If you ask Keith Pelley, the new Chief Executive of the European Tour, what his biggest adjustment has been since taking over the role after five years as the President of Rogers Media, the answer is simple: the driving.

No, not the big swing from the first tee at Wentworth Club – where both his office and his home is located, but the actual driving of his car around the streets of Surrey, England.

“I was taking my boy (Pelley has a 12-year-old son, Jason, and a 8-year-old daughter, Hope) to hockey and the GPS said to take the third exit, but I couldn’t get to the third exit. I’m going around the roundabout three times before I can get off,” Pelley exclaims, his voice rising and then turning into a hearty chuckle.

The 51-year-old has been at the helm of the largest professional golf Tour outside of North America for just over three months now, after taking over for George O’Grady, who was the Chief Executive for 10 years. Pelley recently had lunch with John Jacobs, who started the European Tour in 1972. He says Jacobs, who was a well-celebrated golf instructor and is now 90, was trying to change Pelley’s grip as their meal was finishing.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Pelley says. “It’s always been a lifelong dream to work in the golf business and work with a brand that has such a rich history. It’s an opportunity to combine business and sport, and one of the sports I love.”

Pelley’s stock was at an all-time high after he helped to negotiate the biggest television rights deal in Canadian history – the well-publicized NHL deal worth $5.2 billion – that is in its second of 12 years. According to SCOREGolf, Pelley first interviewed with the board of directors at the European Tour via Skype, and then was flown to England for a weekend of interviews and a presentation.

Pelley became a well-known sports media figure through the late 1990s as the President of TSN. In the early 2000s he was the CEO of the Toronto Argonauts, helping to lead them to victory at the 2004 Grey Cup. After that, he had a successful stint as the President of Canada’s Olympic broadcast media consortium, and then became President of Rogers Media in 2010.

“I loved my role at Rogers and I had an enormous respect for the whole Rogers family (Pelley then goes on to list each of the family members by name). My five years could not have been better,” he explains. “It was very difficult to leave Gary Bettman and the NHL deal – which was obviously very historical and one I was very proud of.”

But like many golfers, he had a desire to work in the game he loves. It was one of those jobs, he says, that comes along once-in-a-career.

“I love golf, and my family was certainly up for an adventure,” Pelley says. “The timing was right with the age of my kids and at the end, it was a very tough decision. I knew it was going to take something special for me to leave, and this was in fact just that.”

Pelley has had an interesting start to his tenure, as the Tour appears to be at a crossroads.

He has already granted Rory McIlroy – arguably the Tour’s biggest star – a special condition to participate in the season-ending Race to Dubai (due to the injury he suffered earlier this summer), and was in the news recently when Rich Beem withdrew from the Hong Kong Open in order for Ian Poulter to take his spot and play the mandatory 13 events needed in order to qualify for the European Ryder Cup team.

“For a professional golfer like Rich Beem to do what he did was terrific. It shows the class and maturity […] and Ian has done everything he possibly can to get there,” explains Pelley.

Through it all, Pelley recognizes the athletes and their characters are what make the Tour so successful.

“You’re dealing with the likes of Rory and Ian and Justin (Rose) and Shane (Lowry) and their personalities is one of our Tour’s main strengths. Over five weeks, we had winners from five different countries,” Pelley says. “Our players are our recipe for success.”

“This is a membership organization. The feedback and the dialogue we’ve had about growing it has been great, and (the players) are going to be a part of it,” he continues.

There are four events left in the European Tour’s schedule, including the WGC-HSBC Champions. Prior to that tournament, Pelley will be in Shanghai on a panel with industry heavy-hitters like PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan, and Rickie Fowler, talking about the global game and a little bit more about 2016.

Pelley admits there will be some changes to the Tour next year, but says he is looking more long term than short term.

“Those plans we have from a long-term perspective will be articulated to the general public and players in due course,” he explains. “We have a strategy we’re working through, and are excited to execute in 2016.”

While adjusting to life across the pond (including the roads), and aggressively developing a go-forward business plan for the Tour, Pelley has also enjoyed working with his new colleagues immensely.

During the Blue Jays magical playoff run, he convinced his staff to become fans of the team. Even with the time difference, he couldn’t let go of the love he has for the blue birds.

“After we clinched, I sent John Gibbons a note and it came back to me about 15 minutes later. I saw it was five in the morning,” he says, laughing. “I thought, ‘What was I doing?’”

With the Jays out of the playoffs, Pelley’s focus remains solely on the task at hand: leading the European Tour through 2016 and beyond.

He’s learning something new every day, he says. Including the best way to get through those pesky roundabouts.

Nick Taylor is many things. Talented, genial, humourous, and, just maybe, ironic.

For a guy who, in his PGA TOUR profile, lists The Perks of Being a Wallflower as his favourite book, he is anything but a wallflower when it comes to golf.

As he tees it up Thursday as the defending champion at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., the 27-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., boasts a “beau of the ball” resume.

For 21 weeks in 2009, he was the world’s top-ranked amateur golfer. He qualified for the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, where he made the cut, carding a 65 in the second round, the record for lowest by an amateur in that major’s history. The year before, he finished T2 individually at the World Amateur Team Championships, leading Canada to a ninth-place finish. This on the heels of winning the 2006 Canadian Junior and 2007 Canadian Amateur.

You can just imagine the widespread optimism when he turned pro in 2010. While the transition to pro stardom didn’t go quite as many had imagined, Taylor wasn’t perplexed.

“It has always been like that for me, making the transition,” he said in a recent interview with Golf Canada. “Whether it was from junior to amateur, or amateur to pro, or the Canadian Tour to the Web.com Tour and then the PGA Tour, it just takes me some time.” In fact, he didn’t get fulltime status on the PGA Tour until graduating from the Web.com Tour in 2015.

But once on the big tour, that pattern was demolished. In just his seventh PGA Tour start, Taylor rode a hot putter to victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., shooting 66 on Sunday to come from four shots back for the win. In doing so, he became the first native-born Canadian to win on Tour since Mike Weir in 2007.

And then, back to reality.

“My game was up and down after that. Several times, I was in the top 10 going into the final round but made some silly mental mistakes on Sunday. But the more I get into that situation, the more comfortable I am, the more confidence I have that I can finish it off. I think, coming off the win, I had too many expectations, not enough patience, and tried to force things on Sunday.”

It wasn’t a bad year for Taylor, who was in the running for Tour rookie of the year based on his victory. He made just over a million bucks and finished 101^st on Tour. He is looking for more this year, and with good reason.

“It was so quick last year, from getting my card to winning. Overwhelming. But after having been here for a full year, with more friends and knowing the routine, the courses, where to stay, and so on, I feel much more comfortable.”

And, even several years down the road, Taylor recalls a particular situation that made him realize the “wallflower” role was not one he wanted.

“When I got back home from that World Amateur and heard all the talk about its magnitude, it made me realize what performing on a big stage was all about. Golf Canada was great to me as an amateur. So many team events, performance camps, and so on. It really made me realize what the future could hold.”

Historical footnotes:

1. Dan Halldorson, Manitoba-born like Taylor, won this tournament, an unofficial event then called the Deposit Guaranty Golf Classic, in 1986. Six years later, B.C.’s Richard Zokol claimed the trophy. It was “unofficial” because, back then, it was played the same week as The Masters. Even though the tournament now is played the same week as the World Golf Championships HSBC Champions in China, it is considered an official event. The win gave Taylor a two-year Tour exemption along with US$720,000. In 1986, Halldorson won $36,000, five per cent of what Taylor got. In 1992, Zokol cashed the $54,000 winner’s cheque.
2. Mike Weir was the last Canadian to successfully defend a title, winning the 2003 and 2004 Nissan Opens at Riviera.

Due to the widespread use of an anchored putting stroke at both the professional and amateur levels, golf’s governing bodies felt that the challenges inherent within the game of golf needed to be preserved. The principles of the Rules, and specifically Rule 14, state that the ball must be fairly struck. The intention of the rule is that players must freely swing the club when striking the ball. Ultimately, anchoring enables players to physically “attach” the club to their bodies, thus gaining an advantage by providing support and stability.

Much consideration went into the wording and timeline that would lead to prohibiting an ‘anchored’ stroke. There was an unprecedented 90-day comment period for the proposed Rule 14- 1b, which allowed all stakeholders to provide feedback.

After all was said and done, May 20, 2013 marked the official announcement to approve Rule 14-1b. The extended period for implementation was agreed upon by all parties to ensure that golfers at all levels had enough time to adapt their method of stroke to the requirements of the rule.

The new Rule will come into effect on January 1, 2016, in accordance with the regular four-year cycle for changes to the Rules of Golf.

Currently, Rule 14-1 of the Rules of Golf does not have any subsections but it will be re-numbered as Rule 14-1a. The new Rule 14-1b will be as follows:

14-1B ANCHORING THE CLUB

In making a stroke, the player must not anchor the club, either “directly” or by use of an “anchor point.”

NOTE 1: The club is anchored “directly” when the player intentionally holds the club or a gripping hand in contact with any part of his body, except that the player may hold the club or a gripping hand against a hand or forearm.

NOTE 2: An “anchor point” exists when the player intentionally holds a forearm in contact with any part of his body to establish a gripping hand as a stable point around which the other hand may swing the club.

DEFINING ANCHOR POINT:

The use of ‘anchor point’ within this rule is to prevent the player from using a forearm as an indirect means of creating the same effect as holding the club or a gripping hand against the body. Ultimately, holding a forearm against the body stabilizes a gripping hand on the club (stable point) and allows the hands to work independently of each other.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

Rule 14-1b is not an equipment rule. Belly-length and so-called “broom handle” putters are still allowed, provided such clubs are not anchored during a stroke and conform to the Rules of Golf.

For more information about Rule 14-1b, please visit golfcanada.ca/rules-of-golf

TUCKER’S TOWN, BERMUDA — Heading into the week Danny King and Billy Walsh were pegged to be a major factor in the inaugural Nike Golf PGA Team Championship of Canada at The Mid Ocean Club in Bermuda.

And by week’s end, the duo from Ontario did not disappoint.

Walsh and King, the PGA of Canada’s No. 1 and No. 4-ranked players, put together a three-day total of 21 under par, besting the teams of Luc Boisvert and Louis-Pierre Godin and, Gordon Burns and Keir Smith.

King, who won this year’s PGA Championship of Canada at Cabot Links, said he had positive vibes in Bermuda right from the very onset of the championship.

“It all really started the first night we arrived with Nike putting on barbeque on the beach,” he said. “It was one of the best dinners I’ve ever had in my life with the sand between my toes, the music and all the wonderful food.”

The inaugural Nike Golf PGA Team Championship of Canada featured different team formats for each day—fourball, foursomes and scramble—with King and Walsh taking home $12,000 of the $90,000 total prize purse.

King and Walsh headed into Thursday’s final round with a five-shot lead, however, felt some pressure from the groups of ahead—Boisvert/Godin and Smith/Burns—who both shot 14 under in the scramble format Thursday.

Under the gun with the pressure applied, the winning tandem admitted the key to their success was putting the ball in play and keeping their foot on the gas.

“We’re a good fit because the strength of my game is keeping the ball in play and in the fairway,” Walsh said. “So when I do that, it frees Danny up with the driver and that’s one of his best weapons.”

Ian Doig along with his partner Ed Maunder finished fourth, while the team of Billy Houle and Francis Tanguay rounded out the top five.

Ranked the 47th best golf course outside of the United States by Golf Digest, The Mid Ocean Club was designed by world-renowned architect Charles Blair Macdonald and first opened for play in 1921. The club has played host to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in 2007 and 2008, and has hosted such heads of state as Presidents George H.W. Bush and Dwight Eisenhower; Winston Churchill, The Duke of Windsor; former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; as well as baseball icon Babe Ruth.

“Mid Ocean is such a unique golf course that’s really fun to play,” Walsh said at the end of the week. “We’ve been so fortunate all week to be able to play this world class golf course and I sure hope we have the opportunity again to play this championship again here soon.”

CALGARY – Thanks to a new charitable giving program, a stellar field, and overwhelming support from the Calgary community, the Shaw Charity Classic shattered its own fundraising record for a third straight year on the PGA TOUR’s Champions Tour with a $3,942,712 donation that will be shared amongst 99 youth-based charities in Alberta.

“It is an absolute thrill for me to look back on another record-setting year and realize this spectacular tournament continues to have a tremendous impact on our youth, which was the core goal in bringing the event to Calgary,” said Clay Riddell, Tournament Chairman, Shaw Charity Classic. “I firmly believe it takes an entire community to build a successful international event, so this accomplishment should be celebrated by everyone from the more than 1,200 volunteers, to our generous corporate community, friends in the media, and all of the great citizens of this amazing city that came down to Canyon Meadows this summer. Each of you has made Calgary the number-one tournament on the Champions Tour, and for that, I thank you.”

In June, Shaw Communications Inc. strengthened its focus on Canada’s lone Champions Tour stop in the Stampede City with a two-year extension as title sponsor through to 2017, and a commitment of raising big money for Alberta charities by announcing a total of $1 million of the total funds raised would go to supporting six of the tournament’s core youth-based charitable partners located across southern Alberta, including: the Children’s Wish Foundation – Alberta & NWT Chapter; Classroom Champions; Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta; KidSport Calgary; Ronald McDonald House Charities® Southern Alberta; and the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre.

“The Shaw Charity Classic was a spectacular success, and we are again honoured to work with so many charities committed to making our communities better for our kids and youth,” said Brad Shaw, CEO, Shaw Communications. “On behalf of my family and all our Shaw employees, we’d like to thank Clay Riddell, the Patrons Group, and the Champions Tour for their leadership and support, and we look forward to all that we can accomplish together in years to come.”

Building on Shaw Communications’ leadership, charitable contributions skyrocketed in 2015 with the addition of Birdies for Kids – a program backed by AltaLink that expanded the Shaw Charity Classic’s reach across the province.

Based on a program introduced on the PGA Tour in 1971, Birdies for Kids gives individuals and corporations the opportunity to make a one-time or per-birdie donation, directed to the children’s charity of their choice. Those donations were further leveraged through a tiered matching program that saw a percentage of the first $250,000 donated to each charity.

“The impact the Birdies for Kids program is having in our community has significantly surpassed our expectations,” said Scott Thon, President and Chief Executive Officer, AltaLink. “It is important in these economic times to support the non-profit sector that so many Albertans access across our province. Exceeding our goal for dollars raised this year speaks volumes about the spirit of Albertans to pull together and support those in need when times are tough.”

Champions Tour players, including Jeff Maggert who donned the traditional white Stetson that is presented annually to the winner of the Shaw Charity Classic, combined to fire a total of 858 birdies during the three rounds.

“I have lived in Texas for 40 years and I’ve seen a lot of cowboy hats, but I definitely cherish the one from Calgary,” said Maggert, who ran away with a four-shot victory. “This tournament is an A-plus all around. We all like the course, the crowds are among the best we see on Tour, and it is great to play a small role in helping raise some huge money for charities in the area. I know the top players like to come to Calgary and play. Hopefully Shaw will continue their good graces and stay with us for the long term, and we’ll keep coming back and helping to raise money for youth in Alberta.”

The Shaw Charity Classic has generated over 8.5 million dollars in support of local charities across Alberta. Recognized by the PGA TOUR with an award for outstanding achievement for a first-year event, the Shaw Charity Classic was also the named 2014 recipient of the PGA TOUR’s prestigious President’s Award as the top stop on the Champions Tour.

When his ball supposedly moved in the long grass aside the 11th green of Massachusetts’ Worcester Country Club at the 1925 U.S. Open, well beyond the vision of everyone but the man standing over it, Bobby Jones called a one-stroke penalty on himself. Commended for his honesty, he famously retorted, “You might as well praise me for not breaking into banks. There is only one way to play this game.”

You don’t hear a lot of that in, say, football, soccer or hockey, or a myriad of other sports rife with cheating, abuse of officials and the unobstructed pursuit of winning—where bending the rules is considered more of an art than a breach of etiquette.

Golf is different. Its core values of honesty and integrity are — to the vast majority of its competitors — as natural a law as gravity; that’s one of the things that makes Golf in Schools a unique learning tool. Beyond the athletic elements incorporated in the program, Golf Canada is about to ingrain the morality and virtues of the game into a curriculum that reaches an estimated 306,000 students at 2,700 elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

“We partnered with the University of Ottawa to develop a life-skills, core-values component that will be integrated into Golf in Schools program this coming fall,” explains Jeff Thompson, Chief Sport Officer with Golf Canada. “I think that addition to the program will be a game-changer for us—something that goes beyond learning the simple skills of the sport. One of the umbrella pieces is sportsmanship—the ideas of honesty, integrity and perseverance. The learning experts are saying, ‘It’s not a case of sitting the kids in a circle and talking about honesty; it’s how you build it into the activity.’ That’s how you get kids to actually learn about it.”

Dr. Tanya Forneris is an associate professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, and one of the architects of the Golf in Schools enhancement.

“We don’t really look at athlete performance, it’s more about how we can make sport a context that really facilitates or enhances the development of youth, as opposed to being a negative experience that leads to dropout and burnout,” she explains.

“The point was also how to best design the program to enable coaches to help their athletes strive,” adds Forneris, whose expertise is in positive youth development and community programming through sports. “By integrating the skills of focus and perseverance into the Golf in Schools program and by intentionally having certain activities to practice these attributes—having teachers talk about them and show how they can be transferred to school or home—the student can employ these life skills not only to improve their results on a school assignment or test, but in all areas of life. Students come away from the program not just having developed some good golf skills, but also having the life skills to succeed in other domains.”

Dallas Desjardins, Regional Director with the National Golf Course Owners Association, has always stressed golf’s virtuous side—both at the Golf in Schools and club levels.

“It’s a logical direction for Golf in Schools because it follows from their CN Future Links Learn to Play program, which we run at the golf club,” says Desjardins. “Parents are amazed at the results of that program. They really appreciate the fact that current golf programming through Golf Canada teaches so much more than just golf skill. Participants learn relaxation and visualization skills, goal setting and etiquette, which is really proper behaviour in groups, and, of course, honesty and integrity.

“I am finding that after people get an introduction to golf and the parents hear about the programming, they really enter their kids (into the Learn to Golf program) more for the social development aspect than the golf development,” he adds. “I also hear every year what a blessing it has been and how much their child has opened up since entering in the program.”

Desjardins says that a lot of their discussions and topics are about the values that golf instills, and that’s actually how he markets the junior program.

“I don’t market it as come play golf, I market it as get your kid involved in golf so that they’re building relationships and are exposed in a social network so that they’re not stuck at a computer,” he explains.

South of the border, The First Tee, a youth development program founded and funded by multiple U.S. golf organizations, has been introducing golf and all its merits to elementary school phys-ed students through its National School Program since 2004. Its mission: “to impact the lives of young people by providing educational programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf.”

There are signs that the mission is working. According to The First Tee Impact Report, released in 2010, 73 per cent of participants reported high confidence in their ability to do well academically. Further, 82 per cent felt more confident in their social skills with peers, while 57 per cent credited The First Tee for their meeting and greeting skills.

There has also been an added administrative spinoff , with a full two-thirds of physical educators noting they have used the Nine Core Values (see sidebar) in other sports and activities they taught beyond the National School Program.

Alberta Golf Association Youth Development Manager Tyler McConachy is among those in the trenches looking forward to the added dimension of the curriculum.

“Golf is a unique game that allows you to put trust in other competitors and vice versa, and to create sportsmanship, honesty and integrity,” he says. “Growing up, you appreciate that the only person you’re cheating is yourself. This (addition to the curriculum) will give us a great opportunity to go back to the schools we’ve previously visited and go over things with them, including the rules of golf—what you should and shouldn’t do—similar to those elements already being employed in the CN Future Links Learn to Play program, where the pros spend time with each kid and show them the importance of keeping the correct score, being honest and helping fellow players if you see them struggling.

“These are the sorts of virtues that transcend all through life,” McConachy concludes. “It’s one of our objectives as instructors—not just to turn out good golfers, but good people.”

As the seasons rotate from summer to fall, it’s a good time to focus on your physical rotation. Trunk rotation is essential to the golf swing; it enables you to separate your shoulders from your pelvis. Some literature will refer to this separation as the “X factor.” A greater degree of separation between your shoulder blades and your pelvis/ hips allows players to apply force over a greater distance. When executed with speed this creates power.

Maximizing the player’s trunk rotation while maintaining the alignment of the shoulder blades parallel to the pelvis is crucial to maintaining a consistent golf swing.

Here are three exercises to improve your swing by increasing your thoracic spine’s ability to rotate.

MOBILITY

Lay on a foam roller with the roller perpendicular to your spine. Spend two minutes rolling up and down your spine to loosen any tight muscles. Keeping the roller still, with your hands supporting your neck, arch over the roller. Extend 3-5 times, move the roller two inches up or down your spine; repeat. Finally, lay on the roller with it running parallel to your spine, from your head to your tailbone. Keep as much of your spine on the roller, then slowly extend your arms above your head. Repeat six times.

FLEXIBILITY

Restricted latissimus dorsi muscles limit the trunk from rotating freely. Here is a stretch to help improve the flexibility of these large trunk muscles, getting as much range as physically possible. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and repeat 2-3 times.

Stand tall with an elastic band looped around your wrists and your arms straight overhead and pulled slightly apart to create tension in the band. While keeping your trunk extended, maintain the tension in the band as you exhale and side bend at the pelvis. Hold this side bent position for three deep breaths before you return to the starting position. Repeat on both sides 2-3 times.

ON COURSE EXERCISE

Maintaining the mobility and flexibility you achieve at home prior to heading to the course is important since we all tend to tighten up after striking so many balls. Here is a practical exercise to use on the range, and at the sixth and the 12th holes.

Use a longer iron and slowly search the muscle tissue along the sides and back of your trunk, looking for tight knots or bands. Once you find one, gradually use the longer iron to massage out the knot. This could take 2-3 minutes before the muscle releases. Complete five passes up and down your back looking for these tighter bands or knots.

Before the recent federal election, I bet most of you thought we of the “Millennial Generation” could care less about politics. You would have been wrong.

“Advance polling stations on some campuses attracted 70,000 students to cast a ballot, and one student representative believes that even though the student and youth vote has been traditionally low, they are plugged in to politics,” according to CBC News.

“The huge number of early student voters dispels this myth that we are apathetic or uninterested in politics,” said Rajean Hoilett, chairman of the Canadian Federation of Students in Ontario.

Why the upswing?

Someone actually made an effort to attract those of us belonging to Generation Y (born anywhere from the 1980s to the early 2000s). And, for the first time, a political party reached out via social media to engage us. Not surprisingly, that party now forms our new majority government.

I apologize for the lengthy political preamble, but there is a valuable lesson here for golf and for those who are entrusted with its future well-being. That is, those who think my generation could care less about golf. Again, you would be wrong.

The U.S. National Golf Foundation recently released a survey report called Golf and the Millennial Generation. It concluded that “Millennials have a much closer connection to golf than many people think. We also confirmed that the sport has significant, and realistic, potential to grow participation among this vital demographic. However, the research behind the report also tells us that golf requires a modernization of its brand to effectively, and materially, broaden its appeal among 18- to 34-year-olds.”

The NGF could have saved itself a lot of money had it just spoken to my friends and me.

Overall, we get the feeling that there is no place for us in golf in Canada. Many of those in charge of the game don’t seem to genuinely want to grow the game, even though they say they do.

We don’t want gimmicks like Foot Golf or 15-inch holes. We don’t want to wear our caps backwards or surf around on GolfBoards.

What we do want is for the golf industry to take us seriously. We don’t have a lot of money right now. What we do have is a love of the game. The money will come later but not building a relationship with us now will cost them big time in the years to come. If golf doesn’t welcome us now, and cater to our wants and needs, we will find other opportunities to spend our money and never come back to golf.

We don’t understand why the golf “industry” seems so resistant to change and to technology. Just about everyone these days, and my generation in particular, is online—a lot. We communicate digitally. We use apps for everything. We research online and then we purchase online. And, whenever possible, we make our golf decisions online.

The NGF report concurs. “Consider the project journey, from booking a tee time all the way through to the 19^th hole, from a Millennial’s perspective, and how that experience should be marketed.”

Simply put, to attract us, every physical aspect of a golf facility should be available virtually. Get online and develop useful apps so we can use our ever-present devices to book our times, post our scores, track our statistics, determine our yardage, order food on the course, find playing partners and leagues, and so much more.

The NGF report said Millennials comprise a quarter of current golfers and make up more than half of golf’s latent demand. Although that is a U.S. finding, we can assume it roughly applies to Canada.

It would be nice if golf made us feel welcome.

And it would be good for the game, too.

To learn more about the NGF’s report, Golf and the Millennial Generation, click here.

Editor’s Note: William Gordon is the son of veteran golf writer John Gordon. He is 28, belongs to a golf club in the Greater Toronto Area and works in the technology industry. You can follow him on Twitter @itsWillGordon.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the athletes who have been selected to represent Team Canada as part of the 2016 National Amateur Squad and Development Squad.

In all, ten athletes comprise Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad including five players on the men’s team and five on the women’s. The National Development Squad, primarily a U19 program, will also feature 10 players (five men and five women).

Returning to the men’s Amateur Squad is 2015 Gary Cowan Award (low amateur at the RBC Canadian Open) winner Blair Hamilton, 22, of Burlington, Ont. Hamilton enters his senior year at the University of Houston on the heels of a strong junior year that included two collegiate victories and six other top-20 finishes. He finished T17 at the 2015 Canadian Men’s Amateur and currently boasts Canada’s top-amateur ranking at No. 104 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). This will be his second year on the Amateur Squad and his third in total with Team Canada (Development Squad in 2012).

Joining the team for his first official season is reining B.C. Amateur champion Jared du Toit of Kimberley, B.C. The 20-year-old currently sits as the team’s second-ranked amateur at No. 122 in the WAGR. He played his first two seasons at the University of Idaho before transferring to Arizona State this year for his junior season. During his time at Idaho, du Toit recorded eight top-10 finishes including a win at the Wyoming University Southern to go along with winning Freshman of the Year honours for the Western Athletic Conference.

After a two-year hiatus, Eric Banks of Truro, N.S., makes his return to Team Canada following a summer that featured top-25 finishes at the Northeast Amateur, Canadian Amateur and Monroe Invitational. Banks is also a former Nova Scotia Men’s Amateur champion (2011) and two-time Nova Scotia Junior Boys champion. He enters his fourth year with Team Canada after graduating from the University of Florida where he won the David Toms award—given to the collegiate golfer who most overcomes adversity. Banks, 22, recovered from successful open-heart surgery in June of 2012 that repaired a hole in his heart.

Also returning to Team Canada after a hiatus is Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que., native Hugo Bernard. The 20-year-old was runner-up at the 2015 Canadian Amateur and also earned top-five finishes provincially at the Alexander of Tunis, Duke of Kent and the Quebec Men’s Amateur. He captured the Quebec Men’s Amateur title in 2013 as well as the 2012 Quebec Junior Boys championship.

Rounding out the men’s team is Purdue University senior and Vancouver native Stuart Macdonald. The 20-year-old finished runner-up at the 2015 B.C. Amateur, tallied two top-10 finishes in his junior season and finished tied for 13^th at the 2015 Canadian Amateur.

On the women’s side, the Amateur Squad is headlined by returning member and dual-citizen Maddie Szeryk who’s 2015 season includes a victory at the Ontario Women’s Amateur and T6 finish at the Canadian Women’s Amateur. In her freshman season at Texas A&M, Szeryk was named to the All-South Eastern Conference team in addition to winning Freshman of the Year honours for the conference thanks to nine top-10 finishes in 12 tournaments played. The 19-year old currently sits as Canada’s top-ranked female on the WAGR at No. 38.

Joining Team Canada is rookie Josée Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que. Doyon is coming off a remarkable season that featured a win at the Quebec Women’s Amateur in addition to three collegiate victories for the Kent State Golden Flashes. The 22-year-old’s junior season earned her Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Year honours. Now in her senior year, Doyon currently sits at No. 61 on the WAGR.

Rounding out the women’s team are a trio of graduates from last season’s Development Squad including 18-year-old Naomi Ko of Victoria, B.C., who enters her fourth year with Team Canada and first as a member of the N.C. State Wolfpack. In 2015 she finished fifth at the B.C. Women’s Amateur, tied for second at the Ontario Women’s Amateur, third at the Canadian Junior Girls and tied for 24^th at the Canadian Women’s Amateur.

Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee, 18, heads into her third year with Team Canada and her freshman season at Ohio State. The 18-year old finished tied for seventh at the B.C. Women’s Amateur, third at the Alberta Ladies Amateur and 16^th at the Canadian Women’s Amateur. In 2014, Lee captured both the Alberta Ladies Amateur and Junior Girls titles.

Michelle Kim, an 18-year-old Surrey, B.C., native, moves up to the Amateur Squad after one season the Development Squad. Currently in her freshman year with University of Idaho, Kim won both the 2015 B.C. Women’s Amateur and Junior Girls, while adding a victory at the Canadian Junior Girls and a tie for 38^th at the Canadian Women’s Amateur.

“This is always an exciting time of year as we welcome the next group of young men and women selected as members of Team Canada,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer. “Supporting, developing and nurturing Canada’s future stars remains to be at the core of our primary objectives. We are committed to investing in high performance talent through elite coaching, training, sport science and preparation.”

The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2016 Amateur Squad:

WOMEN’S NATIONAL AMATEUR SQUAD

• Maddie Szeryk, Allen, Texas (19)
• Josée Doyon, St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que. (22)
• Michelle Kim, Surrey, B.C. (18)
• Naomi Ko, Victoria, B.C. (18)
• Jaclyn Lee, Calgary, Alta. (18)

MEN’S NATIONAL AMATEUR SQUAD

• Blair Hamilton, Burlington, Ont. (22)
• Jared du Toit, Kimberley, B.C. (20)
• Eric Banks, Truro, N.S. (22)
• Stuart Macdonald, Vancouver, B.C. (20)
• Hugo Bernard, Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que. (20)

Complete National Amateur Squad bios can be found here.

As part of the National Amateur Team Program, Golf Canada also named the 19-and-under Development Squad that includes five female and five male athletes. The Development Squad is designed to help facilitate the continued development of Canada’s top young talents.

The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2016 Development Squad:

WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT SQUAD

• Grace St-Germain, Ottawa, Ont. (17)
• Hannah Lee, Surrey, B.C. (15)
• Tiffany Kong, Vancouver, B.C. (14)
• Kathrine Chan, Richmond, B.C. (15)
• Chloe Currie, Mississauga, Ont. (15)

MEN’S DEVELOPMENT SQUAD

• Tony Gil, Vaughan, Ont. (17)
• A.J. Ewart, Coquitlam, B.C. (16)
• Thomas ‘Jack’ Simpson, Aurora, Ont. (17)
• Alexander Smith, Calgary, Alta. (17)
• Charles-Éric Bélanger, Québec, Que. (16)

Complete Development Squad player bios can be found here.

Golf Canada also announced the 2016 Team Canada coaching staff with Derek Ingram returning as Men’s Squad Head Coach, supported by Robert Ratcliffe who will also head up the Development Squad. On the women’s side, Tristan Mullally returns as Women’s Squad Head Coach and will receive support from Ann Carroll, who will oversee the Women’s Development Squad specifically. All coaches are all class “A” professionals with the PGA of Canada.

The athletes named to the 2016 National Amateur and Development Squads are a product of a circle of support that includes personal coaches, parents and high performance activities conducted by the respective provincial golf associations.

The 2016 Young Pro Squad team selection is expected mid-November.

VENICE, Fla. – Professional golfers from all over the world will descend on Venice, Fla., for Stage II of the LPGA Qualifying Tournament. Players are trying to finish in the top-80 and advance to final stage of Qualifying Tournament where LPGA Tour dreams are realized.

Stage II is a 72-hole tournament held at Plantation Golf and Country Club on both the Panther & Bobcat Courses. The first-round is scheduled for Thursday, October 22 with the final-round slated for Sunday, October 25.

The top-80 players plus ties at the end of Sunday’s final round will advance to final stage of LPGA Q-School, which will be held at LPGA International Golf Course – Jones & Hill Courses from Wednesday, December 2 through Sunday, December 6. There is no cut at Stage II and players that complete 72 holes will automatically receive Symetra Tour status for 2016.

A total of 197 players, 60 of which advanced out of LPGA Qualifying Tournament Stage I in late August at Mission Hills Country Club, will be competing to advance to final stage. The white line yardage for the Bobcat Course is 6,536 while the total yardage for the Panther Course is 6,363.

Players that finish in the top-20 at final stage will receive category 12 status on the priority list for the LPGA Tour while players that finish 21 through 45 will receive category 17 status (conditional).

88 INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS FROM 31 COUNTRIES: Of the 197 players in the field, 88 are representing a country outside the United States. There are a total of 31 countries (not including the United States) that will be represented in Venice.

Seven Canadians will play in the competition, including Taylor Candler (Kincardine, Ont.), Laura DeMarco (LaSalle, Ont.), Christina Foster (Toronto), Natalie Gleadall (Stratford, Ont.), Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.), Megan Osland (Kelowna, B.C.) and Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Québec, Que.).

There are 11 players from Thailand, seven from Canada, six from Australia, China and Mexico and five from South Korea and the United Kingdowm.

There will be 108 players representing the United States.