Victoria, B.C. – The 110th playing of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, presented by BDO, gets underway next week at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria, B.C. from July 29-August 2. 

The championship, which was first held in 1901, is one of the longest tenured amateur events in the world. The inaugural tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Que., featured only three players. Fast forward over a century later, 156 players will look to engrave their name onto the Dutchess of Connaught Gold Cup in 2024.  

Team Saskatchewan will be made up of Alex Schmidt (Regina), Lauren Fox (Creighton), and Chloe Wills (Kyle). All three will tee off at 2:10 Saskatchewan time on Monday for their practice round.

The championship will feature a competitive field of top female amateur golfers, national team members, provincial champions and elite international amateurs. Practice rounds are scheduled for Monday, July 29, before the 72-hole stroke play competition gets underway on Tuesday, July 30. Play is scheduled to wrap up on Friday, August 2, followed by an awards ceremony and champions reception. The field will be cut to the low 70 players (including ties) after the second round. 

The tournament will welcome 118 Canadians along with 38 international players, including 22 from the United States, six from Australia, two from Chinese Taipei along with representation from Barbados, Colombia, Hong Kong, China and Mexico. 

The Inter-Provincial Team Championship will be played in conjunction through the first 36 holes of the competition with eight three-player teams vying for the title. Last year Team Ontario consisting of Jasmine Ly (Windsor, Ont.), Joline Truong (Mississauga, Ont.) and Sydney Naro (Toronto, Ont.) were crowned champions. 

The 156 player field features seven of Team Canada athletes led by defending champion Lauren Kim (Surrey, B.C.) – who shot a final round 2-under 71 to claim the title last year along with teammates, Angela Arora (Surrey, B.C.), Katie Cranston (Oakville, Ont.), Nicole Gal (Oakville, Ont.), Michelle Liu (Vancouver, B.C), Alissa Xu (Richmond Hill, Ont) and Lauren Zaretsky (Thornhill, Ont.). 

Team Canada NextGen will also be represented with nine members of the team set to compete including, Vanessa Borovilos (Etobicoke, Ont), Anna Huang (Vancouver, B.C), Shauna Liu (Maple, Ont.), Luna Lu (Burnaby, B.C), Lindsay McGrath (Oakville, Ont.), Eileen Park (Red Deer, Alta.), Swetha Sathish (Oakville Ont.), Michelle Xing (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Vanessa Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.).   

Clara Ding of White Rock, B.C. is the youngest player in the field at the age of 13 and there are two members of Royal Colwood Golf Club teeing it up this week, Cynthia Adamek and Jiyue Wu.  

Royal Colwood Golf Club is a world-class golf course that offers a challenging and scenic layout, set amidst a beautiful forest of towering trees and manicured fairways. Designed by Arthur Vernon Macan in 1913, the course has hosted numerous high-profile tournaments. The par 72 course features strategically placed bunkers and winding fairways that demand strategic accuracy and skill. The course’s natural scenic landscape is enhanced by its serene surroundings, with sparkling water features and an abundance of wildlife.  

“Royal Colwood Golf Club is honoured to add the 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur to our club’s rich history of prestigious golf events. We are excited to welcome the top amateur women golfers from around the world to Victoria while we showcase our golf course over the four days of competition,” Gordy Scutt, Head Golf Professional at Royal Colwood Golf Club. “Hosting this event is an exciting opportunity and we are confident that Royal Colwood will provide a memorable experience for the players, guests and surrounding community.” 

Last year Team Canada member, Lauren Kim won the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Ashburn Golf Club in Halifax, N.S. Team Canada athletes have won the past three Canadian Women’s Amateur Championships. Prior to Kim’s victory last year, Monet Chun of Richmond Hill, Ont. won the 2022 championship at Westmount Golf and Country Club in Kitchener, Ont. and Lauren Zaretsky won in 2021 at Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club in Spruce Grove, Alta.  

The 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur champion will receive an exemption into the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship taking place August 5-11 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. In addition, the winner will receive an exemption into the 2025 CPKC Women’s Open, taking place August 18-25 at Mississauga Golf Club in Mississauga, Ont. 

For more information about the 2024 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship please click here. 
 

Golf Canada Amateur Championships 

Golf Canada annually conducts more than 30 golf competitions and qualifiers nation-wide – including nine National Amateur Championships – which play host to more than 3,000 domestic and international athletes from all corners of the world. In partnership with our host clubs, thousands of volunteers, provincial golf associations and our proud sponsors, Golf Canada is dedicated to supporting player development through world-class competition since our inception in 1895. Officiated by certified Canadian Rules of Golf officials, Golf Canada’s amateur competitions are fully compliant with golf’s international governing bodies and include marquee events such as the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships as well as the Canadian Junior Girls and Junior Boys Championships. Golf Canada’s amateur championships are proudly supported by BDO Canada, Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), Titleist, FootJoy, Sport Canada, Levelwear and JOURNIE Rewards. For more information and scheduling visit https://www.golfcanada.ca/competitions-calendar/ 

Ella Kozak’s junior golf career at the provincial and national level is complete following a tie for 38th at the Canadian Junior Girls Championships last week.

Kozak, 18, was the top Saskatchewan player at Marine Drive Golf Club playing all four rounds shooting 81, 79, 71, and 81 to finish at 24-over par.

As Kozak now prepares for university in the United States, her teammates in Vancouver gained valuable experience at the national level.

Chloe Wills, Niya Friesen, and Grace Odnokon were also in the field at the national event, the trio will have several more national championship appearances, with Wills and Friesen having a couple years of under-19 golf left, Odnokon has two Canadian Junior Girls Championships on her resume at just 14 years of age.

Team Saskatchewan was tied for sixth in the inter-provincial championship that takes place over the first two rounds. Kozak, Wills, and Odnokon made up the team.

To see the complete results, click here.

The next Canadian event is the Amateur Women’s Championship in Victoria, B.C. at Royal Colwood Golf Club beginning on July 29. Wills is in the field as part of Team Sask., Alex Schmidt of Regina and Creighton’s Lauren Fox make up the team.

Tayla Perry and Dane Giesbrecht are the champions of the 2024 Saskatchewan Summer Games (SSG) golf competition.

The Games are still underway in Lloydminster for the first time 2016, but the golf tournament was held at the Golf and Curling Centre on July 23 and 24.

Perry took the women’s championship with a 36-hole Stableford score of 86. Sarah Henderson of Saskatoon earned the silver medal with 76 points, Ada Dillon of Onion Lake was third, she had 75 points.

Perry’s victory led Team Regina to the district championship as well alongside Yuna Lee, who was fourth just behind Dillon.

In the men’s championship, Warman’s Giesbrecht picked up 116 Stableford points to hold off the field and claim the gold medal.

Sucker River golfer Dade Bernatchez was second, just eight points back with 108.

Tying for third place with 104 was Jack Maharaj (Saskatoon) and Jun Lee of Regina.

Team Regina also won the men’s district competition with 223 points. Lee was on the team with Ryden Amberson, he was tied for fifth overall with North Battleford golfer Shae Maunula.

To see all the results from the Saskatchewan Summer Games golf championship, click here.

Pauline McDougall is taking the Saskatchewan Senior Women’s Championship trophy back to Prince Albert.

The Cooke Municipal Golf Course member won the 54-hole event Thursday at Nipawin’s Evergreen Golf Course to become the second Prince Albert player to win the 50-and-over championship. Daisy Junor won the event in 1974.

McDougall spoke about the win after the championship.

Coming in second place was Swift Current’s Deb Wilson, the Elmwood Golf Club member won the Mae Balmos (60+) category.

Sue Skinner of Rosetown was third, the trio will now have the opportunity to represent Saskatchewan at the Canadian Senior Women’s Championships in Georgetown, Ont. at The Club at North Halton in late August.

To see the complete results of the Women’s Senior Championship, click here.

In the Saskatchewan Senior Men’s Championship, Colin Coben was a dual winner taking the 55-and-over championship for the fourth time and the super-senior (65+) trophy a third.

The Delisle resident won the event by a shot with a third round of even par, 72 over Brent Wotypka of Swift Current. Ken Rodgers of Regina placed third, those three players will have the chance to make up Team Saskatchewan at the Canadian Senior men’s Championships at the Saugeen Golf Club in Saugeen, Ont. from Sept. 12 to 15.

Coben spoke after winning his fourth title.

In the 75-and-over age group, termed the “legends” it was Ken Bradley of Moose Jaw taking the championship for the fourth straight time.

In the Men’s Mid-Masters Championship (40-and-over) Todd Turgeon of Spiritwood outlasted Kris Carley of Carnduff in a three-hole playoff.

With the win, Turgeon earned a spot to the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur (25+) Championship. Turgeon does not plan to attend the championship, Carley will likely use the spot in Manitick, Ont. at the Carleton Golf and Yacht Club from Aug. 20 to 23.

To see the complete results of the Men’s Senior Championship, click here.

The middle round of the Saskatchewan Senior Women’s and Men’s Championships proved to be moving day for two players at least.

Pauline McDougall of Prince Albert is the new leader of the women’s senior (50+) division after she chopped 10 shots of her day one total of 85 to sit at 18-over par, 160 going into Thursday’s final round.

The Cooke Municipal Golf Course member shot the lowest round of the day by eight shots, Denise Wilson (Swift Current) shot 83 to move into a second place with first round leader Debbie Sapara of Yorkton, three shots back of McDougall. Lorie Boyle of Moose Jaw also carded an 83, she sits in fifth place.

Saskatoon’s Heather Torrie is in fourth.

To see the complete results and the start times for Thursday’s championship round, click here.

In the senior (55+) men’s championship Ken Rodgers of Regina sits on top of the leaderboard going into the final round Thursday.

The Tor Hill Golf Course member and two-time senior champion was one of just two players (Kevin Ryan, Moose Jaw) to shoot even par in the middle round of the 54-hole championship. Wednesday’s 72 coupled with an opening round 77 on Tuesday, Rodgers sits two shots ahead of Brad Phelps of Saskatoon.

Two players are tied for third, four-time reigning champion Rick Hallberg and reigning super-senior (65+) winner Brent Wotypka of Regina, they are at 9-over par, 153.

Ryan’s even par round vaulted him up 24 spots on the leaderboard going into the final 18 holes, the Hillcrest Golf Club member is fifth.

Rodgers also leads the 65-and-over division.

One leaderboard without a change on top was the mid-masters (40+) category, Kris Carley of Carnduff remained one shot ahead of Todd Turgeon after the second round Wednesday at Nipawin’s Evergreen Golf Course.

Carley had a one stroke cushion after day one.

Rodgers is also entered into the age group, he’s tied with Nipawin golfer Ryan Haight in third place at 5-over par.

The winner of the Mid-Masters Championship receives a quota spot in the 2024 Canadian Mid-Amateur (25+) Championship in Ottawa later this summer.

To see the complete Senior Men’s Championships results, and the draws for Thursday’s final round, click here.

Ella Kozak of Yorkton is the lone Saskatchewan player to make the cut at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship.

The Saskatchewan champion shot 79 and 81 over the last two days at Marine Drive in Vancouver, B.C. She made the cut by five shots and sits in a tie for 55th place at her final junior national event.

Kozak tees off at 10:40 a.m. on Wednesday for round three.

Kozak, alongside Chloe Wills of Kyle and Grace Odnokon of Saskatoon made up Team Saskatchewan, the trio finished in a three-way tie for sixth in the inter-provincial championship.

Odnokon shot 88 and 89, Wills posted rounds of 96 and 86.

Swift Current’s Niya Friesen was also in the championship, she carded rounds of 88 and 89.

Shauna Liu of Ontario is the leader at 3-under par.

The complete results can be found here.

Day one is complete at the 2024 Saskatchewan Senior and Mid-Masters Championship in Nipawin with some new names on top of the leaderboards through 18 holes.

Debbie Sapara of Yorkton is the leader of the Senior Women’s Championship after the first of three rounds of the championships hosted by Evergreen Golf Course. The Deer Park Municipal Golf Course member shot 75 Tuesday, two shots lower than Heather Torrie of Saskatoon who is in second at 6-over par.

Swift Current’s Denise Wilson is in third place at 9-over par in the 50-and-over championship. Wilson also leads the Mae Balmos division for players 60 and over.

To see the complete results from the first round, and the start times for the players, click here.

Rob Schneider (pictured above) has a one-shot lead in the Senior (55+) Men’s Championship in Nipawin after round one.

The Tor Hill Golf Course member posted an opening round 2-over par, 74 on Tuesday at the Evergreen Golf Course. Two former champions are a shot off the pace of Schneider through one of three rounds, four-time reigning champion Rick Hallberg and three-time senor winner Colin Coben are tied for second at 3-over par, 75 going into Wednesday’s second round.

Brent Wotypka of Swift Current and Brad Phelps from Saskatoon are sitting in third, both players shot 4-over par, 76 to open the event.

Coben is on top of the super senior (65+) age group, an honour the Delisle product has won twice, Wotypka is also in that age group.

In the Mid-Masters Championship, open to players 40-and-over, Kris Carley of Carnduff is the first round leader shooting a 2-under par, 70 in Nipawin, he was the lone player in the 122 player field to shoot under par.

Reigning 40+ champion Todd Turgeon of Spiritwood sits in second after carding an even par, 72 in day one of the three day event.

Former Nipawin resident, and Lloydminster player Mike Nicholson is third in the age group.

The winner of the Mid-Masters Championship receives a quota spot in the 2024 Canadian Mid-Amateur (25+) Championship in Ottawa later this summer.

To see the complete Senior Men’s Championships results, and the draws for Wednesday’s second round, click here.

After being an intern for Golf Saskatchewan several years ago, followed by time working at Golf Town, PGA of Saskatchewan member Carson Olson is the new tournament director for the provincial amateur association.

Olson, 24, hails from Tisdale, Sask. at takes over for Alex Schmidt in the role. Olson began his new role with Golf Saskatchewan on July 2 at the Junior Championships in Yorkton.

He worked the Amateur Championships under CEO Brian Lee, but will manage the Saskatchewan Senior Championships this week in Nipawin. Olson said he is adapting to the role and has enjoyed the busy start.

“I knew what went into an event of this magnitude from my intern days, but to now be in the role after my time at Golf Town, I am really excited to conduct the championships plus work on the grassroots part of the game,” he said.

Once the championship season is complete, Olson will be hard at work developing camps, lessons, and preparing for next and and future championships.

For the first time since 2019 the Evergreen Golf Course will play host to a provincial championship this week.

The Saskatchewan Senior Women’s (50+) and Senior Men’s (55+), as well as the Men’s Mid-Masters (40+) will be played from Tuesday to Thursday at the Evergreen in Nipawin. Between the three championships plus the Mae Balmos Championship (category for women over 60 year’s old) 124 players will compete.

The Evergreen hosted the junior championships in 2019, the men’s senior event has never been played in Nipawin, the senior women’s tournament was played in Nipawin in 1995, when the championships were separate.

Evergreen Club President, and Golf Saskatchewan President Kevin Duchscherer said the course, and community are excited about hosting the 54-hole championship.

“Nipawin Evergreen is really looking forward to hosting this week,” Duchscherer said Monday morning. “We’re really excited, I know our Superintendent Steve Pearcy and the grounds crew have been working really hard on getting the course ready for play. We have over 120 players, the weather looks good, and again, we are just really excited to showcase what we feel is one of the best courses in the province.”

The defending senior women’s champion is Kim Walker of Regina, she is not in the field this year. Rick Hallberg of Weyburn is the four-time defending senior men’s champion.

To follow along all week long click here for the women’s championship information, the senior men’s and mid-masters details can be seen here.

Deer Valley Golf and Estates played host to another Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour (MJT) this week with over 60 players competing in six divisions.

Taking the overall women’s championship was Tayla Perry (pictured above) with a 36-hole score of 162 after rounds of 80 and 82 at Deer Valley, that played just over 5,100 yards for the female competitors. Sarah Henderson (Saskatoon) was second in the age group, Hailey Thunderchild of the Kawacatoose First Nation was third.

In the under-15 women’s category Youran Zhu of Saskatoon was the winner thanks to back-to-back rounds of 86 on Monday and Tuesday. She was seven strokes lower than Regina’s Yuna Lee, Kathy Han of Saskatoon was third.

In the under-13 men’s division, Jun Lee of Regina edged Keaton Kreklewich of Melville by one shot to take the championship. Lee carded two rounds of 74 at the tournament, Kreklewich went 77 and 72. Craik golfer Dalton Stephens placed third in the division.

In the under-15 men’s category Saskatoon player Thomas Pilon was the winner in a tightly contested 19 player field in the age group. He shot 76 and 77 to win the category by a single stroke over Wynyard golfer Ayden Melsted who shot 78 and 76 over the two days.

Cohen Hepburn of Saskatoon was right in the hunt finishing two strokes behind Pilon in third, Austin Nesbitt of Pilot Butte placed fourth at 157 (80, 77), and Brock Dorrance of Wawota rounded out the top five.

The overall men’s champion was Ethan Hunter of Casa Rio. The 14-year-old carded rounds of 79 and 72 to win the event by three shots over Jordan Heller of Regina. Heller (below) was the under-19 champion.

Dante Gamble of Duck Lake and Kai Kriekle of Regina tied at 157 for second in the under-17 category.

Brody Sawchyn (Saskatoon) and Davin Karst (Assiniboia) tied for second in the under-19 category at 158.

The complete results of the tournament can be seen here. The 2024 Golf Saskatchewan Order of Merit Tours (OMT) have been updated as well, click here to view all the races.

The next junior OMT event is the MJT’s stop at Moon Lake Golf and Country Club outside Saskatoon on July 29 and 30. To register click here.

All photos courtesy Jeff Chambers Golf.