VICTORIA, B.C. – Brooke Rivers’ debut on the international golfing stage is off to a splendid start as the 14-year-old from Brampton, Ont. helped put Canada on the board Thursday at the Astor Trophy.

Rivers, who is about to enter Grade 9, won both of her matches Thursday at Royal Colwood Golf Club as Canada earned half a point by tying its matches with Australia.

Rivers teamed with Noémie Paré of Victoriaville, Que., to win their foursomes match 2&1 over Australians Amelia Mehmet-Grohn and Kirsty Hodgkins. After a quick lunch, Rivers then went out and beat Australia’s Emily Mahar 2-up in their afternoon singles match.

“I am having so much fun,” Rivers said. “It is such a great learning experience, playing with people from different countries. Most of them are in university or finishing university. I can learn so much from them. It has been an incredible experience.”

The Astor Trophy, which has been played every four years since 1959, features teams from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Great Britain & Ireland.

Each four-woman team plays one another once during the five-day competition.

Australia and Canada split their two morning foursomes matches and then split their four singles matches.

Emily Zhu of Richmond, Hill, Ont., got Canada’s other win in singles Thursday, defeating Australia’s Stacey White 2&1.

“It was nice to be able to play well and get the win,” said Zhu, who earlier this summer won the Canadian Junior Girls Championship. “It was a really tight match. My opponent was really good. She made a bunch of putts.”

Thursday’s other match had South Africa facing Great Britain & Ireland. The teams tied both of their morning foursomes matches and split their four singles matches to each earn half a point.

South Africa looked to be on its way to tying the last singles match of the day and earning a full point, but GBI’s Emily Toy won the match on the 18th green when South Africa’s Kaylah Williams missed a four-foot putt for par.

The standings through the first two days of the competition have South Africa, New Zealand and Australia all tied with one point. Canada and Great Britain & Ireland each have half a point.

Canadian coach Matt Wilson was delighted to see his team get on the board after being blanked in its opening-day match Wednesday against New Zealand.

“It’s definitely helpful to get on the board in the first couple of days,” Wilson said. “We have a rest day Friday where we can do a bit of work and rest up and prepare for the final two days because they are going to be pretty tough.”

Wilson, who is Golf Canada’s Next Generation Director and National Junior Girls Coach, has been impressed with Rivers’ play. Rivers has won three of four matches the first two days.

“She’s 14, hits it long and has a lot of strengths that really suit this style of golf,” Wilson said. “She can turn the page pretty quickly if she has a bad hole and I have been impressed with how she has embraced the opportunity to play against top competition and test herself. She hasn’t backed down.”

Each team gets one day off during the competition. Canada’s day off is Friday, when South Africa will play New Zealand and Great Britain & Ireland face Australia.

The Astor Trophy began as the Commonwealth Trophy and was first held at The Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland in 1959. The name was changed to the Astor Trophy in 2007 to allow Irish players to compete on a Great Britain & Ireland team.

Australia won the event when it was last contested in 2015 at the Grange Golf Club in southern Australia. Canada has won the Astor Trophy on two occasions, in 1987 and 1979.

Morning foursomes will be begin at 8a.m. and the singles matches are scheduled from 12:30p.m. to 1:40a.m. each day. There are three days remaining in the competition and admission is free for spectators.

While signing autographs at the 2018 Valero Texas Open, Corey Conners told a group of young fans he’d give away his hat to the first person that could say what his name was. It was a contest without a winner.

That will change next year when Conners, of Listowel, Ont., returns to the Texas Open as the defending champion. His first career PGA Tour win came at the April event and was the highlight of the year for Canada’s top male golfer last season.

“The win is something that’s such a huge deal. You always wonder if it’s possible,” Conners said in a phone interview from West Palm Beach, Fla. “It’s not easy to win. You have to be a great player and have a special week. There are a lot of things that have to add up to give yourself chances to win.”

Conners was the only Canadian to make the season-ending Tour Championship on the PGA Tour, which ended Sunday. In 28 events this season Conners had four top-10 finishes and earned nearly US$3-million on the course. He finished 26th on the FedEx Cup standings.

By getting to the final event of the season – the Tour Championship features only the top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup – Conners earned an automatic berth in the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open next year.

Although he doesn’t qualify immediately for the PGA Championship, it’s likely he’ll earn a spot in that field as well. In all, Conners had one of the most successful Canadian seasons on the PGA Tour in recent memory.

“Last week (at the Tour Championship) we had some delays so a lot of guys were just hanging around. The company I had, it was kind of like, ‘Holy. I belong with these guys?’ It was pretty cool,” Conners said.

There are 10 events coming up in the fall portion of the 2019-20 PGA Tour schedule, which starts next week, and Conners said his focus has shifted towards making the Presidents Cup team.

Conners said he’s still not sure what his strategy for playing this fall would be. He could either play a lot and try to earn points every time he tees it up, he said, or rest and just play a few tournaments while hoping for very solid finishes instead.

Although Adam Hadwin is higher in the official world golf ranking , Conners had the better season. Conners is hopeful Presidents Cup International team captain Ernie Els will use one of his captain’s picks on him.

Canadian Mike Weir is one of Els’ assistant captains, and Conners had a call with Weir this week to chat about a potential position on the squad.

Although Conners would be a rookie on the team, his ball-striking prowess would make him an asset. He led the PGA Tour in greens in regulation percentage this year and was near the top of a handful of other key ball-striking categories.

“I take pride in things like that,” Conners said.

While his ball striking was world class, his short game was something he said he’ll be working hard on this off-season. For all the accolades for his iron play, he was near the bottom of the PGA Tour when it came to putting.

“The weeks I played well were the weeks I putted average, maybe a little better. I had a couple of really good putting weeks, but some big inconsistencies there,” he said. “The putter let me down a lot.”

Putting aside, Conners did everything else right this year – well, almost. He married his wife Malory in October and it’s been a whirlwind of travel ever since, so they haven’t yet had a honeymoon.

Conners isn’t sure when they’ll be able to go on one – the Presidents Cup is in Australia in mid-December, so they might try for something around then – but he knows he needs to make it happen soon.

“She’s a bit rattled with me not exactly knowing my schedule,” Conners said with a laugh. “But I definitely owe it to her. She’s been a big supporter and has held off pretty long.”

The PGA Tour’s 2019-20 season kicks off at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier on September 12 and Conners will be one of six Canadians with full PGA Tour status for next year including Hadwin and Nick Taylor, both of Abbotsford, B.C., Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., and Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., will have partial status, while it is expected Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., will return from taking all last year off due to injury.

VANCOUVER – Chris Crislogo of Richmond, B.C., will play his first tournament as a professional at the Johnston Meier Insurance Agencies Vancouver Open from August 28 to September 1 at Fraserview Golf Club in Vancouver.

A member of the Team Canada National Amateur Squad for the past two years, the 23-year-old enjoyed a successful amateur career. He is a two-time winner of the South American Amateur, claiming the title in 2018 and 2019.

Crisologo captured the Gary Cowan Award as the low amateur at the 2018 RBC Canadian Open, finishing in a tie for 45th.

Crisologo also competed as a member of the Simon Fraser University golf team, winning individual titles at six tournaments between 2015 and 2018.

The Vancouver Open is part of the Vancouver Golf Tour. Canadian PGA TOUR professional Adam Hadwin has won the tournament three times, most recently in 2016.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the four athletes selected to represent Canada at the Astor Trophy competition, scheduled for Aug. 29 – Sept. 1 at Royal Colwood Golf Club in Victoria, B.C.

Canada’s team will include Mary Parsons of Delta, B.C., Noémie Paré of Victoriaville, Que., Emily Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Brooke Rivers of Brampton, Ont.

The Astor Trophy competition is held every four years between teams from Australia, Canada, Great Britain & Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa. Each country is represented by four female players and each country contests foursomes and singles match play in a round-robin format.

The athletes selected by Golf Canada for the Astor Trophy were determined based on an assessment of world rankings and head-to-head results among those with a declared intent to compete.

“We’re thrilled to be hosting this international championship at one of the finest courses Canada has to offer,” said Golf Canada tournament director Adam Helmer. “Royal Colwood is in fantastic shape and will prove to be an excellent challenge for some of most talented junior golfers from around the world.”

Royal Colwood Golf Club is a private golf club located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Designed by Arthur Vernon Macan in 1913, Royal Colwood is a traditional style parklands championship course set amongst 450 year old douglas firs and majestic garry oaks. One of a select few in the world, Royal Colwood received its Royal designation from King George V in 1931.

The 20-year-old Parsons recently competed at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, where she was part of Canada’s bronze-medal-winning mixed team. Parsons also finished fifth in the women’s competition in Lima. She is a junior at Indiana University, where this past spring she won her first collegiate event at the Lady Boilermaker. She was a semi-finalist this summer at the PNGA Women’s Amateur Championship. Parsons won the 2018 B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship and is a former member of Golf Canada’s National Junior Girls Squad.

Paré, 21, is heading into her senior year at Barry University in Miami Shores, Fla. Paré qualified for match play at the 2019 British Women’s Amateur and tied for second at the 2019 Quebec Women’s Amateur. She tied for 27th at the 2019 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship at Red Deer Golf & Country Club.

Zhu, 15, is a member of Golf Canada’s National Junior Girls Squad. She finished third at the 2019 PGA of Canada Women’s Championship, placed 12th at the 2019 Women’s Porter Cup and was second at the 2019 Ontario Women’s Amateur. Zhu recently won the 2019 Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Lethbridge Country Club.

The 14-year-old Rivers finished eighth at the 2019 Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship and was runner-up in the 2019 Ontario Women’s Match Play. At time of selection, Rivers was the sixth highest ranked Canadian female on the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Matt Wilson of Newmarket Ont., Golf Canada’s Next Generation Director and National Junior Girls Coach, will coach the Canadian team at the Astor Trophy competition.

The Astor Trophy has been contested every four years since the inaugural event in 1959. It began as the Commonwealth Trophy and the name was changed to the Astor Trophy in 2007 to allow Irish players to compete on a Great Britain & Ireland team.

Australia won the event when it was last contested in 2015 at the Grange Golf Club in southern Australia. Canada has won the Astor Trophy on two occasions, in 1987 and 1979. Canada last hosted the Astor Trophy in 1999 at Marine Drive Golf Club in Vancouver.

Past Canadian participants include Lorie Kane, Marlene Streit, Dawn Coe-Jones and A.J. Eathorne. Past international players include former world No. 1 Lydia Ko and Catriona Matthew, the captain of the 2019 European Solheim Cup team.

TORONTO, Ont. – The Canadian Society of Club Managers (CSCM) is pleased to announce and congratulate the recipients of CSCM’s 2019 Awards Program. The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, October 6, 2019, following the opening ceremonies at the CSCM National Conference in London, Ontario.

Islington Golf Club, co-host of the 2020 and 2024 RBC Canadian Open, captured the Club of the Year (Large) award after an excellent record of strong golf, facility management, community involvement and leadership.

The 2019 award recipients are:

President’s Award
Greg Lundmark, CCM, CCE, The Glencoe Club, Calgary, AB

Honourary Life Membership Award
Keith Jolly, CCM, Vancouver Rowing Club, Vancouver, BC

Club Manager of the Year
Jason Meier, The Oakville Club, Oakville, ON

Club of the Year (Medium)
Southwood Golf & Country Club, Winnipeg, MB

Club of the Year (Large)
Islington Golf Club, Toronto, ON

Young Professional Award
Jihye Park, Marine Drive Golf Club, Vancouver, BC

Excellence in Teaching Award
Robert Foster, Fanshawe College, London, ON

In addition, the following members will be honoured for recently receiving their Certified Club Manager (CCM) designation:

• Jan Bloemraad, The Glencoe Club, Calgary, AB
• Paul Chambers, The Toronto Golf Club, Mississauga, ON
• Jana-Lyn Fairbairn, Riverside Country Club, Saskatoon, SK

And the following member will be recognized for recently achieving Honour Society status:

• Paul Morrell, CCM, Ontario Racquet Club, Mississauga, ON

The annual awards program honours members who have made a significant contribution to the Society and the profession of club management in Canada, supporting CSCM’s mission to offer quality education and networking opportunities. Annually, members are invited to nominate fellow peers in the industry. All nomination submissions are carefully reviewed by the Awards Committee and recipients are selected based on specific criteria.

Michael Hearse, CCM, Member of the CSCM National Board of Directors and Chair of the Awards Committee remarked, “We thank all those who participated this year and it is with great pleasure we congratulate those that were applauded by their peers to be outstanding contributors to not only the club management industry, but to the Society as well.”

Suzanne Godbehere, Chief Executive Officer of CSCM, said, “The announcement of the award recipients is always an exciting time for CSCM and its members. It is an opportunity to celebrate those who have made great achievements in the industry, but also highlight all those who have and continue to support each other in the industry. It really is a celebration of the CSCM network and family.”

Canadian golf journalist Adam Stanley catches up with James Clements, VP Strategic Planning & Transportation Services with Canadian Pacific, to discuss the CP Has Heart contributions celebrated at the CP Women’s Open.

ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy marched to the 18th green Sunday at East Lake with victory in hand and $15 million in the bank.

Even better was what he saw – and heard – behind him.

The scene was all too familiar. The gallery ducked under the ropes and rushed to encircle the green to watch the finish of a class performance in the Tour Championship. Before long, the chants began to ring out: “Rory! Rory! Rory!”

This time, McIlroy had the stage to himself.

A mere bystander last year amid the chaotic celebration of Tiger Woods’ return to victory, McIlroy soaked up the perfect ending to a solid year when he surged past Brooks Koepka, held off Xander Schauffele and captured the FedEx Cup and the richest payoff in golf.

Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) finished tied for 26th at 3 over for the tournament.

Turning to Harry Diamond, his caddie and best friend, McIlroy told him, “This walk is a little more pleasant than last year.”

He closed with a 4-under 66 to finish four shots ahead of Schauffele, joining Woods as the only players to win the FedEx Cup twice.

“Any time you can do something that only Tiger has done, you’re doing something right,” McIlroy said.

There was so much more than $15 million – $14 million in cash, $1 million deferred – to this victory.

Regardless of the new format that gave some players a head start to par depending on their FedEx Cup ranking – McIlroy began five shots behind before the tournament started – he wanted to post the lowest score of anyone in the 30-man field.

He shot 13-under 267, the best by three shots.

And when he was paired with Koepka in the final group Sunday, it was a chance for atonement. A month ago, McIlroy laid an egg in the final group at a World Golf Championship, just like he did with Woods the year before at East Lake.

“I thought a lot about that,” McIlroy said. “I thought about the final group with Tiger last year, the final group with Brooks in Memphis a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to go out there and play well and really take it to him, and I did that.”

The final round turned on the seventh hole with a three-shot swing – McIlroy made a 25-foot birdie, while Koepka lost his tee shot in the trees and made double bogey. There were consecutive two-shot swings on the back nine, and then it was a matter of holding off Schauffele.

McIlroy was four shots ahead until back-to-back bogeys, and he was on the verge of watching his lead shrink to one when he holed an 8-foot par putt on the 16th. Schauffele had to settle for pars, and McIlroy finished with a flourish.

He was the only player to break par all four days.

Schauffele closed with a 70 to finish alone in second, which paid out $5 million.

“There was plenty of excitement today,” Schauffele said. “The heart rate was up for most of the round. I thought the course was set up really fair, and if you were in the fairway, it was gettable. And if you weren’t, it was exactly what you thought it was. It was just a lot of fun.”

Justin Thomas, the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup who started with a two-shot lead, lost his way Sunday morning in the conclusion of the third round when he took triple bogey on the 16th hole with a 9-iron from the fairway. He fell four behind and never caught up. Thomas finished with two birdies for a 68 and tied for third with Koepka, who ended another big year with a pedestrian closing round of 72.

They each earned $3.5 million.

As usual with Koepka, there were no complaints, no excuses.

“He just played better,” said Koepka, who hit only five fairways in the last round. “He was impressive to watch. He put it in the fairway a lot, hit a lot of greens. And even his short game, the up-and-down he made on 11, that was pretty tasty right there. And then the way he finished it off was very impressive. Hats off to him.”

What looked to be a shootout turned into a runaway for McIlroy.

The marathon final day – 31 holes for McIlroy and contenders – began with big promise for a wild chase for the $15 million prize. Four players took turns atop the leaderboard in the first 35 minutes of golfSunday morning, which included Schauffele’s first hole-in-one of his career with a 5-iron on the 240-yard ninth hole.

The third round had been suspended Saturday after lightning struck a tree and injured six spectators huddled nearby. Police said they were treated and released from medical attention later that night.

Koepka birdied the 18th for a one-shot lead over McIlroy and Schauffele. It was tight for the first hour of the final round, and then it turned quickly.

Koepka was still up by one shot when he yanked his tee shot into the trees left of No. 7 and never found it. He made double bogey, and it became a three-shot swing when McIlroy made a 25-foot birdie putt.

The decisive moment was consecutive two-shot swings – McIlroy birdied Nos. 12 and 13, Koepka missed short par putts on both.

Koepka ended the PGA Tour season with three victories, another major at the PGA Championship, a World Golf Championship and the undisputed No. 1 world ranking. He is the favourite to win PGA Tour player of the year again, though McIlroy at least gave players something to contemplate when they vote over the next few weeks.

The FedEx Cup counts as an official win, giving him three for the year. And he had 14 finishes in the top 10 out of 19 starts, the highest percentage of his career. Whether it’s enough – McIlroy doesn’t think so – was of little consequence.

McIlroy ticked off every goal he set at East Lake in a performance that $15 million can’t measure.

“I’m going to enjoy this one tonight,” he said.

Full results can be found here.

Canadian golf journalist Adam Stanley catches up with Kyle Hayhoe and CP ambassador Lorie Kane to discuss overcoming congenital heart defects and the impact of CP Has Heart.