qualifiers.
RattleSnake Point Golf Club in Milton, Ont. will play host to Canada’s only sectional qualifier on Monday, June 3.
Excited to be heading back to the @usopengolf at Pebble Beach this year!! Thanks for all the messages! #letsgo
— Nick Taylor (@ntaylorgolf59) May 21, 2019
RattleSnake Point Golf Club is a half-hour drive from Hamilton Golf and Country Club, site of the 2019 RBC Canadian Open from June 3-9.
The 119th U.S. Open takes place June 13-16 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, Calif.
Judith Kyrinis shares low amateur honours at U.S. Senior Women’s Open
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – Throughout her three-decade career, Helen Alfredsson has won wherever she’s played. Seven wins on the LPGA Tour. Eleven victories on the Ladies European Tour. A major champion. And now, she can finally add USGA champion to her list of accolades.
With a final-round 72, Alfredsson, 54, topped Trish Johnson and Juli Inkster by two strokes to capture the 2nd U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship on Sunday at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, with a 72-hole total of 1-over 285.
“Just to have something USGA, it feels very nice. Since one of my first years when I finished second, it was very special,” said Alfredsson, who is a two-time U.S. Women’s Open runner-up. “I know one of the toughest tests you ever will do in golf is play a U.S. Open. And I always like tough, I think. Maybe not at 54, but yeah, it’s nice to have that USGA [championship].
Alfredsson entered the final round tied at the top of the leader board with Johnson, who took full advantage of moving day with a third-round 66.
What started out as a roller-coaster round for the Swede turned into a steady stream of pars, many of them stress-free. After falling a stroke behind Johnson in the early going with a birdie and a bogey already on the scorecard, she hit her approach shot on the par-4 fourth hole to a foot to regain a tie for the lead.
Potential disaster struck on the very next hole, though, when her tee shot on the par-3 fifth missed short and right of the green. The ball paused for a moment but then rolled back all the way down to the bottom of a collection area, a familiar result with the Donald Ross green complexes at Pine Needles. It took Alfredsson three tries from there to find the putting surface, and she was fortunate to walk away with a double-bogey 5.
Hole No. 5 would be the last time she would put anything but pars on her scorecard, and as her fellow competitors tussled with the challenging layout on Sunday afternoon, her position on the leader board began to look better and better.
Alfredsson had her chances to separate herself from Johnson and Inkster, the latter shooting 2-under 33 on the front 9 to put herself squarely in the mix after starting the day four strokes back. A 12-foot birdie try on No. 11 went begging, and a sharp approach shot on No. 15 to 7 feet yielded just another par. But her round will be remembered for her bend-not-break resilience throughout the day, particularly down the stretch. She got up and down for par after missing the green with her approach shots on Nos. 12, 14 and 16, the last one coming when she curled in a slow-moving putt from about 5 feet.
2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Judith Kyrinis, of Canada, and Sally Krueger, of San Francisco, Calif., shared low-amateur honours with 72-hole totals of 23-over 307. Both earn exemptions into the 2020 U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which will be played July 9-12 at Brooklawn Country Club, in Fairfield, Conn.
Johnson, who finished third in the 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club, was tied with Alfredsson through 12 holes, but stumbled with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14. She hit her third shot on the par-5 15th hole to 2 feet to move within a stroke, but couldn’t convert birdie tries on the next two holes from 20 and 25 feet, respectively, all but ending her chances.
Inkster, who was the runner-up in 2018, also had opportunities to move ahead late in the afternoon, but couldn’t quite capitalize. She had makeable birdie tries on holes 12 through 15, the last one from 9 feet, but couldn’t find the bottom of the hole, ultimately settling for a second straight runner-up finish in the championship.
Michelle Redman had the low round of the day, shooting a 3-under 68 to tie for fourth at 5-over 289 with Jane Crafter.
Reigning champion Laura Davies, who started the day six strokes off the pace, shot a 2-over 73 to finish in a tie for ninth place.
Koepka handles the stress and reaps rewards of another major
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Brooks Koepka should know as well as anyone that nothing in golf comes easily.
His well-documented journey to the PGA Tour took him to remote outposts like Kenya and Kazakhstan. Even after Koepka won a second straight U.S. Open last summer, which no one had done in 29 years, it didn’t seem enough to be the first name mentioned among the next generation of stars.
So he spent three days setting records at Bethpage Black in the PGA Championship – the first player to shoot 63 in consecutive years in the majors, the lowest 36-hole score in major championship history and a seven-shot lead, the largest ever for 54 holes in the PGA Championship.
And then he endured the toughest day of his career Sunday, which turned into the most rewarding.
“I’m glad I’ve got this thing sitting next to me,” Koepka said as he looked at the shiny Wanamaker Trophy. “It’s very satisfying, this one. This is definitely the most satisfying of all the ones I’ve won.”
Moments earlier, after he turned a potential meltdown into the kind of clutch play that has defined his career, Koepka draped his muscular arms around the top of the trophy and let out a deep sigh from stress and satisfaction, and then he smiled.
Koepka said at the start of the week that majors are sometimes the easiest to win.
This one should have been.
It wasn’t.
His seven-shot lead was down to one with four holes to play and the No. 1 player in the world – Dustin Johnson, his best friend in golf – was piecing together the best round of a final day in 25 mph gusts that made Bethpage Black as fearsome as ever.
Koepka answered with all the right shots. Johnson faded with two bogeys. Koepka closed with a 4-over 74, the highest final round by a PGA champion in 15 years, and he didn’t care how it looked.
His place in history was secure. He joined Tiger Woods as the only players to win back-to-back in the PGA Championship since it switched to stroke play in 1958. He became the only player to hold back-to-back titles in two majors at the same time.
Four years ago, he had one PGA Tour title in his first full season as a full member. Now he has four majors out of the last eight he has played, a stretch not seen since Woods won seven out of 11 after capturing the 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.
“I just don’t understand why he doesn’t do it more often,” said Rory McIlroy, who won his four majors in a span of 15. “He obviously gets into these mindsets of the majors, and he really goes and gets into a different state. You’d obviously have to ask him. But it’s awesome. It’s great to watch.”
Woods twice won back to back in the PGA Championship, with tight battles in 1999 and 2000, comfortable wins in 2006 and 2007. Koepka was starting to draw comparisons with Woods for the way he obliterated the competition at Bethpage Black, much like Woods used to do.
In the end, there were no style points, only the trophy.
But that trophy spoke volumes.
Even louder was the gallery, and it wasn’t always pretty. Koepka had a six-shot lead when he walked off the 11th fairway. When he walked up to the green on the par-3 14th, with his ball over the green and Koepka headed for a fourth straight birdie, the chants jarred him.
They weren’t for him.
“DJ! DJ! DJ!” the cheers rained down for Johnson, who was on his way to another birdie up ahead on the 15th hole to pull within one shot. Koepka says he was more shocked than he was nervous, but he heard them.
“It’s New York. What do you expect when you’re half-choking it away,” he said. “I think I kind of deserved it. I’ve been to sporting events in New York. I know how it goes. I think it actually helped. It was at a perfect time because I was just thinking: ‘OK, I’ve got everybody against me. Let’s go.”’
And off he went – a powerful drive down the 15th fairway that set up a par he desperately need, an even better drive down the 16th hole, the hardest at Bethpage Black during the final round because the wind was whipping into his face.
That’s where Johnson lost all momentum, without doing much wrong. He hit a 5-iron from 194 into the fan – he though about 4-iron because he wasn’t sure 5-iron would get to the green – and was stunned when it one-hopped into the rough. He chipped to 7 feet and missed the par putt, and then went long on the par-3 17th, caught another nasty lie and made another bogey.
“I gave it a run,” Johnson said after his 69. “That’s all you can ask for.”
It’s more than Koepka would have wanted. But he has the trophy, the one that caused the most stress and brought the most satisfaction. No sooner was the PGA Championship over that Koepka was installed as a 5-1 favourite to win the U.S. Open.
No one has won three straight U.S. Open titles since Willie Anderson in 1905. That might be all the motivation Koepka needs.
Michael Blair advances to RBC Canadian Open from Ontario Regional Qualifier
TORONTO – There’s nothing like home cooking, and Michael Blair will get plenty of it during the 2019 RBC Canadian Open.
The Ancaster, Ont. native, who plays at Hidden Lake Golf Club in Burlington, Ont., was the low finisher at the second RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier at TPC Toronto, Thursday. The 27-year-old shot an 8-under-par 64, earning an exemption into the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, which is being held at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
Blair put together a spectacular round, sinking two eagles on two par-fives on the back nine. Coupled with five front-nine birdies, Blair found himself two strokes ahead of the competition at the conclusion of play.
Trailing Blair was another Hamilton-area competitor in Christopher Ross. A Hamilton Golf and Country Club player, Ross birdied his final two holes to finish at 6 under.
Tied with Ross was Jae Kim of Toronto. Kim was bogey-free on the day, and an eagle on the eighth hole helped him to a T2 finish.
Ross, Kim and 20 other competitors, excluding Blair, advance to the RBC Canadian Open Final Qualifier taking place on June 3 at Heron Point Golf Links in Hamilton, Ont.
The first RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier at Kings Links by the Sea in Delta, B.C. saw James Allenby shoot 7-under par 65 to earn medallist honours and advance to the final qualifying event. There must be a minimum of 100 competitors in the field for there to be an exemption to the RBC Canadian Open at any of the regional qualifiers.
A third regional qualifier will take place on May 27 at Elm Ridge Country Club in L’Île Bizard, Que.
Full results can be found here.
Tickets to the RBC Canadian Open are available at https://rbccanadianopen.com/tickets2019/
Rules of Golf: Embedded ball
Click here to learn more about the modernized Rules of golf.
Corey Conners prepared for PGA Championship
TORONTO – There’s no doubt that Corey Conners’s life has changed since winning the Valero Texas Open nearly six weeks ago.
Monday qualifiers and doubts about where he’ll play next have given way to guaranteed tournament berths for the rest of the season, a PGA Tour card for 2020 and a spot in this week’s PGA Championship.
That higher profile comes with some other perks too, including staying at prestigious hotels when coming to Toronto for meetings and getting recognized by golf fans.
“It’s a life-changing thing to win, but I still feel like the same person,” said Conners last Thursday in an interview with The Canadian Press. “Not going to be changing up my lifestyle very much. These bonuses are really awesome, a nice treat, but I’m not going to do a whole bunch of things differently.
“Probably won’t be staying at a lot of Ritz-Carltons, keep it pretty simple with a simple lifestyle.”
Conners went straight to the Masters after winning the Texas Open – the organizers flew him, his wife Malory and his agent directly from San Antonio to Augusta, Ga. – and then played in the RBC Heritage and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He took the first week of May off, visiting Toronto for a breakfast meeting with sponsor RBC, getting in a couple of practice rounds in at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, and then going to his hometown of Listowel, Ont., to see his mom and mother-in-law ahead of Mother’s Day.
That busy schedule means he hasn’t had much of a chance to absorb what the Texas Open win means for him, but there are moments where it sinks in.
“I think when we got home, back to Florida, and we were able to just sit down on our couch and think ‘wow, we won a PGA Tour event,”’ said Conners, who said he’ll put the trophy into his living room when it arrives. “I know how it is to win and how many people are trying to win week in and week out.”
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 14: Corey Conners of Canada walks on the second hole during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Another immediate benefit is a berth in the PGA Championship, the second major of the season. It’s his first time playing in the tournament, having played in the Masters as an amateur in 2015 and the U.S. Open in 2017.
This year’s PGA Championship is the first to be played in May since 1949, and the cooler temperatures at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y. had players bundling up in toques, thick gloves and raingear during practice on Monday.
Conners is one of two Canadians in the field. The other is Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C.
“I grew up playing in the cold and I’ve embraced the challenge the additional challenge that brings,” Conners said. “It’s funny, whenever there’s bad weather on tour everyone I walk by they always joke ‘Oh, you must love this!’ and I’m like ‘No, it doesn’t mean we like the cold and the rain.’
“But I’m used to it. My dad used to play golf with me in miserable conditions back in Listowel. It would be pouring rain and we’d be the only people out there getting soaked in our rain suits.”