DENVER, Colo. – Amateur Squad member Hugo Bernard capped off his impressive freshman season by winning medalist honours at the NCAA Division II Championship on Thursday at the Green Valley Ranch Golf Course.

The Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., product jumped out to an early lead with an opening-round 65 (-7) and never looked back, carding 17 birdies in total to lead the field en route to securing the two-stroke victory. The Saint Leo Lion finished at 13-under par (65-66-72) ahead of runner-up Calum Hill (Western New Mexico). The win marks the first NCAA championship win (individual or team) in Lions history.

The 21-year-old ended his freshman year where he spent most of his time this season—atop the leaderboard. Bernard finished inside the Top-5 in five out of seven events this season with Lions, including a win at the Argonaut Invitational.

The lefty’s efforts were further recognized by the NCAA on Thursday, being named as the Division II recipient of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Phil Mickelson Freshman of the Year Award (won by Team Canada graduate Adam Svensson in 2013). Bernard also earned a nod as one of eight members named to the GCAA/PING First Team All-American squad.

Teammate and fellow Quebec native Joey Savoie struggled in the final-round, carding a 2-over 74 to slip nine spots to a T11 finish.

Bernard will lead the No. 1-seeded Lions into the eight-team match-play portion of the NCAA Championship Friday morning against Wilmington University.

Click here for full scoring.

National champion, freshman of the year, all-american team! Thanks to @dingramgolf to help me to get there! #dragons pic.twitter.com/GYF3KBP6qu

— hugo bernard (@Hbernard63) May 20, 2016

IRVING, Texas — Jordan Spieth covered his mouth in disbelief on the 16th green when his long eagle putt stopped short of falling in for a share of the lead. His group then rushed to complete the final two holes before dark.

Spieth finished with consecutive pars for a 6-under 64 on Thursday and was within a stroke of the lead when the first round of the AT&T Byron Nelson was suspended because of darkness.

The world’s No. 2-ranked player and Dallas native, whose first PGA Tour event was the Nelson as a 16-year-old amateur six years ago, is playing only his second tournament since squandering a five-stroke lead on the back nine at the Masters. He missed the cut last week at The Players Championship, but had only one three-putt to start at rain-softened TPC Four Seasons.

“This week felt a bit different than the past couple years as a professional. I don’t know what it is,” Spieth said. “I came out and maybe kind of the bad weather has kind of softened the crowds and hasn’t felt the same. … Everything has been a bit more calm this week and it’s been a lot easier to just stay in a normal rhythm.”

Sergio Garcia, Danny Lee and Johnson Wagner shared the lead at 7-under 63. Garcia played in the morning, and Lee and Wagner, like Spieth, were just able to complete the round that started 2 1/2 hours late after early morning rain.

Dustin Johnson and Freddie Jacobson matched Speith with 64s.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 66. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot 73 and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot 74.

Tom Hoge, one of 30 players who have to finish their first rounds Friday morning, was 6 under through 14 holes. His only bogey was after he missed the green and then two-putted from 10 feet at the par-3 fifth, the last hole he completed. His final shot Thursday was an approach at the par-4 sixth, onto the green and 41 feet from the cup.

Garcia finished his round with eight consecutive one-putts. Wagner and Lee, the 25-year-old South Korean who lives in Irving and is playing on his home course, also were bogey-free.

There was a loud cheer at No. 1 when Spieth teed off, and another when he holed a shot from the intermediate rough for a birdie after missing the first green.

Spieth was 3 under through 10 holes before four consecutive holes without a par. He made a short birdie at 11 and a 20-footer at No. 12 before his only three-putt, from 50 feet at the par-3 13th. He quickly got back that stroke with a 13-foot birdie putt at No. 14.

Then at the par-5 16th, Spieth’s 40-foot eagle chance that was rolling toward the middle of the cup when it stopped just short.

The 64 matched Spieth’s best round at the Nelson, where his best finish is still a tie for 16th in his debut as a teenager. He tied for 30th last year when he played after winning the Masters.

After his short appearance at The Players, Spieth talked about needing to do a better job being positive and having more fun. This was a good start at the Nelson.

“It’s just kind of something that everyone goes through. You got to learn to deal with it your own way and everyone gets frustrated when you play golf. You can’t be perfect in this game,” he said. “It’s just little bits and pieces here where I can maybe stay a little more neutral and yeah, when you’re playing well, when you’re 4, 5-under par, it’s a lot easier to be happy.”

Garcia had a quick answer for what he changed midway through the opening round when all of his putts started going into the hole, including a 60-foot eagle putt on the par-5 seventh after a 25-foot birdie putt the previous hole.

“Nothing,” said Garcia, the 2004 Nelson champion. “The hole got in the way. Simple as that.”

Garcia finished a stroke off his Nelson-best 62 he shot as a 19-year-old in 1999 in his first round at Lord Byron’s tournament on the way to a third-place finish. He is back for the first time in five years.

He had only one birdie and needed 18 putts on his first 10 holes, including a 21-foot par-saver after his tee shot into the greenside bunker at the par-3 17th.

“Nice par putt on 17 to stay 1 under and then kind of caught fire on the other nine,” Garcia said.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Mika Miyazato had five birdies in a six-hole stretch and finished with a 6-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Kingsmill Championship.

In tricky conditions on the rain-soaked River Course, the 26-year-old Japanese player closed her opening nine with the birdie run, dropped a stroke on the par-5 third and rebounded with birdies on the par-4 sixth and eighth holes. She won the 2012 Safeway Classic in Oregon for her lone tour title.

The greens where a lot faster than expected, though they were receptive and the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairways.

Defending champion Minjee Lee and Brittany Lincicome were a stroke back.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko closed with a birdie for a 73.

Brooke Henderson’s 1-under 70 has the Smiths Falls, Ont., native tied for 31st. Maude-Aimée Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., opened with a 74, while Kelowna, B.C., product Samantha Richdale carded a 76.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Byron Smith and Matt Fast matched opening rounds of 8-under 63 on Thursday at tournament host Thornblade Club to share the opening-round lead in the Web.com Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation.

Smith entered the week in Greenville with just four Web.com Tour starts to his name in 2016, but blistered the Tom Fazio-designed Thornblade course with nine birdies, including four birdies in his last five holes.

“Pretty much one club – the putter. That was about it, but it was working really well,” said Smith when asked what clicked on Thursday. “So that can really make up for a lot. I hit a few squirrelly shots off of the tee, but managed to hustle par on those. I just made a lot of putts.”

The former Pepperdine golfer won the Rex Hospital Open in 2014 en route to earning his PGA TOUR card for the 2014-15 season, but struggled on golf’s biggest stage with just one top-25 in 21 starts during his rookie season.

The 35-year-old Smith has made the cut in each of his four Web.com Tour starts this year, posting a season-best T18 at the El Bosque Mexico Championship presented by INNOVA. He is currently 83rd on the money list.

“I felt like it was coming around, and everything was in a good place. The driver is still kind of giving me some problems, but everything else has been really good,” he said. “So if I could just manage to avoid the foul ball, then I feel like I could put a good score together.”

Fast, who opened his week on No. 10 at Thornblade, birdied four of his first eight holes to turn in 4-under 32 before adding a flurry of birdies down the stretch on his way to a share of the 18-hole lead.

Birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 6 were offset by a bogey on the par-4 seventh, but the former Mississippi State golfer rebounded with a birdie on No. 8 to move back to 8-under on the day, which is where he finished for a round of 63.

“Yeah, you know you’ve got to make birdies this week and then add ball-in-hand for three days, so just hit fairways and you’ve got wedges, 9-irons and 8-irons. I feel great. It’s not my first lead of the year so I’m looking forward to it,” said Fast, who was the 36-hole leader at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER in March.

Fast’s 2016 season has been up-and-down, with six made cuts in eight starts entering the week, but just one top-25 finish to his name – a T23 finish at last week’s Rex Hospital Open.

Without intention of pun, his starts have been fast, notching seven rounds of 68 or better in the first two rounds of play, but only two rounds in the 60s in his final two rounds of competition.

“I got an old caddie back, which we’ve always played well together. So I was really excited about that. Just getting into the flow of the year,” said Fast, who reunited with caddie David O’Donovan in Raleigh. “I was hurt at the beginning of the year and actually played good on some Thursdays and Fridays, but (now we’re) just getting in the flow of it and letting it go.”

Five players set the pace at tournament co-host The Reserve at Lake Keowee, with Chris Baker, Brandon Hagy, Sebastian Cappelen, Adam Schenk and Rex Hospital Open champion Trey Mullinax matching rounds of 7-under 65 on Thursday.

Mullinax, who closed in 30 to win his first Web.com Tour title at TPC Wakefield Plantation on Sunday, birdied five of his first six holes in the opening round before adding a late eagle on the par-5 17th to move to 7-under for the day.

The former Alabama standout moved from No. 33 to No. 4 on the money list with last week’s win, which pushed his 2016 earnings up to $154,486.

Surrey, B.C., native Adam Svensson, who earned medalist honors at the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament in December, and former Western Amateur champion Jhared Hack posted the day’s low rounds at The Preserve at Verdae with a pair of 67s.

The 22-year-old Svensson was even-par through eight holes at the tournament’s newest host venue before making birdie on five of his final 10 holes to round out his 5-under-par effort.

Svensson, who finished ninth on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s Order of Merit in just six starts last year, earned fully exempt status on the 2016 Web.com Tour with his Q-School win. The former Barry University golfer turned professional at the start of 2015 before competing on the Mackenzie Tour, where he ended the year ranked No. 1 in Scoring Average (Actual), thanks in part to four top-5 finishes.

Young Pro Squad member Albin Choi of Toronto was 3-under at The Reserve at Lake Keowee.

At Thornblade, Calgarian Ryan Yip shot 4-under and sits T-24; Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., is T88 at 1-under; North  Vancouver’s Eugene Wong is even-par and Young Pro Squad member Taylor Pendrith opened with a 74.

At The Preserve at Verdae, Wil Bateman of Edmonton is T113 after carding a 72. Ontarians Ben Silverman (Concord) and the Young Pro Squad’s Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas) registered matching 73s.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –

Kenny Perry made a couple of early birdie putts from about 20 feet, mostly steered clear of trouble and finished well.

Perry birdied the final hole for an 8-under 64 and a two-stroke lead Thursday in the Regions Tradition, the first of five PGA Tour Champions majors.

“I mean, I didn’t miss a green,” he said. “I putted for birdies or eagles on every hole so took a lot of pressure off myself by doing that. I hit the ball nicely, drove it beautifully, hit lots of fairways. Was able to attack the par 5s.”

Bernhard Langer matched him going into the final hole. Then Langer bogeyed No. 18 for a 66 to fall into a second-place tie with Gene Sauers at Greystone Golf and Country Club, hosting its first PGA Tour Champions event since the Bruno’s Memorial Classic in 2005.

Perry won the Regions Tradition a few miles away at Shoal Creek in 2014, and the 14-time PGA Tour winner started on a roll. He birdied five of the first eight holes in a bogey-free round, including the two long putts during that hot start.

He was in a tie going into 18 with Langer, who had three straight birdies starting on No. 11.

Billy Andrade was three strokes back at 67. Defending champion Jeff Maggert was among seven players four shots behind.

Langer, who has not finished worse than 11th this year, needed two attempts to escape the greenside bunker on 18. The two-time Masters winner, who leads the tour in scoring average, then two-putted.

“I bladed it,” Langer said about his first bunker shot. “I was just trying to bank it against it but not fly it into the netting. No other way to get it close. It was a very bad trap.”

He said he had hit “a beautiful 3-wood” that kicked right and into the sand.

Sauers, who tied for third at last year’s Regions Tradition, had birdies on four of the final six holes, including 18. The three-time PGA Tour winner has four runner-up finishes on the 50-and-over circuit. His only bogey came on the par-5 fifth hole.

Sauers started practicing a new putting grip a couple of days before leaving for the Insperity Invitational, where he tied for 12th after a closing 67.

“I made some putts where before I wasn’t making the putts and now I’m really rolling it better and I’m kind of going cross-handed, left hand low,” Sauers said. “This is my second week for it, so I should have done it 20 years ago.”

With an eagle and a double bogey, John Daly finished his first round in a PGA Tour Champions major with a 70. He made an eagle from the fairway on the 435-yard fifth hole. Two holes later, came the double bogey after Daly’s drive went into the rough.

“Getting into this thing is pretty cool, I’m enjoying myself,” he said. “But having a start like that is kind of cool. My last round at Houston I had it going but didn’t finish it, so I’ve just got to keep going and try to finish these good starts.”

In the meantime, he relished having a big following around Greystone – and not having to worry about making a cut.

“Oh, it’s great, man. It’s just awesome,” Daly said. “That’s what’s cool. They get me for three or four days now instead of two, so it’s good to work on weekends again.”

Jesper Parnevik, who’s coming off a four-stroke victory at the Insperity Invitational, finished with a 70. He was 3 over on the final three holes, including a double bogey on No. 18.

With rain and thunderstorms forecast for Friday, Perry expects the scoring and conditions to change significantly. Play will start on two tees with tour officials aiming for a mid-afternoon finish.

“I’m not a great rainy (day) player,” he said. “I have trouble hanging onto the club and stuff, so it’s going to be a challenge.”

Stephen Ames of Calgary and St. Catharines, Ont., native Rod Spittle sit T39 at even-par.

Three Men’s Amateur Squad members punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship on Wednesday by advancing at their respective regional events.

Leading the way for Team Canada was Kimberley, B.C., native Jared du Toit, who finished at 4-over (72-73-75) to tie for fifth at the Albuquerque Regional hosted at the University of New Mexico Championship Course. The Arizona State junior opened the tournament with an eagle, setting the tone early to help the Sun Devils finish first overall as a team. The Sun Devils were led by World No. 1 ranked John Rahm, who repeated as medalist at 4-under par (69-71-72).

Team Canada veteran Blair Hamilton of Burlington, Ont., posted a final score of 2-over par (78-68-72) at the Franklin Regional to close at T51. The University of Houston senior was part of a Cougars squad that finished at 25-under par to tie for third place, earning one of the Top-5 spots to move on to the championship.

Rounding out the trio of Team Canada members to advance is Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald, who closed at T52 with a score of 24-over par (88-75-77). Despite his individual struggles, Macdonald and the Purdue Boilermakers captured the fifth and final spot at the Stillwater Regional with a two-stroke advantage over Augusta University.

All three Canucks will tee-it-up at the NCAA Div I Championship from May 27–June 1 at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oreg.

—

Albuquerque Regional scoring (Jared du Toit)

Franklin Regional scoring (Blair Hamilton)

Stillwater Regional scoring (Stuart Macdonald)

The Golf in Schools Professional Visitation Program was established to provide another avenue for CN Future Links instructors to further engagement with junior golfers—Canada’s future body of membership.

Developed by Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada, the latest national grassroots initiative offers $150 grants to CN Future Links instructors to conduct a personal lesson to students (and teachers) at Golf in Schools sites.

The initiative is an extension of the CN Future Links Field Trip Program, which provides grants for a class of students to experience a golf facility first-hand through field trips.

Click here to apply for a grant.

CALGARY – Canadians who collect an ace between March 1 and August 10 can win the opportunity to play with the pros at the 2016 Shaw Charity Classic, thanks to RBC’s extended support of the Pro-Am Championship for two more years.

The award-winning PGA TOUR Champions event in Calgary, along with RBC, will bring back a truly unique, three-stage contest for a second straight year for any Canadian resident that scores a hole-in-one at a Golf Canada Member Club across the country between March 1 and August 10.

Individuals who record a hole-in-one on a hole 85 yards or longer during a nine- or 18-hole round of golf can register the feat to be invited to a qualification event at Calgary’s Golf Canada Centre on August 13, 2016. Each member of this hole-in-one club will have one attempt in a closest-to-the-pin contest. The 10 closest shots will then be invited to Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, the host course of the Shaw Charity Classic, on August 19, 2016, where they will compete head-to-head in another closest-to-the-pin contest for the Grand Prize of one full Pro-Am team at the Shaw Charity Classic. Balls finishing off the green will be ignored, even if they are closest to the hole. Entrants will be responsible for all their costs for attending and playing golf on the day of the qualifiers.

“Anyone who ever plays golf knows that getting a hole-in-one earns you a spot in a very exclusive club, and we want to celebrate these accomplishments by not only recognizing all Canadians who achieve the feat, but also giving them the opportunity to win the ultimate golf experience and tee it up under the ropes with the greatest names in the game,” said Sean Van Kesteren, tournament director, Shaw Charity Classic.

The announcement was symbolically made Wednesday with two of the Stampede City’s legendary mascots – Harvey the Hound and Ralph the Dog – leading a star-studded group of Calgary’s elite athletes, volunteers, kids and media in the tournament’s annual “Shootout at the Meadows” – a head-to-head, par-3 closest-to-the-pin competition.

“The Shootout traditionally kicks off our marketing campaign each year, and I can’t think of a better way to launch this season than by welcoming RBC back as title sponsor of our Pro-Am Championship for two more years, and more importantly, by giving as many Canadians as possible the opportunity to win a chance to feel like a PGA TOUR professional for a day at the Shaw Charity Classic,” added Van Kesteren.

The winner among the 10 finalists invited to compete at Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club will receive one RBC Championship Pro-Am team on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 – a prize value of $20,000. Second place will receive two weekly tickets to the Champions Club for all tournament rounds, along with one TaylorMade putter and one dozen TaylorMade golf balls. The third-place finisher will win two weekly tickets to the Champions Club.

Individuals who record a hole-in-one during the 2016 contest period must register through the tournament website at www.shawcharityclassic.com. The hole-in-one must be attested by the golf facility’s general manager, chief operating officer, club president, head professional or director of golf. Participants between the ages of 13 and 18 must also have parental consent. Full contest details and an FAQ can be found here.

Tournament officials also used the Shootout at the Meadows to announce that the Shaw Charity Classic will be donating $100,000 to support children’s charities in Fort McMurray.

“Everyone across the province and country were saddened to see the devastation caused by the fires in Fort McMurray, and the impact it will have on thousands of children in the city,” said Clay Riddell, chairman of the Shaw Charity Classic. “In keeping with the spirit in which we created the Shaw Charity Classic Foundation, and the PGA TOUR Champions mandate to support communities in need, we are proud to direct the Foundation’s first donation this year to Fort McMurray.”

Specific youth-based charities in Fort McMurray who will benefit from the donation will be named at a later day.

Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru is pleased to welcome LPGA Tour member Anne-Catherine Tanguay as a program ambassador. She joins Alena Sharp, Rebecca-Lee Bentham and Evanka Osmak as representatives for the Golf Canada program.

Tanguay, who made her debut on the LPGA Tour last month at the LOTTE Championship in Hawaii, is a former Golf Canada National Development team and National Amateur team member. Hailing from Quebec City, Tanguay is proud to back a program that promotes women’s golf in support of a great cause.

“I am pleased to be an ambassador of Golf Canada’s Golf Fore the Cure program,” said Tanguay. “Pairing women’s golf along with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation is a great initiative and I’m thrilled to be joining the team.”

Committed to growing women’s participation in the sport, the program has included over 100,000 participants throughout its 12 seasons. Over that period, Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru has raised over $5.4 million dollars in support of breast cancer research.

This year, adidas Canada has signed on as the exclusive apparel partner of the program, and will provide a free adidas uniform to each event coordinator and a $100 gift card for adidasgolf.ca to be awarded to the top fundraiser of each event.

Join the fight against breast cancer and register your event today!

ST ANDREWS, Scotland – A new manual giving guidance to golf clubs and golfers on ways of improving pace of play has been published today by The R&A.

The manual will be distributed to The R&A’s 152 affiliated organisations around the world and every golf club in Great Britain and Ireland. It will be available to download from The R&A website, www.randa.org/paceofplay, where further information, resources and related videos can also be viewed.

The new manual provides practical guidance in the three key areas of management, course set-up and player behaviour.

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “There is no doubt that pace of play is a key issue for golf today and one on which many golfers have strong views. Through the research exercise and the conference we gained some valuable insights into the views of players, administrators and officials involved in all levels of golf.

“We fully recognize that in a sport as diverse as golf there is no one-size-fits-all approach and so the new manual outlines approaches which have proved to be effective and offers some thoughtful solutions to day-to day pace of play challenges which can arise in golf. We hope the manual will prove to be a useful reference guide for clubs, competition organizers and players alike.”

The R&A carried out an extensive international survey into golfers’ views on pace of play in 2014/15 which attracted more than 56,000 responses from golfers in 122 countries. One of the key findings of the research was that 60% of golfers said they would enjoy golf more if they played in less time.

The findings were discussed at the Time for Golf conference last November, which was attended by professionals and administrators from throughout the world of golf and those discussions helped shape the new manual.

European Ryder Cup player Stephen Gallacher took part in a discussion session at the conference. Welcoming the launch of the new manual, he said, “I think this is an important step forward in providing some practical ways of improving pace of play. It was fascinating to hear different perspectives on pace of play at the Time for Golf conference and there was definitely a feeling that we should share some of the best approaches to dealing with the issue with a wider audience. The new manual gives some great examples of best practice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone involved in golf.”