TORONTO—The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada will return to action in 2021 with a set of eight tournaments available for players based in Canada. The PGA TOUR made the announcement June 10. 

A year after the global pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 season, and with restrictions still in place at the Canada-U.S. border, the Mackenzie Tour is giving competitive opportunities to players already in Canada through this eight-event schedule that begins in July and runs to October. 

The season begins in late-July, with the Mackenzie Investments Open at Club de Golf Le Blainvillier in the city of Blainville just outside of Montreal on July 26-August 1. Following a two- week break, the Tour begins a seven-tournament-in-seven-week stretch, beginning August 16- 22 at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley for the Osprey Valley Open. Next is a two-week stay in Prince Edward Island for a pair of tournaments at two of the island’s finest golf courses. First up is the Prince Edward Island Open (August 23-29) at Dundarave Golf Club followed by the Brudenell River Classic (August 30-September 5) at Brudenell River Golf Course. 

Players will then travel west for a tournament to be announced at a later date and will be played the week of September 6-12, followed by Calgary’s ATB Financial Classic (September 13- 19) at Country Hills Golf Club, both long-time Tour partners. The season concludes with a pair of tournaments in British Columbia, the GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon Golf and Country Club (September 20-26) followed by the DCBank Open presented by Times Colonist at Uplands Golf Club (September 27-October 3). 

The Mackenzie Tour and tournament organizers continue to monitor issues surrounding the global pandemic, and they have worked with local and provincial health authorities and will continue to do so leading up to the tournaments. Approvals to return to competition still need to happen across the country, but organizers remain encouraged that the tournaments will be able to take place based on the vaccine rollout. 

Even with the compacted schedule and the number of events played in consecutive weeks caused by continued pandemic issues, Pritchard sees this year’s set of tournaments and their place on the schedule as a good thing. 

In 2020, the PGA TOUR conducted a four-tournament grouping of tournaments for players in Canada. What the Tour conducted last summer will serve as a model in 2021. 

“What I’m most excited about is that these players will have opportunities to compete at PGA TOUR-sanctioned events, the competitions taking place at quality golf courses and the Tour offering some compelling season-ending incentive for these players,” Pritchard added. 

The top player at the conclusion of the season will earn full status on the 2022 Mackenzie Tour, while players finishing No. 2 through 5 on the Points List will receive conditional 2022 Mackenzie Tour status, which will gain them entry into the first set of events before the reshuffle. Finishers six through 10 will each earn a sponsor exemption into a 2022 Mackenzie Tour event. 

Tour officials will continue to monitor the travel restrictions in place and adapt accordingly should policies change before or during the season. 

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Cameron Champ was struggling mightily through the first half of this year, a frustrating series of performances that pointed him back to his state of mind more than any mechanical flaw.

Like many newlyweds, the 26-year-old was distracted by the delicate balance of passionately pursuing his career while still trying to carve out a healthy personal life at home. He found himself becoming much too upset by a bad round.

There sure wasn’t much for Champ to be mad about at the 3M Open.

Champ fended off dehydration and crisply putted his way to a 5-under 66 on Sunday, winning by two strokes for his third career victory.

Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas and Charl Schwartzel tied for second. Keith Mitchell was fifth at 12 under, and behind him were five players tied for sixth.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. finished tied for sixth, Roger Sloan of Calgary finished tied for 16th, Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., finished tied for 49th, and David Hearn of Brampton, Ont., finished tied for 58th.

Champ joined Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau as the only under-28 players to win in each of the last three seasons on tour. He jumped from 142nd to 49th in the FedEx Cup standings, with the top 125 qualifying for the playoff opener.

This month has brought quite the turnaround for the Texas A&M product, after nine missed cuts and one withdrawal over his first 16 starts of 2021. The best finish in that stretch was a tie for 17th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Champ hit the reset button after missing the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit three weeks ago, though, and emerged with a tie for 11th at the John Deere Classic in Illinois.

His wife, Jessica, was surely happy to hear that.

“It’s more so realizing what I want to do in the game of golf and then who I want to be at home. It’s a balance you have to find, and if you don’t, it can really haunt you and it can cause a lot of issues,” Champ said. “So I just feel like the last two months I’ve been in a lot better head space.”

During another 90-degree day, Champ was far from his physical best. He felt some dizziness along the back nine, putting his hands on his knees at one point as he hung his head to try to regain some composure. He had plenty of it on the last hole, after his safe strategy with the tee shot to stay away from the lake landed way left in a trampled, sandy area directly behind a clump of trees.

Champ managed to chip out onto the primary rough, then scoot up the fairway. His approach was a beauty that landed perfectly and rolled back toward the pin. He sank the easy par putt and had enough energy to pump his arms in celebration of his first top-10 finish since last October.

He had the best putting performance of the 3M Open field, with an average of 8.48 strokes gained.

Oosthuizen shot 66, too, in a much stronger finish than the previous weekend at the British Open, where his 54-hole lead turned into a tie for third after a fourth-round 71.

Playing six pairs ahead of Champ, Oosthuizen birdied three of the last four holes to give himself an outside chance. His approach to the 18th green almost yielded an eagle on the PGA Tour’s hardest par-5 hole, but the ball lipped out. Oosthuizen made a 2 1/2 foot putt for birdie instead and his fourth runner-up finish in seven starts. Schwartzel, his fellow South African, posted a 68 to match Vegas in the final round.

Cameron Tringale, a one-stroke leader after the third round, took a triple bogey on the par-3 13th hole right after consecutive birdies had brought him back into contention. He shot 74 and finished six strokes behind Champ, leaving PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson as the only 54-hole leader or co-leader to win in the last 13 tour events.

Matthew Wolff (2019) and Michael Thompson (2020), the first two winners of the 3M Open, each finished in a tie for 39th place at 5-under.

“Once I start an event,” Reed said, “I’m definitely going to finish the event.”

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – The third round of the 3M Open was filled with shots into the rough and the water around the 18th green, and sometimes both.

Cameron Tringale stayed out of trouble that so many others didn’t Saturday – and took the lead into the final round.

Tringale made a short par putt on the treacherous par-5 18th hole for a 5-under 66 and a one-stroke advantage over Gary Woodland and Maverick McNealy.

Tringale, who tied for third last year at the TPC Twin Cities, eagled the par-5 12th and had three birdies in a bogey-free round. The 33-year-old topped the crowded leaderboard at 12-under 201. In an interview with reporters afterward, he quickly recalled that he birdied the 18th in the final round of the 2020 edition of the 3M Open, without fans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Woodland overcame a double bogey on No. 1 with birdies on five of his next six holes in a 67. McNealy had a bogey-free 68.

“There’s going to be birdies tomorrow. You’re still going to have to go low. You’re just going to have to play a good round in the wind,” Woodland said.

Pat Perez shot a 66 to join an eight-way tie for fourth, two shots off the lead. Included in that group was Calgary’s Roger Sloan, who cared a 1-under Saturday.

Four players were three strokes back. Louis Oosthuizen, the highest-ranked player remaining at No. 9 in the world and in the FedEx Cup standings, was in a six-way tie for 16th place at only four shots behind.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was in the group that’s four shots off the pace after carding a 2-over Saturday. Hadwin shot a6-under 65 on Friday to grab a share of the second-round lead. Canadians David Hearn and Michael Gligic are both tied for 63rd.

During yet another unseasonable day of 32 C-plus degree heat, the scores crept up throughout the afternoon with the thermometer as drier and breezier air affected the play.

Keith Mitchell had a record-tying seven straight birdies to start his round on his way to a 29 on the back nine. The front nine? He posted a 37 for a 66 that left him four strokes behind Tringale. Rickie Fowler birdied six of his first 10 holes, before a triple bogey on the unrelenting 18th left him with a 70 and a tie for 29th in a six-stroke deficit.

The mini-lake in front of the 18th hole sure swallowed up a lot of balls. It’s currently ranked as the hardest par 5 on the PGA Tour. There were nine bogeys and 12 scores worse than that Saturday, for a cumulative score of 35-over. The rest of the course was 85-under.

Tringale safely hit his first two shots along the edges of the fairway before landing his third attempt at the cusp of the green. His 52-foot shot put himself in perfect position for par.

Fowler, on the other hand, splashed his third shot well short of the green. After the penalty stroke, he landed in the rough. After escaping that, he left a 20-foot putt short. He took his highest score to finish a round in his tour career.

Mitchell matched Juan Sebastian Munoz (2020), Brandt Snedeker (2007) and Joe Durant (2005) with seven birdies in a row to begin the round.

The 29-year-old Mitchell, whose only career PGA Tour victory came in the Honda Classic in 2019, had his streak stopped when a putt lipped out on the 17th green. Then the hot air grew drier and breezier, forcing a more conservative approach. The momentum shift, he said, was palpable. His tee shot on box No. 1 after the turn landed into the native grass area.

The first half of his card was clearly a keeper.

“I actually felt some nerves a little bit, but they were good nerves. It was a good kind of nervous, not like the `Hope I don’t miss the cup’ nerves or `Where do we stand on the FedExCup’ nerves. It’s more of like, `Hey, I’m in contention again, and I want to play well’ nerves, and those are the good kind. Those are the fun kind.”

With only three tournaments remaining after this prior to the FedEx Cup playoffs, Mitchell is one of several golfers near the 125-man cut who could use a strong performance on Sunday to create a bigger cushion. Mitchell entered the week ranked 114th. Perez was 115th. Chez Reavie, who was two strokes behind Tringale, was 119th. Fowler was 124th.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Roberto Diaz and Alex Kang each reached 13-under through two rounds to earn the 36-hole lead at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper. The duo leads four players by one stroke at the halfway point of the tournament at Highland Springs Country Club. 

Diaz was 1-under on his round before a stretch of four consecutive birdies from Nos. 6-9 to finish. 

“It was great; I made an amazing par on 5,” said Diaz. “I hit a bad wedge in and had a bad lie in the rough, but I hit about a 12-footer for par. That really set me up for the next hole. I just kept hitting my lines with the putts and they started falling in…I haven’t really paid attention to the leaderboard. I had a peek on the ninth tee and saw that I was tied for the lead. But I’m trying to make as many birdies as possible.” 

Entering the week 23rd in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings, Diaz is seeking a strong finish to solidify his standing inside the top-25. The top-25 players in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season earn PGA TOUR membership for the 2021-22 season while the top-75 players retain their Korn Ferry Tour status in 2022. 

Earlier this season, Diaz broke through with his maiden Korn Ferry Tour victory, a one-stroke win over Peter Uihlein at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by MISTRAS. The win came three months to the day after the birth of his son, his first child. 

“I’ve had a great year so far,” said Diaz. “I had my first win, my kid was born, if nothing else, if I get my card or not, I will be fine. I’ve played great golf so far so I’m just enjoying where I’m at.” 

Competing in the third-to-last group of the day, Kang birdied his final two holes to match Diaz’s 13- under total. Kang is one of six players without a bogey or worse through the first two days. 

“It seems like I haven’t hit a lot of greens through the last few tournaments, so I’m trying to hit a lot of greens, give myself more chances, and not get into trouble,” said Kang, the brother of LPGA Tour star Danielle Kang. “Instead of being so aggressive, kind of try to win the tournament with the putter.” 

With uncertain status this season, Kang has made a habit of using local caddies each week. This week he has paired up with a member out at Highland Springs Country Club. 

Kang entered the week 191st in the points standings with only 10 starts. With only three events remaining in the regular season, he would likely need a win to secure Korn Ferry Tour status for the 2022 season. 

Four players sit one stroke off the lead, including 49-year-old Steven Alker and Simmons Bank Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation champion Austin Smotherman. 

Canadian Stuart Macdonald is tied for third at 12-under while fellow Canadians Adam Svensson and Taylor Pendrith are both tied for 45th.

The third round will run from 7 a.m. to 1:10 p.m. off of the first tee on Saturday at Highland Springs Country Club. 

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Canadian Adam Hadwin missed the weekend cuts in his last three tournaments, continuing a disappointing stretch as he dropped to 120th in the FedEx Cup standings.

The 33-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., has put himself in position to get back in contention for the playoffs with a strong run at the 3M Open.

Hadwin shot a 6-under 65 on Friday for a share of the lead with Ryan Armour at 10-under 132. Armour shot 65.

Hadwin and Armour were two of few players in the afternoon to go low as wind started to play a role following a hot and humid morning with heat indexes reaching 100 degrees.

Bo Hoag (66), Chez Reavie (67), Jhonatton Vegas (69) and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., (69) were a shot back. All four played in the morning.

Second-ranked Dustin Johnson bogeyed the 18th hole after putting his tee shot in the water and missed the cut. He shot 72 to finish at even par. The cut was 2-under.

Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., (71) and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., (69) made the weekend cut at 2 under.

Staying in contention this weekend would be a boon to Hadwin and Armour.

Hadwin, who finished fourth in the inaugural 3M Open in 2019, was just inside the cut for the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top 125 in the standings make the playoffs. Armour started the tournament 135th.

“I think the biggest thing coming in this week, I’ve just been a little bit more committed to the process and less on the outcome,” Hadwin said. “Certainly playoffs, maintaining status, all that stuff has probably been creeping in a bit in the last little bit and I probably got away from some of the little details that make this game happen for us. So, I’ve gotten back to that these last three rounds and it’s worked out a lot better for me.”

Hadwin, famous for shooting a 59 at the CareerBuilder Challenge in 2017, had a 69 on the final day of the British Open and followed with a 67 on Thursday in Minnesota. His only PGA Tour win was the Valspar Championship in 2017.

Armour’s lone victory came in the 2018 Sanderson Farms Championship. He’s coming off a fifth-place finish at last week’s Barbasol Championship. He birdied five of his final eight holes Friday.

“I’m trying,” Armour said. “We’ll worry about the points later. I don’t feel like I’ve really had as bad a year as 135 sounds. I missed five or six cuts by a shot, so you’re always kind of around that cut line and I just fell on the wrong side of it a few times. That’s what kind of gnaws at you because you feel like, man, it’s not that bad, so maybe I should be higher, but you’ve got to go out and get it done and we’re just trying our hardest right now.”

Eleven players finished their first rounds Friday after a weather delay Thursday left them unable to finish. With more inclement weather forecast overnight, the 3M Open will go with threesomes off split tees Saturday.

Vegas was able to finish in the dark on Thursday, but it wasn’t without incident as his approach on the 18th hit the top of a hospitality tent. The ball was found and he was given relief and finished with a birdie and a tie for the lead.

One of four players at the 3M Open slated to play in next week’s Olympics, Vegas kept his strong recent form going Friday. The Venezuelan was among the leaders before a bogey finish on the ninth hole, which is playing as the toughest on the course.

Vegas has tied for 11th or better in three of his last five tournaments.

“I feel I like I’m keeping the ball in play pretty well, giving myself enough chances, making a few putts, which is always good,” Vegas said. “The wind is blowing and it’s kind of that intensity that is a little bit annoying, especially some of those shots with so much water around this place, but played solid. I can’t really complain too much.”

LEDUC, Alta. – Team Canada National Junior Squad member Nicole Gal of Oakville, Ont., shot a final-round 67 on Friday to win the 66th Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Leduc Golf Club in Leduc, Alta., by a commanding 12-stroke margin.

Gal finished the championship at 13 under. She finished ahead of fellow Junior Squad member and Oakville resident, Katie Cranston who finished second at 1 under.

Gal also won the Juvenile division, which ran concurrently for girls aged 16 and under, ahead of Luna Lu of Burnaby, B.C. at two-over and Martina Yu of Coquitlam, B.C. at three-over. Lu and Yu finished third and fourth overall, respectively.

The 16-year-old registered all four rounds with an under par score (71-69-68-67) and led the field by three at the end of the second round. By the completion of 54-holes, Gal had extended her lead to five strokes after a bogey-free third round.

By the time Gal and the final group reached the turn on Friday, Gal had extended her lead to eight strokes over Cranston and would go on to card a second consecutive bogey-free round.

This is not the first time Gal and Cranston have finished next to each other on the leaderboard. In 2020, Gal finished runner-up to Cranston at the Ontario Junior Girls Championship.

In 2019, Gal notably won the Drive, Chip and Putt Championship in the Girls 14-15 division.

This year’s Canadian Junior Girls Championship began with a 106-player field that included three of the Team Canada National Junior Squad members including Gal, Cranston, and Jennifer Gu of West Vancouver, B.C., who held the 18-hole lead and ultimately finished in a tie for eighth.

The field’s youngest competitor, 11-year-old Lucy Lin, finished in a tie for 12th at 12 over.

With the win Gal receives an exemption into the 2021 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship held July 27-30 at Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club in Spruce Grove, Alta.

“It’s the first time I’m playing that event, so I don’t have many expectations yet,” said Gal on the Women’s Amateur. “But if I just take it day by day, I think I will finish pretty well there as well.”

Gal joins a list of notable Canadian golfers to have won the Canadian Junior Girls Championship including LPGA Tour players and Olympians Brooke Henderson (2012) and Alena Sharp (1999), as well as Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member Sandra Post (1964-66).

Full results can be found here.

OAKVILLE, Ont. (Golf Canada) — Golf Canada in partnership with Canadian Pacific (CP) and LNG Canada has announced the fourth annual CP Women’s Leadership Summit presented by LNG Canada will take place virtually on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, with complimentary access. 

The intent of the Summit is to bring together like-minded female leaders across business and sport to have important conversations about gender equity, representation, diversity and intersectionality. This year’s Summit will feature four sessions, running from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET, and will be hosted by TSN personality Lindsay Hamilton. 

The CP Women’s Leadership Summit presented by LNG Canada will also help raise funds for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. This year, CP has generously offered to triple-match all online donations, meaning donor gifts go three-times as far towards benefiting BC youth. 

The opening-session of the Summit will focus on changing the status quo in golf and will be led by PGD Global executives, Nisha and Seema Sadekar, former professional golfers and founders of the “Bigger Than Golf” and “Project Fairway” initiatives designed for women and girls to use golf as a tool for life.

The second session will discuss leveling the gender playing field in business and will feature Alison Twiner, Digital Marketing & Strategy Advisor and Chair of the Heart & Stroke Foundation Board along with Caryna Pinheiro, Assistant Vice-President, Application & Digital Services at CP. 

LPGA Tour athlete Cheyenne Woods and three-time CP Women’s Open champion Lydia Ko will head up the third session touching on representation in sport.

The final session of the Summit will focus on leadership utilizing the strength of your diversity and will feature Cathy Engelbert, Commissioner of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and USGA Executive Committee member. 

In July of 2019, Engelbert was named the first-ever Commissioner of the WNBA and has since led the league through the COVID-19 pandemic and executed the historic player-first Collective Bargaining Agreement. A former CEO of Deloitte, Engelbert has been named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women for consecutive years, is ranked on Glassdoor’s annual Employees’ Choice Awards honouring the 100 Highest-Rated CEOs and is among Crain’s 50 Most Powerful Women in New York.

“The CP Women’s Leadership Summit is an exciting opportunity to share, hear and learn from some amazing female leaders,” said Caryna Pinheiro, CP’s Assistant Vice-President, Application & Digital Services. “I am honoured to participate in the Summit and help raise funds for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation to leave a lasting legacy for the hospital, children and families who need it.”

For Golf Canada, hosting the CP Women’s Leadership Summit presented by LNG Canada aligns with the organization’s commitment to developing a more inclusive culture in Canadian golf.

“The CP Women’s Leadership Summit is an important event to provide a forum to discuss meaningful topics that can offer change within sport and the workplace,” said Golf Canada President Liz Hoffman. “Our speakers are true leaders, both in their respective industries and as women’s empowerment advocates. While we unfortunately cannot gather in person this year due to circumstances around the pandemic, we are excited to bring our expert speakers together virtually to provide participants with an inspiring experience and wide array of perspectives.”

The CP Women’s Leadership Summit presented by LNG Canada typically takes place in conjunction with CP Women’s Open tournament week. In early June, Golf Canada, CP and the LPGA jointly announced the 2021 CP Women’s Open would be cancelled due to logistical challenges and border restrictions related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  

The 2022 CP Women’s Open will be held August 22-28, at Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in Ottawa. 

The CP Women’s Leadership Summit is proudly supported by Audi.

For more information, visit www.cpwomensopen.com/cpwls

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Rickie Fowler’s improved driving helped him shoot a 5-under 65 on Sunday in the final round of the British Open.

Looking for a late push in the FedEx Cup standings, Fowler carried over the strong play Thursday with a 7-under 64 in the first round of the 3M Open.

Fowler set the opening-round pace with a bogey-free round later equaled by Jhonatton Vegas and Troy Merritt, who attended Spring Lake Park High School, about six miles south of the TPC Twin Cities.

Fowler, who has never missed the FedEx Cup playoffs in 11 seasons, started the tournament ranked 124th in the standings, with the top 125 making the playoffs. There are two weeks remaining after the 3M Open to qualify for the playoffs.

“I know where I’m at, what we need to do and stuff like that,” Fowler said. “Really just focusing on things we’ve been working on, playing more consistent good golf. More days like today and things will be fine. Kind of keep things, like I said, simple and small, focus on the day-to-day and this week, and go from there. Everything will work out.”

Vegas capped an eventful opening round in the dark when his approach on the par-5 18th landed on top of a hospitality tent. His ball was eventually found and he was given free relief. He birdied the hole to tie for the lead.

Scott Stallings was trying to equal the course record of 62 before he double-bogeyed the 18th following more than a two-hour delay due to lightning in the area. Stallings was a stroke back at 65 with Adam Schenk and Canadian Roger Sloan. Sloan, from Merritt, B.C., had two holes to play when play was suspended due to darkness with 11 players still on the course.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., fired a 4-under 67. Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., opened with a 69, while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot 71.

After his disappointing finish last weekend in the British Open, Louis Oosthuizen shot 68. Dustin Johnson, who withdrew with a back injury after an opening 78 in the 3M Open last year, opened with a 70.

Johnson was playing with Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade’s vice president of tour operations, as his caddie after Johnson’s brother, Austin, his usual caddie, tested positive for COVID-19.

Johnson said his brother has already been cleared for his next tournament, the FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee, from Aug. 5-8.

Fowler, who’s looking for his first win since the 2019 Phoenix Open, didn’t have any mistakes. Starting on the back nine, the 32-year-old from California made three straight birdies on his turn from the 18th to the second hole.

He gained some confidence following his final round last weekend at Royal St. George’s. Fowler was one of 30 players to take a charter straight to Minnesota from the British Open.

“That was something that was kind of holding me back from making birdies, moving forward last week,” Fowler said about his driving. “So today, I mean, going off of what we did Sunday last week, just needed to tighten a few things up. This golf course is fairly generous off the tee. There’s a few lakes, ponds that you just need to avoid. Other than that, it’s go, attack for the most part.”

Fowler and Merritt were in the morning wave that started in hazy and humid conditions and then had to wait through a delay of 2 hours, 24 minutes. Stallings was alone in the lead when play resumed, but his second shot on the 18th found the water, and his follow-up overshot the green.

Merritt, who’s missed the cut in his last two starts, could be the sentimental favorite back in Minnesota. He finished with eight birdies, including his final two holes to equal Fowler.

“I’ve seen this golf course now for about 20 years,” Merritt said. “Came to watch the seniors play when I was in high school and got to play it once or twice. It’s just a lot of fun. It’s great for the players, it’s great for the fans, you can make a lot of birdies, the scoring’s usually really low. So, if you like shootouts, this is the golf course for you and you’re going to get another one this week.”

Did you enjoy watching our Canadian men compete at The Open in England? Will you watch Brooke Henderson , Alena Sharp, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes at the Tokyo Olympics? Do you look forward to the post-pandemic return of the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open?

When you do, does Golf Canada ever cross your mind? It should. Because Golf Canada is the association that promotes and supports the game of golf in this country. Most of our best players, pro and amateur, might not be where they are today without programs instituted by Golf Canada, like Future Links, Team Canada, and more. The affiliated Golf Canada Foundation raises and grants funds for the advancement of the game including scholarships. Do you (more or less) play by the Rules of Golf?

So it bugs me when the topic of Golf Canada is raised, usually during a post-round gathering, and someone inevitably utters that hoary old line about a Golf Canada membership being akin to paying taxes. (In the interest of full disclosure, I once worked for Golf Canada, then known as the Royal Canadian Golf Association. So while I may be empathetic about their mission, I also have more than a working knowledge of the association’s mandate and programs.)

The “taxes” line is usually followed by something like this: “I don’t need to be a member. I don’t need a handicap.” 

Well, yes, you do, if you are remotely serious about your game. Even if you don’t intend to play in a pro-am or a provincial or national event, who in their right mind wants to play a competitive round for even the smallest of stakes with someone who says on the first tee, “I usually shoot about xx”? And then goes out and shoots xx minus 10.

In addition, there is no better way to track your improvement (or lack thereof) than by maintaining an accurate handicap. Posting your scores and stats hole-by-hole helps you understand where the flaws are in your game.

OK, so now that you understand why you need a handicap index, why else would you want to be a Golf Canada member? Here are a couple of more reasons.

• Incident protection: Up to $2,500 reimbursement for damaged, lost or stolen equipment; up to $1,000 towards the cost of repairing or replacing a window; up to $2,500 for golf cart-related accidents; up to $1,000 for travel-related accidents.
• Plus significant discounts on goods and services: 15 per cent off tickets to the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open; up to 25 per cent off Avis car rentals; 10 per cent off Hilton Hotel room bookings with complimentary upgrades at participating properties; 10 per cent off Golf Canada merchandise; golf benefits with RBC Insurance for home and auto.

All this for $49.95? Less than the cost of a dozen name-brand golf balls!

“It’s a no-brainer,” says an admittedly biased Ryan Logan. “If people knew about all the buckets the membership dollars go into … but the challenge is to get that message out there.”

Logan is Golf Canada’s Director of Membership and he is justifiably pumped about the benefits included in a Golf Canada membership. He is equally enthused about the impressive trend in scores being posted this year.

Logan acknowledges golf participation boomed during the pandemic and sees a commensurate increase in record-setting score posting in 2021. The data backs him up. In March, approximately 160,000 scores were posted nationwide, an increase of 64 percent over 2020. In April, when the weather improved and COVID-related lockdowns relented in some regions, there were about 500,000 posted, an astounding increase of more than 800 per cent. May saw 1.2 million scores posted, a bump of 53 per cent, and June postings were up 15 per cent year over year to 1.7 million.

The pandemic impacted the way scores were posted as well. With the club kiosks removed because of the fear of spreading the virus through contact points, many golfers availed themselves of the new Golf Canada app.

The app is free to use. (Although if you want an official handicap index, you must be a Golf Canada member.)  But anyone can use it to track their scores, find courses, play various on-course games (stroke or match play, skins), use the on-course GPS function to determine distances to a selected target, and more.

Take it from me. The app is intuitive and easy to use. I’ve started posting my scores hole by hole and so have many others, says Logan. The new World Handicap System encourages golfers to do so and Canadians have responded. According to Logan, about 20 per cent of scores were hole by hole pre-WHS. That doubled in 2020 and he estimates that up to 70 per cent of all scores will be itemized in that manner this year.

Having said all this, some of you still won’t be persuaded to shell out $49.95. So be it.

Golf, Canada!

Click here to become a Golf Canada member.

They were the Olympic rookies at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Five years later, Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp are Canadian Olympic veterans.

The Tokyo Olympics this summer will be Henderson and Sharp’s second Games together representing the red and white. With success in the LPGA apparent for both golfers in the five years since Rio 2016, both Henderson and Sharp revel in the opportunity to medal in Tokyo.

“I am honoured and proud to be a part of Team Canada this summer,” Henderson said. “I love representing my country and feeling all of the support of family, friends, and Canadian golf fans back home.”

Sharp turned pro in 2003 and is still going strong at age 40. With nine professional wins, Sharp continues to be a model of consistency for Canadian women’s golf on the LPGA Tour. Look no further than the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she started with two sub-70 rounds, before finishing a T-25.

As Sharp is on the backend of her career, Henderson is just beginning. She meteorically rose in the women’s game, winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2016. Since then, Henderson has 10 LPGA Tour victories, making her the winningest Canadian golfer in the sport’s history (male or female).

As Henderson experienced a soar in popularity and success, she had her Canadian compatriot Sharp to lean on for advice and mentorship.

“It means a lot to share this journey with Alena again,” Henderson said. “She’s been a huge mentor and a great friend to me.”

Since competing in the Rio Olympics, Henderson and Sharp continue to elevate Canadian women’s golf with class and excellence. At the 2018 CP Women’s Open in Saskatchewan, Sharp brought awareness and respect to the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team, evidenced by her green and yellow golf bag. Henderson went on to cement her legacy at Wascana Country Club with a CP Women’s Open title, becoming the first Canadian woman to win the national golf championship since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973.

Henderson’s first embraces were with her sister/caddie, Brittany, and her Dad, Dave. Sharp was the first to congratulate Henderson, spraying the champagne in celebration on the 18th green.

Whenever Henderson wins, it’s not long after she receives a congratulatory message from Sharp. Henderson also returns the favour, being there for her teammate during important moments of her life. For example, when Sharp got married last November to her caddie and partner, Sarah Bowman, Henderson included herself in the festivities.

It’s evident that the bond between Henderson and Sharp runs deep beyond the tee box, fairway, and putting green.

“We’re there to cheer each other on in the golf competition, but when you go to an Olympic Games, you become part of a bigger team,” Sharp said.

Competing in the Olympics will look different in 2021 than in 2016. For Henderson and Sharp, they will practice together at Kasumigaseki Country Club, scouting the course before the women’s golf competition commencing. Both Canadians will lean on their male counterparts, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes, for advice, as the men’s tournament occurs a week before. The women’s competition takes place from August 4-7, 2021.

“Anything can happen over four days,” Henderson said. “You have to work hard, focus, get a good plan together and I’m just excited to have the opportunity to go and compete.”

Life beyond the course won’t possess the jubilation that exists in the Olympic Village. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no fans will be permitted on the course, as well as no friends and family. Instead, golfers must rely on their own energy to get motivated.

Henderson and Sharp are used to playing tournaments without spectators over the past year. Away from the course, they will keep themselves busy, whether that’s playing cards or watching Netflix.

The Tokyo Olympics are five years in the making for Henderson and Sharp. After a T-7 finish for Henderson and 30th for Sharp, they are looking to build on their performances to get on the podium.

Most of all, in an Olympics unlike any other, Henderson and Sharp will have their partnership and friendship, that will extend far beyond the outcome at the Games.

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