The Regina City Junior golf tournament will take place over two days this weekend in the Queen City.

The event, open to both girls and boys has three age groups for competitors ranging from under-14 to under-18. This year the tournament will take place at the Royal Regina Golf Club and the Murray Municipal Golf Course on June 9 and 10. Organizer Garrett McMillan said the committee is working hard to revitalize the competition which is back for a third year following a decade long hiatus.

“We’re trying to create an event featuring competitive golf in Regina,” he said. “We don’t get to see competitive golf here often and it’s nice to have.”

The event is now part of the Order of Merit (OOM) schedule with players gaining points in the standings. McMillan said there is extra incentive for the boys that register too.

“Our winner gets an exemption into the Regina City Amateur just so there is a feeder program from our tournament to theirs. It shows the winner of our event what they are up against once they aren’t juniors anymore,” McMillan said.

Cole Obrigewitsch was the boy’s winner last year, Alex Schmidt is the two-time defending champion on the female side. Many of the competitors entering the tournament are making their first attempt at competitive golf. McMillan said the basis of the event is still fun.

“Standing over a drive with your buddies is different than standing over a drive when every shot counts but the biggest thing we want is fun for everybody. I think we’ve done a good job with that,” he said.

The cost to enter is just $110, that includes two rounds of golf, prizes, and supper on the second day of the tournament. The deadline to register is June 7, you can do so by downloading an entry form and emailing reginacityjunior@hotmail.com

A skills competition will be held on the second day as well.

Josh Nagy is already a two-time winner on the Maple Leaf Junior Tour (MJT) this season following a two-round score of 152 this past weekend at the Lloydminster Golf and Curling Centre.

The 16-year-old Saskatoon product fired back-to-back 76’s to take the juvenile boy’s division by six strokes over Edmonton’s Nicholas Rimmer. Estevan’s Chase Gedak shot 163 over the 36 holes to finish in third place. 25 golfers competed in the category, 19 hailing from Saskatchewan.

Will Blake, 14, of Regina was the winner in the bantam boy’s division, the Regina golfer shot 81 and 77 for a one-stroke margin over Jace Shannon of Forestburg, Alta. La Ronge athlete Parker Layton placed third just a pair of strokes behind the leader. 20 players competed in the bantam age group.

In the junior boy’s division, Estevan Woodlawn member Logan Chernoff was victorious shooting 157 over the two days. He edged Swift Current’s Griffin Wilson by a stroke. Kindersley product Brody Istace was third with a score of 159. A dozen golfers competed in the junior boy’s category.

Jordan Unger, 19, of Saskatoon took top spot in the collegiate category, he shot 86 on Saturday and followed that with an 82 on Sunday for a four-stroke win over Lloydminster’s Jason Kim. Martensville’s Jax Gipman placed third with a 176.

In the peewee boy’s group, Edmonton athlete Tate Brugggeman picked up a nine-stroke win over Weyburn’s Darien Herlick. Solomon Ness from Saskatoon was third place with a 196.

On the girl’s side there were a pair of categories with competitors, in the U15 age group Brooklin Fry was the low score shooting 189. In the 15-18 division, Alyshia Suleman of Sherwood Park, Alta. won by six strokes over Saskatoon’s Sarah Grieve.

To see the Order of Merit (OOM) points standings, click here.

The next MJT event in Saskatchewan is June 16 and 17 in North Battleford.

Saskatoon’s Dave Stewart can check the Scotia Wealth Management Open off his bucket list.

The Saskatoon Golf and Country Club member tore up the Evergreen in Nipawin on the weekend securing a three-stroke victory over Clint Schiller. Stewart, 32, has placed second at the tournament on three separate occasions in the seven times he’s entered the event. He said it was nice to finally be victorious.

“It’s a tournament I’ve wanted to win for a long time,” he said. “I’ve known Dean (Prosky of the host committee) very well, we all recognize this is one of the better if not best tournaments we have in the province. This is the one that’s been looming over me for a few years.”

Stewart collected two birdies and a bogey to go along with 15 pars in round one for a 71 total, on Sunday he birdied seven holes on route to a 67, securing the victory. A self admitted slow starter, Stewart said his entire arsenal was working.

“Everything seemed to click this week, the driving was good, I never put myself in trouble all week and the putter came around. It is a sense of relief I can check off this box,” he said.

Stewart said his short game has struggled over the last few seasons. He said he worked hard to tighten that part of his game up and it paid off over the 36 holes.

“I’ve always felt comfortable driving the ball and tee-to-green, but the Achilles Heel was always my short game and this week it was the strength,” he said.

The tournament had a special feel to it this year. The host committee asked the golfers to wear green or yellow over the weekend paying respect to the community of Humboldt following the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s Broncos bus crash on April 6. Stewart said all the players felt moved by the host committee’s request.

“There was a sense that everyone is pretty grateful to play a game we love. It was extra special to win it on a year something so tragic has happened,” he said.

Stewart is playing a tournament in Melfort this upcoming weekend and is registered for the Saskatchewan Mid-Amateur and Amateur later this summer.

To see the complete field results from the Scotia Wealth Management Open can be found here.

The Kim Brown dynasty continues at the Ladies Northern golf championship. She picked up her third straight title at Cooke Municipal Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday and beat the field by a whopping 14 strokes.

The streak may have been even longer, but she had her son four years ago and had to skip out on the tournament that year.

“It’s been a good run since,” Saskatoon’s Brown laughed, who grew up playing and working at Cooke as a youngster. “I think it’s just the first tournament of the year and I’m always looking forward to getting out and playing. When you haven’t been out on the golf course, you just want to go out and have fun.

“I think that helps you play your best. You’re enjoying the people, the company, the course. You’re just glad to be out playing again.”

As far as the course is concerned, Cooke is going through some renovations and repairs to the irrigation system. The tournament was still able to run a full 18-holes, just two weeks after the May Day Masters tournament was restricted to 16-holes.

“It was fantastic, the course is in excellent shape. I rarely remember a year when it was in this good of shape,” Brown said. “With all the construction, they did a great job in maneuvering us around the construction and still giving us 18 holes to play so kudos to the grounds crew and the club for making that work. The construction didn’t really have a big impact, it was really well done.”

Ann Kirkland won her second straight Senior Ladies Championship. Not only that, but she was also in a three-way tie for second place overall along with Pauline McDougall and Abra Thompson.

Here are all the prize winners in each of the six flights.

Championship Flight

1. Kim Brown, 152
2. Ann Kirkland (senior’s winner), Pauline McDougall and Abra Thompson, 166

First Flight

1. Dianna Sutton and Andrea Ring, 175
2. Dawn MacAuley and Charene Kozak, 177

Second Flight

1. Maureen Bowerman, 180
2. Shelley Ruecker and Del Soulier, 184
3. Carol Spanks and Lorna Gilbert, 190

Third Flight

1. Donna Morin, 191
2. Debbie Krawchuk, 196
3. Donna Dyck and Deb Thierman, 198

Fourth Flight

1. Joyce Bowers, 208
2. Gill Gracie, 220

Fifth Flight

1. Sandra Isbister, 220
2. Ollie Kelly, 226
3. Terry Krzak, 230

This article is courtesy www.paNOW.com sports editor Jeff D’Andrea in Prince Albert.

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Sandra Post turns 70 this week and celebrates another milestone this month as well – the 50th anniversary of her first LPGA Tour win.

Reflecting back, Post, who has had a lengthy list of accomplishment in her career including winning the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year, twice winning the Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year, and appointed to the Order of Canada, says winning the LPGA Championship, a major in her first try, is what’s been the focal point of her on-course legacy.

But with 50 years now passed, Post realizes she had a greater mission off the course to help promote and advance the status of women in sport.

“It wasn’t just sport,” she says. “I knew that early on. I knew there was other issues to it.”

Post says she hasn’t grasped how monumental her major win was until this anniversary has come up. She won a couple of tournaments later in her career that have since become majors (Post won the ANA Inspiration twice, when it was known as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Winner’s Circle and not yet a major) but didn’t realize then that majors really define one’s career.

“Those moments live with you,” she says. “If you’re a U.S. Open champion or an LPGA Champion… it really is fabulous.”

Post was just 20 years old when she teed it up in the 1968 LPGA Championship at Pleasant Valley Country Club, about an hour outside Boston.

She finished at 2-over after 72 holes, tied with Kathy Whitworth – one of her idols and who, up to that point, had won 27 times on the LPGA Tour (she would go on to win 88 times in her career, the most ever) – and there would be an 18-hole playoff to decide the champion on the Monday.

Post remembers calling her father back in Toronto to say there was going to be a playoff the following day and he caught the last flight to Boston on Sunday along with some members of the Canadian press corps who had just finished covering Bob Charles win the Canadian Open at St. George’s.

Post wasn’t able to sleep that night, so she jumped in her car and drove to Boston to pick up her dad. The members of the press who were also on the flight couldn’t believe Post, who was about to play the biggest round of her life, was there at midnight to drive the two-plus hours back and forth from Boston, but she says she had nothing else to do so decided to make the trip.

At a dinner earlier that night, she remembers sitting with Mickey Wright (World Golf Hall of Fame member and 82-time LPGA Tour winner) and Susie Berning (four-time LPGA Tour major winner) and asked what would she need to do in order to beat Whitworth the next day.

“I remember Susie saying, ‘fire everything you’ve got at her, right off the top. And I go, ‘Really? Ok.’ I’ll never forget those words,” says Post.

“I didn’t really have a strategy but I was thrilled to death I was going to finish second at the LPGA Championship,” she continues with a laugh.

Huge crowds had showed up for this David vs. Goliath match-up, Post says. She remembers her caddie being a young teenager, maybe 14, and their combined ages barely eclipsed Whitworth’s age of 29 at the time.

Post started the day with three straight birdies, but Whitworth made an eagle and a birdie in the first four holes and they were tied.

“I looked up on the hill after the fourth hole and I saw Susie and I said, ‘That’s all I got! Now what do I do?” says Post. “She just put her hands up.”

As the day chugged along, it looked like a foregone conclusion that Post was going to be the champion, extending her lead to five shots at one point.

But Wright was already one of the winningest golfers on the LPGA Tour, and Post wasn’t going to count her out. However, late in the round it was all but settled Post was going to win.

Post had dunked her approach from 90 yards out on the par-4 15th for a birdie to get to 7-under for the day. When they got to No. 17, Whitworth ended up in the trees with her tee shot. She couldn’t make it out, made quadruple bogey, and Post would go on to win by seven, finishing at 5-under to Whitworth’s 2-over.

Post won a “whopping” US$3,000 in first-place prize money, the most she had ever won at one time. She says she still has a copy of that cheque.

“I had a bonus with Spalding too. I got in my car and went down the road to Baltimore (where the next event was) thinking I was pretty rich,” she says, laughing.

Looking back on that victory 50 years ago, Post says there were a ton of great memories on the course, but it was off the course where she really learned her place in the world.

She knows they were playing for money and needed money to make a living, but all the women on the LPGA Tour at the time were trying to elevate the status of women in sport, and says they were all very conscious of their role in that.

Post says the voting for the Lou Marsh Trophy in 1968 was a big point in her realization that she needed to do more for the advancement of women in professional sport. She finished fifth in the voting that year.

“I took that very seriously. I was Rookie of the Year, I had won a major, and I was the first Canadian woman to really play golf professionally and get to that level. For a woman to play any sport professionally, and to see I was ranked fifth… I didn’t ever think it wasn’t fair, but I knew I had so much more work to do,” she says. “I had to get the message across to our country.”

Post says it was an honour to pass the baton in Canadian professional golf to Gail Graham and Dawn Coe-Jones, and then to see them pass it along to Lorie Kane and A.J. Eathorne, who then passed it to Alena Sharp and Brooke Henderson.

She’s happy to see there has been more done in women’s golf on the scholarship side and with purse increases on the LPGA Tour, and has no doubt Henderson is going to end up passing the baton sooner rather than later, given the talent on the LPGA Tour is getting younger and younger each year.

“I see the social issues and I see so many things we’ve been able to achieve. Absolutely we have a lot of work to do with the disparity of the purses and all that, but I tend to look more on the positive side,” she says.

At 70 Post remains as sharp as ever. Her victory half a century ago was the turning point for Canadian women’s golf and opened the door to many others who followed. And although she was a “young 20” when she found the winner’s circle, she says being a part of that group of women was something she’ll never forget.

“When I look back I have such admiration for those founders of the LPGA Tour and what they accomplished. Talk about pure pioneers of not only golf, but of women. To help move the needle for women,” she says. “I would not trade my time for any other time.”

Almost $15,000 is being handed out through the 2018 Saskatchewan Academic and Golf Excellence (SAGE) scholarship program this year.

The funding is dispersed to the recipients based on academics, sporting excellence, and being a Golf Saskatchewan member while being a high school or post-secondary education student.

There are a pair of Graham DeLaet Scholarships each valued at $1,500; Yorkton’s Kade Johnson and Prince Albert’s Cory Selander are this year’s beneficiaries. Carson Harcourt of Kipling is the Golf Saskatchewan Scholarship winner. The Kenosee Golf Club member receives $1,000. The $1,000 Ron Young Scholarship is going to Willows Golf Club member Marc Sweeney. The Kozy Scholarship recipient, also worth $1,000 is Moose Jaw’s Michael Flagel.

Andrew Campbell of Saskatoon, Estevan’s Logan Chernoff, Prince Albert golfer Joshua Guthrie, and Deer Park/Melville Golf Club player Chloe Sies will all receive $1,000 in funding for academics. Campbell is a member at the Willows, he received the Cooke-Kinnear Scholarship. Chernoff calls the Woodlawn Golf Club home, he gets the Fletcher-Reid Scholarship. Guthrie golfs at the Cooke Municipal Golf Club; his bursary is named in honour of Bill Gordon and Sies of Melville claims the Leddy-Heywood Scholarship.

Evergreen Golf Club in Nipawin member Tenesha Pompu is the recipient of the Meredith MacPherson-Stalwick Memorial Scholarship valued at just over $1,034. The Dr. Garry Hayes Memorial Scholarship benefits a pair of golfers, Royal Regina Golf Club members Jacob Kydd and Alexandra Schmidt each receive almost $550 each.

The Golf Saskatchewan High School Bursary worth $400 each is being awarded to Evergreen member Veronika Duchscherer and Lauren Fox of Creighton.

You can find more information of the SAGE scholarships here.

Course ratings and handicaps are integral tools to developing golf and making the world’s greatest social game more fun.

Volunteer course raters provide governing agencies, such as Golf Canada, Golf Saskatchewan or the United States Golf Association (USGA) with data to give courses a rating. Ratings coincide with handicaps that players possess as their scores get posted throughout the golf season. Craig Loughry is the director of handicapping and course rating for Golf Canada, he said ratings and handicapping are intertwined.

“That’s when we can form relativity to how good or how bad a score is for each individual as they post their scores for handicap purposes,” Loughry said.

Courses are rated every ten years, Loughry estimates a jurisdiction such as Saskatchewan likely has about 20 volunteer course raters. New golf courses are rated in their first year, another rating is provided after five years. The course then moves to a ten-year cycle to align with course rating policy. Loughry said early course development can alter a courses’ rating.

“Courses mature and change over time,” he said. “They might have renovations, trees mature, greens might creep a little bit (extended cuts). Fairways might get a different mowing pattern, widths could change, those are the things we look at when providing a course and slope rating.”

Courses are rated from each tee box on a course and for both women and men. Loughry said the days of using the term “women’s tee” are pretty much gone. He said using appropriate tee distances for your ability helps provide golfers a good experience.

“We have seen a movement of some players wanting to play a more forward tee, and by rating each tee for both men and woman it allows those golfers who do want to move forward to do so, and still maintain a handicap and post their scores” he said.

Handicaps are in place to allow golfers of different calibres to be competitive with each other. You must be a member of a recognized golf association to obtain an official Golf Canada Handicap Factor. Loughry said it allows rounds of golf to be more enjoyable.

“If player A (say a handicap of 20) happened to play better to his or her own ability than player B (with a handicap of 7) did to his/hers then chances are player A would have a better net score that day. That’s what makes it so fun, you don’t have to have the same skill to have a friendly match” he said.

Currently there are subtle differences between the USGA system and the Golf Canada system. Handicaps in the US only change every 15 days in what is called a revision cycle, no matter how many rounds are played/posted, but here in Canada handicaps change with each round played/posted. At the start of 2020, a universal handicapping system will be in place for all golfers across the world. Loughry said Golf Canada has a say input to the development of the new World Handicap System. He said some aspects of the system will stay as they are, but there will be some alterations to the system however.

“There will be some sections that remain the same or similar, but other areas that will be completely rewritten. There will be people who will be used to things that haven’t changed in 20+ years that will be evolving, there will be some adjustment for everyone” he said.

The new system is to be put in place on Jan. 1, 2020.

Hole 2 at the Riverview Golf Club in Outlook is being featured as a learning destination for the area’s students and golf enthusiasts.

Moon Lake Golf and Country Club member and PGA Saskatchewan coach Brad Birnie has visited the town of Outlook the past couple weeks as part of the Future Links Driven by Acura program. The initiative is designed to enhance interest in the sport in young people. Birnie has interacted with almost 50 students and 35 adults during his visits to the town in just a couple weeks. Birnie has been involved in the Future Links program and Golf Saskatchewan for over 12 years. He said growing the game is worth his volunteer time.

“It has been pretty successful,” Birnie said. “We’re pretty busy in the golf industry in the summer so getting away from our home clubs is a little tough but we try to effect a lot of communities in the province. It’s very enjoyable.”

Birnie is scheduled to return to Outlook and continue to promote golf throughout June until the school year expires. Outlook Elementary School Principal Darla Thorstad said the students appreciate the Future Links visit.

“We certainly do have some excited students from the golf lessons,” she said. “We really appreciate the opportunity for our students to learn the fundamentals of the sport from a professional.”

Golf Saskatchewan will host a mobile clinic this weekend at the Nutrient Children’s Festival from June 2 to 5 at Kinsmen Park in Saskatoon. More details are available here.

Future Link clinics are scheduled for Delisle on June 6 and Wynyard on June 13.  If your community, school, or local club is interested in hosting a Future Links event contact Steve Ryde at 1-306-975-0834.

Waskesiu’s historic golf course is getting set to host the Senior and Men’s Lobstick tournaments in June.

Over 500 golfers from Saskatchewan, Western Canada, Ontario, and the United States will travel to the course within Prince Albert National Park for the Senior Men’s Lobstick and the Men’s Lobstick. The Senior’s event runs from June 5 to 7, Waskesiu Golf Course (WCC) general manager Tyler Baker said the participants will marvel at the shape of the facility.

“We came through the winter really well,” Baker said. “The golf course is in great shape, the greens are perfect, fairways are really good, there is a couple of spots in the rough but other than that you wouldn’t think it’s the end of May right now.”

Northern Saskatchewan was dealing with several large-scale forest fires early on this spring, but Baker said the smoke didn’t affect the course or golfers thankfully. He credited the park staff for their work and communication.

The Lobstick tournaments that include Pepsi Junior tournament and the Ladies’ Lobstick started in 1935 with the Men’s event. The course was opened that same year. The name comes from a tree on the fairway of hole one that was left by course designer Stanley Thompson. Baker said the story of the tree is well told.

“When Stanley designed the course they left that in the middle because there was one downtown at the time and they wanted a twin. It is unique to stand on the first tee and see a tree in the middle of the fairway but that is how the Lobstick got its name,” he said.

Registration is closed for the Senior’s event; 240 golfers will participate. The Men’s tournament has 223 signed up for both the Open and Match Play event, another 25 are registered for just the Open portion. In all, over 800 golfers will participate in the four events. The Men’s is scheduled for June 11 to 16. The Junior and Ladies’ tournaments are in August. Baker said the event has drawn people to it for up to 40 years. He said the fellowship and social aspect is a huge reason for the success and longevity.

“I want to say it’s the competition but it’s just the comradery and friendships. A lot play in both the Senior’s and the Men’s so they are here for two weeks. This is the only time they get together throughout the year so it’s pretty cool,” Baker said.

Previous Lobstick winners include hockey legend Gordie Howe and Pat Fletcher, the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open on the PGA tour. For more information on the events click here.

The Lobstick events are Order of Merit (OOM) sanctioned tournaments generating points in the standings. Golf Saskatchewan’s OOM governed events are fast approaching as well, the 100^th Amateur Ladies’ Championship and the 55^th Senior Women’s event begin June 29. Registration details can be found here.

Rule 6-7 – Time Limit to Play a Stroke

QUESTION:
Dave and Paul are playing a round of golf. Dave is a notoriously slow player. Is it a Rule that Dave must play a stroke within 40 seconds?

ANSWER:
No. The Rules of Golf place no time limit on playing a specific stroke. However, a committee may adopt a pace of play policy with certain requirements (e.g., that when a group is out of position and is being timed, each player must play within 40 seconds when it is his turn to play). For a Golf Saskatchewan event, we try to have all individuals play in 4:35 for 18 holes.

Reminder … golf is supposed to be fun and time well spent. Please don’t be a Dave. When it is safe to play, and in stroke play, please play ready golf!