PORTLAND, Ore. – Ending his career as arguably the most dominant player in conference history, Simon Fraser senior Chris Crisologo is once again the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year, headlining four selections to the 2017-18 GNAC Men’s Golf All-Conference Team.

Crisologo, now a three-time GNAC Player of the Year, is the first four-time First Team All-GNAC men’s golf selection. The senior was named the GNAC Player of the Week on four occasions this season and leads the conference with a 70.6 stroke average. He had seven top-five finishes, which includes a tie for fifth at the GNAC Championships and a first-place finish in October’s Concordia Invitational. Crisologo will also make his fourth appearance at the NCAA Division II West/South Central Regional next week in Amarillo, Texas.

The Team Canada National Amateur Squad member is also the Clan’s first-ever NCAA first-team All-American selection (2017).

In his first full season at the helm, Simon Fraser head coach Matthew Steinbach was chosen by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year. Steinbach led the Clan to its first conference championship since the 2015 campaign after guiding SFU to a nine-stroke victory at the GNAC Championships.

Crisologo is the only repeat selection to the First Team. Joining him on the First Team are Clan senior Craig Titterington, sophomore Sy Lovan and sophomore Scott Kerr.

Crisologo’s efforts also earned him a selection as a semifinalists for the 2018 Division II Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award.  Nicklaus Award recipients will be announced May 31 with the honour presented by Jack Nicklaus at a ceremony during the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at Muirfield Village Golf Club.

In addition to receiving the Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award, the five recipients will compete in the Barbasol Shootout for an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s Barbasol Championship, held July 16-22, at the Champions at Keene Trace in Lexington, Ky. The Barbasol Shootout will be held Saturday, June 2 at the storied Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio – the same club where Jack Nicklaus first learned the game of golf as a young boy.

Earning his first all-conference selection, Titterington helped Simon Fraser earn its second GNAC title after leading the team with a 4-under 209 to finish in second place at the GNAC Championships. Titterington is also fourth on the team with a 75.2 stroke average.

Lovan and Kerr have played instrumental roles in the Clan’s successful season. The duo finished in fourth and tied for fifth at the conference championships and are among GNAC leaders in stroke average. Kerr is second on the team with four top-10 finishes and was the individual medalist in September’s Western Washington Invitational after shooting a 10-under par 206.

Simon Fraser and Western Washington will participate in next week’s NCAA Division II Men’s Golf Championships.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. —The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada announced today that its newly created Osprey Valley Open, the first Greater Toronto Area-based tournament in Mackenzie Tour history, will be played July 19-22 at Osprey Valley Golf Course in Caledon, Ontario. In conjunction with the addition of this tournament to the 2018 schedule, the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval is moving to a previously open date on the schedule, September 6-9, at Elm Ridge Country Club in L’Île-Bizard, Quebec.

Osprey Valley is a 54-hole facility, featuring three courses all designed by renowned Canadian golf course architect Doug Carrick — the Hoot, the Heathlands and the Toot courses. The Osprey Valley Open will be held at the Toot Course, a parkland-style layout that features rolling fairways, large landing areas and undulating greens. At its longest, the par-72 Toot measures 7,151 yards.

“We’re pleased to add the Osprey Valley Open to our 2018 schedule and look forward to a long and lasting partnership with this beautiful facility,” said Mackenzie Tour President Jeff Monday. “We’re certainly happy to be playing in the Greater Toronto Area for the first time, and we think our players will love what they see once they arrive on the property.”

The Osprey Valley Open will be the seventh tournament on the schedule and features a $200,000 purse, with $36,000 going to the winner. The Osprey Valley Open will be played the week prior to the PGA TOUR’s RBC Canadian Open, Canada’s national open set for July 26-29 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario. The top-three players on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada Order of Merit following the conclusion of the Osprey Valley Open will receive invitations to play in the RBC Canadian Open.

“We are delighted to be welcoming a Mackenzie Tour event to Osprey Valley. Hosting some of the world’s top up-and-coming players this summer provides us a wonderful opportunity to showcase what we believe makes Osprey Valley such a special place,” said Osprey Valley President Chris Humeniuk. “We are looking forward to working with the Mackenzie Tour and launching a successful event.”

When the Mackenzie Tour initially released its 2018 schedule, it had not announced the tournament that would fill in the September 6-9 dates. The Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval moved to the early September dates to allow for a better flow to the schedule.

This will be Elm Ridge’s first year hosting the tournament, with Circuit Canada Pro Tour serving as the host organization. Members established Elm Ridge Country Club in 1924, with the current facility opening in 1960, with two 18-hole golf courses. The club’s North Course will be the site of the Mackenzie Investments Open. A year ago, Web.com Tour member Hank Lebioda won the inaugural tournament by eight strokes.

“The members of Elm Ridge Country Club are honored and pleased to host the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval. We are looking forward to welcoming the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada players and all golf fans and enthusiasts to our most special and accommodating club for an unparalleled golf show,” said Randy Moncrieff, Elm Ridge General Manager. “It is also a pleasure to partner with the sponsors, Mackenzie Investments and Jaguar Laval, as well with the charity involved, CHU Ste-Justine Foundation.”

“I know the players love traveling to the Montreal area, and they will certainly find Elm Ridge to be not only an enjoyable place to play but a great test of golf, as well,” Monday added.

In late-May, early June, the Mackenzie Tour will embark on its sixth year, with the season beginning May 31-June 3 at the Freedom 55 Financial Open at Point Grey Golf and Country Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. The 13-tournament schedule concludes September 13-16 in London, Ontario, for the Freedom 55 Financial Championship.

Mackenzie Tour players will once again look to make the next step on the path to the PGA TOUR by leveraging their performances into advantages to reach the next level. The Order of Merit winner will be fully exempt on the Web.com Tour for the following season, with Nos. 2-5 earning conditional membership. Those players Nos. 2-10 will also earn an exemption into the Final Stage of the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament, while Nos. 11-20 on the Order of Merit will earn an exemption into the Qualifying Tournament’s Second Stage.

Players will look to follow in the footsteps of PGA TOUR winners Mackenzie Hughes, Tony Finau and Nick Taylor, along with rest of the 20 alumni who have gone on to earn their PGA TOUR cards. More than 160 Mackenzie Tour players have gone on to earn status on the Web.com Tour, including 72 for the 2018 season.

Vancouver – The  Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) presented by Boston Pizza has announced former Golf Canada staff member Russell MacKay as their new Operations Manager.

MacKay, a graduate in Recreation and Sport Business from the University of Waterloo where he was a member of the University’s Men’s Golf Team, spent three co-op terms with Golf Canada after which he joined the Association full-time to work in Amateur and Professional Championships.

MacKay relocated to British Columbia in 2016 to undertake the role of Membership and Events Manager for the PGA of BC, and has now transitioned to a national role with Canada’s most-played Junior Golf Tour.

“I am excited to apply the knowledge and experiences gained in many different facets of the golf industry to help the MJT continue its growth,” said MacKay, who will be working with MJT National Operations Director, Trent Matson and MJT Director of Marketing and Administration, Elaine Denton.

The MJT aims to develop champions, in golf and in life, promoting the game from grassroots through to provincial, national, university and professional levels. Registration for tournaments is ongoing and the full MJT National schedule is available online at www.maplejt.com.

OTTAWA – Today, Canada’s national golf industry associations announced the first annual National Golf Day, May 29, an event aimed at raising awareness to the public and government decision makers on the many positive impacts of the golf industry.

“More Canadians play golf than any other participation sport and our industry is #1 in driving economic impact, employment and charity fundraising,” said Jeff Calderwood, National Allied Golf Associations (NAGA) and We Are Golf Chair. “Combined with golf’s diversity, healthy fitness benefits and environmental stewardship, we really do have such a positive message to communicate.”

National Golf Day provides the opportunity for Canada’s golf industry leaders to discuss these wide-reaching benefits of the sport directly with MPs, Senators and policy advisors at Parliament Hill. A May 28 evening reception will also be held in Centre Block, and NAGA will be hosting a day of interactive golf activities on the front lawn where MPs and visitors will be able to participate. This day of outdoor golf activities will include a focus on junior golf.

“We are really looking forward to our time in Ottawa and expect that government officials from all parties will be impressed to learn about all the ways golf contributes in virtually every riding throughout Canada,” added Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “There are so many meaningful benefits that golf delivers in communities from coast to coast and it will be great to share all those insights on National Golf Day.”

Golf courses and all related stakeholders throughout Canada are encouraged to promote the same positive messages. NAGA will provide shareable social content.

NAGA is also announcing a rebranding of its public facing name to We Are Golf. This aligns with the same brand name used by the American golf industry for allied association activities such as National Golf Day. NAGA does carry on as the administrative body but will use the We Are Golf brand for all public communications.

Please watch for additional We Are Golf and National Golf Day communications over the coming weeks as we lead up to the May 29 event itself.

For more information on We Are Golf, visit wearegolf.ca  

PARINGS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE.

FOLLOW SCORING ONLINE AS PLAYERS COMPLETE THEIR ROUNDS BY CLICKING HERE.

RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifying gets underway May 8^th at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford, B.C., where 39 players will be vying for a spot in the RBC Canadian Open final qualifying event, which takes place July 23th at Heron Point Golf Links in Alberton, Ont.

Players need to finish among the top 15% of the field, including ties, in order to punch their ticket to the final qualifying event.

The 18-hole qualifier at Ledgeview is the first of three regional qualifiers taking place across the country. The second qualifier takes place May 17^th at Blue Springs Golf Club in Acton, Ont., with the third regional qualifier taking place June 18^th at Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Qué.

The qualifying competitions are open to members in good standing with the PGA of Canada or other PGA affiliates, amateur golfers with a current Handicap Factor not exceeding 2.0 who are members of Golf Canada or in good standing with their respective associations, as well as other golf professionals.

QUICK FACTS

The regional qualification process allows amateurs and professionals from across Canada and the world a chance to qualify for the RBC Canadian Open.

The low qualifier receives a direct exemption into the RBC Canadian Open if 100 players or more compete at a regional qualifier. If less than 100 people register for a regional qualifier, the top 15% of the field and ties beyond the low qualifier, advance to final Monday qualifying.

If you’re looking for a poster child for Golf Canada’s “Future Links, driven by Acura” program, Stephanie Sherlock is just about the ideal candidate.

OK, so “child” isn’t appropriate any more as she will attain the ripe old age of 31 next month, but she remains my top nominee for a number of reasons.

Her first recollections of competitive golf include Future Links tournaments in her home province of Ontario and neighbouring Quebec. Those were stepping stones to a stellar junior and amateur career (she was a Team Canada member from 2006 to 2010 and twice was the country’s top-ranked female amateur) that included winning the 2007 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship and a spot on Canada’s 2008 World Amateur Team. After her all-American performance at the University of Denver, she spent three years on the LPGA Tour before deciding the pro life wasn’t for her.

So Sherlock returned to her home town of Barrie, Ont., to work at the course she grew up on. Simoro Golf Links is owned by her parents, Dave and Angela.

“I wasn’t here very long before I looked around and thought, ‘Man, there aren’t very many kids here,’” she recalls. So she picked the brains of some more established club owners and pros who had thriving junior programs to discover their secret.

While a common theme was their dedication to growing the game, there was another factor: the multi-tiered Future Links programming.

The scope and depth of the Future Links concept are impressive, starting with the very young novice golfer and extending right through high-level amateur competitions. Since launching in 1996, more than one million youngsters have participated in the various Future Links programs including Learn to Play, mobile clinics, Future Links Championships, Junior Skills Challenge, Girls Club, and an awesome grassroots initiative called Golf in Schools.

Golf in Schools is offered in more than 3000 elementary and almost 350 high schools across Canada. It provides a basic introduction to golf through the school physical education curriculum and is endorsed by Physical Health and Education Canada. Almost half of the participating schools are the result of a “school adoption,” whereby an individual, golf club or corporation donates to bring the program to the school.

(For more on the comprehensive programming offered by Future Links, click here.)

Integral to the ongoing success of Future Links is a concept called Get Linked which connects schools and green-grass facilities such as golf courses and ranges. In 2017, there were more than 190 Get Linked initiatives conducted by PGA of Canada professionals across the country,

Sherlock shares her knowledge with kids in Grades 1 through 5 at five area schools via the Golf in Schools program. As a result, she says, Simoro has seen an uptick in junior and family participation.

“We’ve got to be dedicated to getting more kids into golf, not just because we care about the future of the game itself, but we have to ensure the future of our business, too. We consider it a long-term investment and it’s awesome just how much support and materials we get from Future Links.”

Her message is echoed from coast to coast.

In Corner Brook, NL, PGA of Canada professional Wayne Allen looks after three junior programs, all within an hour’s drive of his home base at Blomidon Golf and Country Club. Like Sherlock, he introduces Golf in Schools programming to five local schools every winter and has seen a tremendous impact.

“Six years ago, the nine-hole Deer Lake course didn’t have a junior program,” says Allen, who has been involved with Golf in Schools for 10 years and whose club was named the 2014 Future Links Facility of the Year. “So we started one with six kids. The next year, there were 20. That winter, we visited the schools for the first time and the following summer, we had 60 juniors in the program.”

Ten-fold growth in a couple of years. Impressive, to say the least.

The impact extends beyond increasing the participation rate among youngsters. As a result of the exploding junior programs, Blomidon introduced two new membership categories: An intermediate category for older kids and a family category.

The latter became necessary, says Allen, “because the parents would drop off their kids for golf, then go to the patio for lunch, waiting for the kids to finish. Eventually, they’d say to themselves, ‘Why am I just sitting here when I could be playing golf?’

“The growth in membership has been huge thanks to our junior programs.”

For more on Future Links, driven by Acura, contact Adam Hunter (Manager, Grow the Game) by email (ahunter@golfcanada.ca) or through Twitter.

Due to extenuating circumstances, the U.S. Open Local Qualifier previously scheduled at Beacon Hall Golf Club will be changing courses. The US Open Local Qualifier will now take place at Weston Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ontario, on Monday, May 7.

Beacon Hall has experienced winter damage to several of their greens. The cold and windy conditions over the winter, coupled with the extended snow and ice that accumulated in recent weeks, has jeopardized the world-class playing conditions we are accustomed to at Beacon Hall.

This decision was not taken lightly as Beacon Hall has been a great partner to Golf Canada and we look forward to the club hosting another competition in the future.  We feel that this is the right decision to alleviate any pressure on Beacon Hall and maintain the integrity of the Local Qualifier for the U.S. Open.

We are fortunate to have the storied Weston Golf & Country Club accommodate this year’s U.S. Open Local Qualifier on short notice. Weston is consistently recognized as one of the premier courses in Canada and has hosted many prominent events including the RBC Canadian Open in 1955 which was Arnold Palmer’s first career PGA Tour victory. Recently they hosted the 111th Canadian Men’s Amateur and later this summer they will be hosting a U.S. Women’s Amateur Qualifier.

We hope that competitors can appreciate this decision and we apologize for any related inconvenience. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Adam Helmer at ahelmer@golfcanada.ca or by phone at (416) 450-6374.

Please contact the Weston Golf & Country Club Pro Shop at (416) 241-8538 to book a practice round between Wednesday, May 2 and Sunday, May 6.

AVONDALE, La. – When Scott Piercy tried to deflect credit to Billy Horschel for their nerve-testing, one-shot victory in the Zurich Classic team event, Horschel grinned and went with it.

“I’d like to thank myself for playing well this week,” Horschel began with a laugh. “No, it was great to play with Scott. Our games match up well. We are really good ball-strikers. We think the same way. … I don’t have to worry about him making a bad decision.”

Playing in the same group as Jason Dufner and Pat Perez – who trailed by a mere stroke for the final seven holes – Horschel and Piercy calmly executed one pressure-packed shot after another Sunday, closing with a bogey-free 5-under 67 in alternate shot play that was just good enough.

“All four of us are really great friends. We were chatting it up the entire day– toward the end of the round, a little less,” Horschel said. “You’re going to be anxious, nervous. You’re heart’s going to be racing a little bit, but that says you’re alive. It says you’re alive and in the spot you want to be.”

Horschel became a two-time winner at TPC Louisiana. He captured his maiden PGA TOUR triumph at the 2013 Zurich Classic when it was a traditional every-man-for-himself event. His popularity with the crowd was evident with the ovation he receiving approaching the 18th green. He said he loves New Orleans and has close friends in the city.

“I just feel at home here,” Horschel said. “Maybe I should look into buying a house here, but what are the state income taxes? That’s the issue.”

Especially if he keeps playing the way he has lately, having finished tied for fifth at the RBC Heritage two weeks earlier.

Horschel and Piercy surged into the lead with birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. They followed that with seven straight pars. After Horschel narrowly missed a 23-foot birdie putt on 18 that was reminiscent of the one he sank to win on the same green five years ago, Dufner stood over a 14-foot putt for the tie. He left it a foot short.

“Last putt, I didn’t get aggressive with it. Just didn’t quite get speed matched up like I wanted to,” Dufner said before complimenting Horschel on Piercy on how hard they were to chase down. “They didn’t lose a tee all day – and that’s pretty tough in alternate shot.”

Canadian David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Irish partner Seamus Power shot a 68 to tie for 10th. For Hearn, the finish comes one week after earning a T16 result at the Valero Texas Open. The strong back-to-back performances bode well for Hearn’s FedEx Cup standings and PGA TOUR status for 2019 – he currently sits at No. 139.

This was the second year of the Zurich’s switch to a two-player team format.

The victory was Horschel’s fifth and Piercy’s fourth. They each earned $1.04 million and 400 FedExCup points.

The result did not count toward the world ranking.

A year ago, the Zurich format called for best-ball play in the second and final rounds, with alternate-shot on the first and third. But organizers decided this year to flip that so the final round would have the alternate-shot format, with one player hitting the tee shots on even-numbered holes and the other on odd numbers. That set the stage for substantial moves up or down the leaderboard; players had less margin for error and no choice but the play the lies their teammates left them on the previous shot.

Horschel liked the change because “the better players, the better teams obviously are going to rise on Sunday. It’s a lot more volatility. … I felt the way we played – how good of ball-strikers we are – I felt like we could really make up a lot of ground.”

Horschel and Piercy began the day three shots back, but immediately surged into contention with birdies on the first two holes.

Piercy’s 146-yard approach set up Horschel’s 5-foot birdie putt on the opening hole. On the par-5 second hole, Piercy chipped to 4 feet to set up Horschel for birdie again.

Horschel returned the favour on the par-5 seventh with a chip to 3 feet and did even better on the 10th, dropping a 148-yard approach shot a foot from the hole.

Horschel’s 88-foot wedge out of a greenside bunker stopped less than 2 feet from the hole on the par-5 11th to set up his team’s final birdie.

“With Billy’s course knowledge and comfort level here, I just had to do a little bit and he could kind of take over,” Piercy said.

Heading into the final round, Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown, the 2017 runners-up in a playoff, topped a crowded leaderboard that featured 13 teams within four shots of the lead. By the time the top five teams had all reached the back nine, they were all within two shots of one another.

This time, Kisner and Brown faded on the back nine with three bogeys and one double-bogey, and tied for 15th at 15 under.

The team of Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel finished third at 20 under. Tied for fourth at 19 under were the teams of Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Paisley, and Brice Garnett and Chesson Hadley.

Garnett and Hadley began the day two shots back but briefly led after four birdies on the front nine. However, they bogeyed the par-4 13th when they struggled with a massive fairway bunker on the Pete Dye-designed course, and also bogeyed the par-3 14th and par-3 17th.

“Ah, our members don’t need it.”

“Nobody uses it at our course.”

“Our members don’t play competitively!”

Well, these are the top 3 responses our office has received over the last 10 years.  The surprising thing is anyone who is a member of a Saskatchewan golf course or a recreational player could use the benefits of the Golf Canada membership. Who wouldn’t like to tee it up knowing they were protected up to $6,000.

A review of the protection items are shown below:

For more information, please contact Candace Dunham at 306-975-0850 or by email.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to visit our website. We are excited to showcase our new website. If you visit other golf association websites such as Golf Canada, Alberta Golf, Golf New Brunswick, Golf Manitoba, PEI Golf Association or Nova Scotia Golf Association you will see a similar look and feel.

One of the strategies we have is to work together more instead of separately.  One digital platform is a move in the right direction.

As we work things out to familiarize the new technology, if you notice anything not working properly or don’t know where to look, please contact our office.

We hope you have enjoyed the spring so far and we welcome you to the 2018 golf season which official kicked off on April 15th, even though you were not able to tee it up.