Monday – July 8^th, 2019 at Holiday Park GC, Saskatoon, SK

In this case, player A had a short, uphill putt (inside of four feet) on a par three for his third stroke. The player made a proper stroke at the ball but accidentally hit the ball a second time on the way to the hole, and the putt was holed. Was it a three or a four?

Rule 10.1a, if the player’s club accidentally hits the ball more than once during a single stroke there will be no penalty and the ball will be played as it lies. In this case, the ball was holed and player A records a three on his scorecard.

Again, we heavily emphasize, “accidentally!” This does not allow a player with a 30 foot putt to putt, run up 20 feet and hit it again while it is moving. There will be penalties involved and possibly a disqualification penalty in that situation.

Full Rule for 10.1

10.1  Making a Stroke

Purpose of Rule: Rule 10.1 covers how to make a stroke and several acts that are prohibited in doing so. A stroke is made by fairly striking at a ball with the head of a club. The fundamental challenge is for you to direct and control the movement of the entire club by freely swinging the club without anchoring it.

a. Fairly Striking the Ball

In making a stroke:

• You must fairly strike at the ball with the head of the club such that there is only momentary contact between the club and the ball and you must not push, scrape or scoop the ball.
• If your club accidentally hits the ball more than once, there has been only one stroke and there is no penalty.

Golf Saskatchewan has two new junior champions.

On Thursday at Nipawin’s Evergreen Golf Course, Estevan’s Jace Carlisle and Regina’s Autumn Neiszner won the Junior Men’s and Junior Women’s Championships respectively.

Carlisle, 17, was the start to finish leader of the 54-hole event that started on July 9. He fired a sparkling 69 on day one before the leaders struggled during round two. The TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club member’s second round of 82 kept him one stroke ahead of the field. He rebounded nicely on day three stroking a two-under, 70 to win the event by six shots. Carlisle said he reached out for help prior to the final round and now he’s a provincial champion.

“I phoned my coach, Kevin Dietz and we talked, he said just forget about it, that’s what I did,” he said after the win. “I just forgot about it, went to the range and got my swing back. It worked today. Yesterday I was feeling the nerves a little bit. I was being a little steep, I figured that out, I was feeling better with the swing today and the putter.”

Carlisle’s third round was steady all day, a birdie on the par five, first hole got his confidence back helping him earn his first provincial event. He posted five birdies during the round to go along with a couple bogeys, the rest he parred. He said going into the day with a one-shot lead, the tournament was open for the taking by several players.

“It was jam packed at the top, it was anybody’s tournament at the start of the day. I came out and made the birdie that got me going, I made a nice putt. I had a hiccup on two, but it didn’t really set in until I was on the 18^th fairway and I knew I had it,” Carlisle said.

He will now lead Team Saskatchewan into the Canadian Junior Boy’s Championship in Hartland, New Brunswick in August. Carlisle said he’s excited to finally get a chance to represent Saskatchewan on the national stage.

“I’ve never played a Canadian national tournament before, I am looking forward to getting out to New Brunswick,” he beamed. “I have never been out east, it should be fun. I wanted to win this so bad, I’ve worked so hard I wanted to win so bad.”

Joining Carlisle on Team Saskatchewan will be Saskatoon’s Steven Duchsher and Kindersley’s Cort Tunall who finished second and third respectively. Saskatchewan is allowed one alternate, that will be Brody Istace, also of Kindersley.

Juvenile Champion (Under-17) – Cort Tunall (Kindersley)

Bantam Champion (Under-15) – Alex Swinnerton (Saskatoon)

Under 13 Champion – Jayden Chernoff (Estevan)

Junior Women’s Championship

Unlike Carlisle, Autumn Neiszner had to fight back from a first-round deficit to win her first provincial championship.

The 15-year-old Wascana Country Club member was three shots behind reigning champion Brooklin Fry after the first round, but she strung together her best three career rounds of golf to become the 2019 winner. Neiszner said the victory is special.

“It feels really great,” she said. “I played some really good golf. To shoot my three best rounds ever in a tournament all in a row feels good. There was a competition, everyone played well, it definitely feels good.”

Neiszner was the only junior woman in the event to shoot in the 70’s every round, with her 54-hole score of 230 (78, 76, 76) she won by nine strokes over Lauren Fox of Creighton. Neiszner had already qualified for a spot at the Canadian Junior Girl’s Championship with her showing at the Future Links Prairie Championship in Yorkton. Coming into the provincial event she was hoping to perform well without the pressure.

“Winning wasn’t my goal, playing my best golf I could was and obviously I did, and I ended up winning which is great,” she said.

The majority of the junior women’s field participated in last week’s Amateur Women’s Championship in Saskatoon. Neiszner was nursing a little bit of an injury and skipped the event. She said that potentially helped her be fresher coming into Nipawin.

“I think just taking a break and practicing for a week was really helpful,” she said. “I just kept the ball in play, I hit greens, I putted well, I didn’t make any really big mistakes.”

Joining Neiszner at nationals in Lethbridge will be Fox, Fry, and Ella Kozak who edged Sarah Grieve in a six-hole playoff to decide the alternate member of Team Saskatchewan.

Under 15 Champion – Brooklin Fry (Shell Lake)

Regina’s Autumn Neiszner has taken over the lead at the 69^th Junior Women’s Championship.

The Wascana Country Club member was three shots back of Brooklin Fry after round one, but on Wednesday she tied for low round of the day at 76. Coupled with Fry’s 86, Neiszner will take a seven-stroke lead into the championship round Thursday at the Evergreen Golf Course in Nipawin. Neiszner now sits at plus-10 over 36 holes.

Creighton’s Lauren Fox also shot 76 on Wednesday to push herself into contention. Her career low round vaulted her into a tie with Fox, the reigning junior champion in second place.

Three other golfers will battle for the last spot at the Canadian National Championships on Thursday, Sarah Grieve (Saskatoon), Ella Kozak (Yorkton), and Carey McLean (Deer Valley) are all within two shots of each other. The top three players will make up Team Saskatchewan at the national junior event, plus one alternate will participate.

The complete leaderboard can be seen here.

Estevan’s Jace Carlisle managed to hold onto the lead he had after round one of the Junior Men’s Championship but the four shot comfort zone the Estevan product enjoyed is no longer in play.

Carlisle followed his 69 on day one with a 10-over, 82 during the middle round of the event to drop to seven-over for the tournament. He sits one stroke ahead of another TS&M Woodlawn golfer, Jayden Dudas. He fired his second straight round of four-over, 76 to sit in a tie for second at plus-eight. Griffin Wilson of Swift Current is also at eight-over after shooting a 79 on Wednesday.

There is a logjam of golfers tied for fourth place at plus-nine. Steven Duchscher (Saskatoon), Cole Jenkins (Prince Albert), Brody Istace (Kindersley), and Chase Gedak (Estevan) will all battle for one of the four national spots on the junior men’s side.

All the results can be found here.

The championships will decided on Thursday.

Reigning champion Brooklin Fry picked up where she left off last week at the Saskatchewan Women’s Amateur Championship during the opening round of the Junior Women’s provincials in Nipawin on Tuesday.

Fry, 14, carded an opening round plus-three, 75 to take a three-stroke lead over Autumn Neiszner at the Evergreen Golf Course. The Shell Lake product got her day started with a trio of pars before chipping in an eagle on hole four. She birdied hole six before running into trouble on seven and eight picking up a bogey and double bogey consecutively. Fry, who plays out of the Memorial Lake Regional Park Golf Course was even after the front nine. Another bogey on hole 10 dropped her to one-over for the day, she got that back with a birdie on 12. Four straight pars followed but trouble on 17 led to a triple bogey and the score of 75.

Neiszner’s round was the opposite, the Wascana Country Club member was five-over on the front before rebounding on the back nine going one-over par for a plus-six, 78.

Saskatoon’s Sarah Grieve sits in third place at plus-10. The leaderboard can be seen here. The junior women begin teeing off on Wednesday for their second of three rounds at 10:15 a.m.

On the junior men’s side, Estevan’s Jace Carlisle was the lone golfer to shoot under par. The TS&M Woodlawn Golf Club member stroked a solid three-under, 69 on day one of the three-day championship.

Carlisle was two-under on the front nine at the Evergreen thanks to the assistance of three birdies. He added two more on the back and a bogey to close the day with a four-stroke lead on Chase Gedak, also of Estevan. Gedak played even golf for 17 holes before bogeying 18 and dropping to one-over.

Gedak is tied with Griffin Wilson of Swift Current in third with a round of 73. Kindersley’s Brody Istace is in fourth place at plus-three, another Woodlawn player, Jayden Dudas rounds out the top five at 76.

The full results can be seen here, the boys will hit the tee blocks beginning at 8 a.m.

The top four players from both the women’s and men’s categories will be eligible for nationals. Western Canada Summer Games positions are also on the line during the 54-hole event that wraps up on Thursday.

Danny Klughart has cruised to his second Order of Merit (OMT) event championship of the season winning the Scotia Wealth Management Saskatoon Amateur Golf Championship this past weekend.

The Cooke Municipal Golf Course member is coming off a win at the Lobstick a few weeks ago. Klughart jumped out to a huge lead during the amateur on Saturday striking a seven-under, 65 at Dakota Dunes Golf Links. That tied his career tournament low round. He said everything went right on day one of the 36-hole event.

“I had a really good round,” he chuckled. “I hit the ball really well off the tee, I hit most of the fairways and my wedge game was pretty dialled in. I made lots of birdies but they were all inside ten feet except one so that was nice.”

After the first day Klughart had a five-shot lead on Ty Campbell and Jehremy Ryde and a six-stroke cushion on David Stewart. Round two of the event moved to Riverside Country Club where he went one-under, 71 to hold off the field and win by five shots. Klughart said he knew shooting near par would likely seal the victory.

“My goal was to shoot under par on Sunday, I figured if I did that it would be very tough for anyone to even tie me,” he said. “It would have taken Ty or Jehremy six under and Dave seven under to tie me if I shot under par so I figured that would be a pretty safe bet.”

Despite the five-shot win, Klughart admitted changing venues halfway through the tournament did allow for the chasers to claw back.

“I actually think that kind of opened the door,” he explained. “At Riverside you need to know the lines and just putting on the greens can be quite challenging so guys that play there everyday kind of have an advantage. If Ty could have made a few more putts on the front nine he would have been right there with me because he was hitting the ball well. Jehremy and Dave were under par on the front nine so it wasn’t far off from being a close back nine, they had some trouble and I made a few birdies and got my big lead back.”

Campbell finished at 141, Ryde carded a 142. Last weekend’s winner at the Reliance Gregg’s Central Amateur, Roman Timmerman placed fourth at 143, Stewart rounded out the top five at an even par, 144. The complete results can be seen here.

Next up on the men’s OMT is the Saskatchewan Men’s Amateur and Mid-Amateur Championships at the Saskatoon Golf and Country Club from July 16 to 18. Klughart said his game is where it needs to be to contend for either championship.

“I feel really good,” he said. “I am kind of getting back into it after taking a few weeks off. I’m going to continue to work on the things I was before. I am really trying to get my distance control, and my putting. I have been working on those two a lot, it seems to be helping my wedge and iron game. I am just trying to be pin high and that is really helping my game.”

Some of the best junior golfers in Saskatchewan will converge on Nipawin between July 9 and 11 for the Saskatchewan Junior Golf Provincial Championships.

Both the boy’s and girl’s championships will run together at the Nipawin Evergreen Golf Course. It’s the 93rd running of the men’s event, and the 69th running for the women’s.

“We’re very excited,” Evergreen Head Pro Derrick Tallon said. “It’s a great honour to host a provincial event. The golf course is in fantastic shape and I know that the competitors, when they get here will be very pleased.”

The Evergreen last held the Junior Championships in 2014 and have also held multiple other provincial championships since turning into an 18-hole course in the 1990s. Tallon said while it’s great to hold any provincial event, the juniors are a bit different.

“The juniors is a great event,” he said. “Because there’s many families that come up, so they can experience all the other fun things to do in the town.”

The par-72 course is widely considered as one of the best in the province, and Tallon added a tournament like this just adds to the exposure of the club.

“We believe we have a very good golf course and the conditions are excellent,” Tallon told northeastNOW. “But it’s great for players once they’ve experienced it, then they go back to their respective clubs and tell their friends and fellow golfers how good the Nipawin Evergreen Golf Course is.”

51 golfers are in the field, 43 boys and eight girls will battle for spots at the Canadian National Championships as well as spots at the Western Canada Summer Games.

Competitors will start teeing off at 10 a.m. The complete girl’s field can be seen here, the boy’s line up can be found here.

Article courtesy www.northeastNOW.com/MatBarrett

You or anyone else are now allowed  to repair almost any damage on the putting green.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.

There is no longer a penalty for hitting the flagstick that is in the hole when you’ve played your stroke from off the putting green or if you’ve played your stroke from on the green.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.

After nearly two years away from the sport, Graham DeLaet is set to make his return to professional golf in July on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The 2016 Olympian says he plans to play in a handful of Korn Ferry Tour events in July and August and is eyeing a September return to the PGA TOUR. DeLaet is set to tee off at the TPC Colorado Championship from July 11-14 at Heron Lakes in Berthoud, Col.

The Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, Calif., from Aug. 1-4 has also been penciled on his schedule.

DeLaet last competed on the PGA TOUR in October 2017, before back injuries forced him to take an extended leave of absence.

The 37-year-old from Weyburn, Sask., has been considered one of Canada’s top golfers since turning professional in 2007. He won ten collegiate tournaments as a member of the Boise State University golf team, and was inducted into his alma mater’s athletics Hall of Fame in February 2019.

DaLaet has won four professional tournaments, but none on the PGA TOUR. He has come close, finishing runner-up on three occasions. The two-time Saskatchewan Amateur champion has played all four major championships, finishing in a tie for seventh at the 2017 PGA Championship, four strokes back of winner Justin Thomas.

Information about the TPC Colorado Championship can be found here.

The term penalty area has been introduced and will replace areas previously known as water hazards.

Visit golfcanada.ca/rules to learn more.