The new Golf Canada app sets the stage for a greatly enhanced digital experience

Canada’s largest golf community is about to become more connected with the launch of the new Golf Canada app.

The user-friendly app launched August 5 is now available to all golfers nationwide to record and track their scores, trace where they have played and provide detailed game statistics as a game improvement tool. The app is free to download and can be used by golfers at any level of skill.

“The app is designed to connect individual golfers and their friends with the more than the 1,400-member golf courses we have in Canada,” says Vanessa Morbi, Senior Director of Marketing at Golf Canada. “Among the many exciting features, golfers will be able to follow their favourite golf courses to stay connected and up to date. The app will also provide additional value to our member clubs as a platform to engage with golfers.”

All golfers will be able to enter their scores on the app as they play hole-by-hole or at the end of a round. They can track a variety of stats including driving accuracy, greens in regulation, putting strokes, sand saves and up & downs. Golfers will also be able to add friends, follow their favourite courses and track their scores throughout the round. As the app rolls out this summer, additional features will be added to enhance the user experience for Golf Canada members.

“We are proud to launch the new Golf Canada app with an enhanced user experience that anyone who plays golf in Canada can enjoy,” says Adam Helmer, Golf Canada’s Senior Director of Golf Services. “It has been developed with a fresh look and feel to allow app users to better understand their individual game and connect with other golfers and their favourite clubs across the country.”

With heath and safety being top of mind during COVID-19, the digital scorecard on your Smartphone replaces the need for a traditional scorecard and pencil. It may be a way of the future as many clubs across Canada have limited printed scorecard usage this year to reduce physical touchpoints at golf courses during the pandemic.

While enhancing the current benefits of being a Golf Canada member is a key component of the app, it has also been designed with the non-member, public player in mind to increase their engagement with the sport.

Golf Canada members will be able to enjoy a unique package of additional features that will be part of a three-stage rollout throughout the summer including, golf games like Wolf or Skins, as well as real-time Course GPS and Shot Tracer technology.

“What I think sets the new Golf Canada app apart from anything else in the marketplace is our ability to combine scoring, stats, Course GPS, Shot Tracer, and golf games, in one app. You won’t find that anywhere else in the world, so it truly is leading edge digital technology,” added Morbi.

Canada’s go-to golf app has been in development since the fall of 2019. It is a key component of Golf Canada’s digital marketing strategy designed to draw more people to the sport, improve the in-game experience and increase membership. It has also been developed in consultation with the provincial golf associations across Canada to ensure a grassroots connection.

The Golf Canada app has been designed in partnership with Mirego, a Quebec City-based company that is an expert in the app development space. It replaces the original Golf Canada app, a member-only app that featured handicapping and scoring as its primary function. Member profiles and previous scoring is being transferred to the new app, so there will be no loss of information for long-time members.

“Apps are commonplace today—all of us have our favourite apps and the majority of golfers bring a Smartphone to the golf course,” Morbi says. “We’re hoping golfers will fall in love with all of the great features of the new app and have a lot of fun with it. It will give us an opportunity to connect with more golfers and create a deeper connection to the sport they love.”

The app is available for download for both IOS and Android operating systems from both the App Store and Google Play at no cost.

An annual Golf Canada membership sells for $49.95. The benefits of being a Golf Canada member include handicapping, incident protection, personalized equipment labels, discounts on tickets for the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open savings from partners like Avis, Hilton and RBC, and some of the soon to be released features on the new app.

Golf Canada member features

Golf Canada members will enjoy a suite of additional features in the app as part of a three-stage rollout throughout the summer including golf games like Wolf or Skins, real-time course GPS and Shot Tracer technology.

• Click here to download and install the app from the App Store
• Click here to download and install the app from Google Play

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Introducing the new Golf Canada App – a free tool for Canadian golfers to enhance their course experience and go digital with their game!

The Golf Canada App is connecting Canada’s golf community with an engaging digital platform for golfers from coast to coast. It is an app for golfers to track their scores, manage their on-course experience and identify areas to improve their game.

The app is a powerful tool with a completely new look and feel that goes well beyond the handicap reporting and score posting system that was the central focus of the previous member-only Golf Canada App. It’s a totally new experience that connects golfers to their friends as well as 1,400+ golf courses across Canada.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

How to navigate the new Golf Canada App experience: 

• Home Screen NEW – features personalized content and updates from you and your golfing friends
• Golfer Profile – features number of rounds played, personal golfing statistics, recent scores, Golf Canada membership information and more
• Find a Course – search the Golf Canada course database to plan your next game or a golf holiday, as well as follow your favourite courses
• Start a Round – select the course, choose a tee based on your skill level and add friends to a digital course scorecard
• Track Your Stats – everything from driving accuracy, greens in regulation and putting strokes to bunker shots and up & downs

Click here for a full user guide[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_images_carousel images=”98984,98983,98982,98981″ img_size=”medium” onclick=”link_no” speed=”3000″ autoplay=”yes” hide_pagination_control=”yes” hide_prev_next_buttons=”yes” wrap=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Golf Canada member features

Golf Canada members will enjoy a suite of additional features in the app as part of a three-stage rollout throughout the summer including golf games like Wolf or Skins, real-time course GPS and Shot Tracer technology.

• Click here to download and install the app from the App Store
• Click here to download and install the app from Google Play

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Following years of rigorous product development, the introduction of the new Titleist Tour Speed – a high performance, multilayer golf ball with a proprietary thermoplastic urethane cover – provides golfers with the fastest, best performing golf ball in its category. Proven through extensive testing with amateur players, the breakthrough performance of Tour Speed is further enhanced by the superior quality and consistency of Titleist’s precision manufacturing process.

Available in Canadian golf shops beginning Aug. 7, Tour Speed offers a distinct and compelling performance option in the Titleist golf ball family through its innovative three-piece design, delivering a unique combination of exceptional distance in the long game and precise short game scoring control:

• A new high-speed core formulation combined with Titleist’s fastest ionomer casing layer delivers maximum speed and low long game spin for category-leading distance. Tour Speed is faster and longer than Callaway Chrome Soft, Bridgestone Tour B RX, TaylorMade Tour Response, Srixon Z-STAR and Srixon Q-STAR TOUR.

• Tour Speed’s thermoplastic urethane (TPU) cover is proprietary Titleist golf ball technology specifically formulated by R&D chemists, delivering greenside spin for short game scoring control with soft feel.

• The exceptional distance of Tour Speed is enhanced by a new 346 quadrilateral dipyramid dimple design that provides a penetrating, consistent flight.

“Golfers can trust that when they tee up a Titleist, they are getting superior performance and quality versus the competition,” said Michael Mahoney, Vice President, Titleist Golf Ball Marketing. “Our golf ball scientists and engineers have gone to extraordinary lengths in the development of Tour Speed – testing numerous core formulations and aerodynamic patterns, while formulating and analyzing hundreds of TPU cover blends – to deliver on that promise. We have made every investment necessary in these new technologies, including a significant expansion of our manufacturing facility and process.”

EXTENSIVE AMATEUR TESTING

In addition to Titleist’s robot testing protocol, the performance of Tour Speed has been validated through rounds of comprehensive amateur testing, including:

• A three-month R&D test market conducted in the United States and Canada for the experimental golf ball EXP•01 – a prototype created during the development process for what has now become Tour Speed; and

• A golf ball performance study of amateur golfers led by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s R&D golf ball consultant on the PGA Tour. The blind test, conducted at the Manchester Lane Test Facility in Massachusetts, evaluated Tour Speed prototypes versus a wide range of current Titleist and competitive golf ball models.

“Every new Titleist golf ball must exceed our stringent machine and player testing targets in order to advance from the R&D phase,” said Scott Cooper, Titleist Golf Ball R&D’s lead implementation engineer for Tour Speed. “All of the data and golfer feedback we’ve collected has been clear: Tour Speed is consistently the fastest, longest and most preferred golf ball among the competitive urethane-covered products in this category.”

AVAILABILITY

The new Titleist Tour Speed is available in Canada beginning Friday, Aug. 7. MAP $49.99.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Justin Thomas wants to make his second stint as No. 1 in the world last longer than the first time around.

“I hope so,” Thomas said Sunday after winning the FedEx St. Jude Invitational to take the No. 1 spot for the first time since June 2018. “I feel like I’m a better player, and I feel like I’m more complete of a golfer now than I was then.”

Thomas dueled defending champion Brooks Koepka down the final holes, sealing the World Golf Championship victory on the par-5 16th. Thomas took the lead for good with his second straight birdie, while Koepka bogeyed the hole.

Koepka pulled within a stroke with a 39-footer for birdie on No. 17. But Koepka put his tee shot into the water along the 18th fairway on his way to double bogey, allowing Thomas to finish up an easy par putt for what wound up a three-stroke victory.

Thomas closed with a 5-under 66 to finish at 13-under 267 and take the $10.5 million winner’s check for his 13th PGA Tour title. At 27, he became the third-youngest player since 1960 to reach 13 PGA Tour wins, trailing only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a good career so far, but I plan on playing out here for a long time and have a lot of things that I still want to accomplish,” Thomas said. “And every milestone and steppingstone is hopefully something that I can learn from and something that will help me even more in the long run.”

One sign of Thomas’ growth was this was the fifth time he rallied to win, and he matched his biggest comeback after starting the day four strokes back of third-round leader Brendon Todd. Thomas has three wins this season, two since the start of the year.

The last time Thomas was No. 1, he spent four weeks at the top of the ranking. He will supplant Jon Rahm, who became No. 1 after winning at Memorial two weeks ago and tied for 52nd this week.

Koepka will go to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco looking to defend his PGA championship title, and he said he’s feeling good about how he’s playing. He finished with a 69 and tied for second with Phil Mickelson (67), Daniel Berger (65) and Tom Lewis (66).

“I thought I hit a good chip on 16,” Koepka said. “I don’t know what it did. Then another minute I thought it was in for another second. So to make bogey there was disappointing. Obviously drained a big one on 17, and then you’re down one. You’ve got to take an aggressive line on 18, so it is what it is.”

Thomas had Jim “Bones” Mackay on his bag, playing in the same group with Mickelson for the first time since Mickelson split with his longtime caddie. Mackay was a late fill-in for Thomas’ usual caddie, Jimmy Johnson.

“I feel like he knows enough about my game to where he can contribute and be a help, and he was,” Thomas said about Mackay.

Thomas made up the deficit with four birdies on the front nine and just missed another birdie chance on No. 8. His 20-footer on No. 9 tied Todd at 12 under.

Todd, whose putting had carried him through the first three rounds, three-putted for bogey from 23 feet on the par-3 eighth, leaving Thomas alone atop the leaderboard.

Thomas put his second on the par-4 12th into a greenside bunker near the back edge and chopped it out to the rough. He chipped out from an awkward stance to salvage bogey.

That created a five-way tie at 11 under with Koepka, Berger, Lewis and Todd.

Koepka took the lead to himself on the par-4 13th. He hit his approach from 133 yards to 10 feet of the pin, and Koepka sunk the putt for his third birdie of the round to go to 12 under.

After hitting his tee shot 321 yards to the rough 51 yards short of the hole on No. 15, Thomas hit to 6 feet for a birdie, tying Koepka at 12 under with three to play. Thomas found the rough far right of the cart path on the par-5 16th, then hit his third from the left rough 65 yards to 3 feet for his second straight birdie.

Koepka, in the group behind Thomas, tried to answer 42 yards from the hole. His shot landed close to the hole only to keep rolling to the back of the green. Koepka wound up two-putting from 8 feet for bogey.

Finishing on No. 18, Thomas made sure to avoid any danger before Koepka’s final birdie.

“I saw that I had a two-shot lead, hence the reason I hit it right of the universe,” Thomas said of a tee shot that went right of the cart path. “It was not going left, I promise you that.”

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian, firing a 70 to finish in a tie for 30th at 4 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., (71) was 3 under, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., (69) was 2 under, while Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin (69) finished 8 over.

OMAHA, Neb. – Canadian golfer Taylor Pendrith took a huge step toward locking up a spot in the U.S. Open with his fourth consecutive top-three finish on the Korn Ferry Tour on Sunday.

Pendrith, from Richmond Hill, Ont., finished in a five-way tie for second at the Pinnacle Bank Championship, one stroke behind winner Seth Reeves of the United States.

Pendrith shot a personal-best 5-under 66 on Sunday to come in at 10 under for the 72-hole tournament.

The 29-year-old Pendrith is third in the tour standings.

The top five after next week’s event in North Plains, Ore., earn spots in the U.S. Open, Sept. 17-20 in Mamaroneck, N.Y. It would mark Pendrith’s first career major.

The top 25 in the Korn Ferry standings next fall will earn spots on the PGA Tour for the 2021-22 season.

Pendrith birdied Nos. 12, 16 and 17 on Sunday to charge up the leaderboard.

Stuart Macdonald of Vancouver tied for 20th at 6 under.

You will definitely not see the best golfers in the world with tunes coming from their bags as they are trying to win a PGA or LPGA Tour title, but more and more you will hear music played at your local golf course.

Nearly 90 percent of Canadians own a smartphone, which means almost everyone who is playing golf has the ability to play music on the course these days. While it may not be for everyone, a trend is apparent.

At a great many clubs, golf has embraced its casual side – dress codes are relaxed, new golfers are emerging and places like TopGolf as well as short courses are popping up in the U.S. – and with that, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear notes of The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain, or Justin Bieber (depending on your preference, of course) floating over the sounds of birds chirping.

A recent survey from Golf Digest said 37 percent of respondents between 18-34 bring a portable speaker to the course. Others might prefer to keep their music to themselves and go the earphone route to avoid disrupting others.

what are some of your favourite songs to listen to while golfing?

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) July 2, 2020

“Golf is one of those sports where it takes up a good amount of time, so I have no issue with listening to music, even while playing, but I don’t think it should be 100 percent of the time,” says Golf Canada Men’s National Team Head Coach Derek Ingram.

He says for the athletes he works with, he’s training them to practice and play “under the gun” and they tend not to play tunes during the final round on the PGA Tour, he jokes. But while there may still be discomfort with cranking it up on the course, listening to music while practicing may have some benefits.

“I think it actually accesses part of the brain that allows us to be more creative and more athletic as well,” Ingram says. “There’s no issue with a portion of the practice listening to music and enjoying music, but I would say the right percentage depending on the individual.”

It’s nearly unavoidable to go a week on the PGA or LPGA Tour without having music be part of the tournament in some capacity.

The PGA and LPGA Tour have both introduced music into their tournament schedules over the last couple of seasons. Both tours have introduced team events (with Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes teeing it up in New Orleans while Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp got together in Michigan) and the Canadian duos arrived at the first tee to “walk-up music” not unlike what you see at a baseball game before a hitter steps into the box.

Music has become a key part of many successful PGA Tour events where DJs (not Dustin Johnson, in this case) will play sets or keep music going between groups if appropriate, and concerts have become a staple event during tournament week.

At least year’s RBC Canadian Open the RBCxMusic Concert Series brought Canadian rockers The Glorious Sons and country mega-duo Florida-Georgia Line to Hamilton Golf and Country Club, which helped sell out both days of the event.

RBCxMusic Concert Series at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open featuring Florida Georgia Line and the Glorious Sons

And a couple of years ago while Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Smylie Kaufman, and Rickie Fowler went on their infamous buddies trip to the Caribbean all of their rounds of golf were filled with music (and were without shirts).

If you’ve got a Bluetooth speaker in your cart or dangling from your trolley, just be mindful of those around you.

While many come to the golf course for fun or frivolity, there’s a good portion of courses and golfers who prefer to have Mother Nature play her own music – so understand your golf environment and keep the volume to just what you and your group can hear.

But this summer while celebrating all of Canada’s fabulous layouts, why not experiment with listening to some of country’s finest musical acts?

Bands like The Tragically Hip, The Arkells, and Rush are perfect for the cottage, they’re great for the course, too – and who knows, you might even improve your game thanks to music.

Some Tune Tips

1. Always ask other players if you can play music and what they might want to hear
2. Understand your environment – not every course and golfer feel the same about music during a round
3. Make sure the music is at a manageable volume
4. Consider earphones to enjoy tunes without disrupting others
5. Have fun with it – music makes almost every situation (a BBQ, the beach, a backyard party) better. The golf course should be no different.

Team Canada member and chemical engineer Brittany Marchand drives home another STEM lesson on the science behind hitting out of the rough.

Alena Sharp is keenly aware that time is not on her side as a shortened LPGA Tour season resumes this week.

The 39-year-old from Hamilton is the only Canadian in the field as the inaugural Drive On Championship tees off on Friday at Inverness Golf Course in Toledo, Ohio. Sharp was ranked 48th on the LPGA Tour before it suspended play due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-February.

“It sucks that this is happening towards the end of my career because I’m playing well,” said Sharp. “I want to just keep riding that momentum for as long as I can until I decide to maybe slow down and retire.”

After taking just a few weeks off following the 2019 season, Sharp played in three tournaments to kick off the new year. She missed the cut at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Raton, Fla., in January, tied for ninth at the ISPS Handa Vic Open in early February, then missed the cut at the Women’s Australian Open.

When that tournament finished the LPGA Tour, about to embark on its annual swing through Asia, decided to take a four-week break to avoid what was then a regional epidemic of the novel coronavirus. That epidemic exploded into a worldwide pandemic that has gripped the world.

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Sharp, who has been a professional golfer for 15 years, said she is worried that the dozen tournaments cancelled because of COVID-19 represent a dwindling number of opportunities to win on the LPGA Tour for the first time.

“I don’t have any injuries or anything like that but there’s a lot of up-and-coming players that are coming out and things happen as you age,” said Sharp.

A silver lining to the time off _ the longest off-season Sharp can recall _ is that she has been able to put an emphasis on her fitness. Gyms were closed in Arizona, where she lives, but she dedicated herself to outdoor workouts using kettlebells, resistance bands, smash balls and body weight exercizes.

Sharp also played regularly at Seville Golf and Country Club against some of the club’s best members to keep her competitive fires burning.

“I would play some little money games just to test myself and make sure that I was staying competitive, making the putts mean something,” said Sharp. “Some of the guys I gave strokes to so I had to play pretty well to beat them.

“I hate losing so it was definitely helpful to keep me in that competition mode.”

Sharp and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., would have been competing for Canada at the Tokyo Olympics this week had it not been for the pandemic. Sharp notes that her world ranking should be improving this season because a series of missed cuts will be coming off her record, putting her in an excellent position to hold on to her Olympic berth for the rescheduled Tokyo Games.

“I’m glad that they’ve actually moved it to next year and rather than just cancel it entirely, because in four more years I mean I don’t know where I’ll be,” she said. “I hope to be still playing and being competitive but time isn’t on my side necessarily.”

For four decades Greg Dukart has lived what he describes a “blessed life” in the Canadian golf industry. He’s managed some of the finest clubs from coast-to-coast. But now, after 40 years in the business, he’s calling it a career.

Dukart, whose career started in Regina in 1981, has worked in Vancouver, Kamloops, Calgary, on Prince Edward Island and overseas in London, England. For the last 12 years, he has returned to his Regina roots as Chief Executive Officer of Wascana Country Club.

“It’s been a tremendous journey,” said Dukart. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it (golf) would have taken me across this great country of Canada and its provinces. It’s been a total life experience beyond my family and my expectations.”

Dukart said while his final year in the golf industry has been unlike any in his career due to COVID-19, his thoughts of retirement began to creep in last fall. He and his wife talked about the potential for him to retire for a few weeks and realized it was time to call it a career. He has a new grandson and is keen to pursue other interests.

“Golf has opened up so many different things, but golf is an all-immersive lifestyle choice. You don’t play golf four times a week like many people think,” said Dukart with a laugh. “It’s a lot of work!”

Still, Dukart said what he loves most about the sport is that it’s generational game for everyone. He’s witnessed people starting their golf careers at just three or four years old. He’s seen junior golfers under the age of 10 start to beat balls on the driving range and five years later they’d become junior club champion. And he recalls fondly a 103-year-old member at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club who played 27 holes per week.

Dukart’s hobbies outside of golf include working on a muscle car project he’s been tinkering away at and he’s also a proud collector of antiques. He’ll frequent estate sales. Every place he’s travelled, he said, he’d bring something back home. Other opportunities in golf have popped up but he’s not quite sure what he’ll end up doing – but he for sure he will be spending more time with his family.

“There are a lot of people that need to be thanked for this,” he said.

One of the biggest moments of Dukart’s career came in 2018 at the CP Women’s Open – a project he had been working on for a number of years. He was hopeful the event would come to Regina and when the week wrapped up that Sunday afternoon in August, Wascana would own a piece of history.

Canadian golf sensation Brooke Henderson won the tournament in a pinch-me moment for Dukart, he said. The club made Henderson an honourary member for life a week or so after the tournament and it installed a 300-pound marble plaque in the 18th fairway where she hit her last shot – which set up the putt to win the tournament.

“That was living the dream on that one. Someone asked me before the event, ‘what would be your dream journey this week’ and I said, ‘well of course Brooke Henderson winning.’ She went on and did that,” said Dukart. “Sometimes you have to pinch yourself wondering if that just happened – we talk about that all the time because to even think that could happen on our home soil in tiny Regina, Saskatchewan. It’s part of history now, forever.”

Dukart has the finish line in his sights after an impressively successful career. And he’s content to know how many people he’s worked with, how many special moments he’s had and what time is to come with his family.

He got into the business thinking he wanted to be a player, but instead that journey transformed into management. He’s leaving the golf industry in Canada better than how he found it.

“I’ve just been incredibly blessed to have this journey and I would have never in my imagination thought I could work in the places I’ve worked, and the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met,” said Dukart. “It’s surreal to me.”

Golf Canada and the Golf Canada Foundation have joined together to launch the COVID-19 GOLF RELIEF FUND, to support golf courses in helping employees and golfers stay safe while also thanking front-line workers through encouraging additional play and welcoming juniors to further experience the game.

During the pandemic, golf has experienced a booming resurgence, emerging as one of the safest recreational activities for Canadians to enjoy and highlighting the physical and mental benefits that the sport provides.

Developed in consultation with key stakeholders, the RELIEF FUND will focus on two primary areas:

1) SAFETY: To help maintain the momentum of golf, the RELIEF FUND will subsidize non-medical PPE (personal protective equipment) for golf course employees, as well as sanitization, hygiene, and protective material expenses.

2) FUN: To thank front-line workers and help juniors increase social interactions and outdoor activity during the pandemic, the RELIEF FUND will subsidize rounds for both groups to enjoy playing golf.

“We find ourselves in a very surprising but special moment for golf and we wanted to show appreciation to the courses providing a safe golf experience and to all Canadians who are coming out and playing. We also wanted to thank our incredible front-line workers who are leading us through unprecedented adversity,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “We are sensitive to the ongoing pandemic and amongst the crushing impact, golf has been a bright spot. This has also been a difficult year for so many kids who have had their summers disrupted and we wanted to support our member clubs in providing youth a healthy outlet through golf.”

Golf Canada member clubs who apply for the RELIEF FUND will be eligible for subsidies up to a maximum of $1,000 per club, with applications opening on August 12 on a first-come, first-served basis.

The RELIEF FUND will launch to the public July 28, across Golf Canada’s digital network, throughout Golf Canada member clubs, Ascend Fundraising Solutions’ marketing platforms, and the Provincial Golf Associations.

In addition to welcoming donations to support the RELIEF FUND, golfers and golf fans across the country will be able to support by participating in a four-week digital sweepstakes campaign featuring significant prizing across Canada and the U.S. in 2021.

“We have taken the challenge of the pandemic to pivot our donation efforts as a rallying point for the Canadian golf community,” said Martin Barnard, CEO of the Golf Canada Foundation. “Golf has always been a driver for significant charitable giving and the cancellation of so many fundraising events through the pandemic has been difficult. Partners and donors have embraced the idea of a golf specific relief fund that supports front-line workers and juniors, and also helps to keep industry employees safe throughout the season.”

The Grand prize includes a VIP hospitality experience at the 2021 RBC Canadian Open at St. Georges Golf and Country Club. The early-bird prize package to be drawn on August 12 features a spectacular stay-and-play experience at Cabot Links and Cliffs. Tickets for the sweepstakes can be purchased at www.golfcanadasweeps.com and will be available for sale until August 27.

Currently at close to $350,000 before launching to the public, the RELIEF FUND is proudly and graciously supported by the R&A, PGA TOUR, USGA, PGA of Canada, Bear Mountain Resort, Cabot Cape Breton, and TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.

Team Canada alumni and PGA TOUR winner Adam Hadwin has personally supported the RELIEF FUND, as part of his effort to give back once the RBC Canadian Open had been cancelled.

RBC Ambassador and three-time PGA TOUR winner Ryan Palmer also has donated to the RELIEF FUND through a fundraising challenge specifically created to help the charities of tournaments that were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Donations to the RELIEF FUND will be accepted throughout the golf season and more contributions will be announced over the course of the campaign as partners and donors join in supporting the cause.