Statistics courtesy of the USGA

Fast facts

Nicole Vandermade, a Team Canada alumnus, won her first professional event. The Brantford, Ont., native won the Symetra Tour’s Four Winds Invitational by a one-stroke margin.
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Garrett Rank, a Men’s National Team member from Elmira, Ont., shot 64-65 on Monday to win a U.S. Public Links Qualifier. A week earlier, the 26-year-old played in the Men’s Northeast Amateur, finishing T20 at 2-over par in the highly competitive event.
Notheast Amateur Leaderboard

Men’s National Team members Adam Svensson (Surrey B.C.) and Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) teed-it-up last week at The Syncrude Boreal Open presented by AECON – a PGA Tour Canada event. They finished T25 and T42, respectively.
Leaderboard

Four of Team Canada’s Development Squad boys are taking on the world’s best amateurs this week at the Toyota Junior World Golf Championship.
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After winning the Low Amateur honours at the U.S. Women’s Open, Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson drove 11 hours to Niagara to play in the Canadian Women’s Tour Ontario event this week.
Leaderboard

Four members of the National Women’s Amateur Team are playing in the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship this week at the Royal St. Georges Golf Club.
Leaderboard

Former Men’s National Team member, Eugene Wong (North Vancouver, B.C.), currently sits 5^th on the PGA Tour Canada money list. At the end of the year, the top 5 earn their Web.com tour cards.
Money List

LANCASTER, Pa. – Five Canadians defeated their opponents on Wednesday to advance to the second round of match play at the Women’s Western National Amateur Championship at Lancaster Country Club.

Among the Canadians to advance were three Team Canada Development Squad members – Naomi Ko of Victoria, Sabrine Garrison of Calgary and Taylor Kim of Surrey, B.C.

Ko, 16, defeated Aurora Kan of Boothwyn, Pa. in 19 holes.

Kim, a sophomore at Kent State University, overcame American Lindsay McGetrick of Spartanburg, S.C., 6&4.

Garrison, who is committed to the University of Minnesota, took down Jennifer Elsholz of Grand Rapids, Mich., 4&2.

Delaney Howson, a Newmarket, Ont. native, defeated Erica Herr of New Pope, Pa., 1up. The senior at Murray State carded a 9-over 153 (73-80) through the two qualifying stroke-play rounds.

Canadian Josée Doyon marks the final Canadian to advance in the championship flight, beating Evelyn Dole of Raleigh, N.C., 5 and 4. Doyon, also a sophomore at Kent State, finished at 3-over par (73-74) to sit in a tie for fourth. She was joined by Development Squad member Valérie Tanguay of St-Hyacinthe, Qué., who later fell in the first round of match play.

In total, there were 17 Canadians in the field at the Women’s Western National Amateur Championship.

Click here to view match play results.
Click here to view stroke play results.

GRAVENHURST, Ont. — Make it a hat trick for Woodbridge’s Dave Bunker at the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Investors Group Mid-Amateur Championship. The Brampton Golf Club member was able to hang on to his lead from round two to claim the 2014 title at 2-over for the tournament (70-70-75), June 25 at Taboo Resort in Gravenhurst.

The 49-year-old school teacher came into the final round 2-under for the tournament, a shot ahead of North York’s Charles Fitzsimmons and two better than Peterborough’s Michael Farrugia. However, Bunker got out to a tough start as he bogeyed the first hole and then doubled the second. He would end up three-over at the turn. He was able to settle down on the back nine and only bogeyed the 17^th hole. He tapped in on 18 for par and a three-shot win. Bunker also took home the Mid-Masters Championship (40-years and older division).

“It feels good to win three times. To win the match play earlier this season and now here is pretty special,” said Bunker.

Bunker knew that he didn’t begin the way he would have liked ,but explained how he overcame that to end the day on top. “It didn’t start the way I wanted it to. I struggled on the green on one and then hit a poor tee shot on two and it snowballed. But I settled down after that and played ok.”

Luckily for Bunker, the others around him also had their troubles. First round leader, Fitzsimmons (67-74-80), finished the front nine at eight-over and while he did regain his earlier form on the back nine, he still ended the day nine-over and eight-over for the tournament in a tie for eighth.

“I was really surprised when I bogeyed 17 and asked what the leaderboard looked like to find out I had a three-shot lead,” said Bunker. “I didn’t know that everybody else was doing the same thing as our group. It gave me a little relaxation on 18 that I didn’t have to worry too much about somebody being right there with me.

One member of the final group, Farrugia (72-70-76), had his difficulties as well but finished the day five-over and was able to hang on for a share of second place at five-over for the tournament.

The story of the day turned out to be Wasaga Beach resident Dean Henry (73-72-73). Henry entered play at three-over for the tournament, but after shooting one of the lower rounds during the final day, two-over, he ended in the tie for second with Farrugia at five-over for the championship.

Throughout the championship, weather was another story with delays and even minor suspensions in play occurring on day two. Bunker talked about how he battled through that. “I played really well in round one and two just staying out of trouble, hitting fairways and greens in regulation and putting really well. The weather was frustrating but everyone had to deal with it.”

Bunker, Farrugia and Henry will now move on to the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship as the Team Ontario representatives for the inter-provincial team competition. The event is scheduled for Sept. 16-19 at the Barrie Country Club.

“I am really looking forward to the Canadian Mid-Am at Barrie,” added Bunker. “Mike and Dean are really good players so we should have a very competitive team.”

As for his preparation for his upcoming events, Bunker isn’t going for anything out of the norm. “I’m just going to keep playing and practicing. I plan to play Barrie this weekend to just check out the course and will probably play it a few times during the summer.  I’m also looking forward to the Amateur at North Halton, I played well there last year and I’ll hopefully have a good week.”

The Investors Group Ontario Men’s Mid-Amateur championship is a 54-hole competition featuring Ontario’s best golfers age 25 and older that have gained entry into the event through one of eight qualifying tournaments or through an exemption. Competitors age 40 and over also compete for the Ontario Men’s Mid-Master division trophy. Contested annually since 1993, past champions of the event include Ontario Golf Hall of Fame member Stu Hamilton and Kelly Roberts, Graham Hill and Drew Symons.

 TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Team Canada dropped one spot on the leaderboard after collectively shooting even par during Tuesday’s second round at Chukyo Golf Club.

Carter Simon, a Sutton, Ont., native, led the Canadians in the second round with a 2-under 69. He was followed by teammate Etienne Papineau of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., who recorded a 1-under 70 on the day. Together, the two Canadians sit tied for 18th on the leaderboard at 1-under thru two rounds.

Calgary’s Matt Williams was the third score to be recorded in the second round for the Canadians – he posted a 3-over 74. Tony Gil, a Vaughan Ont., native, struggled after his opening round 68, carding a 5-over 76. Gil’s score was not counted as the team’s highest tally for the second round.

Collectively, the United States overtook Chile for the sole lead of the boys division. Overall, the Americans sit at 11-under par – nine strokes ahead of Canada.

Team Italy shot up the leaderboard with the low round of the day (208) – they currently sit in second place, two strokes back of the United States.

The third round of action begins Thursday at 8am, UTC.

For complete scoring, click here.

UXBRIDGE, Ont. – It was a thunderous start to the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf Tuesday at Wyndance Golf Club.

With 27 of the 32 first-round matches completed late Monday afternoon, thunderstorms rolled through much of southern Ontario suspending play for nearly two hours.

Once the weather cleared, the remaining five matches were finished before darkness set in.

As has been the case since the championship was re-launched in 2011, this year’s championship is 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 five rounds to the final championship match.

Of the 32 first round matches, the lower-seeded player prevailed 17 times, including wins by the No.-1 seeded Billy Walsh, No. 3 Dave Levesque, sixth-seeded Eric Laporte, No. 7 Brian McCann and the 10th-seeded Reggie Millage.

However, there were a number of early upsets as well including the second-seeded and last year’s winner Bryn Parry lost 1-down to No. 63 Maxime Barre; No. 4 Mike Belbin losing 1-down to No. 61 Jim Zwolak; the fifth-seeded Danny King losing 3 and 1 to No. 60 Christophe Belair; No. 8 Lindsay Bernakevitch losing on the 19th hole to No. 57 Billy Houle and the ninth-seeded Brad Clapp losing 2-down to No. 56 Ed Maunder.

Other first round winners include George Lacko, Dean North, Louis-Pierre Godin, Matt Peavoy, Paul Schweyer, Walter Keating, Vincent Cacchione, Chris Learmonth, Jeff Gross, Alf Callowhill, Ian Doig, Chris Barber, Marc Hurtubise, Roger Beale, Jerome Blais, Eric Landreville, Keir Smith, Tyler LeBouthillier, Dave Wettlaufer, Brian Hutton and Kevin Senecal.

For the complete bracket, CLICK HERE

With 60 PGA of Canada Player Ranking points awarded to the winner of this year’s championship, Walsh, Levesque and Laporte have an opportunity to jump to the top of the rankings pile. However, with a combination of loses by the aforementioned players, Parry still has chance at securing the No. 1 spot.

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 Royal Montreal Golf Club in L’Île-Bizard, Que.

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

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

Niagara Falls, Ont. – On a windy day at Legends on the Niagara’s Battlefield Course Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Stephanie Connelly of Fleming Island, Fla. overcame tough conditions by firing 3-under 69’s to sit atop the leaderboard at the Canadian Women’s Tour Ontario stop.

Henderson, 16, of Smiths Falls, Ont. arrived in Niagara Falls fresh off of a T10 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open where she took home Low Amateur honours. On Tuesday, she continued her strong play by carding a bogey-free 3-under 69 that was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 11th and an opening 3-under 33 front-nine.

“I started my second hole with an eagle on the par-5 so that sort of got things going,” Henderson said. “The back nine was a little bit rough, I didn’t make any birdies, just all pars.”

Sharing first place alongside Henderson is Connelly, who carded four birdies to close out her back nine.

“I started out really consistent, I was making a lot of pars,” Connelly said. “I haven’t played in a Canadian LPGA event in a couple of years, but I would love to play in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.”

Behind Henderson and Connelly, amateur Simin Feng, 19, of Windermere, Fla. and Emma de Groot of Sydney, Australia are tied for third after 1-under 71’s. Defending champion Emily Childs of Alameda, Calif., sits tied for fifth alongside Montreal’s Sabrina Sapone, Mari Chun of Pearl City, Hawaii and Natalie Gleadall of Stratford, Ont., at 1-over par.

The final round will begin on split tees (Nos. 1 and 10) at 8:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday, June 25th. For more information click here.

VANCOUVER, B.C. (Golf Canada) – Canadian Pacific (CP) and Golf Canada are pleased to announce The Vancouver Golf Club has been selected as the host venue for the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

The 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open will be contested August 17-23, 2015 with a prize purse of $2.25 million USD.

In 2012, Lydia Ko, the two-time reigning Canadian Women’s Open champion, captured her first LPGA Tour victory at The Vancouver Golf Club. The championship’s return marks the fourth time that the club will host the LPGA Tour including the (former) du Maurier Ltd Classic in 1988 and 1991.

“In partnership with CP, we are proud to announce that The Vancouver Golf Club has been selected to host the 2015 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open,” said Scott Simmons, Golf Canada’s Executive Director and CEO.  “Vancouver is a world class city with passionate and knowledgeable golf fans which made for a hugely successful event when the club played host to our National Women’s Open Championship in 2012.”

The Vancouver Golf Club has a history of hosting premier provincial and national golf championships.  Located in Coquitlam, B.C., 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver, the club is widely recognized as one of the finest venues in the Pacific Northwest and one of the most respected and historic private clubs in North America.

“Our membership it extremely excited and honoured to once again host the LPGA Tour’s finest players at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open,” said Paul Batchelor, Host Club Volunteer Chair with The Vancouver Golf Club.  “Our Club truly enjoyed hosting the 2012 Canadian Women’s Open, and we are thrilled to once again showcase our club and our classic golf course to the LPGA players and Canadian golf fans.”

As part of the announcement, Golf Canada and The Vancouver Golf Club announced a recruitment push to fill approximately 1,200 volunteer positions. Interested individuals can find out more by clicking here.

The 2014 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open will be August 18 – 24, 2014 at the London Hunt & Country Club in London, Ont.

The 18th green at The Vancouver Golf Club. (Bob Huxtable)

(LONDON, Ont.) – Golf Canada in partnership with title sponsor Freedom 55 Financial and PGA TOUR Canada announced today that the Golf in Schools program will serve as the official charity of the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial which will run September 8-14, 2014 at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club in London, Ont.

In establishing a community legacy for the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial, Golf Canada will invite area golf clubs throughout London and Southwestern Ontario in a campaign to adopt schools to be a part of the Golf in Schools program.

Golf in Schools – which is currently offered in more than 2,225 elementary and close to 230 high schools across Canada – provides children with a basic introduction to golf through the Canadian school physical education curriculum. The program, which is endorsed by Physical Health and Education Canada (PHE Canada), is conducted by Golf Canada in partnership with the PGA of Canada and the provincial golf associations. More information about the Golf in Schools program including the school adoption program is available by clicking here.

“We’re excited to promote Golf in Schools,” said Mike Cunneen, Senior Vice President, Freedom 55 Financial/Wealth & Estate Planning Group. “We got involved in the program because it introduces golf and promotes healthy lifestyle – and hopefully gets more young people involved in the game.”

An elite field will compete at the TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial with the top 60 players on the Order of Merit through the season’s penultimate tournament gaining entry into the season-ending event.

Max Gilbert of Quebec City, Que. won the inaugural TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial and will return to Sunningdale Golf and Country Club to defend his title.

The 12^th and final event on the PGA TOUR Canada schedule will see the culmination of the race for Web.com Tour status at Sunningdale Golf and Country Club with the event once again operated by Golf Canada. Only the top 60 players on the Order of Merit will be eligible, setting up an exciting race to the season’s final event.

The top five players on PGA TOUR Canada’s Order of Merit earn Web.com Tour status for the following season, with players finishing in spots sixth through 10^th earning an exemption into the final stage and players finishing 11^th through 20^th  into the second stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School.

In addition to serving as title sponsor of the TOUR Championship of Canada, Freedom 55 Financial also sponsors the Freedom 55 Canadian Player of the Week award presented at each PGA TOUR Canada event as well as the season ending Freedom 55 Player of the Year Award.

BETHESDA, Md. – Tiger Woods says he is without pain for the first time in two years as he embarks on his latest comeback.

Nearly three months after having back surgery to alleviate a pinched nerve, Woods returns to competition this week in the Quicken Loans National at Congressional.

Woods is the tournament host. He says he probably wouldn’t have played this week if the event did not benefit his foundation.

That’s not to suggest he is coming back too early. Woods says he has been ahead of schedule in the recovery and began taking full swings with a driver a few weeks ago. His goal all along was to be ready for the British Open.

He already has missed two majors this year.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Michelle Wie put her table-top putting stance to good use in the late hours after she became a U.S. Women’s Open champion.

In a photo she posted to Instagram, Wie is bent over so sharply that her back is parallel to the ground. Only instead of a hitting a putt – like the 25-footer for birdie on the 17th hole at Pinehurst No. 2 that clinched her first major – her head is buried in the Women’s Open trophy.

A text message to Meg Mallon would seem to confirm what she was doing.

“She said, `It takes 21 1/2 beers to fill up the U.S. Open trophy,” Mallon said Monday.

The maturation of the 24-year-old from Hawaii has been fascinating to watch.

She was a 12-year-old with chubby cheeks and braces who stood behind the 18th green at the Sony Open and talked about her dream of playing the Masters.

Wie played in the final group of an LPGA major when she was in the eighth grade. She had a chance to win three majors when she was 16. She shot a 68 on the PGA Tour to miss the cut by one shot at age 14, which inspired her to compete against the men and invited sharp criticism when she couldn’t even beat the women.

No one moved the needle like Wie in women’s golf.

And perhaps no other female athlete, especially one so young, endured so much condemnation. To her credit – and her parents deserve credit for this, too – she never lashed back at those who questioned the path she chose.

Wie reached the ultimate destination Sunday, even if she never could have imagined how she would get there. Stardom included a detour to two stages of Q-school, just so she could become a part-time player while attending – and eventually graduating – from Stanford.

“This is exactly where I wanted to be,” Wie said on the eve of the final round at Pinehurst. “When I was 15 and 16, I think the troubles that I came into when I was younger is that I tried to plan my life, and a lot of times things don’t happen the way they should – or the way they should in my mind.”

She had a road map at 15?

“Oh, yeah,” she replied, smiling at a room full of reporters. “Don’t you all?”

It would be easy to suggest that Wie arrived as the player everyone thought she could be when the final putt fell for a two-shot victory, just moment before the church bells began ringing at Pinehurst.

She arrived much earlier. She won in Hawaii earlier this year. She was in the last group at a major. She was a contender just about every week.

“This was just the exclamation point,” Mallon said.

Mallon won her fourth major 10 years ago at the U.S. Women’s Open, the same year she first got to know a 6-foot teen from Hawaii who could hit the ball a mile. She saw a prodigy. She also saw a girl.

“I adore the kid,” Mallon said. “We were paired in a pro-am when she was 14 and we had a blast. We were challenging each other with short-game shots and we made a bet. She said, `If I win, I get to put streaks in my hair.’ I went over to Bo (Wie’s mother) and asked if that was OK. She won and put streaks in her hair that afternoon.”

Wie’s game recently was questioned last August when she was a captain’s pick for the Solheim Cup – by Mallon – over a player who had won that year and was ahead of Wie in the standings. Mallon called it a “no-brainer” because she needed someone who could handle the big stage. Few knew it better.

“I was looking at picks about three weeks out and Michelle came up and said, `Gosh, Meg, I know I’m six months away from where I want to be. I am so close.’ And you kind of look now at where she is,” Mallon said.

Wie is leading the LPGA Tour money list, approaching $1.6 million. She had never earned over $1 million in a season. She is No. 7 in the women’s world ranking.

And she figured this out all on her own.

She always had the swing and the power to win a major. Her putting for years was the weakest part of her game. And yet she won the Open by going an entire week without a three-putt, by making a tricky 5-foot putt to salvage double bogey on the 16th hole and keep the lead, and by making one of the hardest putts at Pinehurst at the 17th. It was fast and broke in two directions, and this one slammed into the back of the cup nearly as hard as she slammed her fist when it fell.

Wie created this unique “table-top” style all by herself. She followed Mallon’s advice in the offseason by putting away the video and bringing more feel into her game.

There was no better feeling than holding the trophy – or drinking out of it.

She no longer tries to map out her life as much as she once did, though Wie allowed herself such a moment a week ago Sunday when she walked up the 18th fairway with Martin Kaymer when he won the men’s U.S. Open.

“I thought to myself, `I want to be here on Sunday. I want to feel this exact thing,'” she said. “It’s a dream come true that it actually happened.”