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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.

Long-time executive director of Golf Manitoba, Dave Comaskey is moving onto a new chapter in his career.

Originally from the northern community of Thompson, Manitoba, he started his career at the Southwood Golf and Country Club working as an assistant golf professional from 1995 to 1999. Comaskey returned to the University of Manitoba and followed up his Bachelor of Arts degree with a degree in Recreation Studies. He went on to become the assistant executive director at Golf Manitoba under Dave Morison in 2002. After almost 13 years as the executive director, Comaskey said working in golf is a privilege.

“It’s in me, I’ve grown up around golf and loving it. It’s always been my passion, I feel very fortunate to be working in the industry. Golf has always been a major part of my life,” he said.

Comaskey took over for Morison in 2005 when the former executive director retired. The amalgamation of men’s and women’s golf associations was an initiative Comaskey is proud of. He said the 100^th anniversary of golf in the province a couple years ago was another.

“We launched some player development initiatives, a celebratory tournament, some marketing stuff, that was a really neat and challenging year,” Comaskey said.

The development of games programming (Manitoba, Western Canada and Canada Games) is also among Comaskey’s highlights.

He will continue to work in the golf industry. Comaskey is the new golf course operations coordinator for the City of Winnipeg’s Golf Services. The city has three courses that will operate with Comaskey’s management. He said the timing is right for both him and Golf Manitoba.

“It’s a good time for me and Golf Manitoba. It’s healthy for someone else to come in here and bring some new ideas and initiatives,” he said.

Comaskey is looking forward to the new opportunity. He said the choice was a difficult one to make but staying within the sport was important.

“It wasn’t an easy decision by any means to move on to a new opportunity, but it certainly made it easier having it be in golf,” he said.

The board will begin their search for Comaskey’s replacement this week. His last day will be May 11.

Regional golf leaders attended a coaching seminar with the hopes of growing the game.

Almost 20 coaches from across Saskatchewan took part in the event at the Willows in Saskatoon on April 28. The seminar was led by long-time PGA Canada facilitator Doug Hastie. Hastie started his golf career at 13 years-old at the National Golf Course in Toronto. He currently resides in Victoria, B.C. He said the response for the clinic was excellent to see.

“Most of these people are from small towns and don’t have PGA professionals around or if they do they are in and out,” Hastie said. “They are trying to get junior programs running at their golf courses, that is what this seminar was meant for. It was really good to see everyone out.”

Hastie was filling in for this session. He has been a golf instructor on a full-time basis for seven years and conducts seminars across Western Canada. Hastie said growing the game is an important part of his career.

“I’ve always been a teacher at heart, I love education in any form. To be able to help people play better golf, have more fun, and you develop relationships. I love that part about it,” he said.

Hastie said the attendees are the type of leaders the game needs to continue to grow the game.

“It usually takes one or two people with some time and real good energy to get a junior program going. That is what this whole program is about,” he said.

Aside from learning coaching techniques and strategies there are other benefits to taking the day-long course. Golf clubs that have representation at the seminar are eligible for liability and insurance options and other benefits from Golf Saskatchewan and Golf Canada.

Lloydminster Golf and Curling Club (LGCC) superintendent Don Bilyk is being recognized for his service towards the city and the game of golf.

Bilyk began working at the LGCC in 1981 after working in the oilfields of Alberta. He worked as an assistant superintendent until 1986 where he then took the head position at a nine- hole course in Vermillion, Alta. Bilyk said operating the day to day operations of that course allowed him to make the jump to the LGCC.

“Being a superintendent of a nine-hole course versus an assistant, you are making the decisions,” Bilyk said. “You are purchasing, hiring, fixing equipment, it taught me a lot of good things.”

Bilyk was a good golf player and could have worked as a professional for a career as well. He said he was encouraged to work in the industry through advice from his father after an accident on an oil rig almost took out one of his eyes. Bilyk has spent over three decades in the industry. He said he takes great pride in the LGCC and what the course has to offer.

“I love the layout, when they went from nine-holes to 18, they did it right. We have a championship course layout here, it is 7,000 yards of wonderfulness,” he said.

Bilyk mentioned the members and the staff of the course are also a special group that makes going to work easy daily.

“The people around here are awesome, it’s a gem in Lloydminster that not a lot of people know about. I love working here and always have,” he said.

Bilyk was recently recognized for five years of service to the city. Most of his career he was employed by the LGCC and not the city itself. He said receiving a five-year service award was a quite funny at the time, but he felt honoured.

“It was awesome, it was kind of different, but it was very nice I have to admit,” he said.

Marty Wheaton is the LGCC manager and has worked with Bilyk for a several years. Wheaton said Bilyk’s work is a key part of the club’s success.

“Our course has developed into one of the best in the province. Don has been vital in protecting what we have and developing for the future,” Wheaton said.

“Golf Saskatchewan is in good hands,” according to past president Kyle Mulligan.

The Royal Regina Golf Club general manager concluded a two-year term as the Golf Saskatchewan board leader Saturday at the organization’s annual general meeting in Saskatoon. Mulligan said the sport has given him many experiences and fortunes and serving on the board was a way to give back to the game.

“Being an operator of a club and being a golf professional, I thought it was important for me to see the other side,” he said after the meeting. “I wanted to understand what was happening at the amateur level and with Golf Canada.”

The revamping of Golf Saskatchewan’s staffing level was a highlight for Mulligan. He said the provincial golf body has led the nation on a pair of objectives that Mulligan is also proud of.

“The involvement of the high-performance team was very big for me being a golf professional. The involvement that we had in being a leader across the country with the membership structure change and bringing in the gold benefit package for our clubs was vital,” he said.

Former vice-president Delbert Betnar takes over the presidency. Mulligan said the Regina resident will keep Golf Saskatchewan’s momentum going.

“He’s a good rules official and a very passionate member of the golf community in the province. He’s done some great things provincially and I know he’s excited to tackle what’s going to happen nationally. He’s a strong-willed guy, he’s going to do a great job,” Mulligan said.

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.

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.

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.

Yorkton’s Kade Johnson is being honoured for a solid second season of college golf in the United States.

Johnson took up the game as a nine-year-old encouraged by his grandfather, after playing numerous seasons at York Lake and Deer Park in Yorkton the 19-year-old is now playing at Southern Arkansas University in the NCAA Division II. Recently Johnson received an honourable mention among the All-GAC men’s golf awards. Johnson was the lone Canadian among the list of 15 players. He said the recognition was nice to receive following his second year.

“Yes exactly, we had our awards banquet the other night and it was great to receive that,” he said.

Johnson was the top finisher for his school in 10 of 21 team rounds this year. On the season he averaged 74.5. Johnson shot over 70 just once this year and carded in the 60’s three times. Overall, he said the season was memorable.

“It was awesome, we play at a beautiful golf course, another one is nice, the coach has been great. This past season was really good,” Johnson said.

The 2016 provincial junior champion in Saskatchewan is currently preparing for finals and will return to the province this summer. Johnson said he will play the men’s amateur championship and the annual Lobstick in Waskesui among other tournaments. He said playing the IMG Academy Junior World Championship last July was an unforgettable experience.

“You go to a tournament that Tiger Woods won and others on the tour have won that was great. To finish off my junior career at the Canada Games was a nice touch too,” Johnson said.

Johnson will return to Arkansas in the fall and continue his collegiate career. He appreciates the education he’s receiving but when his schooling is complete he hopes to turn professional.

“If my game is where I want to be I will give it a shot. It’s what I’ve been dreaming about for a long time,” he said.