Winning team will be awarded NGL title and earn exemption into
The R&A 9 Hole Challenge at Royal Portrush
After making its debut ahead of the 2024 RBC Canadian Open, the BDO National Golf League Championship returns on Saturday, May 31 to crown another winner at this year’s site of Canada’s National Men’s Open, TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont.
104 golfers split across 52 teams will walk the same fairways as some of the game’s biggest stars and battle for the National Golf League championship less than a week before the 2025 RBC Canadian Open gets underway.
The 2025 BDO National Golf League Championship (NGL) will be contested over 18-holes at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley in Caledon, Ont. using a best ball net Stableford format as the official scoring format of the NGL. Following the conclusion of play, the top two teams (including ties) based on Stableford points will enter into a playoff to determine the national champions. The playoff will take place on the no. 18 and be a one-hole sudden death until the winners are crowned.
The exciting format was born out of a weather-shortened 2024 NGL Championship, where finalists were only able to play nine holes at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. The playoff pitted the winners of the front nine against the winners of the back nine to determine the inaugural champions. Peter Morse and Tim Charles of Nova Scotia needed just one playoff hole to top Reed Middleton and Brian Thorne of New Brunswick to claim their title.
In addition to being awarded the second national championship in the league’s modern history, the winning team will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to represent Canada at The R&A 9 Hole Challenge set to take place at Royal Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland on the eve of the 153rd Open Championship in July.
Reigning NGL Champions, Morse and Charles, placed second in The 2024 R&A 9 Hole Challenge at Royal Troon in Troon, Scotland last summer, stringing together 33 points (net Stableford format) to cap off a memorable debut for Canada. The R&A held its inaugural challenge in 2016 and has used the competition to promote the physical and mental health benefits of golf participation as well as to encourage the growth of the sport’s shorter format. For more information on the 2025 R&A 9 Hole Challenge, please visit randa.org/en/nine-hole-challenge.
“We are looking forward to the second national finals of the BDO National Golf League as 52 pairings will compete for the national championship this Saturday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley,” said Brian Doherty, Senior Manager, Golf Services, Golf Canada. “The BDO National Golf League has enjoyed two rewarding seasons with growth across the country. We are excited to crown the new champions and support them as they represent Canada at The R&A 9 Hole Challenge in July.”
Over 10,000 participants teed off in 2024 to cap off the inaugural season of the NGL. Launched by Golf Canada ahead of the 2023 season as a nationwide, season-long competition to enhance weekly recreational league experiences for men, women and junior golfers, the National Golf League embodies 107 leagues across Canada and occurs throughout a six-week period of a club’s league season.
Within those six weeks, the best four scores from a 9-hole net Stableford format were used to determine the individuals that would advance to the penultimate stage of the competition – the Provincial Championships. 12 courses across all 10 provinces hosted respective regional competitions in the fall of 2024 to determine the field for May’s national championship.
Deanna Baker and Lisa Fanning of Creston Golf Club, B.C. along with Dwayne Snell and Tim Fraser of Brudenell Golf Course, P.E.I. are two of the teams that will be competing at TPC Toronto, having topped the 2024 Provincial Championship circuit each with 47 Stableford points.
“We are going to Toronto, and we are beyond amazed at this whole journey and are loving every minute of it,” said Fanning, who along with her partner, Baker, commuted seven hours from their home club to compete in the B.C East Provincial Championship last fall.
Only one team will return to the 2025 field after competing in last season’s inaugural national championship. John Anderson and Dao Le were one of two teams from the Ranch Golf & Country Club in Acheson, Alta. to qualify last fall, finishing the Alberta Provincial Championship tied for second with 40 Stableford points. The pair finished last year’s national championship in a five-way tie for 13th place with 17 Stableford points. In addition, Chris Hilliard is also in the final field with a new playing partner, Joey Giammaria from the Carleton Golf and Yacht Club in Manotick, Ont., after competing in last year’s finals.
“We had a blast playing last year even though due to lightning and fog delays, we only played nine holes,” commented Anderson ahead of his second NGL Championship. “Amazing experience and excited to be coming back.”
To discover more results from the 2024 NGL Provincial Championships and see which teams qualified for the national championship, please click here.
Those who participate in the NGL season play a lively role in growing the sport in their community as well, with 100 per cent of the league’s proceeds benefiting First Tee – Canada in their respective provinces around the country.
First Tee – Canada is a youth development program striving to bring accessible and inclusive pathways to golf participants at schools, community centres, and golf courses across the country. Strong charitable incentive towards First Tee – Canada have been a pattern throughout each of the NGL’s first two seasons, with gifts and other forms philanthropic practices directly impacting youth in the province in which the money was raised. To learn more about First Tee – Canada programming and ways to support, please visit firstteecanada.ca.