This golf season will be one for the books.

But despite unprecedented schedules, navigating a global pandemic and extreme heat in the country’s two biggest provinces, golf’s superintendents were there as they’ve always been – solving problems and giving golfers an opportunity to play the sport they love.

That’s why International “Thank a Golf Course Superintendent Day” means even more in 2020.

On September 23, the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association, in concert with other global superintendent groups, will recognize those who keep the game going and enjoyable. All together the global groups represent more than 31,000 golf course management professionals. Look for a commercial to run on the Golf Channel and other media outlets, along with social media content.

Golfers and others are encouraged to join in the conversation online using the hashtag:  #ThankASuper.

“Supers aren’t just people who grow grass. They’re an integral part of a team at any golf course,” says Kathryn Wood, chief operating officer of the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association.

Just as most superintendents were gearing up for their season, that’s when COVID-19 really spread aggressively worldwide, with sports leagues – including the PGA TOUR – pressing pause. Luckily superintendents were able to maintain an essential, minimal level of maintenance at golf courses (British Columbia was different insofar as courses were not mandated to close).

Wood says she has been so impressed by the resilient, smart, group across the country.

“Looking back, there have been challenges presented for every person in the pandemic, but golf course supers are pretty ingenious, proactive and flexible and can come through any type of challenge pretty well,” says Wood. “They are very flexible and able to deal with the different challenges they’re faced with.”

At Cutten Fields in Guelph, Ont., head superintendent Bill Green tells a story of adaptability – a key for 2020, more than ever, he says.

He says he had one-person work for him this year – Ashton DeBello, a second-year chemistry student – who last summer worked in the halfway house at the club. Her bosses loved her and wanted to her back in 2020. But when the course opened, there was no halfway house due to COVID-19. She joined Green’s team – along with a chef and a clubhouse maintenance worker, who pivoted gigs to help keep the course in top shape – where DeBello learned construction skills.

Now? She’s operating an excavator, installing drainage and building bunkers.

“It’s brought the entire club, staff-wise, closer,” says Green about having people from other parts of the club’s business see what it takes for superintendents to get their jobs done. “Even if it’s just a few people, they understand what we’re doing on the golf course a little more. The members know my staff. Usually we’re in the trees and no one sees us.

“I think anybody in any business or any walk of life… everybody has had to adjust and change their life in many ways in a lot of cases and we’re no different.”

In Manitoba, Darren Kalyniuk is president of the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association and the superintendent at St. Boniface Golf Club. He, like Green, says the staffing and budget issues were the biggest challenges they had to face in 2020.

Still, superintendents did what they always do – persevere.

“A lot of superintendents put on their rally caps and really did whatever they had to do with limited resources to get the courses back up and running properly,” says Kalyniuk.

“Everyone was asked to work with limited staff because there were so many uncertainties with revenues at the beginning and it put a little bit of a challenge on the courses and supers to do more with less.”

Doing more with less has been demanded of so many across Canada. Combine that with the increased safety measures installed at workplaces, and you’ve got a challenging season – not to mention there were record-breaking numbers of people coming out and playing golf, too.

But David Hunter, the superintendent at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s Hoot and North Courses says he’s seen his staff embrace the challenge.

“We’ve been really excited to provide great course conditions for the whole season,” says Hunter. “It’s been a banner year for our staff and we’re incredibly proud of this group of people.”

As Canadian golfers, we should all be incredibly proud of superintendents from coast to coast.

And to them, on September 23 and every day, we say thank you.

For the last two years golfers from The Legends Golf Course in Warman and Cooke Municipal Golf Course in Prince Albert have competed in an event pitting each clubs’ top players against each other.

No big prizes are on the line but plenty of bragging rights are. Former Prince Albert resident and Cooke member Travis Jenkins now calls Warman home and came up with the idea to have an annual event between the two clubs. Jenkins said the teams are quite large but that allows more players to represent their respective clubs.

“Last year we had 18 vs. 18 and this year we did 20 vs. 20,” he told Golf Saskatchewan. “Some people say the numbers might be too high, but it makes it that much more fun because more people get to be involved.”

The Legends hosted the event in year one, Cooke played host this season. Each team has one win using home course advantage. Jenkins said the difference in venues plays a huge part of the scores.

“You couldn’t get two more completely different golf courses,” he said. “Warman is windy, it definitely benefits the long ball hitter. Cooke, you don’t need to hit the ball long to play well there.”

Jenkins joked that home field has made for some lopsided scores over the past couple years. He said the pressure has been light but hopes scores tighten up in the future.

“It’s been a blow out both years,” he laughed. “In Warman I think we won by 13 or 14 points and at Cooke they won by 10 or 11 points. We haven’t had those final matches that it comes down to which would be amazing to have everyone watching and have someone come through for their team.”

Warman will host the event again in 2021. Jenkins said their club will be back on top of the friendly rivalry next year.

“Warman will be up 2-1 after next year,” Jenkins vowed.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. – What was supposed to be a typical U.S. Open produced a most unconventional champion.

Bryson DeChambeau was not the least bit concerned by the narrow fairways or the ankle-deep rough that shape Winged Foot into historically the toughest of all U.S. Opens. With his extra 40 pounds of muscle and mass, he wanted to pound it into submission with his driver, even if his errant shots were buried in deep grass.

That’s how he plays the game. And for skeptics who said that wouldn’t work in a U.S. Open at Winged Foot, just look at that shiny silver trophy he kissed, and the record score he posted Sunday in a six-shot victory.

This victory was as much about validating his out-of-the-box approach to the royal and ancient game.

“One hundred per cent, no doubt,” DeChambeau said. “For me, it’s about the journey of can I executive every shot more repeatable than everybody else. I was able to do that this week. That’s why I won by six.”

Part of this course’s fame is the “Massacre of Winged Foot” in 1974 when the winning score was 7-over par.

This was a massacre, all right.

DeChambeau rolled in a 7-foot par putt and thrust those powerful arms in the air when he capped off a 3-under 67 on a course that didn’t allow another round under par. Two shots behind Matthew Wolff at the start of a chilly September afternoon, he caught him in four holes, passed him in five and pulled away along the back nine.

From the fairway. From the rough. It didn’t matter.

“I don’t really know what to say because that’s just the complete opposite of what you think a U.S. Open champion does” Rory McIlroy said. “Look, he’s found a way to do it. Whether that’s good or bad for the game, I don’t know, but it’s just not the way I saw this golf course being played or this tournament being played.”

Call him a mad scientist in a tam o’shanter cap. Call him a game-changer in golf.

Any description now starts with U.S. Open champion.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., was the top Canadian following a 70 that left him 10 over, good for 23rd spot. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., struggled to an 80, finishing at 19 over.

Wolff, trying to become the first player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to win the U.S. Open in his debut, closed with a 75. He made a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 ninth to stay within one shot. That was his only hole under par. Wolff finished at even-par 280, a score that would have won four of the previous five U.S. Opens at Winged Foot.

It didn’t stand a chance in this one.

“You can’t take Bryson out because obviously he won, but shooting even par for four rounds at Winged Foot is pretty exceptional,” Wolff said.

That describes DeChambeau this week. It was a breathtaking performance, four rounds at par or better, the first player to manage that at Winged Foot.

His victory really began last October, when he closed out his 2019 season in Las Vegas and said with a mischievous grin, “I’m going to come back next year and look like a different person.” He added 40 pounds through intense workout and a diet of 6,000 calories a day.

The COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months, leading to the U.S. Open being postponed from June to September. It also gave DeChambeau more time to execute his plan of swinging faster and harder, stretching the limits.

His work ethnic borders on insanity, and the eve of the final round was no exception. Unhappy with how he played Saturday, hitting only three fairways, DeChambeau had the lights turned on so he could stay on the range well past 8 p.m., pounding driver, searching for the right swing. Temperatures were in the 40s. He was in a short-sleeve shirt.

He didn’t find fairways, but he seemed to miss in the right spots. That was key for a player who hit only six fairways on Sunday, 23 out of 56 for the week.

Skepticism turned into admiration, with a healthy dose of disbelief.

“It’s a game we’ve never really seen before,” said Harris English, who shot 73 and finished fourth.

Louis Oosthuizen birdied the 18th to finish alone in third.

“I don’t think they can set it up for him, to be honest,” Oosthuizen said. “I don’t know what they can do really, because he’s hitting it so far. He’s so strong out of the rough. And he’s probably one of the best putters out there, which a week that he really putts well, you’re going to have a lot of trouble.”

In six U.S. Opens at Winged Foot among 894 competitors, DeChambeau is only the third to finish a tournament under par. His 6-under 274 was the lowest score, and no one saw it coming this week.

Wolff, the 21-year-old Californian who can drive it past DeChambeau with a lower flight and more roll in the fairway, gave him a good run in his quest to become the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923.

The U.S. Open was still up for grabs for a fleeting moment around the turn. DeChambeau and Wolff each got out of position on the eighth hole and made bogey. DeChambeau was at 3 under, one shot ahead of Wolff. Ahead of them, Oosthuizen and Xander Schauffele were lurking at even par.

Still to play was the back nine, where so much has gone wrong at Winged Foot over the years.

Not this time.

DeChambeau and Wolff blasted drives down the fairway on the par-5 ninth. DeChambeau rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt with perfect pace. Wolff, who had pitching wedge for his second shot, matched his eagle with a 10-foot putt.

Just like that it was a two-man race.

And then it was a one-man show.

Wolff’s tee shot on the par-3 10th rolled left into the thick collar of the bunker, a spot so precarious he had to stand in the deep bunker and grip halfway down the steel shaft of his sand wedge. He chipped 10 feet by the hole for a bogey to fall two shots behind.

From the fairway on the 11th, however, Wolff hit wedge that was chunky and went into the right rough, and he had to scramble for par instead of setting up a reasonable birdie chance. DeChambeau from the right rough came up short, but he used putter from off the green for birdie from 15 feet away.

With a three-shot lead, DeChambeau kept blasting away as if he were chasing, not leading, just like he said he would. He saved par from the left rough on the 14th and a perfect pitch from deep grass behind the green. He downed another protein shake walking down the 15th, marching along to a major title that affirms his position in the game as a pioneer.

Imagine the USGA, which has been studying the impact on distance, getting together for a debriefing after this performance. What would they say?

“He’s hitting it forever,” DeChambeau said with a laugh.

The last laugh.

Golf is both thrilling and maddening, a way to have a singular escape or meet with friends, and a game for a lifetime that can be played by both the health-conscious and those who take it as an opportunity to raise a Steamwhistle and crush a hot dog.

But, when you’re looking for something even more for your next 18 holes, we’ve got you covered with an explainer of some fun games you could play with your group.

Games played on the course can be as simple as a match against a friend or family member all the way to a complicated tracker of accomplishments (or lack thereof) resulting in, perhaps, a couple of loonies passed between hands.

While the new Golf Canada app is perfect for posting scores using regular stroke play, we know that not everyone takes to the course to play nine or 18 holes counting all his or her shots. Playing games in a group is way to spice up your usual round. Even for the most experienced golf group, there may be something new below that you’ve never tried!

Read on to learn more about some of our favourites.

1. Alternate Shot

Otherwise known as ‘foursomes’ this is a completely different kind of golf that North Americans usually only see on TV during the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Trying this out with your friends will a) make you understand why the best players in the world struggle with it and b) maybe make you try to find some new friends, depending on where your partner leaves you to hit from.

Alternate shot is, well, that. One player hits then the next player hits from where she or he ended up. It could also be modified to where each twosome hits a drive, you pick the best one, and you alternate shots from there to the hole.

Must play with four golfers.

2. Six-Six-Six

This is a simple match-play format that allows you to play with everyone else in your group and not just a single partner for the duration of the round.

The 18 holes are divided up into three six-hole matches and you can use any scoring format you choose. Even if you get defeated soundly in one of your matches, you have two others to try to redeem yourself.

Must play with four golfers. If you are riding in carts, the usual format is ‘carts’ (those in the same cart), ‘drivers’ (those who are driving), and ‘opposites’ (a driver and a passenger).  

3. Wolf 

A points-based game, this one takes a little planning and some concentration (perhaps try to find an accountant to play with?) but it’s a dramatic one that makes for some great stories by the time the day is done.

There is a ton of other ways to track points and add bonuses to your Wolf game, but here are the basics:

• The order of play is determined on the first tee. The ‘Wolf’ always tees off last. The order in which golfers tee off, regardless of score, rotates every four holes so each player becomes the Wolf on a continual basis.
• Once each player hits his or her tee shot, the Wolf decides to either take a partner (based on the locations of the tee shots) or go as the ‘Lone Wolf’ and try to beat the other three players on his or her own ball.
  • Variation: You could also be the ‘Blind Wolf’ and declare, before any of the tee shots are hit, that you are going to go at it alone
• Points are collected as follows
  • Wolf and partner win the hole: two points
  • Non-Wolf partners win the hole: three points
  • Lone Wolf wins: four points
  • Lone Wolf defeated by any player: The other three get one point

Must play with four golfers.

4. Bingo, Bango, Bongo

Another fun one that doesn’t need to involve four players, and it’s perfect for golfers who have a higher handicap but still want to get in on the action during a round. It’s another game of points but one that’s wrapped in being ‘first’ to do something.

The first player to hit his or her shot onto the green gets a point (Bingo!), the player whose ball is closest to the pin when all balls are on the green gets a point (Bango!), and the first person to hole out gets a point (Bongo!).

At the end of the round whomever has the most points wins.

Can be played with two, three, or four golfers. 

5. Vegas

Another team game, this one can get out of hand if you’re applying a monetary value to each point – but it’s a unique twist on a usual ‘scoring’ game.

Teams are decided on the first tee and scores are not added, but combined. If Player A makes a 4 and Player B makes a 5 then their score is 45. If Player C makes a 5 and Player D makes a 7, their score is 57 and Team AB wins the hole by 12 points.

The lower score always goes to the front of the combined score.

Must play with four golfers. 

6. Best Ball

A Best Ball match is just that, and can be combined to any number of other team matchups on the course. Teams of two play straight up, but as the name suggests, the ‘best’ score on the hole counts as the team score.

‘Best Ball’ is not to be confused with a ‘Scramble’ (very popular for family or corporate tournaments) where all four members of a team hit a tee shot and they continue on to hole out by choosing the ‘best ball’ out of the bunch every time.

Must play with four golfers.

7. Skins

Golfers apply points (or dollar amounts) to each hole and the lowest score wins the pot.

If any two golfers tie the hole then the point or dollar amount carries over to the following hole. Things can add up quick and make the holes later in the round even more exciting!

Can play with two, three, or four golfers.

8. Stableford

Another opportunity for the higher handicap golfers to earn points against their lower-handicap friends, the Stableford system of scoring is so popular even the PGA Tour uses it for one of their events.

Points are applied to scores and the higher the better, in this instance.

For example: Three points for an eagle, two points for a birdie, one point for a par, no points for a bogey, and minus-1 point for a double-bogey or worse is a good way to start.

Can play with two, three, or four golfers. 

9. Nassau

Playing a Nassau is the most popular of golf games and the one with the most variations, too.

At its simplest, a Nassau is broken out in to three games: low front-nine score, low back-nine score, and low 18-hole score. Dollar amounts or points are applied to each match. Say you were going to play a $5 Nassau, the most you can lose is $15. If you win all three, you win $45 ($15 from the other three players).

A popular move when playing Nassau’s is to ‘press’ (basically double-or-nothing on the original bet), which you could do if you were down a few strokes and wanted to try for a late-round charge.

Fun add-ons, called ‘junk’ can be added to the original Nassau game.

Hit it in the water but still made par? You could add a ‘Fishy’ to your Nassau. Knocked it off a tree but still made par? Congratulations, you made a ‘Barky.’ Chipped in? Well done, you earned a ‘Chippie.’

Golf is a fun enough game as it stands, but over 18 holes and with the same group round after round, there is no shortage of little games you can bring to the course the next time you tee it up.

In late July, Golf Canada and the Golf Canada Foundation joined together to launch the COVID-19 GOLF RELIEF FUND, an initiative aimed at supporting golf courses in helping employees and golfers stay safe while also thanking front-line workers through encouraging additional play and welcoming juniors to further experience the game.

As part of the RELIEF FUND, golfers and golf fans across the country were able to participate in a digital sweepstakes campaign featuring significant prizing across Canada and the U.S. in 2021.

Golf Canada and the Golf Canada Foundation would like to thank everyone who participated in the sweepstakes and supported the COVID-19 Golf Relief Fund thus far.

We are excited to announce and congratulate our sweepstakes prize winners below:

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We are not done yet… You can still help by getting behind the COVID-19 Golf Relief Fund!

Donations to the RELIEF FUND will be accepted throughout the season.

Click here to learn more about the COVID-19 Golf Relief Fund

Despite the challenges of the pandemic in the communities where we live, work and play, golf has seen a strong increase in rounds played across the country. Interest in the game and the golf experience among avid players, new enthusiasts, and juniors has been encouraging with golf’s re-emergence through COVID-19. Golf is well positioned for continued success moving forward and as the season begins to wind down, take a moment to be proud of the industry’s collective efforts to keep golfers and course staff safe in 2020.

After careful consideration, the PGA of Canada has made the difficult decision to cancel its final two national events of the season: the PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf and PGA Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf and supported by G&G Golf.

The decision was made in consultation with playing members and partners and comes as a result of ongoing domestic and international restrictions on travel, as well as safety concerns caused by the pandemic.

The PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf is typically held within Canada in the fall, while the PGA Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf and supported by G&G Golf is historically held south of the border toward the end of November.

“We surveyed our playing members to gauge their interest on a combined national championship within Canada later this season,” said Teejay Alderdice, the association’s president. “Some players expressed their willingness to travel but a significant portion shared their unease in light of the current climate. We feel it is in the best interest of everyone involved to come back bigger and stronger in 2021.”

“We value our relationship with the PGA of Canada and our connection with golf professionals from coast-to-coast,” said Callaway Golf Canada’s General Manager Bruce Carroll. “We will miss the camaraderie and competition this year, but the well-being of players is of utmost importance. Our team looks forward to staging two fantastic championships with the PGA of Canada in 2021.”

In addition to supporting two national championships, Callaway Golf Canada is the founding partner of the PGA of Canada’s #PatronizeYourPGAPro social media campaign, aimed at encouraging golfers to support their local pro shop. The online activation, which ran Aug. 7 to Sept. 15, provides golf professionals with the chance to win a VIP digital experience with PGA Tour player and Callaway ambassador Adam Hadwin.

The cancellations will have no impact on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC, which were frozen earlier this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

With the health and safety risks around COVID-19, and the inability to deliver a “phenomenal” event, the Niagara 2021 Canada Summer Games have been postponed until 2022.

The Canada Games Council (CGC) and Niagara Host Society announced the decision Wednesday after consultations with the Niagara Region in southern Ontario, and the provincial and federal governments.

“Like everyone else in sports events and the world generally we’ve all been watching how the pandemic unfolds, and following all the updates, trying to do our contingency planning and assess what impact it would have for us,” said Dan Wilcock, the CGC’s president and CEO.

“The Canada Games is a very large event . . . A lot of preparation goes into it. And we’ve been staying in close contact with all our all our various stakeholders trying to assess what a Games looks like in the context of the pandemic.”

Originally scheduled for August of 2021 in the Niagara Region, the Games have been rescheduled to the summer of 2022.

Held every two years, alternating between summer and winter, the Canada Games are the country’s marquee multi-sports event for up-and-coming athletes, with more than 5,000 competitors and 4,000 volunteers expected to participate in the Niagara version.

The Canada Games have eligibility rules such as age limits that are different for each sport. No decisions have been made on whether those eligibility rules will change to reflect the postponement.

Some sports have managed to return in Canada. The NHL reconvened in “bubbles” in Edmonton and Toronto, with the conference finals and Stanley Cup final being held in the Alberta capital. Canada’s three MLS teams are playing in their home cities, with the majority of matches in front of no fans.

The Canadian Elite Basketball League condensed its season into a two-week tournament in St. Catharines, Ont., with no fans. And the Canadian Premier League is playing out its soccer season in Charlottetown.

But none of those events drew the number of athletes the Canada Games does.

Wilcock said the numerous options including bubbles were analyzed, but the health and safety risks were too high.

“The Games brings together athletes and spectators from hundreds of communities across the country,” he said. “So, we’re not just focused on the health of participants and spectators in Niagara at the time of the Games, but also the hundreds of communities that people will return to across the country.”

Athletes are under different COVID-19 restrictions depending on municipal and provincial governments, so an athlete in one province or territory might not have the same access to training facilities as someone in another. Wilcock said being able to provide a fair Games for all competitors was important.

Also, Wilcock said hosting next summer wouldn’t ensure an “extraordinary Games experience.”

“And that’s certainly what the host society has promised to the Niagara region and the country,” he said. “The pandemic would significantly hinder our ability to stage the Games in the way they were envisaged, things like opening ceremonies, mass gatherings, etc. . . . looking questionable.

“So I think by postponing to the summer 2022, we can address both those things, we can better protect the health and safety of participants, but also deliver a phenomenal Games experience for all.”

If there’s a silver lining, Wilcock said, it’s that a later start date means additional time to for full testing of new facilities at Canada Games Park and the Henley Rowing Centre. Canada Games Park, at Brock University in St. Catharines, will include a sport and ability centre, arenas, gyms and an outdoor facility with a track, athletic field and beach volleyball courts.

No dates have been set for the 2022 Games in Niagara.

The Canada Games were first held in 1967 in Quebec City, and since then have seen more than 75,000 athletes compete, including Sidney Crosby, Steve Nash, Hayley Wickenheiser, Catriona Le May Doan, Martin Brodeur, and Lennox Lewis.

Red Deer, Alta., hosted the last Canada Winter Games in 2019, while Winnipeg was the site of the 2017 Canada Summer Games.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Mirim Lee chipped in three times Sunday, the last one for eagle on the final hole that got her into a three-way playoff at the ANA Inspiration that she won on the first extra hole with a birdie.

It was another wild finish in the LPGA major that moved from the first weekend of April to the 100-degree heat of September, and no one was more surprised than the 29-year-old Lee.

She was never in the lead at any point until she calmly holed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 18th to beat Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson, who each had the lead on the back nine.

“Yeah, I definitely played really well this week, which is definitely a really nice feeling and definitely gives me confidence moving forward,” said Henderson. “I felt like I missed a lot of putts, especially those final rounds where I feel like maybe it could have been a different story, but Mirim and Nelly played great, and I really fought my way around, so I’m happy.”

Lee pitched in from long range for par on the 16th, dropped a shot on the next hole and appeared to be out of it until her chip from behind the 18th green rammed against the pin and dropped for eagle and a 5-under 67.

Korda, the 22-year-old American going for her first major, had a two-shot lead with four holes to play and couldn’t hold it. With a one-shot lead going to the par-5 18th, Korda missed the fairway, had to lay up and missed the green to the right, having to scramble for par and a 69 just to match Lee at 15-under 273

Henderson lost the lead with a double bogey on the 13th hole that nearly cost her. But she birdied the 16th and was saved by the wall, a blue-covered structure behind the 18th that kept her second shot on the 18th from running through the green and into the water behind the island green.

She got up-and-down for birdie and a 69 to join the playoff.

On the first extra hole, Korda again missed the fairway and had to lay up, and her wedge was 25 feet short for a birdie putt that never had a chance. Henderson’s second shot came up just short, and she used putter for her eagle attempt that rolled out some 7 feet past the cup on the sun-baked, fast greens of Mission Hills. Her birdie putt missed on the left side.

Lee hit 5-wood just over the back of the putting surface, chipped to 5 feet and made the winner.

Even with world No. 1 Jin Young Ko and U.S. Women’s Open champion Jeongeun Lee6 staying home because of travel concerns with the coronavirus, Lee made it 10 consecutive years with a South Korea winning a major.

It was her fourth LPGA Tour victory, and first since the Kia Classic three years ago.

Her victory spared more conversation about the blue wall behind the 18th green, which the tournament erected in place of a hospitality chalet that was not needed this year because there were no spectators.

It was talked about all week, and the chalet in a normal year has blocked shots hit too hard. But it nearly decided the tournament. Henderson was one shot behind with her ball sitting up in the rough on the 18th in regulation. She hit 5-wood through the green and under the blue bunting, allowing for a drop.

She chipped down to 2 feet for birdie to join the three-way playoff.

Henderson needed a break after having to spend the final hour trying to catch up to Korda. The Canadian took her only lead on the 12th hole when Korda made bogey, and it didn’t last long.

Henderson drove into the right rough on the 13th and 6-iron in the wrong place – right again, with a bunker guarding the front right pin. She flopped that into the bunker and didn’t get up-and-down, leading to double bogey.

 

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Respect ? Great run down the stretch from @brookehendersongolf, who finished T2 behind first-time major winner Mirim Lee ??

A post shared by CP Women’s Open (@cpwomensopen) on Sep 13, 2020 at 4:43pm PDT

Korda answered with a tee shot into 5 feet for birdie on the par-3 14th, and suddenly her lead was at two. But she couldn’t hang on. Henderson’s 8-foot birdie putt curled in the left side of the cup on No. 16 with perfect speed. Korda held onto the lead at the 17th with an 8-foot par putt, and that set up the big finish on the 18th.

Through it all, Lee was an afterthought until her stunning finish.

She already chipped in for birdie from short of the green at No. 6. Lee gave herself a chance by pitching in from short of the 16th green to a back pin. And after a bogey on the 17th, she went long of the 18th and chipped in for eagle, dropping her head with a soft smile in disbelief.

Lexi Thompson, going after a second title at Mission Hills, was never a serious factor after bogeys that slowed her momentum. She closed with two birdies on her last three holes for a 69 to finish two shots out of the playoff.

U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Rose Zhang birdied the 18th for a 72 to tie for 11th. She finished at 8-under 280, setting the record for lowest score by an amateur.

In the summer of 2013, at just 15-years-old, a young golf prodigy of Smiths Falls, Ont., was entering the final round of her third LPGA Tour event. A future Canadian golf star, Brooke Henderson was paired with Canadian golf legend Lorie Kane. Walking up to the final hole of the tournament, surrounded by Canadian fans at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic held in Waterloo, Ont., Kane grabbed Henderson’s hand.

“I remember the feeling I had when I took [Brooke] by the hand,” Kane said. “I was saying to myself, whether I said it to [Brooke], ‘you are the future’.”

Flashforward to the summer of 2020, where Henderson appears alongside Kane at the CP Women’s Leadership Summit, no longer as the rookie and the veteran, but as two Canadian women in golf paving the way for future generations of women in sports.

Kane’s gesture of grabbing her hand was a subtle act, but it’s a moment that’s stuck with Henderson all these years later.

“That was just an incredible moment for me,” Henderson said.

Listening to the Summit, it became clear that moments like these; moments of pure, genuine leadership that may not seem like much at the time, can make dramatic impacts on the lives of the people influenced by them.

On Sept. 1, a diverse panel of women in positions of leadership came together for the third annual CP Women’s Leadership Summit. This year though, things were a little different because of COVID-19. Organizers pivoted to host the event virtually to accommodate safety restrictions with in-person gatherings.

Hosted by TSN anchor Lindsay Hamilton, the goal of the event was to provide inspiring stories and a networking opportunity, while also accepting donations for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. While the networking component wasn’t able to flourish like it has in the past, the Summit was “a success story for us” according to Mary Beth McKenna, the assistant tournament director of the RBC Canadian Open who has co-led the event since it began three years ago.

The event was divided into four sessions, each with different women discussing their experience as leaders in their respective positions. Speakers included Canadian golfers Kane and Henderson, and Olympians Marnie McBean and Perdita Felicien, among other prominent women in leadership positions.

A three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Canada’s chef de mission for the 2020 (though postponed to 2021) Tokyo Summer Games, McBean knows a thing or two about leadership.

Though, even McBean indicated she’s always actively learning how to be a better leader. As the Summit’s first speaker, McBean spoke about her early days with rowing teammate Kathleen Heddle, and how it wasn’t necessarily the match made in heaven their later results would make it seem.

“I actually actively worked for a long time to get into a different boat because I didn’t think Kathleen had what it took because she was introverted, she was calm and quiet,” said McBean. “I was like, well, that’s not what a champion is.”

It was encountering someone with a personality and working style different to her own that McBean said taught her an important lesson on teamwork and leadership. McBean quickly learned that welcoming “the diversity of the personalities in the boat” would be crucial to their success.

“I learned to accept that as long as I stopped trying to make Kathleen me, and I let her be her authentic self, she’s extraordinary,” McBean said.

“Leadership isn’t about meeting in the middle with people, it’s about earning trust and respect. I give 100 per cent of what I have to give, and if I’ve earned it, I’ll get 100 per cent of what the people I’m working with, who I’m leading, what they have to give,” McBean said.

The overarching message on leadership from McBean was this: humility and communication. It was a theme that seemed to find its way into separate discussions by all the speakers throughout the two-hour Summit. 

Humility and the openness to continue learning and growing was a key aspect of Olympian Perdita Felicien’s discussion on overcoming adversity and her experience as a black athlete.

“It’s lifelong learning, it’s lifelong commitment,” Felicien said on how to be an ally. “I’m also learning, I’m also figuring it out.”

Felicien said she’s had conversations with friends who are white, who’ve called or texted her to say that they want to listen and learn about being an ally.

“They want this to change. They might not know exactly how, but they are here, and they are at the table and they are deciding, ‘you know what: enough is enough’,” Felicien said.

The session prior, with Candy Ho, CEO of The Cape on Bowen Community Development and Pam Arpin, assistant vice president, customer and corporate Services at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) focused on the importance of communication.

Arpin discussed how she worked on having successful communication with her employees at the beginning of the pandemic when CP was deemed an essential service and many employees continued working at the office.

Arpin said she focused on making sure her employees knew that she was always available despite the fact that she didn’t necessarily have the answers they were looking for. She said it was important, “because any void in communication, people are going to fill up that void with their own speculation.”

Arpin said she thinks it was a missed opportunity “if you haven’t grown as a leader through this.”

It’s that aspect of humility and the willingness to grow that both Arpin and Ho emphasized in their discussion together.

It was apparent that no matter what leadership role you’re in, from CEO to a veteran golfer, being a leader transcends it all.

“We just have to be humble, have that mindset for growth, and then no barrier is a barrier, they’re all opportunities,” Ho said when asked about obstacles she’s encountered in her own career. 

While it may have been possible to view the postponement of the CP Women’s Open and the restriction from having an in-person Summit as a barrier, instead the CP Women’s Leadership Summit went on, taking advantage of the unique situation.

McKenna admitted that having to do the Summit virtually this year was a curveball, but it also opened up new opportunities.

“We had people attend outside of Canada, so you didn’t necessarily have to be in the marketplace to enjoy these great speakers,” said McKenna.

Usually in a space-restricted setting, the event has around 275 attendees, according to McKenna. This year, however, she said there were over 1,100 registrants from various countries.

Canadian Pacific staff tuning in from HQ in Calgary

McKenna also said that everything went seamlessly for the Summit, and she wants to carry that momentum into next year, with the hopes that it can be done in-person if it is safe to do so.

The key takeaway from the Summit is this: what defines a successful leader is not just one thing, on one occasion, it’s finding humility, and it’s about keeping an open line of communication, even when you don’t necessarily have the answers.

And it’s about the small, subtle acts of understanding and empathy, like taking the hand of a 15-year-old walking up to that final hole, despite being her competitor.

Henderson said that golf can teach people a lot of life lessons.

“I feel like almost every day is a challenge out there,” said Henderson. “But that’s part of the reason why we love it.”

The truth can be said about life and leadership, as well.

Built on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River, the North Battleford Golf and Country Club provides scenic views and a top tier course.

Constructed as a nine-hole course in 1971 by Ray Buffle the club became 18 holes in 1984. When asked what makes the course one of the most sought after in the province, Director of Golf Dana Johnson said the putting surfaces are the highlight of the 6,600-yard course.

“First and foremost, Grant (Sawchyn), the superintendent and his staff do a fabulous job,” Johnson said. “The golf course is not overly long in comparison with new golf courses where we get up to 7,000 yards, our golf course isn’t very long. What makes the whole golf course are the greens. You see a lot of people get out here and they think that putt is going to go right edge and it breaks right edge but more than you think. The greens make the course.”

Having the river along the course doesn’t hurt either Johnson added.

“The views are spectacular along the river valley. It’s a wonderful time to come out and golf anytime but especially in the fall with the colours in the river valley,” he said.

This year the course opened a newly designed fourth hole (pictured below). The club had issues with their previous hole, so they hired Alberta designer Gary Browning to revamp the 350-yard par-4.

“It’s a whole new hole, it’s a great new design. It’s got a fairway bunker that unfortunately catches a lot of balls, it’s 230 yards off the tee. It’s a real risk-reward hole. You have to play it once or twice to know where to miss it. It’s a great addition to our golf course,” Johnson said.

The old fourth hole will be kept in playable condition to use in case other holes need to be maintained during a season allowing the course to still have 18 in play.

Johnson has been at the North Battleford course since 1990. He has run successful junior programs over the past 30 years teaching upwards of 200 kids in some seasons. Johnson and the staff set up mini courses for juniors as well as having swing camps early in the season. The programs were idle this year due to the COVID rules but have seen many years of success.

“We see the numbers fluctuate,” Johnson explained. “Last year I think we taught about 240 or 250 kids which is absolutely awesome. We really take the time for the kids. We lose a lot of the kids in the summer time because a lot of the kids are enjoying summer at the lake, so we lose a lot of those kids once school is over. We see them come back in September when they are back in school.”

Johnson added that it’s a special feeling seeing people he taught come back with their own kids to the course.

“It’s a great thing to see. We see these young kids; I think back to when I started in the 90’s when I came back and see these kids and how they developed into great people from what the game of golf teaches you. I see these kids come back with their kids and they look at me say I remember when Mr. Johnson taught me and hopefully I can teach their son or daughter. It’s a great thrill to see how the kids have developed and still playing golf. It’s a family game they can play for a lifetime,” Johnson said.

As the 2020 season ends on Oct. 15 Johnson said the club is beginning preparations next year as the course celebrates their 50^th anniversary.

You can hear more from Johnson below who spoke with Golf Saskatchewan’s Clark Stork.