CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Nelly Korda could barely raise a smile after tapping in for the first birdie of her second round at the Women’s British Open.

On a day her putter turned cold, it had taken 14 holes for the world’s top-ranked player to pick up a shot at Carnoustie.

Some of her big rivals had no such problems Friday.

Georgia Hall, the 2018 champion, overcame a double-bogey at the 15th hole the start of a brutal finish at the storied Scottish links course to shoot 3-under 69 and take a share of the 36-hole lead with Mina Harigae of the United States (67) on 7 under overall.

One stroke back was No. 4 Sei Young Kim (71), a major champion from last year, and Lizette Salas (69), who finished second to Korda at the PGA Championship in June.

Lexi Thompson, looking to add to her sole major win in 2014, shot 70 and was part of a big group on 5 under.

Then came Korda in another large group on 4 under that included Canada’s Brooke Henderson. The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., moved into contention with a second round of 3-under 69. Henderson now sits tied for the 12th spot moving into Saturday’s round.

Korda, the new superstar of women’s golf and the recently crowned Olympic champion shot 1-over 73 and was one of only two players in the current top 16 on the leaderboard to shoot over par on another benign day when the wind held off and it felt almost balmy at times near the east coast of Scotland.

Hall was hoping that wouldn’t last.

“I think it’s about time it got windy,” Hall said, looking ahead to conditions at the weekend which are forecast to turn much more challenging. “It’s proper links golf and that’s what people want to see and I think it makes golf much more interesting when there’s a lot of wind. So I’m quite excited to play in it.”

Hall, who won her favorite event three years ago at Royal Lytham, rolled in six birdies in her first 14 holes to move into a one-stroke lead on 9 under.

The double-bogey 6 at No. 15 dropped her into what would shortly be a four-way tie for the lead and she parred her way home to join Harigae, who rolled in a long, winding birdie putt at the last to complete a round of 67 that contained seven birdies in all.

In the last five years at the Women’s Open, no player has more rounds in the 60s than Hall’s nine and that is filling the 25-year-old English golfer with confidence heading into the weekend.

“It is just so nice to play in front of the crowds. We missed that last year and to hear them cheering my name is great. I’m having a lot of fun.”

That’s something Korda didn’t seem to have.

Even making a big right-to-left putt for birdie at 17 failed to cheer up the world’s best player, who parred her first eight holes that were characterized by a series of missed putts from mid-range, even if her tee-to-green play was typically strong.

“I don’t think I hit it that bad,” Korda said. “The only thing I struggled on was making those putts and getting it close.”

Frustration got the better of Korda as she bogeyed No. 9, missing a putt from 8 feet, and No. 11 and further missed chances at Nos. 12 and 13 didn’t improve her mood.

The first of her two birdies came at the par-5 14th after she reached the green in two.

And at least she made it to the weekend.

Sophia Popov, last year’s unlikely champion at Royal Troon when ranked No. 304, double-bogeyed the last hole after three-putting to shoot 75 for a 3-over total.

Also missing the cut were No. 5-ranked Danielle Kang, who shot 76-75 and two British favorites in Charley Hull despite a second-round 71 and European Ryder Cup captain Catriona Matthew (75), the 2009 champion.

Laura Davies, who has played every Women’s Open since 1980, is sticking around, though. The enduring Englishwoman, 57, shot 70 and was even par for the tournament.

Volunteers. Golf in Canada can’t do without them and for many who try it, it becomes a life-long passion.

Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Canadians volunteer every year at all levels of golf – from local junior events up to and including the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open.

“The volunteers at our recent Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship at Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor absolutely loved what they were doing,” said Golf Canada president Liz Hoffman, who enjoys attending tournaments and getting to hang out with volunteers.

“Whether they were walking scorers, spotters or bringing out water and fruit for the players they loved every minute of what they were doing, and it was contagious.”

Hoffman says if you consider all the roles and responsibilities volunteers have as part of Golf Canada’s board, councils and committees, helping at championships and qualifiers, or who serve as referees or work on handicapping and course rating and then factor everything that happens at the provincial level there is no doubt golf in Canada couldn’t function without them.

“They (volunteers) are integral, right across the country,” she says. “They’re the machine.”

Jim Clark, an Aurora, Ont., resident, first volunteered to work the Canadian Open in 1984 after hearing about it when he was curling.

“I was on the caddy committee,” he explains. “I just loved it. Standing in the parking lot at Glen Abbey and meeting the players as they got out of their cars.

“I enjoyed it so much I did it the next year, and the next year and the next year. And I’ve never missed one since.”

In time, Clark became a governor of the Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada) and he has worked every significant tournament Golf Canada has been involved in.

But why?

“It can be long hours and exhausting, but it gave me an energy,” he says. “It was the highlight of my year many times. That’s why I kept going back.”

Clark said volunteering in golf gave him a feeling of being part of a team and he loves to talk about the friendships he’s made through working golf tournaments and how volunteers come from all walks of life.

“We had a doctor who ran a parking lot at the Canadian Open,” he said. “He took a week off from his practice to direct cars in the parking lot.”

Hoffman’s introduction to volunteering in golf was not unlike Clark’s.

It happened in 2006 because the University of Toronto, where she was director of athletics and high-performance sport, was hosting the Canadian University/College Championship at Thornhill G&CC, where she’s a member.

After that experience she volunteered at the club level, then with Golf Ontario. And now, 15 years later, she is president of Golf Canada.

Both Hoffman and Clark agree that it’s not hard to get volunteers back for a second or third time because they see they’re making a difference and are having fun doing it.

“Once people do it they love it and they’ll go back,” said Clark. “The hard part is getting them out for the first time because some people can be intimidated by it.”

That’s one of the reasons Hoffman is on a crusade to broaden golf’s volunteer base in Canada.

“I’ve had so many parents come up to me and say, “if you ever need volunteers let me know because I’ll help in any way I can,’” says Hoffman who points out the reason they ask is because they simply don’t know how to get involved.

For starters, you don’t have to be a great golfer or even a golfer, period.

“We welcome applications from all individuals who share our values and may contribute to increasing equity diversity and inclusion in our sport,” says Hoffman. “We want to look inside and outside our sport.

“We want to broaden our volunteer base and underrepresented groups are key. We need to make sure we reach out to them and let them know who we are and how to get involved.”

Golf Canada has made it simple to sign up as a volunteer. For starters, you can simply go to www.golfcanada.ca/volunteer-opportunities to get more information on how to volunteer with Golf Canada.

Or if you prefer, you can call Golf Canada or your provincial golf association and ask, “how do I volunteer?”

You can reach Golf Canada at 905-849-9700 or toll-free at 1-800-263-0009.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) Jon Rahm returned from a month off and played like he was never gone. Justin Thomas took the advice of a 15-year-old and had his lowest score of the year.

Both opened with an 8-under 63 on Thursday at The Northern Trust as the PGA Tour’s postseason began with no shortage of bizarre developments.

Rahm, who missed his chance at the Olympics because of what amounts to a false positive test result for COVID-19, expected a little rust in his game. It just didn’t show on his card. He chipped in for birdie, saved par on the next two holes and was on his way.

Thomas had benched his putter for bad behavior after he spent too much of the year not seeing putts go in the hole. But during his junior event last week, a teenager asked why he wasn’t using his old putter.

He didn’t hole all of them, but enough to record nine birdies for his lowest round since a 62 last November in Mexico.

Bryson DeChambeau also made nine birdies. He was eight shots behind. His round of 71 was noteworthy because of the pars he made on No. 4 and No. 10. Those were the only pars he made all day. The nine birdies were offset by five bogeys and two double bogeys.

It was the first time in 10 years someone shot par or better with two pars or fewer.

Not to be overlooked was Dustin Johnson, one of the most stress-free players in golf at least he looks that way who uttered words rarely heard: “Threw me for a loop.”

He was hitting drivers on the range, and hitting them well, right before teeing off when a few of them came off the club funny and another one sounded funny. His driver cracked, and Johnson headed to the first tee with 13 clubs and one head cover for his 5-wood.

He had a spare 3-wood in the car but no driver and got that on the third hole. If that wasn’t enough, he decided on a putter switch at the last minute. He still managed a 70.

Otherwise, there was a range of good golf in surprisingly strong wind off the Hudson River across from the Manhattan skyline.

Harold Varner III had a 66 in the morning, boosting his postseason chances. He is No. 72 in the FedEx Cup standings, and only the top 70 after this week advance to the next tournament. With the points at quadruple value, some big movements are expected.

The six players at 67 included Adam Scott (No. 82), Robert Streb (No. 68) and Mackenzie Hughes (No. 67). Hughes sits tied for the fourth spot with Scott and Streb, putting him one off the lead heading into the second round.

British Open champion Collin Morikawa, the No. 1 seed, struggled to keep the ball in play and opened with a 74. Jordan Spieth at No. 2 opened with a 72.

Rahm has endured the strangest of times with COVID-19. He tested positive on the day he built a six-shot lead through 54 holes at the Memorial and had to withdraw, and then returned to win the U.S. Open for his first major.

And then after more negative test results than he can remember for the British Open he tied for third at Royal St. George’s he had two more negative tests prior to his departure for the Olympics before a positive result showed up. The next day, he took two more tests (both negative), but by then it was too late.

He returned from his bout with COVID-19 by winning a major. This is different. He never had a chance to win a gold medal because he never made it to Tokyo. But he wouldn’t mind the same result, which in this case would be a FedEx Cup title worth $15 million.

Thomas knows putts that don’t fall is not the fault of the equipment, but something had to change, so he benched his putter at he U.S. Open. Ultimately, it’s about getting the speed to match with the line of the putt, and he did that well for so much of the day.

He holed a 35-foot birdie putt for his first lead on the par-3 14th, gave it back with a poor chip, and then drove the 283-yard 16th green to set up a closing stretch of three straight birdies.

The day started with another development: Patrick Reed withdrew with a sore ankle, the second straight week he has had to withdraw.

Reed is No. 22 in the FedEx Cup, and there are only two tournaments left to qualify for the Ryder Cup. He is No. 9 in the standings, and only the top six automatically qualify. The idea was to give it another week of rest and being ready for the next one.

The Golf Canada Foundation has opened applications for bursaries to provide Canadian professional golfers with financial assistance for upcoming Q-school tournaments in support their journeys to the LPGA and PGA TOUR.

These bursaries are being made available this year in recognition of the increased travel expenses that many players have incurred due to the impact of COVID-19. For example, host family housing has not been available at many events, thus creating increased expenses for players. 

Canadian professional golfers who anticipate expenses attempting to qualify for the 2021-2022 season on any tour that is affiliated with the PGA TOUR, European Tour, or LPGA tour are welcomed to apply through this link.

The application will be open until Monday, September 20 at 5pm ET. Bursaries will be awarded by mid-October in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $7,000, depending on a player’s competitive results and projected expenses.

For more information, please contact Emily Phoenix (ephoenix@golfcanada.ca).

On Sunday, Canadians Taylor Pendrith and Adam Svensson achieved a dream – reaching the PGA TOUR.

With the conclusion of the season-ending Pinnacle Bank Championship in Nebraska – the Korn Ferry Tour’s top 25 on the point list were finalized.

Pendrith, a native of Richmond Hill, Ont., finished at No. 5 and 27-year-old Svensson of Surrey, B.C., at No. 11, earning their PGA TOUR cards for the 2021-22 season.

For Svensson, it’s the conclusion of a two-year battle to find his way back to the PGA TOUR, after finishing outside of the playoff cut in 2019, sending him back down to the Korn Ferry loop.

But for Pendrith, it’s been a longer journey to make it to the top. After initially qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour for the 2016 season, Pendrith lost his card the following year due to injury and was sent back down to the Mackenzie Tour – where he’d have to restart the climb to the top.

Since then, Pendrith has been on the prowl – finishing second on the Mackenzie Tour in 2019 and continuing that momentum into the 2020-2021 Korn Ferry Tour season.

And although he’s receiving the coveted PGA TOUR card for the first time, Pendrith is not new to the top-level tour. In fact, he played in six events on the PGA TOUR over the course of the 2021 season, including both the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in 2020 and at Torrey Pines Golf Club in 2021.

In those six starts, he only missed the cut once, and finished inside the top 25 on three separate occasions, including a career-high finish tie for 11th at the Barbasol Championship. At the 2020 U.S. Open, in a field that included famously long-hitters Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson, Pendrith finished third in overall driving distance, behind just Matthew Wolff and Dustin Johnson.

For Svensson, it’s been nearly two years since he last played an event on the PGA TOUR, which resulted in a missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship in September of 2019. But Svensson was a dominate force this season on the Korn Ferry Tour, with 17 top 25 finishes, including a win at the Club Car Championship in March.

While Pendrith is still looking for his maiden Korn Ferry Tour win, his four runner-up finishes this past season were more than enough to place him safely into a position to secure his card.

Pendrith will join his former Kent State University teammates Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., who both re-earned their PGA TOUR cards for the following season.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C. and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., both also re-earned their cards, and Svensson will bring the B.C. contingent on tour up to three, and the Canadian total up to six.

As a result of winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2020, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford will also be on the PGA TOUR for the upcoming season.  

Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., and David Hearn of Brampton, Ont., both finished between 126-200 on the PGA TOUR this season, so they will get a second chance to re-earn their PGA TOUR cards at the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

While Pendrith and Svensson have already secured their cards, they will have the chance to gain a higher ranking on the priority list by taking part in the three-event finals.

The first of said events will be the Albertsons Boise Open at Hillcrest Country Club in Idaho from Aug 19 – 22.

Why is my Handicap Index not changing?

There are many reasons why your Handicap Index may not be moving; most often the reason is that your recently posted score differential is not among the lowest eight of your most recent 20 scores.  If that isn’t the case, it could be due to a soft/hard cap being applied in your Handicap Index calculation.

The cap procedures were introduced with the World Handicap System (WHS) to limit the extreme upward movement of a Handicap Index and ensure that a run of bad scores do not severely impact your Index.  This is outlined in the Rules of Handicapping (Rule 5.8).

What is a “soft cap” and a “hard cap”?

To understand the soft & hard cap, first we must explain the Low Handicap Index.  Your Low Index is the “memory” of your demonstrated ability over the last 365 days.  Simply put, your Low Index is the lowest Handicap Index that you have held over the last 365-days.  The Low Index is used as the comparison point to determine if a soft or hard cap should be applied.

Each time you post a score, the Golf Canada Score Centre compares your newly calculated Handicap Index to your Low Index.

Soft Cap – When your newly calculated Handicap Index is more than 3.0 strokes above your Low Handicap Index, the soft cap is applied and the value above 3.0 strokes is restricted to 50% of the increase.

For Example:

You are a golfer with a Low Index of 12.0.  You post a new score which results in a calculated Handicap Index of 16.0.  The difference is 4.0, and since this more than 3.0, the soft cap would apply.

To calculate your new Handicap Index, we start with your Low Index, add 3.0 and add 50% of the difference above the 3.0 increase:

Handicap Index = 12.0 + 3.0 + ((4.0 – 3.0) x 50%)

                        = 12.0 + 3.0 + (1.0 x 50%)

                        = 12.0 + 3.0 + 0.5

                        = 15.5

Your Handicap Index would be 15.5

Hard Cap – The hard cap limits the upward movement of your handicap index to a maximum of 5.0 strokes above your Low Handicap Index.

For Example:

You are a golfer with a Low Index of 12.0.  You post a new score which results in a calculated Handicap Index of 20.0.  The difference is 8.0, and since your Handicap Index cannot be more than 5.0 higher than your Low Index, your Handicap Index would be hard capped at 17.0.

Both cap procedures are automatically applied to your handicap index. No need for you to do anything!

To learn more please watch the following the video below; or read more here.

If you have any questions regarding the Rules of Handicapping, please feel free to Ask an Expert or complete our Rules of Handicapping Certification seminar and quiz.

Golf Canada saw over 1.7M scores posted in the month of July 2021—marking a record for the most ever in the organization’s history.

Find your course today by clicking here.

CALGARY – Doug Barron felt bad for celebrating his second PGA Tour Champions win a bit prematurely.

After lagging his eagle putt to within tap-in range on the par 5 finishing hole of Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club, Barron threw his arms in the air and started to celebrate his victory at the 2021 Shaw Charity Classic.

“I felt kind of bad because I got a little excited,” said Barron, who apologized to playing partner Steve Flesch for his premature celebrations. “He’s my friend. I would never want to disrespect another player. When you win out here, it’s so few and far between.”

Shortly after draining his short birdie putt, Barron chest bumped his caddie Christopher Shepherd and then did a victory lap around the final green while fist bumping many of the fans in attendance.

Although Barron bogeyed his first hole of the day, he went on to record five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 11th hole to card his third straight round of 6-under 64.

His 54-hole score of 18-under 192 gave the 52-year-old golfer from Memphis, Tenn., just his second-ever PGA Tour Champions victory. His last one was at the 2019 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, N.Y.

For his efforts, Barron won US$352,500, which is $30,100 more than he won when he finished third on the PGA Tour at the 2005 EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.

Thanks to three birdies on the front nine and three more in his first four holes on the back side, Flesch of Union, Ky., was in the lead until Barron rallied for the win. Flesch’s round of 5-under 65 was good enough for second as he finished the tournament at 16 under.

“My goal was to make four birdies on the back nine,” said Flesch, who finished in third at the 2019 Shaw Charity Classic. “I made three kind of real quickly and I made a nice par save on 12. I knew I probably needed to make another birdie on one of the last three and I didn’t. And man, all credit to Doug for his finish.”

Billy Andrade and Brandt Jobe ended up in a tie for third place at 13 under, while Billy Mayfair finished one shot back of them alone in fifth.

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Stephen Ames of Calgary carded a round of even -par 70 to finish in a tie for sixth at 11 under with David McKenzie.

“Everything about it was great except the fact that we only had 2,000 people watching unfortunately,” Ames said. “I think everybody’s more or less waiting for this COVID thing to get over with and we’ll get back to normal next year, which will be awesome.”

One day after shooting an even-par round of 70, Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., improved that score by two shots on Sunday to finish in a four-way tie for ninth at 9 under.

“It was a nice test of golf,” Weir said. “I found it difficult on the greens, especially on the weekend. I got stuck in neutral the last two days here, but I love the place and Shaw and Suncor did an amazing job, so it was good to be back up north.”

Also in that group with Weir were Matt Gogel, Tim Herron and Ken Duke.

David Morland IV from Aurora, Ont., shot 69 on Sunday to finish in a six-way tie at 7 under.

“I’m playing decent, just need to make a few more putts coming down the stretch,” Morland said. “Overall, I’m tied for 16th, so a decent week, just trending in the right direction. Just keep on trucking.”

Meanwhile Dennis Hendershott of Brantford, Ont., had four birdies and four bogeys on his round to finish both his day and the tournament at even par. That left him well back of the leaders in a three-way tie for 47th.

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Kevin Kisner made birdie on the second extra hole to win a record-tying six-man playoff at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.

Kisner struck his approach to 3 feet on the 18th hole at Sedgefield and made the putt for his first PGA Tour win since 2019 and fourth of his career.

Not that it was easy. Kisner began four shots off the lead and shot 66, making birdies on the 16th and 17th holes to reach 15 under and the playoff. His birdie bested Adam Scott, Roger Sloan, Kevin Na, Si Woo Kim and Branden Grace after all had made pars on the first additional hole.

With Scott looking at a 4-footer for birdie on the first extra hole, Kisner thought he would have to hole a pitch from short of the 18th green just to stay in the playoff, and he nearly did it. Kisner grimaced as his ball settled just right of the cup.

But Scott’s short putt missed badly and all six players went back to the 18th tee. This time, only Kisner stuffed his approach close on the 505-yard closing hole.

Kim shot 64 in the final round. Scott had a 65 while Grace, Na and Sloan each closed with 66.

It was the third six-man playoff on the PGA Tour and the first since Robert Allenby won at Riviera in 2001.

It didn’t look like a playoff would be necessary after Russell Henley, who led after the first three rounds, recovered from a slow start to reach 17-under after a birdie on the 10th hole. But Henley bogeyed three of the next four and came to the 72nd hole needing par to stay at 15 under.

But Henley missed a 6-footer to go 0-for-3 this season with the 54-hole lead. He was in front after three rounds at Las Vegas last October and at the U.S. Open in June.

There was drama through the final round of the tour’s last regular-season event as players outside the postseason sought to get in.

It looked like former FedEx Cup champion Justin Rose, who started the week 138th, had done enough to make the 125-man field for The Northern Trust. But the Englishman missed a 5-footer for par on the final hole that dropped him to 126th – first outside the playoff field.

“Obviously it was in my hands up 18,” Rose said. “I didn’t do a very good job of that.”

Rose’s loss was Chesson Hadley’s gain. The veteran who finished second at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in June made a hole-in one on the par-3 16th – complete with an awkward, leg-kicking celebration – and shot 62.

That was enough to sneak him into next week’s field at No. 125. And unlike Rose, Hadley needed to make the playoffs to secure full playing privileges for next season.

Sloan and Scott Piercy were two others who played their way into the playoffs. Canada’s Sloan moved from 131st to 92nd while Piercy came in at No. 126 and improved 10 spots.

Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, both of Abbotsford, B.C., finished tied for 10th at 13 under. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., finished tied for 37th and tied for 65th, respectively.

Three players who missed the cut this week fell from the top 125 after starting the week playoff-bound. Ryan Armour went from 122nd to 127th, Bo Hoag from 125th to 129th and Patrick Rodgers from 123rd to 128th.

Threatening weather for later Sunday led tour officials to move up tee times. They didn’t count on a mash-up at the top leading to the 12th playoff on the PGA Tour this season.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Doug Barron eagled the par-5 18th for his second straight 6-under 64 and a one-stroke lead Saturday in the PGA Tour Champions’ Shaw Charity Classic.

The 52-year-old Barron also had five birdies and a bogey at Canyon Meadows. He won the 2019 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open for his lone tour title.

“I played really nice today,” Barron said. “I hit the ball solid all day. I did make a bogey, but I still hit a good shot on the hole and I made bogey. I just didn’t get up-and-down. I’m fine where I’m at. I did look at the leaderboard going into 18. I wanted to be in the final group, so I think the only way, my only path to the final group was to make eagle, so I can’t believe I did it, That was pretty cool.”

Calgary resident Stephen Ames, Steve Flesch and first-round leader Billy Mayfair were a stroke back at 11 under. Ames and Flesch birdied the 18th for 65s, and Mayfair followed an opening 62 with a 67.

Brandt Jobe was 9 under after a 66. David McKenzie (64) and Ken Duke (67) were 8 under.

Canadian star Mike Weir, a stroke back after an opening 63, had a 70 to drop into a tie for eighth at 7 under. The 2003 Masters champion won the Insperity Invitational in early May in Texas for his lone senior title. In his last start, he tied for second in the U.S. Senior Open in Nebraska.

Canadians David Morland IV and Dennis Hendershott are tied for 14th and 48th, respectively.

The tournament is the first the PGA Tour Champions or PGA Tour event in Canada since the Shaw Charity Classic in 2019.

Robert Allenby had a his second straight 71. He turned 50 last month and tied for 64th in the Senior British Open in his Champions debut.