Jocelyne’s contributions and commitment to golf have gone well beyond her outstanding athletic career to have been one of golf’s exemplary builders. Bourassa championed the development of women’s golf

Jocelyne is a role model and mentor to women golfers across Canada and has served as a senior consultant with Golf Quebec helping to champion Golf Canada’s Golf in Schools program. Golf Canada also created the Jocelyne Bourassa Player of the the Year Award, in recognition of her tremendous contribution to the game of golf, that is given annually to the Canadian Women’s Tour player who is the top finisher on the Tour’s Order of Merit. Jocelyne became a Member of the Order of Canada in 1973.

If you’re reading this, you’re a golfer. If you’re a golfer, you have a story. More than just one, no doubt.

Sharing those stories with friends and family is one thing. But why not share your story with the world? Thanks to a new web site, www.GolfCanadaGolf.ca, you can do just that.

“Among golfers, there’s always a story—memorable shots, a round with family, playing your favourite course, a golf trip with friends, witnessing first-hand the incredible skills of PGA TOUR or LPGA Tour players, or using the game to overcome personal adversity,” says Golf Canada Golf spokesman Gavin Roth. “The Golf Canada Golf campaign invites Canadians to share their own experiences as well as read or watch other compelling stories to remind us what makes the game great.”

Many of your fellow golfers have taken advantage of the opportunity, including some well-known names like former National Hockey League star Wendel Clark. In his video on the site, Clark reminisces about how his grandfather in Kelvington, Sask., got him into the game. Despite the lack of left-handed clubs at the time (he started out with a two-way putter!), Clark fell in love with golf. After retiring from professional hockey, he devoted more time to the game, even headlining a major charity pro-am. Now, he has passed on his passion to his son.

Prior to her breakthrough LPGA victory, Brooke Henderson, the 17-year-old phenom from Smiths Falls, Ont., shared her story on GolfCanadaGolf.ca, as have fellow Canadian pros Alena Sharp and Andrew Jensen.

Roth, who is Golf Canada’s chief commercial officer, recounts a poignant personal moment. In “A Dream Pursued is a Dream Fulfilled,” Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons pays tribute to his best friend, the late Rick Sovereign.

But GolfCanadaGolf.ca is not just a celebrity showcase. Not by a long shot.

As a matter of fact, once you visit the site, you become engrossed in how deeply golf affects those who play it, on and off the course. The titles of the video and written vignettes draw you in. “Golf Really Did Save My Life,” for example. How about the youngster who talks about picking up his first club in Grade 3 or the viral video of a two-year-old’s impressive swing? “Granny’s Got a Game” recounts how a grandmother made good on her promise to take up golf and beat her grandchildren!

Bad shots. Holes in one. Hijinks. All part of the fabric of golf written by people who love the game. GolfCanadaGolf.ca is golf’s equivalent of a family heirloom patchwork quilt, preserving memories.

Some stories are humourous, some are inspirational. Some are essays, some are tidbits. All are heartfelt and well worth sharing.

Bobby Jones once said, “Golf is the closest game to the game we call life.”

The stories shared on GolfCanadaGolf.ca prove beyond the shadow of a doubt the truth of that statement.

Why not share your story now?

(GolfCanadaGolf.ca also features a social media hub that curates stories using the hashtag #golfcanadagolf as well as resources for golfers looking to find a course, connect with a PGA of Canada professional or learn more about junior golf programs in their community.)

To read John Gordon’s story, The Man Who Started It All, click here.

New Taipei City, Taiwan – Eun-Hee Ji shot 6-under 66 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead over China’s Xi Yu Lin at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship.

The 29-year from South Korea birdied four of her last five holes in windy conditions and holds the lead after
18 holes for the first time since the 2013 Mobile Bay LPGA Classic. Ji, a former U.S. Women’s Open champ, said she used the wind to her advantage.

“Actually, I didn’t fight with the wind,” said Ji. “I just using the wind a lot. My ball flight wasn’t too lower today. I just see my ball line and I just look at my shot, my image was really good.”

Ji has two career LPGA Tour victories and will try to break back into the winner’s circle for the first time since her major breakthrough in 2009. Her season-best finish and only top-10 of the year came at the Evian Championship where she tied for eighth. Ji had two chip ins and only 23 putts in her round today.

“It’s getting better from the beginning of the season to the last of the season,” said Ji. “I just working on my short game last week and the week before, because my chipping wasn’t feeling good. So I was working a lot this week and I just chipped in twice today and I think I worked on a lot of right things.”

A group of four players sit two shots back and in a tie for third including Morgan Pressel, Sandra Gal, Charley Hull and Sun Young Yoo. Rolex Rankings No. 2 Lydia Ko (T7) is three shots back and tied with seven others at 3-under par.

Five-time major champion Yani Tseng and TLPGA member Meng Chu Chen were the top Taiwanese performers on day one and sit six shots back after rounds of even-par 72.

Canada’s Alena Sharp shot a 4-over 76 and tied for 67th.

THACKERVILLE, Okla. – Tim Burke won the World Long Drive Championship for the second time in three years Wednesday night, beating Jeremy Easterly in the final with a 394-yard drive.

The 6-foot-6 Burke, a former University of Miami pitcher from Orlando, Florida, earned $150,000 in the event at WinStar World Casino.

Easterly, from Ponte Vedra, Florida, had a 386-yard drive in the final.

Burke beat Justin Young of Mount Airy, North Carolina, 401-386 in the quarterfinals, and topped Will Hogue of Collierville, Tennessee, 403-390 in the semifinals.

Easterly beat two-time champion Jamie Sadlowski of St. Paul, Alberta, in the semifinals with a 380-yard drive. Sadlowski failed to get a drive in the grid in the match after winning his quarterfinal at 402.

Vancouver – The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s season-opening event will return to Vancouver in 2016 and will continue through 2020 with a new name and under new management. The Freedom 55 Financial Open will take place at Point Grey Golf & Country Club from May 23 to 29, 2016.

The announcement sees Freedom 55 Financial – which is also the title sponsor of the season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship as well as Canadian Player of the Year and Canadian Player of the Week awards – expand its support of the Mackenzie Tour and Canadian golf with agreements through 2020.

Linx Marketing, which operates the ATB Financial Classic and Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON, will serve as the host organization for the event. David Lee-Fay, a partner at Linx Marketing, will serve as tournament director.

“We’re thrilled to be working on another venture with Freedom 55 Financial, which has been an outstanding partner since the launch of the Freedom 55 Financial Championship in 2013,” said Jeff Monday, Mackenzie Tour President.

“We’re excited to be kicking off the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada in Vancouver as we continue to support young Canadian athletes as they pursue their aspirations,” said Mike Cunneen, Senior Vice-President, Freedom 55 Financial. “It’s also a nice complement to our season-ending Freedom 55 Financial Championship in London, Ontario,” added Cunneen.

“We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, and to helping create a summer of exciting golf with Linx Marketing.”

The Vancouver area is home to PGA TOUR players and Mackenzie Tour graduates Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, along with current Mackenzie Tour players Adam Svensson, Kevin Spooner, Brad Clapp, Ryan Williams, Seann Harlingten, Thomas Hay, Adam Cornelson, James Allenby and Eugene Wong.

The 2016 Mackenzie Tour schedule will be announced at a later date.

HONG KONG – Andrea Pavan of Italy made four birdies on his last six holes to take a share of the lead after the first round of the Hong Kong Open with a 6-under 64.

Pavan was tied with Lu Wei-chih of Taiwan, a stroke ahead of a trio that included Justin Rose of England. Rose made four birdies on the back nine in a bogey-free round at the Fanling Course and was tied with Taiwanese player Pan Cheng-tseung and Jeev Milka Singh of India.

Graeme McDowell was in a group of six players another shot back at the joint European Tour and Asian Tour event.

MEXICO CITY – Tiger Woods has not started rehabilitation for a second back surgery he had a month ago, and he said Tuesday he would face another “tedious and long” process that suggests it might be awhile before he competes again.

Woods last played at the Wyndham Champion on Aug. 23, where he tied for 10th for his best finish at a PGA Tour event in nearly two years.

In a surprise announcement Sept. 18, he said he had a second back surgery after doctors during a routine check discovered a fragmented disc pinching a nerve. Woods had his first surgery just before the 2014 Masters and missed nearly three months. He said later he came back too early.

“Rehab will be soon, and it will be tedious and long,” Woods said at the Bridgestone America’s Golf Cup, an exhibition he was supposed to play with Matt Kuchar until the second surgery. “The last one, it took me awhile to get back. Some players on tour have done the same procedure and to be back pain-free it took them over a year.”

Woods hasn’t won since the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational for his 79th career win on the PGA Tour, just three short of the record held by Sam Snead.

For most of his career, the record with which he was compared was Jack Nicklaus and his 18 professional majors. Woods won his 14th major at the 2008 U.S. Open, and had reconstructive surgery on his left knee a week later.

Woods turn 40 in December. Nicklaus won only three of his 18 majors after he turned 40.

Woods, who dropped to No. 334 in the world ranking this week, has not given up on catching Nicklaus. He just figures he will have to play like Vijay Singh, who won 22 times (but only one major) in his 40s.

“It’s important for me to have more than 18 majors when all is said and done,” Woods said. “It took Jack his whole career to achieve it and mine is not done yet. I believe that I have a very good record for 20 years on the tour. The main thing is to get fit and to reach my 40s with good health to be as successful as Vijay, who won most of his tournaments at that age.

“It’s something that I hope I will be able to do,” he said. “I want to play at an elite level with the new kids for a long, long time.”

What might help this time around is that Woods said he won’t be changing his swing. After returning too early in 2014 from back surgery, he took off the final three months to get stronger and left his swing coach, hiring Chris Como as a consultant.

Woods doesn’t think he’s that far off from 2013, when he won five times and was PGA Tour player of the year.

“But to achieve it, I need to be healthy again,” he said. “This year I tried to play after the back surgery and it wasn’t fun because all of the pain. Also after my last surgery, I was changing my swing and to be able to do that successfully you have to practice a lot, and I could not practice because I was doing the rehab.

“It was a very complicated situation because of that.”

There was no timetable on when he would start rehabilitation or when he would return. Woods typically doesn’t start a new year until the Farmers Insurance Open, which starts the last week of January. That appeared doubtful.

The Masters, which he missed in 2014 for the first time, is April 7-10.

“I need to return with my explosiveness, and to do that, I need to practice for longer periods of time,” he said. “It’s going to take several months of hard work”.

HONG KONG – With no time to spare, Ian Poulter was rushing from Florida to Hong Kong on Tuesday to keep his European Tour membership, and to save his chances of being eligible to play in the Ryder Cup next year.

And he owes it all former PGA champion Rich Beem, who gave up his spot in the Hong Kong Open.

Poulter was planning to play in the HSBC Champions in two weeks in Shanghai, part of a schedule that would allow him to reach the minimum 13 tournaments required to keep his European Tour membership.

But with Andy Sullivan winning the Portugal Masters and Emiliano Grillo winning the Frys.com Open, they moved into the top 50 and bumped out Poulter, who had to be in the top 50 this week to be eligible for the HSBC Champions. It was too late to enter the Hong Kong Open, and all the invitations had been taken.

That’s where Beem stepped in.

The European Tour said it approached Beem about the situation, and Beem agreed to let Poulter have his spot in the field.

Poulter thanked Beem on Twitter for giving up his invitation. “Where would you like to take you for dinner?” he tweeted.

This might have been more valuable than that. European Tour membership is required to play in the Ryder Cup, even the captain’s picks. Poulter has a 12-4-2 record in the Ryder Cup, and he was largely responsible for Europe’s record-tying comeback to win in Medinah in 2012.

Getting the spot in Hong Kong was only part of the drama. Poulter needed a visa, and that was only returned to him about two hours before he boarded a flight from Orlando to New York to make the connection to Hong Kong.

“A mad 24 hours,” Poulter said on Instagram. “Never dull in the Poulter saga.”

Poulter was due to arrive in Hong Kong on Wednesday afternoon, meaning he will not see the golf course until it begins on Thursday. He is a past champion of the event, and in this situation, simply starting the tournament is more important than his performance. He said he would hire a local caddie for the week.

Poulter monitors the world ranking as close as any player and did not see a scenario where he would drop five spots to No. 51.

“You could say poor play and poor planning,” he said on Instagram. “But thanks to Rich for giving me his spot.”

Beem, who also works as an analyst for Sky Sports, planned to join the European Tour Productions commentary team for the Hong Kong Open.

Thackerville, OK – Long Drivers of America, the organizing body of the World Long Drive Championship, crowned its second champion at this year’s final on Thursday, Oct. 15.

Long Drivers of America Hall of Fame member and five-time open division champion Jason “GolfZilla” Zuback from Calgary,  dominated a world-class field in his rookie debut in the senior division.

Zuback the winningest player in long drive history dominated the sport from 1996-2006 capturing 5 world championships and making nine finals.

Battling a 20 mph headwind on an unseasonably hot day in Thackerville, Oklahoma, Zuback never lost a round and hit the longest ball of the day at 352 yards on his road to the title beating a star-studded field in the match-play finale.

Jason started the competition off strong in the morning breezing through his initial two rounds of competition with drives of 338 yards and 352 yards.  In the pivotal round 5, Zuback blasted one 336 beating his closest competitor by 12 yards easily making him the #1 seed in the Match Play brackets.

In the Semi-Finals, he faced long-time friend and fellow LDA Hall of Famer, Brian Pavlet.  Just months removed from full hip replacement surgery, Pavlet took the long road to match-play through the losers bracket but fell to Zuback for his second straight semi-final finish.

With the win, Zuback pocketed $12,000 (U.S) and adds another world championship to his resume.

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – The British Open is heading across the Irish Sea for the first time in nearly 70 years, with Royal Portrush announced Tuesday as the 2019 venue for golf’s oldest major championship.

Royal Portrush staged the British Open in 1951, when Max Faulkner of England lifted the claret jug. That is the only time the event has been held outside England or Scotland.

The push to bring the Open back to Northern Ireland gained momentum after three players from country – Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy – won majors since 2010. McIlroy is now a four-time major champion and one of the world’s best players.

The R&A said last year that Royal Portrush was returning to the Open rotation, but didn’t give a year and said there would be logistical challenges to get the venue in shape.

The Dunluce course has been given the first available slot on the calendar.

“Royal Portrush is one of my favorite golf courses in the world,” said McIlroy, the British Open champion in 2014. “I think it will be a fantastic Open venue.”

The R&A said it is expected to be the biggest sporting event ever held in Northern Ireland, and Northern Irish lawmakers predicted an economic boost of 70 million pounds ($108 million).

Royal Portrush held an extremely successful Irish Open in 2012, attracting some 130,000 fans for the week. It has also held the Senior British Open six times.

Work to create two new holes – Nos. 7 and 8 – on the Dunluce Links is underway, using land from the adjacent Valley Course to develop a new par-5 hole. Those new holes will replace the current 17th and 18th holes, freeing up land to be used to accommodate the spectator village and other infrastructure.

The length of the course will increase by just less than 200 yards to 7,337 yards, and the number of bunkers will be increased by three to 62. That still leaves Royal Portrush with the fewest bunkers of any of the courses on the British Open rotation.

“We are delighted with the progress being made on the course preparations and they will undoubtedly enhance the challenge presented by these historic links,” said Peter Unsworth, chairman of the R&A’s championship committee.