Rancho Mirage, Californie ─ Fidèle à sa tradition d’honorer les meilleurs golfeuses amateurs du monde, le Championnat Kraft Nabisco a annoncé que neuf des meilleures joueuses des rangs amateurs et universitaires, y compris la Canadienne Brooke Henderson, participeront au premier championnat majeur du Circuit de la LPGA en 2014.

Brooke Henderson, une Ontarienne de Smiths Falls, occupe le sixième rang du classement mondial amateur. Elle est aussi la plus jeune golfeuse à avoir gagné un tournoi professionnel, soit une étape du Circuit canadien féminin, à l’âge de 14 ans. Elle a aussi remporté le tournoi South Atlantic Amateur, l’International Junior Orange Bowl, le Sprint International, le Championnat canadien amateur féminin et le Championnat amateur d’Amérique du Sud.

Henderson, 16 ans, disputera pour la première fois le Championnat Kraft Nabisco. En 2013, elle s’était classée 35^e de la Classique Financière Manuvie de la LPGA et 59^e de l’Omnium féminin des États-Unis, un autre championnat majeur du Circuit de la LPGA. Elle a participé à deux reprises à l’Omnium canadien féminin, en 2012 et 2013.

Les autres amateurs qui seront du Championnat Kraft Nabisco sont Emma Talley, actuelle championne amateur des États-Unis, Alison Lee, Ashlan Ramsey, Angel Yin, qui a obtenu un laissez-passer en remportant l’an dernier le KNC Champions Junior Challenge, Minkee Lee, Su Hyun Ohm, Annie Park et Nelly Korda.

La Torontoise Rebecca Lee-Bentham représentera aussi le Canada lors du premier championnat majeur de la saison. Canadienne la mieux classée au monde, au 193^e rang, elle a obtenu son meilleur résultat de la présente saison en prenant la 29^e place ex aequo de l’Omnium féminin d’Australie ISPS Handa

Le Championnat Kraft Nabisco aura lieu du 1^er au 6 avril au Mission Hills Country Club de Rancho Mirage, en Californie.

TaylorMade has announcedd the newest member of its popular “Ghost Spider” series putter models – the Ghost Spider Si.

It’s considered a high MOI (moment of inertia) counterbalanced putter that is touted to be one of the most consistent and forgiving putters the company has introduced.

The large 380-gram head coupled with a 15-inch, 130-gram counterbalanced grip helps promote exceptional stability, control and feel.

What is “counterbalancing”? While the typical putter has one light end (grip) and one heavy end (head), putting more weight in the grip to counterbalance the weight of the head increases the MOI of the entire club, from top to bottom, which makes it 50 percent more stable and much easier to keep the head on path – something the company calls “Stroke Stability.”

The Ghost Spider Si, which debuted at the Humana Challenge, has been played on a weekly basis by a number of Tour professionals including Rory Sabbatini, Fred Funk, Retief Goosen and Lucas Glover.

“The player excitement on Tour over counterbalanced putters drove the creation of the Ghost Spider Si,” said Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade Golf’s Director of Product Creation for Irons, Putters and Wedges. “It’s the perfect putter for players who want the benefits of a high MOI head and counterbalanced stroke stability in a clean, elegant design.”

Justin Rose used a Ghost Spider Blade to win the 2013 U.S. Open.

Performance of the Ghost Spider Si also comes from an exceptionally high MOI. The MOI in traditional blade and mallet putter ranges from 3500-4500. The Ghost Spider Si has an MOI of more than 6000 which makes the putter head more resistant to twisting at impact and helps protect ball speed and distance-control on off-center hits.

Aesthetically, the Ghost Spider Si features a simple yet innovative design. The white head contrasts nicely with the green to promote additional alignment benefits.

The PureRoll Surlyn insert promotes soft-yet-solid feel and a smooth roll straight off the face.

Pricing, Options and Availability

The Spider Si putter is offered in a 35 or 38-inch shaft. Players grip the club as they would a normal-length putter, with 2 or 3 inches of the butt-end of the grip extended above their hands, which provides the maximum benefit of counterbalancing. The 38-inch length is engineered for players who normally play a 35-inch length while the 35-inch model is built for the player who favors a 33-inch length. Players who favor a 34-inch length can choose between either 35 or 38 inches.

Available beginning Friday, March 14, the Ghost Spider Si is priced at $229.99.

SYDNEY – The ex-caddie of Tiger Woods says his one regret was his television interview on the 18th green after Adam Scott won at Firestone.

Scott won the Bridgestone Invitational in 2011, and Steve Williams got most of the attention for an interview right after the tournament ended. Williams had spent 12 years with Woods until getting fired a month earlier and told David Feherty of CBS Sports, “I’ve caddied for 33 years – 145 wins now – and that’s the best win I’ve ever had.”

In an interview with Fox Sports Australia this week, Williams said it was a mistake.

“Firstly, when you’re a caddie that never happens,” Williams said. “Of course, I was unbelievably excited. I’d been through a pretty emotional period, and a pretty rough period the preceding 12 or so months with the fallout from Tiger. I never expected someone to put a microphone in your face when you walk off the 18th green as a caddie. That’s never, ever happened before, and obviously I was pretty emotional at the time.

“Some things you regret,” Williams said. “That would be one of them.”

The comments were stunning by numbers alone. Williams had been on Woods’ bag for 72 wins worldwide, including 13 majors and 16 World Golf Championships. And it showed the deep resentment he felt toward Woods.

That interview did even more damage later in the year.

It was so memorable that the European Tour caddies jokingly gave Williams the “Celebration of the Year” award during an annual roast for caddies in Shanghai. Upon accepting the award, Williams used a racial slur about Woods in talking about the interview.

That led to headlines over the next two days, and Williams apologized to Woods when he saw him the following week in Australia.

Rancho Mirage, Calif. – In keeping with its cherished tradition of honoring the world’s top amateur players, the Kraft Nabisco Championship has announced that nine of the world’s top amateur and college players – including Team Canada’s Brooke Henderson – have accepted invitations to participate in the LPGA Tour’s first major of 2014.

Brooke Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., owns the No. 6 spot on the World Amateur Golf Rankings. She also owns the status as the youngest player to win a professional golf tournament, when she won on the Canadian Women’s Tour at age 14. She’s also claimed victory at the South Atlantic Amateur, the International Junior Orange Bowl, the Sprint International, the Canadian Women’s Amateur and the South American Amateur.

Henderson, 16, will play in her first Kraft Nabisco Championship after finishing 35th in the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic and 59th in the U.S. Women’s Open in 2013. She’s also competed in the Canadian Women’s Open on two occasions (2012 & 2013).

Other amateurs joining Henderson at the Kraft Nabisco Championship are; reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion Emma Talley; Alison Lee; Ashlan Ramsey; Angel Yin, who won the KNC Champions Junior Challenge last year to earn her way into the event; Minjee Lee; Su Hyun Oh; Annie Park; and Nelly Korda.

Toronto’s Rebecca Lee-Bentham will also represent Canada at the season’s first major. As the highest ranked Canadian in the world at No. 193, Bentham’s season best finish is a tie for 29th at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open

The Kraft Nabisco Championship takes place April 1-6 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Get to know a little more about Henderson is this video.

Svensson ties for fifth at Southeastern Collegiate

Valdosta, GA – Team Canada’s Adam Svensson finished tied for fifth at the Southeastern Collegiate Tuesday at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club.

The Barry University sophomore and Surrey, B.C. native carded an even par 216 (74-68-74) to finish six strokes back of champion Ryan Gendron of St. Leo University.

The Sunshine State Conference (SSC) player of the week has been atop nearly every leaderboard as of late. The 20-year-old has captured four out of seven titles this season for the Barry Buccaneers, with his latest win coming last week at the St. Edwards Invitational.

As a team, the NCAA Div. II No. 1 ranked Buccaneers took home the hardware with a six stroke margin over runner-up Lynn University. They will be back in action again next week at the Bobcat Invitational in Eatonton, GA.

View full results here.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC — It is half training camp, half competition for the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Team Ontario as they hone their skills in Myrtle Beach, S.C. with five days of training before the 16th annual Can-Am Matches at Wachesaw Plantation Club in Murrells Inlet.

The Can-Am matches will see 16 of the top-ranked junior golfers in Ontario (comprised of Ontario-born National Development Team members, Team Ontario members and other qualifiers) take on the best from the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation. The event will last two days (March 15-16) with team matches being held on the first day and singles matches on the second.

The Team Ontario roster includes six males from the current squad: Conner Watt, Sam McNulty, Brendan Seys, Chad Watts Denyes, Trevor Ranton and Max Sear. Two former members, and current National Development Team members, Tony Gill and Carter Simon, will join them. As for the girls’ side, all four Team Ontario members are present (Alyssa Getty, Grace St-Germain, Monet Chun and Annika Haynes). Rounding out the team, based on 2013 performances are: Kennedy Bodfield, Samantha Spencer, Claire Hernandez and Ana Peric.

The scoring format for the matches is slightly different than a traditional match play event. In each match, there are 18 points available, one for each hole, ensuring that all 18 are played. If a hole is halved, each player or team receives half a point. The format stresses the importance of each player focusing on one hole at a time. The teams will play team four-ball matches on the first day of the event before singles matches on day two.

In advance of the Matches, Team Ontario and their additional members ventured down to Myrtle Beach on March 9 to begin a five-day training camp to prepare for the event. The team has the opportunity to play and train at a few courses in the area.

The team will also take part in a fun event on March 12 at Wachesaw with a Member-Am team scramble. Team Ontario players will be grouped with three club members for a round, giving them a chance to meet their hosts from the club.

Halifax – Six-time PGA Tour champion, two-time U.S. Ryder Cup team member and two-time Presidents Cup member Matt Kuchar will team with two other PGA Tour players and one Web.com Tour player to represent the World at the inaugural Canada Cup Match, to be held on Monday, June 30, 2014 in Halifax at Ashburn Golf Club.

The Canada Cup is part of GOLFest Nova Scotia, a week-long celebration of national pride and all things golf in Canada that will also feature a Web.com Tour event, the Nova Scotia Open, from June 29 to July 6.

Kuchar is currently ranked 11th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He’s won some of golf’s most prestigious tournaments, including the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship and the Memorial Tournament in 2013, THE PLAYERS Championship in 2012 and The Barclays in 2010.

“I know Canadians have tremendous pride and passion for their athletes, and I look forward to playing against my fellow PGA Tour colleagues in that type of energetic environment,” said Kuchar. “I am sure that the battle for the Canada Cup and international bragging rights will be a memorable and exciting experience for players and spectators alike.”

Conducted by SportBox Entertainment Group, the Canada Cup is one of three GOLFest Nova Scotia events held during the week-long celebration of golf in Canada.

The Canada Cup will feature three Canadian PGA Tour stars – Mike Weir, Graham DeLaet and David Hearn  – as they compete head-to-head against an international squadron of PGA Tour players on “Team World”.

Matt Kuchar and two additional PGA Tour players will comprise Team World.

As well, each Canada Cup team will be rounded out by a Web.com Tour player who will be selected closer to the Canada Cup.

The day will begin in the morning with a 9-hole Canada Cup pro-am followed by the Canada Cup battle in the afternoon, which will consist of 9-hole singles matches and 9-hole team alternate shot matches.

“Growing up playing team sports and living in a hockey crazed country, I now miss the team aspect of sports as a golfer,” said said Graham DeLaet. “Playing in the Presidents Cup last year as part of a team was an adrenaline rush. Mike, David and I are excited to represent Canada and look forward to welcoming Matt and the remaining international PGA Tour players to compete on Canadian soil as we go head-to-head for the Canada Cup title.”

Over the next two weeks, SportBox Entertainment Group will reveal the second and third PGA Tour players who will join Kuchar.

Following the Canada Cup, GOLFest Nova Scotia will continue with the Nova Scotia Open, which will take place from July 3 – 6, 2014 at Ashburn Golf Club.

The Nova Scotia Open, the only Canadian stop on the Web.com Tour in 2014, will feature a field of 156 Web.com Tour stars vying for a $650,000 purse and a season long chance to earn a PGA Tour card next season.

Leading off the week on Sunday, June 29 is the Junior Canada Cup. The event, held in association with the Canadian Junior Golf Association, will feature twelve junior golfers as they compete in a head-to-head East vs. West battle for the Junior Canada Cup.

Murrels Inlet, S.C. – Team Canada’s Corey Conners has continued his torrid play of late, sharing medalist honours at the General Hackler Championship with Andrew Dorn of Coastal California.

Conners, a member of the Kent State Golden Flashes, finished at even par (75-69-72) and was the only player to score a round in the 60’s during the tournament. The 21-year-old is coming off a playoff win at the prestigious Jones Cup just last month.

The Listowel, Ont. native now sits at No. 25 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). He’s in the running for the Ben Hogan Award – given annually to the outstanding male collegiate golfer of the year in the U.S.

Taylor Pendrith, 22, shot 70 Tuesday to finish 1-over, in third place. His round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 2^nd which he double-bogeyed in his first round. This is the second consecutive top 5 finish for the Richmond Hill, Ont. native and Kent State senior.

Collectively, Kent State finished in second place, two strokes back of champion Middle Tennessee State. The Golden Flashes are currently ranked No. 25 in NCAA Men’s Div I Golf. They tee-it-up again March 26^th at the Floridian Collegiate.

Click here for full results from the 2014 General Hackler Championship.

Top 10 Colourful PGA Tour players

The modern era of golf has brought a colourful new look to the game. Check out the 10 most colorful players on the PGA Tour as selected by PGA TOUR Entertainment.

USGA announces 2014 U.S. Open sectional qualifying sites

The United States Golf Association (USGA) has announced the sectional qualifying sites for the 2014 U.S. Open Championship, which will be held at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2, in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C., on June 12-15.

Sectional qualifying, conducted over 36 holes, will be held on June 2nd at 10 sites in the U.S. For the 10th consecutive year, Japan and England will host international qualifying, which is scheduled for May 26.

Woodmont Country Club, in Rockville, Md., will host U.S. Open sectional qualifying for the 27th time in the last 28 years. The club, which moved to its current location in 1950, has two 18-hole courses (North and South). In 2013, Russell Knox, Mathew Goggin and Matt Bettencourt qualified for the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club from this sectional, and all three went on to make the cut in the championship.

In Memphis, Tenn., Colonial Country Club’s North and South courses will host a sectional qualifier for the third time since 2007. Kevin Sutherland, at age 48, was one of five players who qualified in 2013 from this sectional. He tied for 67th at the U.S. Open Championship. Colonial was a U.S. Open local qualifying site in 2013 and will host again this year, on May 7.

The Columbus, Ohio; Purchase, N.Y.; and Daly City, Calif., sectional sites will use two courses. In Ohio, Brookside Golf and Country Club and Scioto Country Club, which will host the 2016 U.S. Senior Open, will be partnered for the first time. Old Oaks Country Club and Century Country Club will make up a sectional site in New York for the third time in six years. Lake Merced Golf Club and The Olympic Club’s Ocean Course are the courses in Northern California. Lake Merced has hosted two USGA championships. The Olympic Club’s Ocean Course was the companion course to the club’s Lake Course for the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship and the Ocean and Lake courses will host the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship in May 2015.

Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek Course is a U.S. Open sectional qualifying site for the fifth time since 2004. Russell Henley was the medalist as an amateur at this site in 2010 and would go on to tie for 16th in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links. Springfield Country Club in Ohio will host sectional qualifying for the fifth consecutive year and sixth time in seven years.

For the fourth time since 2006, Emerald Valley Golf Club, in Creswell, Ore., will be a U.S. Open sectional qualifying site. Lakeside Country Club, in Houston, previously hosted in 2006 and 2012. Quail Valley Golf Club, in Vero Beach, Fla., served as a sectional site in 2011.

England’s Walton Heath Golf Club and Japan’s Nara International Golf Club are the international sectional qualifying sites. Walton Heath, which is hosting for the 10th consecutive year, is where Michael Campbell, of New Zealand, qualified in the first year of international qualifying en route to winning the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

Ken Venturi (1964) and Orville Moody (1969) are the only players to win the U.S. Open after qualifying through both local and sectional play. Jerry Pate (1976), Steve Jones (1996), Michael Campbell (2005) and Lucas Glover (2009) have won as sectional qualifiers.

To be eligible for qualifying, a player must have a Handicap Index/Factor not exceeding 1.4, or be a professional. Local qualifying, which will be played over 18 holes at 111 sites in the U.S., takes place between May 2-19.

Online player registration for the 2014 U.S. Open began March 5 and continues through April 23 at 5 p.m. EDT.

DORAL, Fla. – The road to the Masters is just getting started, and already two players have combined to win five times on the PGA Tour.

They’re not Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

How many would have guessed Jimmy Walker (three wins) and Patrick Reed (two wins) when the wraparound season began in October?

Reed might have had his hand up.

In a moment of bravado on national television after he went wire to wire (with ties) to win the Cadillac Championship, the 23-year-old Reed said, “I’m one of the top five players in the world. I feel like I’ve proven myself.” He has won twice this season, three times dating to August.

Reed and Walker are the latest newcomers to winning on the strongest tour in golf. Harris English won in Mexico last November for his second PGA Tour title in six months. Jordan Spieth won in July, and he started this year by giving himself three chances to win.

It’s just another example that winning is getting hard, even for those who are used to winning a lot.

Each season seems to bring a new crop of younger players who have a lot of game and no fear. Russell Henley won the Sony Open in his debut as a PGA Tour member. Just over a year later, he overcame a two-shot lead playing with Rory McIlroy in the final group at the Honda Classic and won a four-hole playoff.

Scott Stallings won at Torrey Pines for his third PGA Tour win. He’s 28.

The last three winners of the World Golf Championships – Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Reed – are all in their 20s. Ten of the 17 winners this season are in their 20s. That includes 26-year-old Chesson Hadley, who won the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday about the time Reed was beating the strongest field so far this year at Doral.

“Look at Russell Henley – he’s won twice,” Reed said. “Harris English has won twice, Jordan Spieth won once. Myself, I’ve won three times. It’s just one of those things that we’ve worked very hard – all of us – to get where we are. And it’s definitely shown what we are doing is working. To see the young guys coming out and playing and putting it to the veterans is always nice.”

Walker turned 35 in January, so it’s hard to consider him one of the younger players. Then again, injuries slowed the start of his career. And once he finally won at the Frys.com Open to kick off the new wraparound season, he has made it a habit. Over the weekend, Walker talked about new opportunities that have come his way following his three wins. He’s not interested in anything but playing good golf.

Now that he has tasted winning, his appetite is only growing.

Walker leads the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup standings. Johnson is No. 2 on both lists, while Reed is at No. 3 in the FedEx and No. 4 in the Ryder Cup. Five of the top nine players in the Ryder Cup standings were not on the last U.S. team at Muirfield Village for the Presidents Cup.

Remember, it’s still only March. The first of four majors has yet to be played. Reed has never even played in a major.

He rubbed a few people the wrong way when he declared himself among the top five in the world (he’s actually No. 20). It showed what he thought about his game and that he’s not afraid to say it.

So if he’s top five, who are the other four?

“Tiger Woods, of course,” Reed said.

And that was as far as he got before he smiled and said, “You know, good question. I said top 5. I didn’t know where I was going to be in the top 5.”

He then went on to mention Masters champion Adam Scott (No. 2 in the world) and Mickelson (No. 5). He mentioned how impressed he was with Graeme McDowell, and having played Saturday with Johnson, he acknowledged how good he could be when he gets on a roll. And the list stopped there, right when it was starting to grow.

The ranking (determined over two years) has Henrik Stenson at No. 3, Day at No. 4, McIlroy at No. 6.

It was clear that “top five” was more figure of speech than an actual number. Anyone’s list of “top five” is likely to include as many as 10 players these days.

Years ago, Colin Montgomerie jokingly said that it was hard to win majors because Woods usually won two of them, Mickelson, Vijay Singh or Ernie Els won another and that left only one for everybody else each year.

Twenty-one players have won the last 24 majors. That would seem to make it even harder.

It’s getting that way for regular PGA Tour events, too.

The Nova Scotia Golf Association (NSGA) has announced Andrew Noseworthy as their new Director of Sport Development. This is a new position for the NSGA and is designed to help grow participation at all levels, from grassroots to high performance programs.

Andrew is a PGA of Canada Class A Professional who will oversee Sport Development for the game of golf in Nova Scotia including:

• CN Future Links Mobile Clinics
• Learn to Play
• Skills Competitions
• Girls Clubs
• Junior Leagues
• The National Golf in Schools Program
• High Performance Programming
• Women’s Participation Development

“Participation development is a key component to the NSGA Long Term Player Development Plan,” said David Campbell, Executive Director of the NSGA. “Andrew brings the skills and technical abilities to help grow the sport of golf in Nova Scotia. He has a proven track record in managing and delivering grassroots and high performance programming.”

Andrew has been a PGA of Canada member since 2000. He completed his Class A designation with the PGA of Canada in 2006. He is a graduate of Dalhousie University (Economics) and completed the Professional Golf Management Diploma program (Honours) at Humber College.

Since joining the PGA of Canada, he has completed Levels 1 to 4 of the Teaching and Coaching Certification Program along with the redesigned Instructor Beginner and Intermediate certifications. Andrew continues to teach all levels of players in clinics and individual lessons.

Andrew spent 12 years at Oakfield Golf and Country Club, most recently, since 2008 as head professional. In 2012 he began, Golf Squared, a golf coaching company with a focus on junior development. He has conducted many indoor programs at elementary schools and recreation centres in the greater Halifax area, along with Kids Camps and clinics at various facilities during the summer months.

In 2009 Andrew was recognized by his fellow professionals as the PGA of Canada – Atlantic Junior Golf Leader.

Andrew lives in Halifax wife his wife Dale and two daughters Allie and Bridget.