BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Rob Couture edged into the lead at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after a third round 3-under 69 at Barrie Country Club.

Couture, of Dallas, opened a three-stroke lead at the turn after a front-nine 4-under 32, but carded two bogeys on his closing stretch to finish a stroke ahead of Team Canada’s Garrett Rank at 5-under 211.

“I feel like obviously I can get it done and it’s one thing to hope you can get it done and think you can get it done but I know I can,” said Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion. “I don’t think there’s any concern with Garrett either, he’s won plenty of tournaments and he knows that he can do it too so I’m just going to go and try to play a really good round of golf, add it up at the end and see what happens.”

Playing alongside Couture, Rank of Elmira, Ont. cut into the lead with a back nine 2-under 34.  His third round 3-under 69 leaves him in striking distance of a spot into next year’s RBC Canadian Open and a second national championship title — Rank captured the Canadian University/College Championship Individual title in 2012.

“I finished well, I made three birdies in the last six holes so that was good because I think at one point he [Couture] had stretched out to five or six ahead of me,” Rank said. “I like being one back better than two back but I can’t really worry about what he’s doing. I just have to go out there tomorrow, control what I can control, stick to my game plan and continue to play some pretty good golf.”

Windsor, Ont.’s Michael Rutgers will join the final pairing on Friday after carding even-par 72. Rutgers sits in solo third at 1-under 215 for the championship, while Darren Shaw of Stoney Creek, Ont. is in fourth at even-par 216.

Shaw, the overnight leader, struggled in the third round with a 3-over 75, but remains ahead in the Mid-Master competition by three strokes over Calgary’s Kevin Temple.

The champion of the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.

NEWPORT, Wales – Joost Luiten birdied seven of his last 10 holes to grab a one-shot lead in the first round of the Wales Open at Celtic Manor on Thursday.

Luiten parred his opening eight holes before storming up the leaderboard with a 6-under-par 65 on the Twenty-Ten course.

Of Europe’s four Ryder Cup players in the field, Jamie Donaldson shot a quiet 1-under 70, Thomas Bjorn birdied the 18th to finish on par, Lee Westwood, who hasn’t played in a month, bogeyed his last two holes to card a 2-over 73, and Stephen Gallacher failed to manage a birdie in a 7-over 78.

“I haven’t played in three weeks, so there’s a fair bit of rust in my game, but then I am thinking more about next week than this week,” Gallacher said.

Luiten needed just 28 putts to match a similar score he shot on the opening day of last week’s KLM Open, where the Dutchman eventually finished in a tie for fifth.

“A 6-under-par start is always very good,” he said. “I holed some good putts and, looking back, I only missed one green all day, and had one bogey, and that was on 17.”

One shot behind and tied for second with Andrew McArthur of Scotland was former Ryder Cup star Nicolas Colsaerts, who hit the longest recorded European Tour drive.

The Belgium-born Colsaerts, who played in the 2012 Ryder Cup, hit his tee shot 447 yards at the 575-yard, par-five 18th hole. That left him with a wedge to the green, and he walked off with an eagle three.

“The hole was playing downwind and I managed to get a good bounce. I thought it was too far right but there is a bit of a speed trap down the right side of the fairway, and it must just have luged it down there,” he said.

Another stroke back at 4 under in a share of fourth place, were South Africa’s Justin Walters and Englishmen Robert Rock and Sam Walker.

DEAL, N.J. – Joan Higgins of Glendora, Calif. defeated Judith Kyrinis of Thornhill, Ont. 1 up, in the final match Thursday to win the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, held at the 6,109-yard, par-73 Hollywood Golf Club.

Higgins, 58, became the third player to win both the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, a championship she captured in 2008. She joins World Golf Hall of Famer Carol Semple Thompson, who won four Senior Women’s Amateurs and two Women’s Mid-Amateurs, and Ellen Port, who captured the 2012 and 2013 Senior Women’s Amateur and four Women’s Mid-Amateurs.

Higgins did not miss one fairway off the tee in the 18-hole final. She also came from behind on the inward nine against Kyrinis, just like she did in her quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

Kyrinis, 50, took the lead on No. 13 with a two-putt par after Higgins was unable to get up and down from the left greenside bunker. Higgins, who played collegiate tennis at the University of Wisconsin in the 1970s, split the middle of the fairway with her tee shot but came to rest in a grassy depression that left her with an awkward lie.

Higgins, who is not ranked in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, squared the match on No. 14 with a par. Her approach shot hit the flagstick and caromed 19 feet past the hole. Meanwhile, Kyrinis found the left rough off the tee and sent her second shot over the green, leading to a bogey.

The key hole turned out to be the par-5 16th. Both players were in perfect position in front of the green after laying up short with their second shots. Higgins struck her third shot to within 16 feet, but Kyrinis got under the ball with her approach and was well short of the putting surface. She eventually misfired on a 5-½ foot putt in an attempt to halve the hole.

“There are lots of different times during the match to think where I could have taken advantage that I didn’t,” said Kyrinis, a registered nurse in Toronto who was playing in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. “To move all over that little pitch shot was not very good.”

After each player bogeyed the par-3 17th after missing the green with their tee shots, Higgins closed out the match with a hard-working par on the finishing hole. She hit a 155-yard rescue club to the right fringe, while Kyrinis’ approach shot rolled through the putting surface and over the green. Higgins later converted an 8-foot putt.

Kyrinis, who defeated two past Senior Women’s Amateur champions in Mina Hardin (2010) and Terri Frohnmayer (2011) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, made a 10-foot bogey putt on No. 7 and a 3½-foot par putt on No. 8 to halve both holes and keep the match all square. She took the lead just before the turn on the par-4 ninth when she two-putted over a ridge and down a slope from 30 feet.

“The greens were pretty slick,” said Kyrinis, who reached the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur semifinals in 2000 and is No. 2,005 in the WAGR. “The pins were like every Sunday position I think they had out there. [I] felt like I was playing prevent defense.”

Higgins, who never got past the quarterfinals in seven previous U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur appearances and took out the No. 3 seed (Kyrinis), the No. 4 seed (Andrea Kraus) and the Canadian Women’s Senior Amateur champion (Helene Chartrand) on her way to the title.

Kyrinis, who held a 1-up lead on three occasions on the outward nine, was attempting to become the third Canadian to win this championship, joining Marlene Stewart Streit, a three-time champion, and Gayle Borthwick, a two-time winner.

All quarterfinalists are exempt from qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, to be played Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, for players 50 years and older, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

JUPITER, Fla. – The next swing coach for Tiger Woods might be Tiger Woods.

Woods posted a blog on his website Thursday saying there was no “hard-and-set” rule on finding a new swing coach.

He parted way with Sean Foley last month after two years. Woods only completed 25 rounds this year because of a back injury that required surgery. He is not playing until the Hero World Challenge in December. He says he needs to get healthy before he figures out where to go with his game.

He says, “I’m hoping to swing a club later this month or early next, but we’ll see how it goes. I got my strength back and need to get my explosiveness back before I start.”

Woods also stated that he has bounced some ideas off Notah Begay, a former teammate at Stanford and a longtime friend. He says they have discussed what direction Woods should go with his game.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews is no longer just for men.

The R&A became the latest golf club to end years of male-only exclusivity on Thursday when its members voted overwhelmingly in favor of inviting women. The vote was effective immediately.

“I can confirm that The Royal & Ancient Golf of St. Andrews is now a mixed membership club,” R&A secretary Peter Dawson said in a statement.

Dawson said more than three-quarters of the club’s 2,500 members worldwide voted, with 85 percent in favor. It was the first time in the R&A’s 260-year history that members were allowed to vote by proxy at the annual business meeting.

The members also voted to fast-track a “significant” number of women to join in the next few months. The R&A did not say how many women would be invited, though previous reports indicated it could be as many as 15.

“This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club,” Dawson said. “The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men.”

Augusta National, home of the Masters, decided two years ago to invite women to join. Unlike the R&A, Augusta National did not have a written policy that banned women. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore were the first female members.

While the R&A members have access to the clubhouse behind the first tee at the Old Course, they belong to a club, not a golf course. The seven golf courses at St. Andrews are open to the public.

The favorable vote was hailed from golf organizations, public officials and sponsors around the world.

“This is positive news for the sport, and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same-sex policies follow suit,” said Helen Grant, Britain’s minister for sport. “With golf in the next Olympics there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone.”

The Royal & Ancient governs golf everywhere in the world except for the United States and Mexico. It is separate from “The R&A,” a business arm created 10 years ago to handle the Rules of Golf, organize the British Open and operate other business affairs. But while the R&A has female employees, the committees and board are populated by club members, so there had been no women in leadership roles governing the game or running championships.

The R&A was coming under increasing pressure when The Open was held at all-male clubs, most recently Muirfield in 2013. Even some of its sponsors were getting uncomfortable with the centuries-old policies barring women.

“As a partner of the R&A and a long term international sponsor of golf, we welcome this news with open arms,” said Giles Morgan, HSBC’s global head of sponsorship and events. “HSBC is committed to growing the game at all levels and fundamental to this is our commitment to the value of diversity and our support of women’s golf, which is a cornerstone of our global golf portfolio.

“We look forward to continuing this successful partnership at St Andrews in 2015 for what promises to be the start of a new era.”

The Women’s British Open has been played at St. Andrews twice since 2007, and they were allowed in the clubhouse during the championship.

“The LPGA is happy to hear that the members of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews have voted to include female members,” the LPGA Tour said in a statement. “This decision is certainly a step in the right direction and one that better captures the current diversity and inclusiveness of our great game.”

Here’s the full statement from Dawson.

I am very pleased indeed to announce that the membership of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has voted overwhelmingly in favour of welcoming women members.

More than three quarters of the club’s global membership took part in the ballot, with a decisive 85% voting for women to become members.

This vote has immediate effect and I can confirm that The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is now a mixed membership club.

The membership has also acted to fast-track a significant initial number of women to become members in the coming months.

This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men.

EDMONTON – Camrose, Alta.’s Jayla Kucy is headed to next year’s Masters Tournament in Augusta, GA.

Kucy, 8, punched her ticket to Augusta National after earning a spot in the Drive, Chip and Putt finale which takes place the weekend prior to tournament week.

Close to 5,000 girls in 250 sites across the U.S. will compete in Kucy’s under-10 competition — 50,000 overall in all the divisions for boys and girls ages seven to 15 – after the qualifying procedure is complete for this year’s event.

Kucy won local qualifying (Dupont, Wash.), a sub-regional event (Lacey, Wash.), and then a final elimination (Park City, Utah.) to become one of just 10 girls who will compete for her division title at the 2015 Masters.

Click here to read more on Kucy from Edmonton Journal’s Curtis Stock.

DID YOU KNOW? Canada has it’s own version of Drive, Chip and Putt. Click here to learn more about the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge.

DEAL, N.J. – Joan Higgins and Canada’s Judith Kyrinis have advanced to the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur final, winning two matches Wednesday at Hollywood Golf Club.

The 58-year-old Higgins, a former University of Wisconsin tennis player who lives in Glendora, California, beat the reigning Canadian Women’s Senior champion Helene Chartrand 1 up in the morning quarterfinals, and then went in to top Kareen Markle of Meridian, Idaho, 2 and 1 in the semifinals.

“I need to play pretty well, because I know in the final I am playing someone who has played five great rounds, too,” said Higgins, the 2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion. “Hopefully, tomorrow I can start playing the same way I ended today.”

The 50-year-old Kyrinis, a registered nurse in Toronto and member of Thornhill Golf & Country Club, had two 3-and-2 victories over past champions. She beat 2010 winner Mina Hardin of Mexico in the quarterfinals and 2011 winner Terri Frohnmayer of Salem, Oregon, in the semifinals.

“It’s awesome,” Kyrinis said. “It’s been awhile for me to get back here and play some good golf.”

Attempting to become the first Canadian winner since Marlene Stewart Streit in 2003, Kyrinis was a semifinalist in the 2000 Mid-Amateur.

“I didn’t want to go out in the semifinals again because nobody remembers that,” Kyrinis said.

In the other quarterfinals, Markle routed Susan West of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 7 and 6, and Frohnmayer edged Kim Eaton of Tempe, Arizona, 2 and 1.

BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Darren Shaw’s 5-under 67 lifted him into the top spot on the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur leaderboard after the second round at Barrie Country Club.

The Stoney Creek, Ont. native carded six birdies on Wednesday and closed with a 3-under 33. His back-nine was highlighted by an incredible greenside up-and-down on the par-5 9th hole for birdie and the outright lead.

“It feels good, honestly I played better golf yesterday and couldn’t make a putt,” Shaw said. “I changed putters today and I made some putts, I switched to this one and it seemed to work.”

At 3-under 141 for the championship, Shaw currently leads by a stroke over of Rob Couture of Dallas, Texas. He also sits four strokes ahead of Calgary’s Kevin Temple and Dwight Reinhart of Renfrew, Ont. in the Mid-Master (40+) title race.

Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion, carded an even-par 72 and sits in solo second in the overall competition, one-stroke ahead of Team Canada’s Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont. and Michael Rutgers of Windsor, Ont. Rank and Rutgers both finished runner-up at last year’s championship in Edmonton.

“I struggled early, I really didn’t play well until probably the last 13 or 14 holes,” Couture said. “I was a couple over early and I just didn’t hit very good shots for whatever reason, but I hit it well the last 10 or 12 holes and got it back to even.”

In the Inter-Provincial team competition, the Team British Columbia contingent of Victoria’s Kevin Carrigan, Vancouver’s Patrick Weeks and Sandy Harper of Nanaimo held onto their opening round lead to win the overall title by four strokes over Team Alberta. The trio finished at 1-over 289 for the 36-hole championship.

The champion of the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.

LONDON, Ont.— Standing on the 18th green on Sunday at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club, golfer Ryan Williams walked towards me with a shocked look on his face.

“Did I win?” he asked quietly.

“You sure did,” I said, not trying to conceal my excitement.

“Man, you were a big part of this,” he said.

Williams, a 33-year-old golfer and former hockey player from Vancouver, had just won PGA Tour Canada’s Tour Championship presented by Freedom 55 Financial, becoming the tour’s top Canadian in the process. In doing so he took home $27,000 for the win, $10,000 for being top Canadian, another $1,500 for being Canadian of the week (both also presented by Freedom 55 Financial), and I’m sure more for various incentives through sponsors.

But that’s not why Williams was so stunned. He’s been chasing a dream of playing on the PGA Tour for seven years. And with the win, he was one massive step closer to pulling it off. Though the win didn’t automatically get him onto the tour, it does get him into final stage of Web.com Tour qualifying school. From there he’s one good season away from the world of courtesy cars and network television coverage.

I had the chance to witness it up close. As a journalist, I’ve spent most of my life observing, watching others and trying to put some context on their actions in a way that’s clear for my readers. But in the case of Williams, I became part of the story. I’ve known Williams for a couple of years, ever since meeting him at a tournament in Scarborough. We’ve kept in touch, and last year at the same tournament he stayed with my family in a spare bedroom. Playing tour golf in Canada isn’t cheap, and players will take any break they can. This year I asked if he wanted to stay again and if he needed a caddie. He accepted on both counts.

That meant on Wednesday morning I was out on the fairways for a practice round, with Williams’ bag over my shoulder, a damp, stinky and often muddy towel in my pocket, helping out with yardages and putts, keeping the clubs clean and suggesting which way the wind was blowing. There’s an old adage that a caddie at a professional tournament need only do three things: show up, keep up and shut up.

That’s not how Williams sees it. He asked my opinion, consulted me on reading the way putts would snap, and asked my perspective on which club he should hit. In time it felt like we were a team, though admittedly I didn’t have to smash a drive or the result would have been very different. But we became a team nonetheless.

Interestingly, Williams spent much of the summer traveling with another west coast golfer, Adam Cornelson, and the 26-year-old also stayed at my house. Cornelson had a mixed year that he turned around with solid play in the final weeks of the season.

Last week would turn out to be one the friends will surely never forget. Williams and Cornelson battled back and forth through the opening rounds (playing together on Friday with my neighbor caddying for Cornelson), and on the final round Sunday found themselves only a couple of shots out of the lead and playing in the two final groups.

I’ve caddied in pro tournaments before; for a golf writer I thought it was something that gave you insights into the soul of the game. My friend Lorne Rubenstein did it early in his career, and I guess there’s a romance about grabbing a bag and watching the action up close. I’ve watched PGA Tour star Gary Woodland smash balls into the distance while carrying his heavy tour bag and witnessed Jim Furyk dissect a course during a pro-am while helping an exec pick clubs. I’ve also watched the struggles. Last year at the Tour Championship I saw my player, Mike Mezei, give it one last try, recognizing his professional golf career was near the end.

That’s the thing. Spend a week carrying a pro’s bag and you become emotionally connected to the player. You falter when a putt slides by, and you are elated with a shot that rockets to the flag and falls gently like a bird with sore feet.

By the final nine on the final round, it looked like it was slipping away. Williams had played steadily, but hadn’t made any putts. The leader, a big-hitting bow hunter from Minnesota named Clayton Rask who traveled in his own RV, was pulling away.

To his credit, Williams never let it get to him. He was convinced he’d pull it off. He was never cocky—that’s not his style—but seemed sure good things would happen.

“RT, we’re going to go five deep on the back,” he said, suggesting in golf speak that he’d make five birdies. “That’ll get it done.”

It didn’t take long for me to think he wouldn’t reach his goal. On the 10th hole his drive plugged in muddy rough just off the fairway. I assured Ryan his drive was embedded, meaning he’d receive relief and move the ball. The rules official disagreed, and Williams never argued. That meant Williams had to smash at a ball submerged in mud, and the result lurched forward before diving into long grass. When his pitch into the green came up short I was convinced his time his chances were dashed, that he’d make bogey and the leader, Rask, would win the tournament.

If Williams was deflated he never showed it, instead willing a long putt into the hole. That righted the ship and he went on to play one of the best back nines of his career, dumping in a final birdie on 17 to tie with Rask and Cornelson, who was finishing a hole ahead.

The situation was so tension-filled that I’m surprised Williams could pull back his driver on the final hole, a 450-yard par four. A few hundred spectators milled around, watching the action. Williams hammered another drive down the right side of the fairway, match almost to the yard by Rask’s strike.

That’s when Rask made an unusual error, electing to fire at a pin on the left side of the green. His ball soared and dove to the left, ending up just long of the green. This was an opportunity.

“This is a perfect 7-iron,” Williams announced. “What do you think for a line? At the guy in the red shirt?”

There’s a point where the caddie is simply there to reinforce what the player already knows. Williams recognized it was the perfect club and the right line, and wanted to be reassured given the pressure.

“That’s it, R-dub,” I said confidently, using William’s nickname. “Hit it smooth.”

He did, and the ball flew to the middle of the green, leaving a simple uphill putt. As I walked to the green I looked at the scoreboard. Cornelson, Williams’ friend, had made bogey, dropping out of the lead (and ultimately finishing in a tie for second). When Rask stubbed his chip and then ran his par putt well by the hole, Williams needed two putts to win. As he’d done throughout the tournament, he consulted his caddie. We agreed on the line, and the putt rolled just by. He quietly made the comebacker and walked over to shake my hand.

In the hours that followed he’d talk about how “we” had won. How “we” hit a great chip on the par four 13^th that found the bottom of the cup for birdie and how “we” decided to hit a nine iron into 17. Of course the “we” is overstating things. I didn’t do anything, even if Williams always insisted I had.

“This was the biggest week of my life,” he told me before he got in his car to head to the airport for his flight back to Vancouver.

“You were big part of it,” he told me again.

A big part is an overstatement. I was part of his win, but I never hit a shot or had to deal with a putt that lipped out. I felt pressure, but it wasn’t the pressure to perform.

Still, I contributed where I could and had the opportunity to feel the nervous tension that pounds down on you when all you need is one more great shot. It may never happen for me again—I think I’m a better journalist than caddie, frankly—but if that was my only opportunity, I’m glad I took it.

Victory, it turns out, is sweet, even for the caddie with the muddy towel.

Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. unveiled the newest addition to their world famous teaching academy today… Canada, meet RoboGolfPro.

Canada’s first robotic swing trainer launches today at Glen Abbey. @RoboGolfPro #clublink pic.twitter.com/FNhJPSgTza

— Glen Abbey Golf Club (@GlenAbbeyGC) September 17, 2014

Glen Abbey Golf Academy is the first home for the RoboGolfPro in Canada. Lori Heller of Heller Productions is one of the partners behind bringing the RoboGolfPro to Canada. She is looking  to partner with more golf courses across the country in hopes of making it more widely available. Clubs or individuals interested in purchasing a unit can click here for more information.

Heller’s partner is golf instructor Scott Nei, who helped develop the original RoboGolfPro. Nei, who owns a large golf teaching group called Tour Bound Golf Academy, came across the original inventor at a PGA Merchandise show and used his expertise to develop it into a highly effective golf training tool that teaches people how a proper swing really feels. Because the machine relies on the use of muscle memory, you can see immediate improvements in your golf swing.

Heller arranged to have the 840 pound robot placed in a building she had constructed at Glen Abbey Golf Club. Now, club members and the public can book lessons on the RoboGolfPro all year long. Lessons cost roughly $200/hour for ClubLink members, $250 for non-members.

Glen Abbey Golf Club is home to the Academies of ClubLink, Golf Canada, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, as well as the TaylorMade Performance Lab.  Glen Abbey Golf Club will also host the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.

Click here to see the Robo Golf Pro in action.

Top 10 aces of the 2013-14 PGA Tour season