It was a repatriation of sorts when I received an unexpected phone call from 11-time PGA Tour winner Andy Bean.

“Meggan, have I got something for you,” he said, as we got to the reason for his call. “Would you (the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum) like the very first Vokey wedge ever used on the PGA Tour?”

My heart leapt. Not only was I getting a call from a noted PGA Tour winner but he was offering to donate an incredible artifact that has since rewritten the way manufacturers and professionals craft wedges. Currently, Vokey Design products are used by players all over the world — including major champions Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott and Justin Thomas — and at every level of the game.

“Yes!” I emphatically replied. “Did you win any tournaments with it?”

“Unfortunately,” Bean continued, “I did not win any tournaments with that wedge. But it certainly was not the wedge’s fault! And you can quote me on that.”

Bean then proceeded to tell me the amazing story of how he essentially stole the club from legendary designer and Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Bob Vokey and continued using it until the wedge was too worn down to play with.

When he was moving towards the design of wedges for Titleist, it was a new endeavour not only for Bob Vokey but for Titleist as well. The company had been aiming to make a push in the wedge market.  Vokey had primarily been focused on designing woods but he was always fascinated by the intricacies of wedges and their vast needs by amateurs and professionals.

Tinkering in his workshop, he would eventually produce a prototype that he was comfortable enough to try out on the range. In 1997, Vokey was attending an event in which Bean was playing and approached him on the range. As Bean recalls, Vokey was humble in his approach and asked if he could spend five minutes swinging his prototype. Bean obliged and after swinging the Vokey wedge, he said that he loved the club and he was going to play with it for the weekend.

Vokey was shocked, as much by the player’s reaction as the reality that he had only made that club as a single prototype. It was never meant to be used in a tournament.

“If you are as good a clubmaker as I know you are, you can make another one,” Bean responded.  “I’m playing with this one for the week.”

The prototype wedge arrived by mail two weeks after the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Vokey and Judy Darling Evans at Glen Abbey GC, which took place during the 2017 RBC Canadian Open.

A note was attached:

Dear Meggan and RCGA (Golf Canada)

With the greatest of pleasure, I send the first Titleist, Vokey wedge, especially after Canadian Golf has inducted him into the Hall of Fame.

Bob Vokey has been a great part of golf and it has been an honour knowing him and using his equipment.

Best wishes,

Andy Bean

I sent Andy a note letting him know that I received the club and thanked him very much for the incredible donation to the museum’s collection of artifacts.  “Did you want a tax receipt?” I asked.

“No, that’s okay,” Bean replied. “I only ask that if for any reason you ever get rid of the club, that it is donated to the World Golf Hall of Fame.”

I laughed at the thought, and affirmed my intentions.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Andy. It’s now home.”

This article was originally published in the Fall Issue of Golf Canada Magazine. Click here to view the full magazine.

DALLAS, Texas – Team Canada Amateur Squad member Maddie Szeryk continued her torrid pace on Tuesday, tying for fifth at the SMU Trinity Forest Invitational en route to collecting her fifth straight NCAA top-10 finish.

Szeryk, a 21-year-old senior, finished the 54-hole event at 6 over par (72-72-78) to lead the Texas A&M Aggies to a T4 finish at the Trinity Forest Golf Club. The London, Ont., resident will break with the Aggies until the spring semester kicks up again in 2018. Szeryk will look to pick up where she left off by defending her title at the Florida State Match-Up from Feb. 9-11.

In her junior season with the Aggies, Szeryk captured WGCA First Team All-America and First Team All-SEC honours while ranking fourth in the nation with a school-record 71.24 stroke average.

Click here for full scoring.

The Canadian Seniors Golf Association (CSGA) generously donated $34,775 to the Golf Canada Foundation this year to help with grow the game initiatives and scholarships. In 2017, the funds helped create a matching program for the Golf in Schools Adopt a School Week, which translated to 26 new schools across Canada delivering the program.

Read the full story by Jeffrey Reed at LondonOntarioGolf.com

MURRIETA, Calif. – Five Canadians are set to tee-it-up in stage II of Web.com Tour Q-School from Oct. 31 – Nov. 3 at Bear Creek Golf in one of five qualifying events held across the United States.

The Canadian contingent is made up by Jared du Toit (Kimberley, B.C.), Riley Wheeldon (Comox, B.C.), Seann Harlingten (Vancouver), Ryan Yip (Calgary) and Aaron Cockerill (Gunton, Man.)

The tournament is a 72-hole stroke play event with no cut – the number of qualifying positions to advance will be announced during the tournament.

Click here for full scoring.

Play it again, Tiger Woods.

For the second straight year, Woods will return from back surgery at his holiday tournament in the Bahamas the week after Thanksgiving.

Woods has not played since he withdrew from the Dubai Desert Classic on Feb. 3 with back spasms. Two months later, he had his fourth back surgery in just over two years.

Woods will be part of the 18-man field at the Hero World Challenge, which starts Nov. 30 at Albany Golf Club. While sponsor exemptions are limited to the top 50 in the world, Woods is exempt as the tournament host.

His latest procedure was a fusion surgery — the previous three were microdiscectomy surgeries — and Woods reported instant relief. He also said just one month ago at the Presidents Cup that he had no idea what his future held.

Doctors gave him clearance to practice without limitations about a week later, and Woods had been posting video on Twitter of a full swing with an iron, a driver and then his signature stinger shot with the driver.

“I am excited to return to competitive golf at the Hero World Challenge,” Woods said in a story on his website. “Albany is the perfect setting and it will be great to join this outstanding field.”

The tournament has no cut.

A year ago, Woods returned after 15 months recovering from two back surgeries. He made 24 birdies, but finished 15th out of 18 players. The tournament is not official on any tour, although it does award world ranking points.

He made his first PGA Tour start at Torrey Pines and missed the cut, and then went to Dubai and didn’t make it past the first round before his back began acting up.

Woods made the announcement just three days after he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a deal that allows him to avoid jail time if he doesn’t violate terms of his probation.

The deal stems from a Memorial Day arrest on a DUI charge when Woods was found asleep at the wheel of his car, which was still running and parked at an awkward angle about 15 minutes from his home in Florida.

Woods attributed it to a bad combination of prescription medicine.

According to a toxicology report, Woods had the active ingredient for marijuana, two painkillers, the sleep drug Ambien and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system.

He completed a drug treatment program in July.

Woods has 79 PGA Tour victories and 14 majors, both second all-time, though he has not won since the Bridgestone Invitational in August 2013 for his record 18th World Golf Championships title.

Canadian PGA TOUR winner Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ont.) and wife Jenna celebrated the birth of their baby boy on Monday, Oct. 30. Kenton Robert Hughes was introduced by Mackenzie via Twitter:

Say hello to Kenton Robert Hughes! Love him so much and can’t stop smiling. Mom was amazing through it all and is doing great #loveyouKenton pic.twitter.com/4xzPLj4enT

— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) October 30, 2017

2017 continues to be a special year for the Hughes family. After winning the 2017 RSM Classic, Mackenzie played in his first Masters tournament and went on to post nine top-25 finishes in addition to capturing low Canadian honours in the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Team Canada graduate and Nova Scotia product Austin Connelly had a 2017 season to remember on the European Tour. The 21-year-old posted three top-10 results and added a T14 finish at The British Open Championship en route to earning full status for the 2018 campaign.

Golfing World recently caught up with Connelly to discuss the breakthrough season that was:

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Bernhard Langer made a 30-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez in the PowerShares QQQ Championship on Sunday for his second victory in two events of the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs.

Langer missed a similar putt on the first extra hole as both he and Jimenez made par. He was perfect on the second for his third win in his last four tournaments and seventh victory of the season.

Just wow.

Bernhard Langer makes birdie on 2nd playoff hole to win @PwrShrsQQQChamp.

He takes the first 2 #SchwabCup Playoffs events. pic.twitter.com/q3fFqiRD87

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 30, 2017

Langer and Jimenez, who shared the 36-hole lead with David Toms, both shot 5-under 67 in the final round to force the playoff at 11-under 205. Toms, winless in his first season on the senior tour, had a 69 to finish two shots back in third.

Langer leads the Schwab Cup points standings and is followed by Scott McCarron, Kenny Perry, Jimenez and Kevin Sutherland. The points now reset and any of the top five can win the cup and $1 million bonus with a victory in the Schwab Cup Championship at Phoenix Country Club from Nov. 10-12.

The words of a champion.

Bernhard Langer discusses winning the @PwrShrsQQQChamp in a playoff against Miguel Angel Jimenez. pic.twitter.com/BIEAvTPjNN

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) October 30, 2017

McCarron shot a final-round 69 and finished fourth at 208. Fred Funk (68), Doug Garwood (70) and Billy Andrade (71) were tied another two shots back. Perry (72) finished in a tie for 12th at 212, and Sutherland (69) was in a group at 217.

Canadian Hall-of-Famer Stephen Ames will advance to the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup after finishing tied for 19th.

JACKSON, Miss. – Ryan Armour shot a 4-under 68 to earn an impressive first career win at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Armour started Sunday’s final round with a five-shot lead and was never seriously challenged. The 41-year-old won for the first time in 105 career starts, finishing at 19-under for a five-shot victory over Chesson Hadley.

Jonathan Randolph – a Jackson-area native playing on his home course – briefly made a charge with seven birdies over his first nine holes. That pushed him to 14 under, but Armour was able to maintain some separation thanks to three birdies on his first seven holes.

Randolph eventually cooled off and Armour methodically worked his way around the course.

Hadley shot a 68. Randolph was third after shooting a 67 and finishing at 12 under.

PGA TOUR rookie Ben Silverman (72) of Thornhill, Ont., was the low Canadian at 9 under and tied for seventh, marking his first top-10 finish.

David Hearn (77) of Brantford, Ont., was 1 over and Corey Conners (73) of Listowel, Ont., finished 2 over.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Cristie Kerr made her 20th career victory on the LPGA Tour one to remember.

Locked in a four-way tie for the lead going to the 18th hole, Kerr made a 35-foot birdie putt for an even-par 71 and a one-shot victory in the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia to cap off a wild finish at the TPC Kuala Lumpur.

Kerr, who won earlier this year in Hawaii, became the 27th player in LPGA Tour with 20 career victories.

“What a way to win,” Kerr said. “I always said I wanted to get a win by my 40s, and I got it pretty quick.”

“That’s probably the longest putt I’ve ever made to win a golf tournament.” @CKGolferChic #SimeDarbyLPGA pic.twitter.com/eFLiAgDg58

— #CMEFinalStretch ? (@LPGA) October 29, 2017

Kerr, who celebrated her 40th birthday on Oct. 12, became the first player since Catriona Matthew (42) at the 2011 Lorena Ochoa Invitational to win in her 40s. This one packed a little more excitement than she anticipated.

She took a one-shot lead over defending champion Shanshan Feng into the final round, only to slip into a tie for the lead with a double bogey on the par-3 seventh hole. Kerr still had the tournament in her grasp until a two-shot swing on the 17th hole – Kerr made bogey and Feng made birdie.

Danielle Kang, who won the Women’s PGA Championship this year for her first major, closed with a 66 and Jacqui Concolino had a 67. They also were tied for the lead and waiting to see if there would be a playoff.

Kerr made sure there wasn’t.

For a player who has made a career with her short game, even Kerr was impressed. As the photographers were lining up for the trophy presentation, Kerr and her caddie went back to the spot and stepped off the putt one more time.

“I knew it was going to be like a five-way playoff,” Kerr said. “I was just like, ‘Got to do it. Got to do it.’ The only thing I could control was trusting my line and hitting the putt with the speed to make it. And I did it.”

Kerr finished at 15-under 269 and earned $270,000 and went over $19 million for her career, third on the all-time list behind Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb. She also became the seventh player with multiple victories this year.

Feng was trying to win in Malaysia for the third time in four years, and nearly pulled it off. She now has two victories and three runner-up finishes in the tournament.

“I think second is still not a bad finish here, and I’m still keeping my record pretty good here in Malaysia,” Feng said after closing with a 71.

Concolino earlier had a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th that caught the lip and stayed out. The runner-up finish was her best on the LPGA Tour.

“Cristie making the putt on the last hole is kind of inevitable I guess,” Concolino said.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., posted the low score on the day with a bogey-free 64, moving her into a four-way tie for 5th place.

.@BrookeHenderson puts 7 birdies on the card for her final round to finish with an #LPGAHotRound of 64 at #SimeDarbyLPGA! pic.twitter.com/DEQBKAV5tc

— #CMEFinalStretch ? (@LPGA) October 29, 2017