NAPLES, Fla., Nov. 22, 2019 – In 2020, for the first time in the history of the LPGA Tour, the world’s best female athletes will compete for a combined prize fund of $75.1 million, which includes the fourth playing of the UL International Crown, and air on more than 500 hours of television, both true signs of the continued growth for the game’s global tour.

The 2020 LPGA Tour schedule will feature 33 official events across 11 countries and regions, with the most hours of television production in LPGA history, and at least seven tournaments that will air on network television. Additionally, the UL International Crown, a unique biennial team event, will feature a $1.6 million unofficial purse and showcase the best female golfers from the top eight countries across the globe. 2020 will also see the world’s top players head to Japan for the Summer Olympics, bringing the game into even more households around the world.

“As we close 2019 and move to 2020, I could not be more excited about what the future will bring for the LPGA Tour and the sponsors that support us,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “$75.1 million in total purse. That number is a testament to the support we are receiving from sponsors and industry partners around the globe. As I enter my second decade as commissioner, we find ourselves in a new phase of the LPGA Tour. We’ve grown, but now we must flourish. We talk a lot about the next generation, but we will lift THIS generation. I know a lot of our fans understand the difference we are making for women’s golf in America, but they might be surprised to know about the impact our Tour is having all around the globe.”

The largest purse increase for the 2020 season comes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The purse for the season’s third major championship will grow to $4.3 million, up $450,000 from 2019. Additionally, the purse at the ANA Inspiration, traditionally the first major of each professional golf season, will increase to $3.1 million, up $100,000 from 2019 and the sixth consecutive year with a purse increase since ANA assumed title sponsorship in 2015.

Other purses increasing in 2020 are the CP Women’s Open ($2.35 million, up $100,000), the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give ($2.3 million, up $300,000), the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational ($2.3 million, up $300,000), the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana ($1.85 million, up $100,000) and the Volunteers of America Classic ($1.4 million, up $100,000).

As previously announced, the 2020 LPGA Tour season will include two new events in Florida, making it four tournaments for the Sunshine State. The Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio will be held Jan. 23-26 at Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, one week after the season-opening Diamond Resort Tournament of Champions presented by Insurance Office of America in Lake Buena Vista. Four months later, the Tour will return to the Sunshine State for the Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging, to be held May 14-17 at Pelican Golf Club in Belleair. Finally, for the seventh consecutive year, the LPGA Tour will end its season in Naples at the CME Group Tour Championship, a competition that awards the winner with $1.5 million, the largest single prize in women’s golf history.

2020 will also see the return of the Blue Bay LPGA, which was not conducted in 2019 to transition the competition into a spring time slot. The tournament in the People’s Republic of China will now be held March 5-8 as part of the LPGA Tour’s Spring Asia Swing, following stops in Thailand and Singapore.

The major season will kick off in Rancho Mirage, Calif., with the ANA Inspiration celebrating its 49th year on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club. The U.S. Women’s Open, conducted by the USGA, will visit Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, while the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be held at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa. The final two majors send the LPGA Tour overseas, with the Evian Championship returning to Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bain, France, and the AIG Women’s British Open heading to Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland.

In early August, between the Evian Championship and the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, the LPGA Tour will go on hiatus to accommodate the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan. The women’s golf competition will be held Aug. 5-8 at Kasumigaseki Country Club, located 40 miles outside Tokyo. Qualifying for the 60-player field ends following the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, with the top 15 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings automatically qualifying for the Games (no more than four players per country). The remaining spots will be awarded to the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two qualified players. Weekly Olympic golf rankings are posted every Monday on the International Golf Federation website.

The 2020 UL International Crown will be held Aug. 27-30 at Centurion Club, located outside of London, England. Spain won the inaugural competition in 2014, with the United States winning in 2016 and the Republic of Korea winning in 2018.

The 2020 LPGA Tour season will again feature three season-long races. In its second year, the Aon Risk Reward Challenge will award $1 million to the players on the LPGA and PGA Tours who best navigate risk across the season’s most strategically challenging holes. Carlota Ciganda captured the inaugural title on the LPGA Tour, while Brooks Koepka won on the PGA Tour. For the third consecutive year, the LEADERS Top-10s competition will award $100,000 to the player with the most top-10 finishes, with Ariya Jutanugarn (2018) and Jin Young Ko (2019) earning the first two awards. Finally, the Race to the CME Globe will see the top 60 players following the season’s penultimate event heading to the CME Group Tour Championship with the opportunity to win the $1.5 million winner’s check.

While the overall TV schedule is still being finalized, the 2020 LPGA Tour will see 500 global hours of broadcast coverage, including at least seven events aired on network TV. The Tour will be televised in more than 175 countries and in more than 500 million households.

The Symetra Tour, which is celebrating its 40th season, is still finalizing a schedule that will include at least 20 events for players on the LPGA Tour’s Official Qualifying Tour. Earlier this year, the Symetra Tour announced that the Circling Raven Championship, the first new event of the 2020 campaign, will be held at Circling Raven Golf Club at Coeur d’Alene Casino Resort and Hotel in Worley, Idaho. Since Symetra’s inaugural sponsorship year in 2012, the Symetra Tour has grown from 16 tournaments and $1.7 million in prize money to a record $4 million awarded over the course of 23 tournaments in 2019.

2020 will see a date change for the Senior LPGA Championship presented by Old National Bank. After three years in October, the tournament will move to July 30-Aug. 1, but will remain at the Pete Dye Course at French Lick (Ind.) Resort. Additionally, the LPGA’s Q-Series presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, the two-week qualifying tournament that replaced Stage III of Q School, will be held Oct. 19-31 in Pinehurst, N.C., while the LPGA T&CP National Championship will be held Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 at Reynolds Lake Oconee Golf Course in Greensboro, Ga.

2020 LPGA Tour Schedule (bold = major; italics = new event; * = unofficial money; ** = to be confirmed)

NAPLES, Fla. – Sei Young Kim set a goal of winning three times this year on the LPGA Tour, and she’s down to her last chance.

Reaching the goal would pay off big at the CME Group Tour Championship.

Kim scrambled to keep bogeys off her card Thursday along the back nine at Tiburon Golf Club, and then she pulled away from the pack with one big shot. Her approach on the par-5 17th narrowly stayed on the fringe of the green, and she holed the 12-foot eagle putt that carried her to a 7-under 65 and a two-shot lead in the final LPGA Tour event of the year.

The winner gets $1.5 million, the richest prize in the history of women’s golf.

“This tournament really special,” Kim said. “But I try to just make myself comfortable. I don’t put any extra pressure on myself.”

Nelly Korda, the highest-ranked American at No. 3 in the world ranking, did her best to make sure Kim didn’t get too far away, even after one round. She birdied the par-3 16th, holed a 35-foot eagle putt from just off the 17th green and closed with a 20-foot birdie. That took her from middle of the pack to a 67, leaving her two shots behind.

So Yeon Ryu and Georgia Hall, both past major champions, also were at 67.

“To be honest, this year is one of the worst seasons I’ve ever had,” said Ryu, who has yet to win this year. “So if I can win this tournament, it’s going to be awesome to finish the season, and then I’m not going to complain.”

That’s the effect of $1.5 million, which dwarfs the $1 million payoff at the U.S. Women’s Open, won by Jeongeun Lee6. The next-biggest check in women’s golf was $675,000 at the Women’s British Open.

The change this year at the Tour Championship is that all 60 players who qualified get the $1.5 million if they win the tournament. Previously, it was based on points from earned all season, and only the top 12 were given a shot at the $1 million bonus.

Because the money is official, Jin Young Ko is not assured of capturing the money title even though she has been the best in women’s golf this year. Ko, who won two majors among her four LPGA titles, clinched the LPGA player of the year with three tournaments left, and she leads the money list by more than $700,000.

Playing for the first time since an ankle injury caused her to withdraw in Taiwan three weeks ago, she made her way around Tiburon without a limp, but without many birdies, either. Ko took double bogey on the fourth hole, made her third birdie with a 12-foot putt on the par-3 eighth and closed with 10 pars for a 71.

Still, this day was more about players not shooting themselves out of the tournament.

That’s what Ariya Jutanugarn might have done. She didn’t make a birdie until the final hole to salvage a 76, leaving her 11 shots behind. Jutanugarn has yet to win this season, one year after she swept all the major awards on the LPGA Tour.

Brooke Henderson, one of seven players to win multiple times on the LPGA this year, did well to stay in the mix. She hit a thin 7-iron out of the pine straw on the 15th hole, a bad shot that turned good when it ran on the fast turf of Tiburon between bunkers and onto the green to 12 feet for birdie. She followed that by chipping across the green for a sloppy bogey on the 16th, and then failing to birdie the par-5 17th.

But the Canadian finished with a birdie to join the group at 68, leaving her just three behind with a lot of golf left.

“That made my round feel a lot better,” Henderson said. “I saw Sei Young at minus 7, which is a good score today. The wind was kind of hard to judge at times, but I think once you get on a roll, you can make a lot of birdies out here.”

There’s hope for Henderson and others, and concern that it also applies to Kim, a streaky player who holds the LPGA Tour 72-hole record to par at 31 under.

Defending champion Lexi Thompson made consecutive bogeys on the back nine and had to settle for a 70.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Today, Hilton (NYSE: HLT) announced a new multi-year integrated partnership with Golf Canada as the official hotel partner for the National Sport Federation and its members.

Hilton is proud to support Canada’s legendary National Open Golf Championships – the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open. As a result of the partnership, Hilton is now also the official hotel partner for Golf Canada’s National Team Program, Canadian Amateur Golf Championships and the World Junior Girls Championship.

As part of the partnership, Golf Canada members receive access to an array of travel benefits through Hilton including exclusive discounts and special offers.

“We are thrilled to partner with Golf Canada and their world-class golf programs, national team and championships,” said Andrew Flack, vice president, regional marketing & eCommerce Americas, Hilton. “Canada offers golf enthusiasts some of the most pristine courses in the world and we look forward to welcoming golfers from all over the destination with our signature Hilton hospitality.”

“Hilton is deeply engaged, and we are pleased to integrate their commitment to Canadian golf across so many pillars of our organization,” said Laurence Applebaum, CEO of Golf Canada. “Hilton represents the highest quality in hospitality with premium offerings for both serious and recreational golfers. Our robust partnership has a touchpoint with so many levels of Canadian golf and its exciting for our members across Canada to begin accessing a meaningful suite of travel and lifestyle benefits.”

TARRAGONA, Spain – Canadian golfer Aaron Cockerill has earned a European Tour playing card for the 2019-20 season.

The native of Stony Mountain, Man., finished Wednesday’s sixth and final round tied for fifth at the tour’s final qualifying tournament, putting him well inside the top-25 cutoff for a full card.

Cockerill, 27, was 16 under for the tournament, nine strokes behind winner Benjamin Poke of Denmark.

Cockerill played on the Challenge Tour, the top feeder to the European Tour, this year. He finished 49th in the standings.

Cockerill made the trek overseas after spending the past three years on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada following a four-year NCAA run at the University of Idaho.

The European Tour often is called the second best tour in the world, behind the PGA Tour.

The 2019-20 season begins Nov. 28-Dec. 1 with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.

NAPLES, Fla. – Mike Whan pulled the LPGA Tour out of a deep hole when he took over as a commissioner nine years ago, and he’s not finished yet.

Whan has signed what the LPGA described only as a long-term contract extension that keeps him in charge as women’s golf tries to expand its exposure through a new television deal being negotiated.

Peter Carfagna, the outgoing chairman of the LPGA board of directors, said Wednesday in announcing the extension that Whan has taken the LPGA Tour “from a struggling sports brand to what it is today – a true powerhouse in women’s sports, equality and opportunity.”

“As my tenure on the LPGA board comes to an end, I could not be leaving this organization in better hands,” he said.

Whan took over in September 2010 for Carolyn Bivens following what amounted to a player mutiny over a heavy-handed style that alienated sponsors right about the time the economy went into a recession.

The LPGA had 24 tournaments that year with total official prize money of $41.4 million, and it had 23 events on the 2011 schedule in Whan’s first year. Only one tournament – the U.S. Women’s Open, run by the USGA – had a purse of $3 million or more.

Now, the LPGA is finishing up a season with 32 official events and $70.2 million in prize money. Five tournaments had a total purse of $3 million or more, and the CME Group Tour Championship has $5 million in prize money, with $1.5 million going to the winner, the richest payoff ever in women’s golf.

The LPGA expanded to five majors with the Evian Championship. It joined forces with the PGA of America to reshape another major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, held this year at Hazeltine, with future sites at Aronimink and Congressional.

Whan also introduced the International Crown, a biennial competition among eight qualifying countries with four-player teams.

“Ten years ago, I’m not sure many of us would have been bold enough to predict where we are today,” Whan said in a letter to his members, in which he pointed out that 19 of the 33 events on next year’s schedule didn’t exist in 2010. “We have built incredible alliances with many industry stakeholders, who have also helped us to create a stronger LPGA and fuel the growth of young women in the game.”

What said that when he gets asked where he wants to go next in his career, “Three words run through my head: I’m not done.”

The LPGA Tour now has a Tournament of Champions in Florida to start its season, and it has added another Florida event in the spring. It also has three international swings – Asia and Australia in the late winter, Europe in the summer and Asia in the fall.

Even as prize money increases, however, Whan is hopeful of broadening the exposure through television. The Tour Championship, the most significant individual event this side of the majors, is being broadcast on tape delay by Golf Channel until NBC airs the final round live.

The LPGA Tour is using the PGA Tour as its negotiator for the next TV contract, which expires after 2021. The LPGA typically uses an outside agency to help with negotiations, and Whan said this summer no one has been more successful than the PGA Tour.

He also is bullish on trying to persuade more companies to pour sponsorship dollars in the women’s game as they do for the men, either through tournaments or individual players.

“There is no doubt we’re at a tipping point and more executives, shareholders and investors are questioning whether their corporate values are reflected in every aspect of their company, including marketing and sponsorship decisions,” he said in his letter. “Increased corporate support translates into more opportunities for women in golf and more opportunities for female athletes to be seen as role models of confidence, ability and accomplishment.”

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. and ST ANDREWS, Scotland – The USGA and The R&A today announced the World Amateur Golf Ranking ® (WAGR ®) will be determined by a new system called the Power Method beginning with the first update in January 2020.

The Power Method aims to better reflect the current performance of golfers by placing greater emphasis on current form and results by improving the algorithms used to determine the WAGR.

In the new structure, every event in the world will earn a Power based on the strength of its starting field which will then determine the total number of ranking points on offer to the field. This will extend to a maximum of 1000 for amateur events with players also able to gain ranking points from playing in professional tournaments.

The Power Method can be applied to all competitive events: amateur, professional, stroke play, match play, and can also cater to formats the previous system would not accommodate, such as Stableford.

Ranking points will be allocated to players based on their overall finishing position in the tournament rather than on the previous round-based allocation.

“We are thrilled to introduce the Power Method which will significantly improve the World Amateur Golf Ranking,” said Jeff Holzschuh, Chairman of the WAGR Committee. “We have listened to feedback about WAGR since its inception and we believe this change addresses many of the challenges within the previous system.”

Professor Steve Otto, Director of Equipment Standards and Chief Technology Officer for The R&A, commented, “The simplicity and elegance of the revised WAGR system will be of great benefit to competitive players at every level.

“It will be easier for players to become ranked under the Power Method but with the system recognizing current form and rewarding recent top results it will be tougher to remain ranked compared to the previous system.

“The Power Method will make WAGR a true indication of the ranking of the world’s best and leading amateur golfers.”

To ensure WAGR is truly representative of the current competitive environment, event aging will also be introduced as part of the Power Method to best reflect and reward players’ current form. Points from events within the most recent 52 weeks of a player’s record will count at full value. From there, event points will reduce proportionately, approximately two percent, per week before their removal after 104 weeks.

The divisors under the Power Method will also become event based versus the previous round-based divisor scheme. Like the points, divisors will also be aged after 52 weeks. The new minimum divisors will be seven for women and eight for men. Due to the aging of points and divisors under the Power Method, unlike the previous system, minimum divisors will be the same for newly ranked and long-established players.

“We are grateful to our colleagues at The R&A for their work in developing this effort and their partnership in bringing it to life,” said John Bodenhamer, USGA Senior Managing Director, Championships.

“As we have begun to discuss the upcoming changes to WAGR with various constituents, we have received great feedback and believe this will be very warmly received by players and event organizers.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 18, 2019 – The LPGA today announced that Diane Gulyas, a retired marketing executive with DuPont, has been elected as the incoming Chair of the LPGA’s Board of Directors, effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Gulyas, who has been an independent member of the LPGA’s Board of Directors since 2017, will succeed Peter Carfagna, the Board Chair in 2018-19 and a member of the Board for the past nine years.

After a 36-year career with DuPont, Gulyas retired in 2014 as president of Performance Polymers, where she directed a $4 billion business portfolio that covered 35 sites around the world, and as DuPont’s Chief Marketing Officer. During that tenure, she was also Chair of a $1 billion joint venture with the Japanese company Teijin, focusing on polyester film. Previously, Gulyas served as DuPont’s group vice president of Electronics and Communication Technologies, with extensive business dealings in Europe and Asia. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Notre Dame Engineering Advisory Board, and also serves on the boards of directors of Ingevity, W.R. Grace and Expeditors.

“I am thrilled and honored to serve with this dynamic and talented Board and management team,” said Gulyas. “We have made significant progress in the last three years. I look forward to enabling this team to increase our impact for our Members and the empowerment of women golfers worldwide.”

Additionally, Madeleine Kleiner, retired executive vice president and general counsel of Hilton Hotel Corporation, and John Veihmeyer, retired Chairman of KPMG International, have been elected by LPGA Tour Membership to join the Board as independent directors. Joining the Board as player directors are Lydia Ko, Amy Olson and Alena Sharp.

Kleiner retired in 2008 from Hilton Hotel Corporation, where she had worked as executive vice president and general counsel since 2001. Prior to her time at Hilton, Kleiner was senior executive vice president and Chief Administrative Officer for H.F. Ahmanson and Company, and was a partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, focusing on corporate law. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Yale Law School, and serves on the boards of directors of Northrop Grumman and Jack in the Box.

Veihmeyer worked for KPMG from 1977 to 2007, when he retired following a three-year term as Global Chairman. He also served as KPMG’s U.S. Chairman and CEO from 2010 to 2015. During that time, Veihmeyer was one of the driving forces in transforming the LPGA Championship into the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a partnership between KPMG, the LPGA and the PGA of America. Veihmeyer currently serves on the board of trustees for his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, and is also on the boards of Ford Motor Company, Financial Accounting Foundation and Catholic Charities of Washington, DC.

Ko is finishing her sixth year on the LPGA Tour. She has 15 wins, including two majors, and at age 15, became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history when she captured the 2012 CP Women’s Open. Ko represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she earned the silver medal.

Olson is also finishing her sixth year on the LPGA Tour. She enjoyed a celebrated collegiate career at North Dakota State University, setting the NCAA record for most career victories with 20, a mark previously held by Juli Inkster.

Sharp is finishing her 15th season on the LPGA Tour. She represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she finished 30th.

Kleiner and Veihmeyer join a slate of independent directors that also includes Gulyas; David Fay, former executive director of the USGA; Jon Iwata, retired senior vice president and Chief Brand Officer of IBM; and Tom Schoewe, retired executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer of Walmart. Ko, Olson and Sharp join fellow LPGA Tour players Kim Kaufman, Pernilla Lindberg and Kris Tamulis, as well as Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, a retired Member who has served as Player President since 2014. LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan also sits on the Board of Directors, as does Marvol Barnard, national president of the LPGA Professionals.

Retiring from the Board of Directors are Carfagna, Chairman/CEO of Magis, LLC, and former Chief Legal Officer of IMG, and Peggy Mulligan, former executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (formerly Biovail).

WINTER PARK, Fla. – Global Golf Post today announced its seventh annual All-Amateur teams for men and women.

This annual effort is intended to recognize individual performance during the past 12 months for men and women amateurs, mid-amateurs, and senior amateurs.

All told, 179 players from 26 nations are honoured. And among all those players, two stood out as The Post’s Amateurs of the Year – Standford University graduate Brandon Wu and Oregon’s senior Lara Tennant.

Five Canadians were honoured in the 2019 list:

Men’s Mid-Amateur

• Garrett Rank (Elmira, Ont.) – First team
• Joey Savoie (La Prairie, Que.) – First team

Women’s Mid-Amateur

• Andrea Kosa (Calgary, Alta.) – Second team

Women’s Senior

• Mary-Ann Hayward (St. Thomas, Ont.) – First team
• Judith Kyrinis (Thornhill, Ont.) – First team

Among the 179 players, there were four golfers to have won Canadian national championships in 2019:

• Judith Kyrinis (Thornhill, Ont.) – 2019 Canadian Women’s Mid-Am & Senior
• Gene Elliot (West Des Mointes, Ia.) – 2019 Canadian Men’s Senior | First team
• Joseph Deraney (Belden, Miss.) – 2019 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur | First team
• Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand) – 2019 World Junior Girls Championship medallist | First team

Click here for the full list.

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – It was announced today that the Canadian Golf Industry Show (CGIS) will take place the week of November 9, 2020 in Vancouver, B.C. The CGIS will feature The Canadian Golf Course Management Conference, presented by the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA); The Golf Business Canada Conference, presented by National Golf Course Owners Association Canada (NGCOA Canada) and the Tee Talks National Teaching and Coaching Conference, presented by the PGA of Canada alongside supporting partners; Golf Canada, BCGSA, NGCOA Canada BC Chapter and PGA of BC.

The event will see the individual conferences of the presenting partners coincide at the same location at the same time. The selected location for the conference events is the Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel. This location will allow each individual conference to take place under one roof. The trade show that is an integral part of each event will see exhibitors from all sectors including turf, business and the pro-shop. This approach is a great benefit to the delegates and broadens the marketing value for suppliers. The show is branded as the Canadian Golf Industry Show and will take place at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

“CGSA is very excited about this partnership. Our positions as owner/operators, superintendents and golf professionals compliment each other in our workplaces, so bringing our associations together is a natural fit. There is much to learn from each other and bringing the whole industry together is paramount in a day and age when we’re all so easily separated. We’ve been looking at this opportunity for some time, so to be able to see it come together for the betterment of golf business in Canada is exciting” said CGSA President, Greg Austin.

“The NGCOA Canada is honoured to be partnering with the Canadian Golf Superintendents Association and the PGA of Canada for the inaugural Canadian Golf Industry Show in Vancouver” said Lesley McMahon, President of NGCOA Canada. “This kind of collaboration is what the NGCOA Canada is all about and bringing together these three events under the same roof alongside a shared trade show will benefit the entire industry.”

“We’re excited to congregate in Vancouver for this ground-breaking event that will undoubtedly be a game-changer for golf in Canada. Bringing together the business leaders across the various sectors of our industry under one roof aligns perfectly with our vision of increased collaboration to continue to grow the game and business of golf in Canada” said PGA of Canada President, Mark Paterson.

Watch for additional information on the Canadian Golf Industry Show to be released in the coming months.

OAKVILLE, ONT. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the names of the 18 athletes, male and female, who have been selected to represent Team Canada as part of the 2020 National Amateur and Junior Squads.

Nine athletes will compete for Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad, consisting of five players on the men’s squad and four on the women’s squad.

Team Canada’s 2020 Squad members have competed and achieved impressive results at regional, national and international competitions, including medals at the Pan-Am Games, NCAA Tournament wins and victories at prestigious amateur competitions.

“Golf Canada is thrilled to welcome an outstanding roster of elite athletes to represent Team Canada in 2020—they are truly deserving as evidenced by their strong performances this past season,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer.

“The athletes selected represent a mix of returning team members as well as talented up and coming athletes who have come through provincial or regional high-performance programs. Each of them will be fantastic ambassadors representing Canada on the global golf stage.”

The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2020 Amateur Squad:

Men’s Amateur Squad

Étienne Papineau | St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué. – Club de golf Pinegrove

Cougar Collins | Caledon, Ont. – TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley

Sam Meek | Peterborough, Ont. – Public Player

Brendan MacDougall* | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf and Country Club

Noah Steele | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf and Country Club

Women’s Amateur Squad

Brigitte Thibault* | Rosemère, Qué. – Club de golf de Rosemère

Mary Parsons | Delta, BC – Mayfair Lakes Golf Club

Sarah-Ève Rhéaume | Québec, Qué. – Club de golf Royal Québec

Noémie Paré | Victoriaville, Qué. – Club de golf de Victoriaville

Click here to read full player bios.

The National Junior Squad—a U19 program—also features nine athletes (four women and five men).

From February through early June, the nine-member Junior Squad will practice out of Golf Canada’s National Training Centre at Bear Mountain Golf Resort in Victoria—the third year that the program has provided centralized training, accommodation and education for athletes during the second semester of their high school year. Team members will be immersed in a focused centre of excellence, surrounded by world-class technical coaching staff and experts in the areas of mental performance, physiotherapy, biomechanics and nutrition.

The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2020 Junior Squad:

Junior Boys Squad

Laurent Desmarchais* | Longueuil, Qué. – Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu

Jace Minni | Delta, BC – Beach Grove Golf Club

JP Parr | St-Célestin, Qué. – Club de golf Ki-8-eb Golf

Bennett Ruby | Waterloo, Ont. – Westmount Golf and Country Club

Malik Dao | Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Qué. – Summerlea Golf and Country Club

Junior Girls Squad

Emily Zhu* | Richmond Hill, Ont. – National Pines Golf Club

Angela Arora | Surrey, BC – Beach Grove Golf Club

Angel (Mu Chen) Lin | Surrey, BC – Morgan Creek Golf Club

Monet Chun* | Richmond Hill, Ont. – Summit Golf Club

*Denotes 2019 National Team returning members

Click here to read full player bios.

 Team Canada Coaching Staff Announced

Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 2020 Team Canada coaching staff that will support both the National Amateur and Junior Squads.

On the men’s side, Derek Ingram of Winnipeg, Man. returns as Men’s Amateur Squad Head Coach. Robert Ratcliffe of Comox, B.C. will lead the Junior Boy’s Squad.

On the women’s side, Tristan Mullally of Dundas, Ont., returns as Women’s Amateur Squad Head Coach. Matt Wilson, from Newmarket, Ont., will oversee the Junior Girls’ Squads.

Wilson, who doubles as Golf Canada’s director of next generation performance, will resume leadership of the Junior Squad centralized program at Bear Mountain, alongside Ratcliffe.

.@coreconn spent seven years with #TeamCanada before going on to win on the #PGATOUR ?? pic.twitter.com/U5HBO6YCPM

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) November 18, 2019

The Men’s and Women’s Amateur Squads will each be adding an assistant coach to support the high-performance needs of the program and athletes. Candidates will be chosen in January.

“Derek and Tristan have had tremendous success with Team Canada athletes and the evolution of our national team program will see Robert and Matt continue in their significant role of leading the centralized training program at Bear Mountain,” added Thompson. “We look forward to expanding our roster of coaches and building on the success of Team Canada to help more of our elite level golfers realize their fullest potential.”

Mullally, Ingram, Ratcliffe and Wilson are all Class “A” professionals with the PGA of Canada.

Golf Canada expects to announce the selection of the 2020 Team Canada Young Pro Squad in December.