The second stop on the 14^th Canadian Women’s Tour saw rains come and go, but when play resumed following a three-hour delay, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Seul-Ki Park and Jennifer Greggain took to the course and conquered the wet conditions at Smiths Falls Golf & Country Club to take the lead.

Dark skies and heavy rains clouded the morning and allowed for just the first 10 groups to tee off on-time before unplayable conditions delayed the remainder of the field of 84. The downpour subsided and gave way to brilliant sunshine to mask the wet conditions on the course. Seul-Ki Park opened with a pair of birdies on her first four holes, but the Northbrook, Ill., native couldn’t maintain her quick start. She concluded her round with a bogey on hole 18 to finish at even par.

“My tee shots kind of cost me today, but I was able to make three birdies to even out my three bogeys,” said Park, when asked about her round. “I think if I tighten up a little bit, I can position myself a little bit better. But obviously, it’s not over until the last shot.

Park’s two co-leaders needed time to re-focus following the delay, but settled down as the round progressed. Chilliwack, B.C., product Jennifer Greggain finished the front nine with a bogey to fall to 2-over par, but a pair of birdies on the 13^th and 17^th holes drew her back to even.

Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Rebecca Lee-Bentham needed a moment to gather herself, but quickly regained her form to take a share of the lead. The Toronto native went bogey-free on her final 12 holes and added a trio of birdies, including one on her final hole, to move into the tie for first.

Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad fared well to open the competition. Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont., carded four birdies and sits in a three-way tie for fourth. She and Christina Foster are currently knotted for low amateur honours.

The Henderson sisters, Brooke and Brittany, opened the two-day tournament on their home course with identical 2-over 73 performances. Brooke, the younger of the two, notched birdies on the 1^st and 4^th holes, but succumbed to the difficult course conditions. Sister Brittany found her form and ended her round even across the back nine. The two are part of a six-player tie for seventh alongside National Team member Jennifer Ha of Calgary.

The remaining members of Team Canada – Elizabeth Tong of Thornhill, Ont., and Maddie Szeryk of London, Ont., – finished T13 and T15 respectively to put all six National Team members within the top-15 and within four strokes of the lead.

The purse for the tournament is set at $60,000 with $10,000 going to the champion.  The tournament winner will join Canadian Women’s Tour – Alberta champion Michelle Piyapattra in receiving a prized exemption into the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open taking place August 17-23 at The Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, B.C.

The PGA Women’s Championship of Canada, the concluding event on the 2015 Canadian Women’s Tour, is set to be hosted at Burlington Golf & Country Club in Burlington, Ont., from July 20-22. In addition to the three winner exemptions, the top two competitors on the Jocelyne Bourassa Order of Merit, who are not otherwise exempt will join the trio at Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship, provided they have played in at least two of the three Tour events.

The five highest ranked players on the Canadian Women’s Tour Order of Merit will also be awarded direct entry into the second stage of LPGA Qualifying School.

The final round of Canadian Women’s Tour – Ontario is slated to get underway at 8 a.m. before the final threesome tees off at 10:10 a.m.

For full results and additional information, please visit the tournament’s official website.

INVERNESS, N.S.—Cabot Links showed its teeth Tuesday for the second round of the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf.

The 64-player field once again faced authentic links conditions at Canada’s No.-2 ranked golf course with gusty winds, fast fairways and firm greens.

“This is the toughest golf course I’ve ever played,” admitted Danny King of the Performance Academy at Magna. “The greens out here are pretty diabolical so you’ve got to pay attention to your speed. There’s a demand on your tee shots with the wind blowing 40 km/h, so you’ve just got to keep the ball on the ground.”

King’s two-day score off 3-over-par secured his No. 1 seed heading into Wednesday’s first round of matches with the top 16 players squaring off inr the four match play brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman.

Capilano G&CC’s Dave Zibrik and Jerome Blais of the Academie de Golf Performance survived a three man playoff for the final two match play spots.

Blais—the 15th seed—faces 2013 PGA Championship of Canada winner Bryn Parry, while Zibrik meets King in the No. 1 vs. No. 16 match.

“I had like a 30-yard shot where I had to check it and spin it,” Zibrik said about his approach shot in the second playoff hole versus Jim Zwolak of Credit Valley G&CC. “I hit it to like 10 or 12 feet below the hole and was fortunate to make it.”

Other round of 16 matches—which commence Wednesday morning—include No. 8 Scott Allred of Elbow Springs Golf Club up against 2013 PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada winner Billy Walsh. Alf Callowhill of Rattlesnake Point GC plays 2014 PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada Matt Peavoy; with No. 5 Ed Maunder of Deerfield G&RC meeting the 12th seeded Louis-Pierre Godin of Club de Golf Ki-8-Eb. Ron Kenesky of Twenty G&CC meets Kent Fukushima to round of the George Knudson bracket. In the Moe Norman bracket, No. 3 seeded Lee Curry of Rideau View G&CC plays No. 14 Rob Anderson; and last year’s PGA Championship winner Dave Levesque meets 2014 Canada Cup winner Oliver Tubb.

For the complete match play bracket and full leaderboard, click here.

The winners of the morning matches Wednesday qualify for the afternoon quarterfinal matches. The eventual champion will win four match play rounds, adding his name to the historic P.D. Ross Trophy.

Cabot Links, which debuted at No. 2 on SCOREGolf’s 2014 Top 100 Ranking and is currently No. 42 on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is located on the western shores of Cape Breton Island in Inverness, N.S.

Nestled between the rural community of Inverness and the vast Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Rod Whitman-designed course is Canada’s first authentic links layout. The natural and rugged Nova Scotia landscape—dramatic seaside, undulating terrain, sandy soil—dictates the layout of the course with every hole affording an ocean view and five holes playing adjacent to the beach.

The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into this year’s RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. Currently, Walsh sits No. 1 on the pplayer rankings rankings with 316 points, ahead of 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and and Parry

Past champions of the PGA Championship of Canada includes Moe Norman, George Knudson, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer.

Players who didn’t make the 36-hole cut will compete in the GolfNorth Skins Game Wednesday at the historic Cape Breton Highlands Links in Ingonish, N.S.

Attendance to the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during tournament play.

When the National Golf in Schools program was launched in selected elementary schools across Canada in 2009, many considered it a fine addition to the phys-ed curriculum. They appreciated the potential longterm ramifications of one of the few phys-ed activities that allows for total family participation away from the school environment. While some questioned whether swinging plastic clubs at foam balls constituted a sport of any cardiovascular significance, the experts knew otherwise. They were aware of the vigorous calorie-burning routine of walking 18 holes—2,000 calories, if you carry your bag, according to a Walker Research Group report commissioned by the World Golf Foundation and Golf 20/20—and that a youth’s blood glucose levels tumble by up to 20 per cent after a round of golf. In addition, an estimated 240 calories per hour are consumed by hitting a bucket of balls on the driving range.

According to a 2012 study by Australia’s Inside- Golf magazine, the typical mid-handicapper walks roughly 80 per cent further than the scorecard yardage on a given day of 18-hole play, which equates to 9.9 kilometres if you were playing from just shy of 6,000 yards.

Developed by Golf Canada in partnership with Physical and Health Education Canada and the PGA of Canada, the Golf in Schools program stresses that active element.

“It’s not a bunch of kids waiting around for someone to hit a putt,” stresses Jeff Thompson, Chief Sport Officer with Golf Canada. “The programs are all activity-based, from speed and agility to coordination and balance.”

Given those innate health benefits, the National Golf in Schools program couldn’t have come at a better time. For the first time in two centuries, the current generation of children may have shorter life expectancies than their parents, reports the New England Journal of Medicine, citing childhood obesity as the main culprit. Statistics Canada reported that between 1985 and 2011, obesity among Canada’s youth tripled. As recent as last year an Active Healthy Kids Canada research paper indicated that while 84 per cent of Canadian kids aged 3-4 are active enough to meet the recommended daily physical activity guidelines “this falls to only 7 per cent at ages 5-11, and only 4 per cent at ages 12-17.”

The report also indicated that just 55 per cent of Canadian schools have a fully implemented policy for daily PE for all students, and that “82 per cent of parents agree that the education system should place more importance on providing quality PE.”

This is not to suggest the Canadian school system is dropping the ball. Diminished budgets have contributed to the steady curtailing of phys-ed classes over the years. Much of the increase in sedentary behaviour among youth can be attributed to the incursion of technology in our daily lives. While an increased emphasis on school-based physical education programs is far from the be-all and end-all antidote for childhood obesity, it is a valuable step nonetheless. That’s not merely with respect to the obvious fi tness element and skills learned in gym class (while helping avoid heart disease and other ailments down the road), but to a youngster’s scholastic and social development as well.

“We have seen the trend that generally the first thing to be cut in schools is a physical education class, although research strongly suggests that engaging youth in physical activity, beyond motor development, helps with concentration in school,” says Dr. Tanya Forneris, an associate professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, which was approached by Golf Canada in 2014 “to help integrate life skills—such as focus, goal setting, perseverance, sportsmanship, respect and honesty—into Golf Canada’s youth programming.

“Sports is a great context to teach these skills, because youth enjoy learning, and they’re motivated,” says Forneris, a PhD in Counselling Psychology and an expert in positive youth development and community programming through sports.

Forneris suggests there is far more potential to school sports than simply building character. “There’s a long line of studies—much of it in the past 15 years or so—that we use to support our core research of positive youth development supporting physiological, social and educational development,” she says.

From the standpoint of enhanced cognitive performance alone, you could fill a computer hard drive with supporting evidence. Among them is a 1999 Maryland research paper by C. Edwin Bencraft. Entitled “The Relationship between Physical Activity, Brain Development and Cognitive Performance,” Bencraft’s work observed four key points: challenging motor tasks before the age of 10 can increase cognitive ability; aerobic exercise improves cognitive functioning by increasing the number of capillaries serving the brain; cross-lateral movements increase the communication ability between the brain’s hemispheres; and physical activity reduces the production of stress chemicals that inhibit cognitive processing.

In other words, active kids generally think quicker, concentrate better and are apt to be less stressed than their non-active classmates. Canadian research includes a six-year Quebec study that found youngsters who received five extra hours of physical activity per week achieved higher marks in academic subjects than students who received the regular regimen.

Even the Canadian Association of Principals supports the concept, noting that children who engage in physical education on a daily basis come to class more ready to learn, and play and interact better with others, according to Straight Talk About Children and Sport, a book commissioned by the Coaching Association of Canada. You can also not underestimate the element of improved self-esteem through accomplishments in school sports.

Better grades, higher expectations, more academically-oriented friends, greater family attachment and more frequent interactions with parents, more restraint in avoiding risky behaviour, even greater involvement in volunteer work—they are also direct byproducts of school-aged sport, notes TrueSport, a youth movement supported by the U. S. Anti-Doping Agency.

But if sport is to be used as a vehicle in instilling such habits and principles—whether it’s a team activity such as hockey or an individual sport like golf—you’ve got to hook them early.

“The research out there now, especially on the girls side, is that if they haven’t tried a sport by the age of 12, the chances of them taking up the sport after that time drops incrementally,” notes Golf Canada’s Thompson.

In fact, according to a 1993 Melpomene Institute for Women’s Health (Minnesota) study, “if a girl does not participate in sport by the age of 10, there is only a 10 per cent chance she will be physically active when she is 25.”

It gets worse at the secondary-school level. Once it becomes an optional subject, enrolment in physical education in Canada tends to decrease significantly, with the decrease more noticeable for adolescent females than males, a myriad of studies observe.

Many in Canada are now considering whether physical education should be mandatory through grade 12. Indeed, given the research, gym class has never looked like a smarter choice.

Part one in this five-part series, Class is in Session, was published in the April edition of Golf Canada Magazine. It can be read here.

Coquitlam, B.C. – Golf Canada in partnership with Canadian Pacific (CP) have announced that defending champion So Yeon Ryu will headline a list of seven past champions who have confirmed their intention to challenge for the US$2.25 million purse at the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

Currently ranked No. 7 on the Rolex World Ranking, Ryu played near flawless golf last August at the London Hunt and Country Club to capture the inaugural Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. A three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Ryu’s 23-under tournament total in 2014 set a new event scoring record in relation to par.

Also confirming her intention to compete for Canada’s National Women’s Open title will be two-time champion Lydia Ko (2012 & 2013), the current World No. 2 who made history at The Vancouver Golf Club in 2012 when she captured her first LPGA Tour victory as a 15-year old amateur.

In addition to Ryu (2014) and Ko (2012 & 2013), other past champions set to compete include World No. 5 Suzann Pettersen (2009), World No. 8 Brittany Lincicome (2011), World No. 12 Cristie Kerr (2006), World No. 14 Michelle Wie (2010) and Katherine Hull (2008).

“We’re two months away from the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and we are very pleased with how our field is coming together,” said Canadian Pacific Women’s Open Tournament Director, Brent McLaughlin. “We are fortunate to have a terrific history of champions and I know it will be especially exciting for Vancouver golf fans to welcome Lydia Ko back to The Vancouver Golf Club for the first time since her amazing win in 2012.”

Golf Canada also confirmed that 17-year old Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. has been granted an exemption to compete in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.  Henderson, a member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad and currently the No. 51 ranked player in the world, will be making her fourth consecutive appearance in Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship. In her first year as a professional, the former World No. 1 ranked amateur has amassed $317,470 in LPGA earnings including $132,725 for her tie for 5^th finish this past weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Brooke Henderson (David Cannon/ Getty Images)

“Brooke has had an outstanding start to her pro career and it comes as no surprise that she has earned an exemption to compete in Canada’s National Women’s Open for the fourth time,” said McLaughlin.  “She’s a special player and a terrific ambassador for Canadian golf and I’m sure she’ll be fan favourite once again at The Vancouver Golf Club.”

Henderson will lead a Canadian contingent that also includes four-time LPGA Tour winner and Canadian Pacific ambassador Lorie Kane of Charlottetown as well as LPGA Tour players Alena Sharp of Hamilton, Ont. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C. and Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Toronto.

Additional Canadian and international exemptions into the National Women’s Open Championship will be announced in the coming weeks. A field of 156 competitors will vie for the  US$2.25 million purse when the CP Women’s Open makes its return to The Vancouver Golf Club.

Community Impact…

The 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open is proud to support BC Children’s Hospital as the 2015 charity beneficiary of this year’s event.

Funds raised this year will be dedicated to the pediatric cardiology research program.

As part of its community investment program CP Has Heart, CP is matching all online donations through www.bcchf.ca/cphasheart until August 23. Fan and player favourite, Birdies for Heart, also returns this year with CP committed to donating $5,000 for every birdie made on the 17th hole. In 2014, Birdies for Heart raised more than $320,000 for charity during tournament week.

Free Admission for Juniors…

Golf Canada and CP are proud to offer free admission to the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open to any spectator aged 17 and under. In addition to free admission for juniors, parents can take advantage of discounted tickets by visiting www.cpwomensopen.com/tickets and using promo code “junior”.

First conducted in 1973, Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship has allowed the brightest stars of the LPGA Tour to shine on Canadian soil and inspire the nation’s next generation of female golfers.

Additional information regarding tickets, volunteer opportunities and corporate hospitality for the 2015 or 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com.

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Team Canada’s Development Squad foursome kicked things off on in style on Tuesday with a collective score of 3-under par to grab a share of fourth place following the first round of the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup.

Canada finished inside the top-five after the opening round at the Chukyo Golf Club’s Ishino Course thanks in part to three 1-under rounds of 70 from Tony Gil (Vaughan, Ont.), Étienne Papineau (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué.) and A.J. Armstrong (St. Albert, Alta.). The team’s fourth member, Trevor Ranton of Waterloo, Ont., posted a 1-over 72 for Canada’s non-counting score of the day.

Collectively, the Canucks posted a 3-under score to sit in a three-way tie with Korea and South Africa. Sweden and host Japan hold a share of the lead at 7-under par, while the Americans trail by two strokes in third place.

Team Canada will hit the tee-box tomorrow morning starting at 8:40 a.m.

Click here for scoring.

Click here for second-round pairing sheet.

Halifax, N.S. – The Web.com Tour’s 2015 Nova Scotia Open will kick off in just two weeks on Thursday July 2^nd at Ashburn Golf Club – New Course, with a strong representation of Canadian talent in the field, including No.1 ranked amateur golfer in Canada, Austin Connelly.

Connelly, a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen who lives in Irving, Texas and spends his summers at his grandparent’s home in Digby County, Nova Scotia, will play in the only Web.com Tour event on Canadian soil. Connelly, whose home course is Clare Golf & Country Club in Church Point, N.S., describes his Nova Scotia connection as always being special to go back each year to visit family and friends, but also to essentially what was the start of his goal to become the No.1 golfer in the world.

“It’s an awesome feeling to be able to play in a professional event in a province where I golfed a lot in my earlier years,” says Connelly. “I’m looking forward to teeing it up with some of the best players in the world and representing Nova Scotia in this event. It’s important for me to celebrate my roots and this is one opportunity to allow me to do that.”

Connelly will tee off in the British Amateur this week from June 15-20. He is also scheduled to play in the Canadian and U.S. Amateur Championships, and will represent Canada at the at this summer’s 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

Earlier this year, Connelly made his debut in his first PGA TOUR event at the AT & T Byron Nelson Championship through a sponsor’s exemption. He was also recognized as one of four Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award recipients – an award that world No.2 ranked golfer Jordan Spieth had also previously received. As well, Connelly won the 2015 Jones Cup Invitational this season in Sea Island, GA, one of the most prestigious amateur events in the world, after finishing 2nd in the 2014 event. With his win, Austin was awarded an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 2015 McGladrey Classic.

Connelly is a two time AJGA First Team Junior Rolex All-American and a member of the victorious 2013 and 2014 Wyndham Cup Teams, in addition to the winning 2014 Jr. Ryder Cup Team. That same year, Connelly won the 2014 AJGA FootJoy Invitational by a six stroke margin. With his decorated junior career, Connelly fast-tracked his way onto Team Canada’s Amateur Squad. As part of the National team, Connelly finished runner-up at the 2014 Argentine Amateur and captured gold for Canada at the 2014 Tailhade Cup both as an individual (by seven strokes) and as a team (by 19 strokes).

The remaining field and exemptions will be announced in the coming weeks leading up to the event, but fans can expect a strong Canadian presence similar to last year, where 20 Canadian golfers made up the field of 156 players in the Nova Scotia Open.

The Nova Scotia Open featuring the RBC Canada Cup will be an event to watch this summer, especially to see if another Canadian will take home the Nova Scotia Open Champion title, following in Calgary, AB native Roger Sloan’s footsteps – who is now on the PGA TOUR in part to his win.

For more information on the Nova Scotia Open and to purchase tickets click: here.

INVERNESS, N.S. – Cabot Links came billed as a true links golf experience. And Monday for the first round of the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf, it delivered with breezy, firm and fast conditions.

A trio of players—Quebec’s Jérôme Blais, 2014 Canada Cup winner Oliver Tubb and champion of the 2013 PGA Championship of Canada Bryn Parry—lead the way at even par.

“This place is unreal and golf is so much fun here,” Tubb said. “It’s awesome to be able to play in conditions like today with things getting firm and fast and it’s only going to get better out here as the week goes on.”

Cabot Links, which debuted at No. 2 on SCOREGolf’s 2014 Top 100 Ranking and is currently No. 42 on Golf Digest’s World’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses, is located on the western shores of Cape Breton Island in Inverness, N.S.

Nestled between the rural community of Inverness and the vast Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Rod Whitman-designed course is Canada’s first authentic links layout. The natural and rugged Nova Scotia landscape—dramatic seaside, undulating terrain, sandy soil—dictates the layout of the course with every hole affording an ocean view and five holes playing adjacent to the beach.

Since re-launching in 2011, the PGA Championship of Canada has been contested as a match play event with players from the four brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—looking to advance through the six rounds to capture the historic P.D. Ross trophy.

However, this year’s championship sees the top-16 players from the 36-hole stroke play portion of the event filling out the four match play brackets—Stan Leonard, George Knudson, Al Balding and Moe Norman—with the eventual champion winning four match play rounds.

“I like the format change for this year’s championship because it gives the player who travels from across the country more golf and another chance to see this amazing venue,” Blais said.

Scott Allred, Scott Borsa, Kent Fukushima, Brad Kerfoot, two-time PGA Club Professional of Canada winner Danny King and the No. 1-ranked player form the PGA of Canada Players Ranking presented by RBC Bill Walsh sit one back at one-over par 71.

Of the 64 players in the field, nearly half are within five shots of the top of the leaderboard.

For the complete leaderboard and second round tee times, CLICK HERE.

The player who sits atop the PGA of Canada Player Rankings presented by RBC at the conclusion of the PGA Championship of Canada earns an exemption into this year’s RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

Currently, Walsh sits No. 1 on the player rankings with 316 points, ahead of 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and and Parry

Past champions of the PGA Championship of Canada includes Moe Norman, George Knudson, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer.

Players who don’t make the 36-hole cut will compete in the GolfNorth Skins Game Wednesday at the historic Cape Breton Highlands Links in Ingonish, N.S.

Attendance to the PGA Championship of Canada is free and spectators are encouraged to attend during tournament play.

The first PGA Championship of Canada was contested in 1912 at Mississaugua Golf & Country Club.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Team’s Canada’s Women’s Development Squad is ramping up to compete in the annual Women’s Western Golf Association Amateur Championship this week from Jun. 15–20 at the Nashville Golf Club.

The Women’s Development Squad will be represented by three members in Tennessee: Grace St-Germain of Ottawa, Naomi Ko of Victoria, B.C. and Michelle Kim of Surrey, B.C.

Ko, the most experienced of the three, finished in 16^th place in last year’s event. The 18-year-old N.C. State commit will look to better her result in 2015, which will follow the tournament’s usual format—two-day stroke-play qualifier, followed by match-play for the low 64.

Team Canada will have their eyes on America’s Mika Liu, who will return to defend her title. The 16-year-old Stanford commit is a familiar foe for the Canucks—she was the gold medalist at last year’s inaugural World Junior Girls Championship in Markham, Ont.

Other Canadians in the field are headlined by former Team Canada members Taylor Kim (sister of Michelle) and Sabrine Garrison of Calgary, along with Kent State standout Josée Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Qué. Doyon, 22, is coming off a remarkable junior season which saw her earn the Mid-American Conference Golfer of the Year award. She currently sits as the lowest-ranking Canadian in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) at No. 42.

Four other fellow countrywomen will also fly the flag in Tennessee: Kennedy Bodfield (St. Catherines, Ont.) Kiersten Klekner-Alt (Ottawa), Marlies Klekner-Alt (Ottawa) and Gracie Howie (Calgary).

The WWGA was founded in 1901 under the sponsorship of the Western Golf Association and is one of the oldest women’s golf organizations in the United States; it is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established under guidelines set by the Internal Revenue Service. All the dedicated Directors are volunteers paying all their own travel expenses. In June of 2011, the WWGA once again partnered with the Western Golf Association.

Daily scoring updates can be found here.

VANCOUVER – Canadian Pacific (CP), Golf Canada and the LPGA Tour announced today that CP has extended its title sponsorship of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open for an additional two years, through 2018. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

As title sponsor of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, CP is committed to raising charitable dollars in the event’s host community through the CP Has Heart campaign in support of children’s heart health. Extending its title sponsorship through 2018 will allow CP to increase its charitable support of children’s heart health in the name of Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship.

“CP is proud to extend its partnership with Golf Canada as title sponsor of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and looks forward to continuing to make a difference in the host communities across the country,” said CP’s CEO E. Hunter Harrison. “Our support of the National Women’s Open has become a cornerstone of our community investment program, CP Has Heart, through which we have assisted a number of heart healthy programs from coast-to-coast.”

CP assumed title sponsorship of Canada’s National Women’s Open in November, 2013 with the inaugural Canadian Pacific Women’s Open conducted at London Hunt and Country Club in London, Ont. in 2014. This year’s 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open will be played August 17-23 at The Vancouver Golf Club while the 2016 event will return to the Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club in Calgary.

“On behalf of Golf Canada, the LPGA Tour and Canadian golf fans from coast to coast, I want to thank CP, and especially CEO Hunter Harrison, for continuing to align their respected brand with our National Women’s Open Golf Championship,” said Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons. “CP has become a driving force in supporting Canadian golf and we are thrilled to continue our partnership on the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open through 2018.”

In addition to its title sponsorship of the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open, CP has also partnered with Golf Canada in support of the National Amateur Team program – Team Canada – as well as Canada’s National Amateur Championships.  As part of its investment in Canadian golf, CP has also aligned its brand with the Golf Canada Foundation in becoming a Founding Partner of the

Team Canada Young Pro program which launched in 2014 and currently support six of Canada’s top up and coming professionals.

The $2.25 million USD Canadian Pacific Women’s Open is a premier event on the LPGA Tour schedule which draws arguably the strongest field on the Tour.

“For our players, this championship has become a must-play event with great hospitality as well as great history,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.  “Our success is based on partnerships and I’d like to congratulate both Canadian Pacific and Golf Canada on this two year title sponsorship extension.  With CP’s help, we’re proud to continue showcasing the LPGA Tour to millions of golf fans in Canada, across North American and around the world.”

First conducted in 1973, Canada’s National Women’s Open Championship has allowed the brightest stars of the LPGA Tour to shine on Canadian soil and inspire the nation’s next generation of female golfers.

Additional information regarding tickets, volunteer opportunities and corporate hospitality for the 2015 or 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com.

Golf links fathers and sons in many ways.  For comedian Gerry Dee, it’s not surprising his introduction to the game came with a humorous twist involving his dad.  I ask the star and writer/producer of the CBC Series Mr. D, which was just renewed for a fifth season, about his first tee shot and stroll down the fairway.

“It’s a funny story,” he recalls.  “I was 12-years-old and a buddy asked me to play golf at Don Valley Golf Club in Toronto.  I called my dad to ask for his permission.  I said dad, ‘I’ve never been on a golf course and I’ve never tried it, can I go?’ Right away, he said no!”

To understand why a father wouldn’t let his son golf, you need the backstory.  First, Dee’s dad was very strict.  Second, before coming to Canada, the elder Dee was a policeman in his native Scotland.

“There was a very famous serial killer in Scotland named Peter Manual in the late 1950s and my dad was working when he was in the midst of his killing spree,” Dee explains.  “He killed a little boy on a golf course, so my paranoid dad was like, ‘no you can’t go golfing’ because he had this story in his head of this murderer.”

Dee wasn’t about to let his dad’s paranoia about this Scottish lunatic, which was ingrained on his brain, prevent his pre-teen longing to hit the links.  “I hung up the phone, but then I called him right back.  It was probably the first time I ever defied my dad.  I told him I’m going golfing and he was like, ‘what?’ I said, ‘I want to go and I’m going!’ It was the first time I ever remember talking back to my dad and, in so many ways, it turned out to be the greatest thing I ever did.”

The comedian’s golfing debut was not memorable for the score (he shot 136, which included a few mulligans), but he vividly remembers that round.  He was addicted with the sport.  The next year he enrolled into a sponsored program at Bayview Golf & Country Club where he paid just $150.  “My parents didn’t have to be members because they couldn’t aff ord it,” he explains.  “I had five great years at Bayview.  I won the men’s club championship twice – once as a 17-year-old and once when I joined for a year as an adult.”

Dee is lucky to still have his dad around. Today, they joke about that life-changing phone call from 34 years ago.

“Over the years, he’s come to watch me golf a few times,” says Dee.  “Back in 2001, I was trying to qualify for the Ontario Amateur at Toronto’s Donalda Golf Club.  I said, ‘Dad you’ve never seen a tournament, why don’t you come?’ So, he did.  He followed me around the golf course and it was the worst mistake I ever made!  Here is a guy that can’t break 100 and he was yelling at me things like: ‘Why did you do that?  Don’t use that club?  I told you to hit it in the water!’ I was like, ‘I told you to hit it in the water?’ You don’t say that!’

It’s another one of those father/son moments Dee will never forget.  After six holes, he was six over.  What turned out as a fortuitous omen from Mother Nature, there was a thunderstorm and everyone had to run for shelter and wait out the rain.

“At the time, my dad was around 70 and there was a two-hour rain delay,” Dee recalls.  “So, my dad said he was going to go home.  After he left, I went birdie-birdie, and then made par on the remaining holes to make the cut.  It was the only Ontario Amateur I ever made.  I got home and my dad said, ‘I don’t know how you did that as you were terrible when I was with you!’ It was funny, but I have a lot of great memories of golf with my dad and I’m thankful for that.”

Over the years, Dee has also taken his dad golfing a few times.  The comedian laughs that, despite the disparity between their ages and their handicap factors – Dee consistently shoots in the 70s and his dad is lucky to break 100 – his father still tries to give him lessons on the course.

“My sister took up golf and she’s better than him too,” Dee adds.  “It’s just a dad being a dad.  He can’t beat me, but that’s just the nature of being a dad.  I’m the same way with my kids.  It’s just nice to get out on the course with him.”

Today, Dee is a father of three children and enjoys sharing his love of the game with his son and two daughters.  “I knew what golf did for me as a kid, so as a dad I’ve exposed my daughters and my son already to the game,” he says.  “We are fortunate that I can afford to join a golf club now.  My daughters have already taken lessons.  I think the discipline, the manners, the rules, and the etiquette, and everything that is instilled in golf is the best thing for kids that a dad can teach their kids in a sport and I’ve seen that already.”

What else is it about golf, besides these generational ties and memorable family moments, does Dee love about the sport?  It’s mainly about the valuable life lessons golf teaches.

“I’m very competitive and what I love is there is a score in golf,” he explains.  “I think that is why so many kids cheat and take mulligans because you want to improve that score.  When you get to a point where you realize you are just cheating yourself by moving your ball, that’s when you become a real golfer.”

Golf is also addictive.  “You play well one day and the next you balloon,” Dee adds.  “I remember a day when I was 16 where I hit 16 greens in regulation.  I don’t remember what I was doing and I’ve never done that again in my whole life.  There is something in golf that always pulls you back—that one good hole that makes you go, ‘Ah I think I’ve got it!’”

Does his chosen career as a comedian suit golf I wonder, asking whether it helps to have a good sense of humor when you are golfing?  “I think it helps you to forget because in comedy you can have a bad show or a bad audience and you need to have a short memory,” Dee says.  “Golf is no different. You can’t three-putt a hole and think about it for the next 10 holes.  You have to have a short memory and just take the good with the bad; it’s the same with the entertainment business.”

Over the years, Dee’s profession has allowed him to play some of the world’s best courses, including Augusta National where he teed it up the day after Adam Scott won the Green Jacket in 2013.

“I forget how lucky I was,” he says recalling this experience.  “I wish I had taken more pictures of me standing on various bridges, by that plaque, etc. I went as a sports reporter and I remember talking to Bob Weeks and saying, ‘I recall there is a draw for the media to play the course and if you win, you get to play the course.  He said, ‘Ha!  I’ve been here 17 years and never been drawn once.’

“So, I flew home on Friday, but I had put my name in the draw,” he continues. “I called at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning and talked to the woman at Augusta to check if my name had been drawn and she said, ‘Yes!  You tee off tomorrow!’ So, I got on a plane, made a connection and I drove there.”

Dee played the front tees in a foursome that included a Quebec reporter, Japanese reporter and Irish reporter.  “The pins were still where the Sunday pins were,” he recalls. “It was my first round of the year and I shot 82 with a quadruple bogey!  I treated it like my own little Masters.”

When he’s not touring the country performing live, or filming Mr. D out on the East Coast in the summer, you’ll find the comedian teeing it up at The National. “It’s the toughest course I’ve ever played,” he says.  “I’ve played Kiawah Island, played Oakmont and played Augusta, but from the back tees I’ve never played a harder course and a lot of guys on the PGA TOUR that have played it will tell you that too.”

Other golf highlights for Dee include doing an event once with Moe Norman, interviewing Gary Player and seeing Jack Nicklaus at the Masters.

“There are so many great things golf has done for me,” he concludes.  “It’s the greatest sport out there.  I love hockey, but if I had to pick a sport for my kids I would pick golf any day over hockey for so many reasons … it’s been so good to me.”