Golf Canada and STALK&BARREL Handcrafted Canadian Whisky announced today a multi-year partnership that will see STALK&BARREL become the official Canadian Whisky Partner for Golf Canada, the RBC Canadian Open and the CP Women’s Open.

Through its partnership position which runs through 2025, STALK&BARREL Handcrafted Canadian Whisky will be poured exclusively at the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open hospitality and concession locations with fan activations planned at the Recipe Unlimited Fare Way food and beverage experience onsite at both championships.

“Welcoming a premium, locally crafted whisky to our corporate hospitality and concessions offering will further enhance the festival experience of our National Open Championships and we are pleased to introduce STALK&BARREL as our Official Canadian Whisky for the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open,” said John Sibley, Chief Commercial Officer of Golf Canada.

STALK&BARREL is a handcrafted Canadian Whisky, made locally at a craft distillery in Ontario with a true ‘grain to glass’ commitment.  It’s a small batch, single malt that is 100% Canadian owned and operated and aspires to inspire new traditions among Canadians. 

“The STALK&BARREL team is ecstatic to be aligned with a great Canadian institution like Golf Canada.  We’re proud to affiliate ourselves with an organization that embodies the same Canadian spirit and values as ours and Golf Canada was the clear choice. We look forward to working together with them through their partner clubs, members, and marquee events for 2022 and beyond.” said Steven Ciccolini, President, CIVC.

The 2022 RBC Canadian Open will be held June 6-12 at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ont. with nearby Islington Golf serving as the official practice facility. The 2022 CP Women’s Open will be contested August 22-28 at Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club in Ottawa, Ont.  

TORONTO – Corey Conners is ready to hear the roar of Canadian golf fans for the first time in three years.

Conners, from Listowel, Ont., is currently the top-ranked Canadian in the field at this summer’s RBC Canadian Open. The national men’s golf championship has been cancelled the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but will return on June 6-12 at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

“I think the Canadian fans travel as well as anyone. I feel a lot of Canadian love week in and week out,” said Conners, who is No. 32 on the FedExCup rankings. “But to have the crowd made up of pretty much all Canadians is going to be amazing.

A full Canadian contingent will join Conners at the only PGA Tour event north of the border. Former PGA Tour winners Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., as well as Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both from Abbotsford, B.C., have already signed on.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., are also set to compete. Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., currently ranked No. 32 on the European-based DP World Tour, has been given a tournament exemption to compete at the PGA Tour event.

“It’s going to certainly be a lot of fans out there cheering us on,” said Conners, who noted that the tournament will be in Toronto for the first time in 12 years since St. George’s also hosted the event in 2010. “I think there’s going to be a lot of cool things for people to do away from the golf course.

“You know, we’re there to take care of business but you can explore the sights in Toronto. I think a lot a lot of people and families that travelled there with the players will be excited about that.”

LIV Golf, a new men’s professional golf tour that hopes to rival the PGA Tour, will hold its first-ever tournament the same week as the Canadian Open at the Centurion Golf Club outside of London, England.

Canadian Open tournament director Bryan Crawford said that the LIV event did not make it any more difficult to assemble a competitive field.

“We’re very fortunate to have a great home-field advantage with all of our Canadians that people come out to see and can win a tournament any given week,” said Crawford, noting that this year’s field is just as strong as the 2019 edition at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. “We’ve been able to attract the very best players in the world.”

World No. 4 Cameron Smith, No. 18 Matt Fitzpatrick, and No. 19 Tony Finau, were added to the event’s field on Monday.

They’re joining an already stacked field that includes defending Canadian Open champion and world No. 7 Rory McIlroy, world No. 1 and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and world No. 11 Dustin Johnson.

Mary DePaoli, executive vice-president and chief marketing officer of title sponsor RBC, said that more player announcements were to come in the weeks before the Canadian Open.

“I am very confident when I say this: any global golf fan who tunes into the weekend of June 9 through 12 to watch great golf is going to be watching the RBC Canadian Open that weekend,” said DePaoli.

The RBCxMusic concert series and The Rink feature hole, two staples of the Canadian Open weekend, will return in 2022. Flo Rida and Maroon 5 will perform after the second and third rounds at nearby Richview Collegiate Institute. The Rink, a featured hole that includes hockey boards around the tee box, will be at No. 16 at St. Georges.

“I think it’s a really cool feature, sort of a Canadian hockey reference and I think your fans will be excited, the players, I think, are going to like it,” said Conners. “I think the atmosphere there is really cool.

“It’s something a little extra special about the event and hopefully I get some good shots on the Rink.”

Mackenzie Hughes withstood windy, wet and cold conditions to finish 2-under par and tied for 9th at the Wells Fargo Championship in Potomac, Maryland over the weekend.

After an opening round 4-under 66, Hughes, paired with fellow Canadian Corey Conners who finished two back at even par, carded a final round bogey-free 67 to move into the top 10 at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm – his third finish of that nature this season.

Nick Taylor put in a gutsy performance facing inclement weather conditions and finished in a tie for 15^th, while Michael Gligic managed a T37 result.

Traditionally hosted by the Quail Hollow Club, the event was moved this year as the course in Charlotte, North Carolina undergoes preparations for the 2022 President’s Cup in September.  

For Max Homa, it didn’t matter where the tournament was happening. For the second time since 2019 (the event was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19), Homa was crowned champion of the Wells Fargo Championship, finishing at 8-under par, two strokes ahead of runners-up Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young and Keegan Bradley.

As the final pairing on Sunday, Homa and Bradley seesawed through the closing round, with lead changes throughout the front nine before Homa seized control down the stretch en route to his fourth career PGA TOUR victory and third in the last 15 months.

Drew Nesbitt, Adam Svensson and Roger Sloan were also in the field at TPC Potomac but did not make the cut.

For the full leaderboard click here.

Next up: The TOUR heads south to Texas for the AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch from May 12-16. Hughes, Gligic, Sloan, Svensson, Taylor and Adam Hadwin are slated to tee it up for Canada.

Did you know there’s a Canadian connection to the most anticipated golf video game in recent memory?

HB Studios, based in Nova Scotia, was recently acquired by iconic sports video-game company 2K – which inked a long-term, exclusive partnership with Tiger Woods. 2K purchased HB Studios, the developers of PGA TOUR 2K21 as well as its ‘The Golf Club’ franchise.

“I am looking forward to making my return to the video game landscape, and with 2K and HB Studios, I’ve found the right partners to make it happen,” said Woods last year. “I’m honoured to take part in this opportunity and look forward to sharing my expertise and insights as we build the future of golf video games together.”

With Woods’ injury, the release of the next 2K game has been postponed, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate some big-time golf releases from the past.

Whether it’s an all-time classic or merely a nostalgic game that prompts some fun memories with friends, here are the top give golf video games of all time.

Golden Tee

Released in 1989, the Golden Tee machine has become a staple in bars (and some lucky homes!) for more than 30 years. Originally the project was meant for a large-scale golf simulator, but it was scrapped by the developer. The programmer decided to press on with the idea – after having already written the software to create virtual golf courses – and since then the machine has become as synonymous with bars as cold beer and nachos. The simple game-play format – pulling back that iconic trackball and flying it forward – remains a joy.

Wii Sports – Golf

The Nintendo Wii, when released in 2006, had a pack-in game included with each system. Alongside tennis, baseball, bowling and boxing, there was golf.

The Wii allowed for its users to have fun with the motion-sensing capabilities of the Wii remote which means, yes, you can absolutely swing the remote like you would a real golf club.

Other video game franchises would take advantage of the Wii’s capabilities (Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, for example, allowed for users on the Wii to swing the control) but the original Wii Sports golf effort was fun, different, and set the stage for other motion-controlled games moving forward.

Links

Before there were gaming systems, there were games played on your desktop computer and Links: The Challenge of Golf, set off a well-received and incredibly exciting PC-based franchise.

Links was first developed by Access Software and then later purchased and developed by Microsoft. The Challenge of Golf even won Computer Gaming World’s Action Game of the Year award… in 1991. It featured basic enough game play, but some fun destinations for courses and allowed users to play as Arnold Palmer.

The last game in the Links franchise came in 2004 and was available on Xbox.

Mario Golf

It should come as no surprise as the perhaps the most iconic character in video game history tees it up. The first game to feature Mario as a golfer was NES Open Tournament Golf, released in 1987. Mario Golf, as a title, made its debut for the Nintendo 64 in 1999 and received critical acclaim. The latest edition, Mario Golf: Super Rush, was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2021.

There was a variety of gameplay modes (a staple of the franchised that continued with the Super Rush release last year) and it’s equally fun for novice golfers (and gamers) but serious enough for golf lovers, too. 

Tiger Woods PGA Tour

The greatest of all time also has his name tied to the greatest golf video game of all time.

1999 marked the first year that Tiger Woods’ name was featured alongside EA Sports’ golf game and for more than a decade it was on the cutting-edge of golf video game play. There were plenty of iconic years (like 2012, when Augusta National made its debut) but the consensus online is that 2004 was the best. That version featured 20 courses – the most in a Tiger Woods game to that point, continued to build on the 2002 introduction of the ‘analog stick’ game play, and had a banging soundtrack.  

Of note: Originally set for this year, EA Sports and the PGA Tour have announced a pivot in their launch strategy for the latest EA Sports golf title (which will not have Woods’ name attached to it). The new game will be released in 2023 and will feature all four men’s major championships, the FedExCup playoffs, courses like Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, PGA and LPGA Tour pros, multiple amateur events, plus ShotLink and TrackMan data.

“EA Sports PGA Tour is our first HD golf game in seven years and we wanted to give it the time to make the best game possible,” a spokesperson from EA Sports told Sports Illustrated in March.

Blainville, Que. – Brad Adamonis’ T-1 finish at the RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifier wasn’t the only no. 1 the Cumberland, Rhode Island, native posted on Monday.

A hole-in-one on the 175-yard, par 3 10^th hole at Club de Golf Le Blainvillier in Blainville, Que., highlighted Adamonis’ round of a 2-under-par 69, as he and 10 others advanced to the Final Qualifier taking place on June 6, at Oakdale Golf & Country Club in Toronto, Ont.

Kevin Gordon, of Whitby, Ont., also carded a 2-under-par 69, matching the low score of the day in a starting field that featured 84 players.

Since there were less than 100 competitors at the Quebec regional event, there was no playoff needed to determine an outright winner, who otherwise would have received an exemption directly into the 2022 RBC Canadian Open.

Adamonis, a one-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, walked up to the tee on 18 needing only a par to secure the low qualifier honours, but a bogey on his final hole of the day opened the door for Gordon who subsequently capitalized on the opportunity.

Gordon, in his own right, was firing on all cylinders in the early stages of his round, holing two birdies and an eagle to start, but fought the course down the stretch with a pair of bogeys on the back nine, to finish tied atop the leaderboard.   

Brandon Lacasse was one of two Quebec natives, alongside Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Hugo Bernard, to qualify out of his home province on Monday. After back-to-back bogeys on the front nine, Lacasse battled back, firing a 2-under 33 on his final nine holes of the day, to finish at even par on the round.

“After the front nine, I knew I needed to go low coming in to have a chance, so I’m proud of the way I turned things around today,” said the 24-year-old, Lacasse. “For now, the focus is on the tournaments in front of me, but I’m excited to play in the Monday Qualifier in June,” he added.

The breakdown of the Quebec qualifier goes as follows: seven players from Ontario, one from Quebec, one from British Columbia, and two based out of the United States.

Étienne Brault, who qualified for the RBC Canadian Open through the Quebec qualifier and then the Final Monday Qualifier in 2019, missed today’s cut by one stroke.

The 18-hole qualifier at Le Blainvillier was the first of four regional qualifiers taking place across the country. The second qualifier takes place at Meadow Gardens Golf Club in Pitt Meadows, B.C. on Tuesday, May 17 and the third regional qualifier is at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (North Course) in Caledon, Ont. on Wednesday, May 18. For the first time, a fourth regional qualifier will take place in Calgary, Alta. at Mickelson National Golf Club on Monday, May 30. 

A minimum of four players from the 18-hole stroke play Final Qualifier on June 6 will gain entry into the RBC Canadian Open field.

The full leaderboard can be found here.

One of the hottest golfers on the planet is sure to be a fan-favourite at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto as world no. 4 Cameron Smith will compete in the 2022 RBC Canadian Open.

Competing in his third RBC Canadian Open, the 28-year-old Aussie is having a stellar season with five top-10 finishes including victories at The Players Championship and the Sentry Tournament of Champions in addition to a T3 finish at the Masters. Currently ranked no. 3 on the 2022 FedEx Cup, Smith is a 5-time winner on the PGA TOUR.

“I’ve heard how much positive momentum there is for the return of the RBC Canadian Open. I’m actually pretty excited to get back to Canada for the first time since 2017 and keen to play St. George’s, which I hear is one of the top courses in the country,” said Smith. “Similar to back home in Australia, Canada’s golf fans seem really passionate and I’m looking forward to heading up Toronto in June to compete in their National Open.”

Internationally, Smith is a two-time winner of the Australian PGA Championship, was a member of the International Team at the 2019 President’s Cup and competed for Australia at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Smith joins a strong field that includes defending champion and world no. 7 Rory McIlroy, world no. 1 and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, and world no. 11 Dustin Johnson along with other members of Team RBC.

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBC Canadian Open is set to return June 6-12 with an exciting field expected at St. George’s Golf and Country Club this summer. Nearby Islington Golf Club will serve as the official practice facility for the championship.

A full Canadian contingent will also celebrate the return of the RBC Canadian Open led by world no. 32 Corey Conners, past PGA TOUR winners Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor as well as fellow PGA TOUR members Taylor Pendrith, Adam Svensson, Michael Gligic and Roger Sloan.

Winnipeg native Aaron Cockerill, currently ranked no. 32 on the DP World Tour, has been given a tournament exemption to compete in the 2022 RBC Canadian Open. Additional Canadian player exemptions will be named in the coming weeks.

More field announcements are set for the coming weeks, along with the return of the RBCxMusic Concert Series on both Friday and Saturday nights featuring Flo Rida (June 10) and Maroon 5 (June 11).

Tickets for the 2022 RBC Canadian Open are available here.

Golf Canada announced today that Salimah Mussani has been promoted from Assistant Coach and named as Women’s Head Coach for Team Canada. Mussani will oversee the development of Canada’s top female amateur and professional golfers with the objective of increasing the number of Canadian players on the LPGA Tour.

“I am extremely honoured and grateful to have this opportunity to lead our women’s program into this next phase,” said Mussani. “Having the opportunity to help our country’s top female golfers achieve their dreams and succeed is a blessing. “I am looking forward to working together with everyone who is involved in the development of our players on their journey to the LPGA Tour.”

Mussani assumes the Women’s Head Coach position after serving as Assistant Coach under Tristan Mullally, who transitioned into the role of National Talent Identification Director as part of Golf Canada’s enhancement to its player development program.

A two-time Ontario Junior champion and two-time Canadian Junior champion, Mussani brings a wealth of competitive experience having been a key member of a NCAA runner-up golf team at Stanford University before competing as a professional on the Epson and LPGA Tours, as well as the (former) Canadian Women’s Tour. Mussani is a former PGA of Canada Women’s champion and winner on the Epson Tour and (former) Canadian Women’s Tour. Mussani has held assistant coaching roles with Stanford University, University of British Columbia, and Team Canada. Originally from Burlington, Ont., Mussani is a PGA of Canada class “A” professional  who now resides in Vancouver.

Jennifer Greggain of Chilliwack, B.C. joins Mussani on the coaching staff of Team Canada as a full-time Associate Coach, transitioning from her current role as Assistant Coach for the National Junior Squad. A former LPGA Tour player with 22 years of professional golf experience, Greggain previously served as a Provincial Coach for British Columbia Golf and as the Assistant Coach for Team Canada.

“I am incredibly excited to work alongside Salimah as we lead our women’s program into the future. We are both very passionate about Canadian women’s golf and feel well-prepared to help Canada pursue its player development goals,” said Greggain.

Mussani and Greggain will support an expanded women’s roster of Team Canada athletes that includes eight players on the Amateur Squad as well as five players on the Young Pro Squad. 

“We are excited about the leadership that Salimah and Jennifer will provide for our women’s program. In addition to enhancing the performance of Canada’s best amateur and professional players, they will create a supportive and communicative culture that prioritizes overall wellbeing for our Canadian women during their journeys to the LPGA tour,” said Golf Canada High Performance Manager Emily Phoenix.

Golf Canada’s High-Performance program builds on the support that Canadian athletes have received in their development years from their family, member clubs, personal coaches, university programs and provincial golf associations. In addition to Golf Canada Foundation and the generosity from the major donor Trustee program, Golf Canada’s High-Performance Program and Team Canada are proudly supported by RBC, Canadian Pacific, Audi, Titleist, FootJoy, COBRA PUMA GOLF, Foresight Sports, Heritage Canada, Bear Mountain Resort, Citi Canada (Young Pro) and the Canadian Olympic Committee. 

Kevin Blue doesn’t hesitate when asked to provide his best “elevator pitch” about the First Tee—Canada program. (An elevator pitch is a concise, easy-to-understand summary of a concept.)

“First Tee—Canada will provide a welcoming environment for kids from all Canadian backgrounds to learn golf and the associated life skills that go along with the sport,” says Blue, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer.

Since its unveiling in August 2020, First Tee—Canada’s purpose of “Building Game Changers” doesn’t only refer to the game of golf.

“First Tee introduces the game of golf and its inherent values to young people,” the program launch press release stated. “Through after-school and in-school programs, we help shape the lives of young people from all walks of life by reinforcing values like integrity, respect and perseverance.

It’s long overdue, but golf has recently taken an assertive approach to increase equity and inclusivity in the game. First Tee—Canada focuses on creating welcoming introductory experiences to golf for youth, with particular emphasis on reaching communities that have been traditionally underrepresented in the sport. The possibilities are endless, and PGA of Canada CEO Kevin Thistle is excited about it.

Thistle says First Tee—Canada provides PGA members with an incredible opportunity to “deliver this amazing platform to a diverse range of young golfers and to dispel many of the stereotypes that have traditionally been associated with golf. This (program) is the perfect vehicle because it aligns so perfectly with our association’s values.”

Harold Varner III, who recently finished in the top 25 in his Masters debut, is an ambassador for RBC Community Junior Golf in support of First Tee – Canada. RBC, in partnership with Golf Canada, will implement First Tee – Canada programming at municipal and publicly accessible golf courses across the country. First Tee locations supported by RBC Community Junior Golf are chosen with a purposeful lens, focused on building greater diversity and equity in golf, thus creating “hubs” of accessible public golf courses, schools, and community centres in underserved communities. 

“I understand the positive impact sport can have on a young person’s life. It can open doors and present opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available,” said Varner.

Still, in its relative infancy, First Tee – Canada is rolling out gradually in communities across the country. The goal is to launch First Tee – Canada Chapters in every region of the country by the end of 2022 and to enroll 100,000 participants in First Tee programming by 2024. Current chapters in operation include British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

As with most nonprofit programs, expansion is dependent on funding. Since the program launched, more than $8M in pledges have been raised in support of First Tee – Canada including major chapter-founding gifts to jump-start the program.

“First Tee—Canada is funded largely through philanthropic contributions,” Blue emphasizes. “It is dependent on the generosity of individuals and companies. It’s really gratifying to see how many have stepped up because they believe in diversifying the sport.”

Since its inception in 1997 in the United States, First Tee has impacted more than 15 million young people through its character-building programs on golf courses, in schools and at youth-serving locations.

The network has grown to more than 150 chapters and more than 1,200 program locations across the U.S. as well as international chapters in Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Morocco and now Canada.

While the all-encompassing program is centred around golf, that activity is just part of the experience aimed at strengthening character by teaching life skills that will last forever. These include understanding and managing emotions, resolving conflicts, setting up step-by-step goals, planning for their future, and appreciating diversity.

First Tee—Canada is open to youth of all ages and skill levels. Kids as young as five are welcome to participate. The goal is, after being introduced to the program, juniors will advance through various stages of the program up until 18, where they will begin to set goals around career and education.

First Tee programming will be delivered at schools, community centres, and golf courses with specifically designed curriculum and coach training for each of these environments. The PGA of Canada’s robust training framework ensures all Canadian coaches are well equipped to deliver First Tee.

First Tee—Canada may help develop better golfers in the future but, much more importantly, it will give us better people.

Golf Canada and the Golf Canada Foundation continue to work with prospective donors who wish to support First Tee nationwide programming. For more information on First Tee—Canada, how to get involved or to donate, visit www.firstteecanada.ca

(ACTON – ON) – The PGA of Canada is pleased to announce the national championship schedule for the 2022 season. While the 2021 season saw all events condensed into the final few months of the summer due to COVID-19 restrictions, we are excited to return to spreading our events throughout the summer and fall months this season. 

The 2022 schedule is highlighted by the 100th playing of the BetRegal PGA Championship of Canada. With a list of champions that includes greats of the game like Arnold Palmer, Moe Norman and Lee Trevino, the 100th edition of the event is going to be a special celebration for the association and history of the tournament.

The 72-hole event will lead off our tournament season, June 20-24 at Beacon Hall Golf Club in Aurora, Ontario. The defending champion is Riley Fleming, who teaches out of Lynx Ridge Golf Club. 

From there, we will quickly move east to Bromont, Quebec, for the PGA Women’s Championship of Canada. Chateau Bromont will host the top professional and amateur women in the country June 28-July 1 for the 54-hole event. This is the first year that the PGA of Canada will run the event alongside our friends at Golf Quebec. Christine Wong, who teaches out of University Golf Club, is the defending champion. 

For the first time, in 2021, the Seniors’ Championship of Canada was held in conjunction with the BetRegal PGA Championship of Canada due to the condensed schedule. We are pleased that the top senior players aged 50 and up in Canada will have a standalone event this year. Supported by the event’s new presenting sponsor GOLFTEC, the 54-hole PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada is set for August 23-26 at Connaught Golf Club in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Last year’s event was won by tournament player Dennis Hendershott.  

The first of those two events is our final championship hosted on Canadian soil this year, as the 54-hole PGA Assistants’ Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf is slated for September 11-14 at The Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. The 2021 event was won by Vespra Hills Golf Club Apprentice Professional Branson Ferrier. 

Finally, the top head professionals, head teaching pros, executive professionals, and general managers from across Canada will look forward to December sunshine as the Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Callaway Golf with support from G&G Brands will be played at Verrado Golf Club – VICTORY COURSE in Buckeye, Arizona, December 5-8. The defending champion is Nick Kenney, Head Teaching Professional at The National Golf Club. 

Verrado Golf Club previously hosted the Head Professional Championship of Canada in 2015, when Danny King won by two strokes over James Skrypec. Participants this year are in for a new experience, as the 2015 event was held at the Founders Course at Verrado Golf Club, while this year’s event will be played on the VICTORY COURSE. 

Please note that as of 2019, the Board of Directors approved guidelines allowing female members to participate in the PGA, Seniors’, Assistants’ and Head Professional Championships from a yardage of 86-88% shorter than the other competitors.

“We are heading into this year’s national championships with a lot of momentum after successfully crowning champions at all of our events in 2021,” said PGA of Canada president Teejay Alderdice. “We are so thankful to all of the venues that have stepped up this year to host events. We have an incredible group of courses across Canada and the US that will allow us to find five more worthy champions.”

Registration for the championships will open in the coming weeks.

Today, RBC announced the first wave of publicly accessible golf courses selected to join RBC Community Junior Golf, a new initiative designed to build greater diversity and inclusivity in golf by creating affordable access to the sport for youth in underrepresented communities across Canada.

In partnership with Golf Canada, RBC Community Junior Golf will support the implementation of the First Tee – Canada and Youth on Course programs at municipal or publicly accessible golf courses, with the goal of engaging 15 facilities in 2022. The courses were selected based on accessibility to local public transit as well as proximity to community centres, with an intentional focus on regional and diverse representation.

By 2023, RBC Community Junior Golf is expected to engage more than 10,000 young people by delivering free First Tee programming, which teaches life lessons through the game of golf, as well as $5 Youth on Course green fees to select Canadian courses across the country.

RBC Community Junior Golf locations:

· Chedoke Golf Club – Hamilton, ON

· Club de Golf Municipal Dallaire – Rouyn-Noranda, QC

· Club de Golf Les Rivières – Trois-Rivières, QC

· Humber Valley Golf Course – Etobicoke, ON

· Legends on the Niagara – Niagara, ON

· Mill River Golf Course – Woodstock, PEI

· Peel Village Golf Course – Brampton, ON

· Tam O’Shanter Golf Course – Scarborough, ON

· Walter Gretzky Municipal Golf Course – Brantford, ON

· Whitewater Golf Club – Thunder Bay, ON

“As a long-standing supporter of golf and an advocate for youth, RBC is proud to bring RBC Community Junior Golf to life,” said Shannon Cole, Vice President, Brand Marketing, RBC. “We believe that sport has the power to build character, teach valuable life lessons, and provide opportunities for young people to grow, and we are excited to work with Golf Canada to provide First Tee and Youth on Course programming across the country.”

Canadian youth ages five to 18 years can benefit from programming at one of the ten participating golf courses. RBC Community Junior Golf participating facilities will work with community centres or schools in their local area to register youth participants. For more details, visit the RBC Community Junior Golf website: https://www.golfcanada.ca/rbcjrgolf.

Golf Canada is grateful to have a like-minded partner in RBC with a shared intentional focus to increase access to junior golf, especially for youth from backgrounds that historically have been underserved.

“The enthusiasm from RBC to advance the sport and provide funding to introduce the game to a diverse range of young golfers at municipal and especially publicly accessible facilities has been extraordinary,” said Kevin Blue, Chief Sport Officer, Golf Canada. “RBC Community Junior Golf will accelerate the delivery of First Tee programming across the country and with RBC’s support, golf will be a vehicle to foster life skills and positively impact Canadian youth from all backgrounds.”

PGA TOUR professional golfer and Team RBC ambassador Harold Varner III serves as an advisor for RBC Community Junior Golf and helped launch the initiative at Humber Valley Golf Course in Toronto – a participating location – last September. He was joined by youth from the Rexdale Boys and Girls Club, where he offered advice and guidance for reaching one’s potential both on and off the course. Learn more about the launch event and Harold’s and RBC’s vision at RBC Stories.

“RBC Community Junior Golf will give many kids who don’t currently have access, the opportunity to play golf and experience all of the benefits associated with the game,” said Harold Varner III, Team RBC ambassador. “I’ve always been passionate about introducing young people to golf, and I’m excited to champion this initiative that will provide youth across Canada with an equal opportunity to play the sport I love.”

One of the important ways RBC brings its Purpose of helping clients thrive and communities prosper to life is by empowering young people. RBC Future Launch is the bank’s $500 million commitment to help Canadian youth prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, including $50 million in focused funding to create meaningful and transformative pathways to prosperity for 25,000 BIPOC youth by 2025. In addition, through the RBC Heritage and RBC Canadian Open tournaments, RBC has helped raise over $35 million in support of local charities in Canada and the United States.

To learn more about RBC Community Junior Golf in support of First Tee and Youth on Course, visit golfcanada.ca/rbcjrgolf.