Orlando, FLA – Despite a close call from Hurricane Matthew, The GenNXT Golf Academy is now in full swing at Henry Brunton Golf at Eagle Creek GC in Orlando, FL.

The first students enrolled in the world-class, high-performance academy designed for aspiring elite junior golf athletes and recent high school graduates, who are focused on developing their skills to the highest levels of golf, have arrived at the gated golf community.

“It’s great to be here as we continue to expand our programming at the Henry Brunton Golf Academy at Eagle Creek with the addition of GenNXT,” says Brunton, who is the Head Coach for the GenNXT Junior Academy. “Since launching the Henry Brunton Golf Academy at Eagle Creek last February, we have received a lot of interest in our programs locally, nationally and internationally and now we’re ready to take the next step.”

GenNXT junior athletes, who stay at the supervised GenNXT Golf House located within the Eagle Creek Golf community, have full access to play and practice at Eagle Creek, receive over 100 hours per month of full-time comprehensive golf coaching and training support including; specialized mental game training from world-renowned sports psychologist and coach Dr. Rick Jensen, who is well-known for working with 50-plus of the game’s best players that have collected 199 PGA/LPGA/Champions Tour wins including, 33 Majors and over $65 million in earnings.

Students can customize their academic pursuits by enrolling in the Everest Academy on-line education program with teacher support or at Windermere Preparatory School in Orlando or consider alternative educational opportunities.

Brunton is a PGA of Canada three-time national award winner – 2014 Coach of the Year, 2009 Junior Leader of the Year, 2013 Professional Development and Education.

Brunton, a PGA Master Professional is the lone Canadian to be a recipient of the 5-Star Professional Award, the PGA of Europe’s highest honor. He is the author of two books—Journey to Excellence: The Young Golfer’s Complete Guide to Achievement and Personal Growth (2009), and High Performance Golf (2012). He was also Golf Canada’s National Amateur Team Coach from 1999 to 2011.

TORONTO – David Hearn has announced the success of The David Hearn Foundation hat sales fundraising initiative, which has raised approximately $20,000 for the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

The David Hearn Foundation hats, produced by Levelwear, went on sale in March 2016 via e-commerce and retail channels and sold out shortly after, with all proceeds being donated to the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Hearn’s sponsor Extendicare pledged to donate an additional $2 per hat sale to the initiative, helping The David Hearn Foundation reach its contribution goal.

Hearn, a global ambassador of Extendicare on and off the course, has been working closely with the company to support a cause and organization both are strongly involved in with the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

Off the course, Hearn has been working with Alzheimer Society of Brant Haldimand Norfolk Hamilton Halton since 2012, and announced a national partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Canada during the launch of his Foundation in 2015.

“The David Hearn Foundation hat initiative was another way for us to give back to a cause we care deeply about,” said Hearn. “Our goal was to not only raise funds for the Alzheimer Society of Canada, but also awareness with every hat bought. We saw hat sales come not only from across Canada, but across the US as well, so I think our message is definitely getting out there. I also want to thank my partners Extendicare and Levelwear for supporting this initiative and my foundation from the start.”

(ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., USA) – World Golf Foundation (WGF) – the non-profit organization developing and supporting initiatives that positively impact lives through the game of golf and its traditional values – has announced the launch of the Golf & Health Project, academically researching and highlighting how the game can benefit peoples’ lives.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, led by Dr. Andrew Murray and under the supervision of leading international academics, Professor Nanette Mutrie and Professor Liz Grant, have conducted the largest, most comprehensive study of golf and health, with the results shown in a Scoping Review published in the world’s leading sports medicine and science journal, The British Journal of Sports Medicine.  In total, 5,000 papers were reviewed to provide a comprehensive view on the impact of the game on health, illness prevention (and management) and associated injuries (infographic).

Key benefits include improvements in life expectancy and quality of life, as well as physical and mental health benefits.  Golf is expected to decrease the risk of more than 40 major chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart attacks, colon and breast cancer.  Current research shows that golf has positive impacts on cholesterol, body composition, metabolism, and longevity.

The Project launches with support from all of golf’s major organisations, along with an initial eight ambassadors from around the world with more than 30 majors and 350 wins between them – Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Annika Sorenstam(Sweden), Brooke Henderson (Canada), Gary Player (South Africa), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Ryann O’Toole (USA), So Yeon Ryu (South Korea), and Zach Johnson (USA).

Current information from the Scoping Review and future research findings will continue to be available through the Golf & Health website – www.golfandhealth.org. This information is designed to be practical and usable by golf’s stakeholders to help develop the sport around the world.

The project also aims to show existing and future benefits that are identified are applicable to individuals of all ages throughout society, not just a specific sub-section of the population.

The WGF and the major golf organizations represented on its Board of Directors, along with partners such as the PGAs of Europe and the University of Edinburgh, academic collaborators and supporters from the University of California at San Francisco, and various other organizations, are working together on the Project with a view to sharing its work around the globe.

“The importance of the Golf & Health Project in the development of the sport is vital, not just for the WGF’s partners, but everyone involved with golf around the world,” said Steve Mona, CEO of the World Golf Foundation.  “This Project is something we can all get behind, as it is universally agreed that golf is good for you. It is going to provide real, tangible resources that can be used by governments and politicians, professional tours, governing bodies, golf businesses, PGA Professionals and more – all to the sport’s benefit.”

The Project is planning various research-led activities to further prove areas of interest and also expand into currently under-researched areas such as the mental health benefits of golf, physical benefits in older players and the positive effects of spectating.

“For a number of years we’ve felt we’ve underplayed the likely benefits of golf on peoples’ health,” added Golf & Health Project Executive Director and European Tour Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Roger Hawkes.  “Over the last two or three years, there seems to be an interest from various bodies and we’ve been able to bring together that interest to actually study this area.”

NAPA, Calif. – On the eve of a new PGA Tour season, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina picked up his second trophy of the old season as the rookie of the year.

Grillo began his rookie year by winning in a playoff last year at Silverado. He made the cut in all four majors and finished in the top 20 in all but the U.S. Open, and then he had a pair of top 10s in the FedEx Cup playoffs, including a runner-up finish at The Barclays.

Smylie Kaufman and Si Woo Kim also won last season as rookies, though Grillo had the highest finish among them in the FedEx Cup at No. 11.

Kaufman won in Las Vegas a week after Grillo’s victory, and Kaufman played in the final group at the Masters until he fell back in the final round. Kim joined Grillo as the only rookies to reach the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship.

“I have two trophies that I’m always going to have in my memory,” Grillo said.

One was from the Frys.com Open (now the Safeway Open). The other was his crystal bowl as rookie of the year. He said the second one was harder to win.

“This is probably the top one because you only get one chance of getting rookie of the year and I think I’m lucky enough to do this for a living and work really hard for it,” Grillo said. “That win last year was something that proved to me I belong here, that I could win out here. That was something that it’s hard to earn, it’s hard to get that in your mind. Quite different, but definitely up there both.”

It was the third time in the last four years that the PGA Tour rookie of the year came out of the high school class of 2011. Jordan Spieth won the award in 2013 and Daniel Berger won it last year.

Grillo grew up competing with those two, along with Kaufman, Justin Thomas and Patrick Rodgers, in junior golf circuits.

“That group was so competitive. It was hard winning junior events,” Grillo said. “Everybody was shooting 10-under par, 8-under par, on really difficult golf courses. I think that got me ready. I was playing with the best juniors in the world. I was playing with guys that were very hard to beat. When you’re 14, 15 years old, it kinds of gets you ready very quickly.”

Next up for the Argentine is keeping the trophy he won last year from Silverado. He is No. 24 in the world and still has as many as five tournaments left this year, including the HSBC Champions in Shanghai and the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

NAPA, Calif. – Dustin Johnson’s first major was only part of a dream season that culminated with the PGA Tour player of the year award on Tuesday.

Johnson made it a clean sweep of the tour’s biggest honours that are named after its most prominent players. He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as player of the year, the Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list and the Byron Nelson Award for having the lowest adjusted scoring average.

“I don’t even know if I dreamed this would be happening,” Johnson said.

Johnson previously won the PGA of America’s points-based award as player of the year and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

The PGA Tour award is a vote of the players, and Johnson said he didn’t even vote.

That didn’t matter. While the PGA Tour does not disclose vote totals, no one could match the year Johnson had.

The 32-year-old American ended his string of disappointment in the majors by winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont under extraordinary circumstances. Because of the USGA’s indecision over a potential rules violation, Johnson played the final seven holes not knowing if he would be penalized, and he made sure it didn’t make a difference.

He followed that up with by winning a World Golf Championship two weeks later at Firestone, and he won the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick. The only disappointment was losing the lead at the Tour Championship and losing the FedEx Cup when Rory McIlroy won at East Lake.

Even so, Johnson established himself as a threat nearly every week. He finished out of the top 10 in only seven of his 21 starts on the PGA Tour this year. He won the money list with over $9.3 million and his performance in the final three FedEx Cup events – 10 of his last 12 rounds were in the 60s – allowed him to pull away from Jason Day, Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth to post the lowest scoring average.

Johnson said he worked harder this year than ever before, but not too hard. On a scale of 1 to 10, he measured his work ethic at a 7 1/2, compared with about a 5 in previous years.

“There’s still room to work harder, but I’m at a level that works best for me so I don’t get too burned out,” he said. “I feel like I’m putting in enough quality work that works for my mentality so I’m not overdoing it.”

The key moment for Johnson this year came on a rainy Wednesday after the pro-am at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera. Instead of ducking into the clubhouse for lunch, he headed for the range and began working for the first time with TrackMan, a device using radar technology that allows a player to get dialed in on every aspect of his game. Johnson used it only for his wedges.

By year’s end, he was in the top five in driving distance and proximity to the hole from 50 yards to 125 yards. The last player to do that was Tiger Woods in 2005.

“Knowing the work I’m putting in is working drives me to work harder, it makes me more driven to be better,” Johnson said. “That’s what gives me confidence.”

Patience is paying off for Canadian golfer Mackenzie Hughes.

Thing are falling into place for the 25-year old from Dundas, Ont., who will be making his debut as a full-fledged PGA Tour member this week at the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. Next week he’ll marry his long-time partner Jenna Shaw in a ceremony in his adopted home of Charlotte, N.C.

“To be where I am now is kind of surreal when I think about it,” Hughes said over the phone en route to the West Coast. “Even though things were dragging along this summer, early on, everything’s happened relatively quickly from last year to where I am now. I’m grateful, but by no means do I think I don’t deserve it. More than anything, I’m just excited to get going.”

Hughes has learned to temper that excitement while looking for his path to the PGA Tour. His approach paid dividends when he captured the Price Cutter Charity Championship on the Web.com Tour in August and finished 17th on that Tour’s money list. The top 25 finishers earn a spot on the PGA Tour for the following season.

Hughes’ maiden victory came after he rolled in an 18-inch birdie put on the final hole to win by one shot.

“It’s probably one of the hardest things to do as a professional golfer, not get too far ahead of yourself,” he said. “There were tons of times when I got ahead of myself, about what the win would mean for me and my family, and then brought myself back.”

The two-time Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion (2011 and 2012) captured the Order of Merit title in 2013 on the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada, which gave him full status on the Web.com circuit in 2014. But he struggled, admitting he was inexperienced for such a big stage.

In 2015 he returned to the PGA Tour Canada, where he finished 13th on the money list. He earned a spot on the Web.com Tour last winter in a qualifying tournament.

“When we launched the Mackenzie Tour as PGA Tour Canada in 2013, we hoped to see many journeys like Mackenzie’s unfold,” said PGA Tour Canada Tour president Jeff Monday. “Seeing players benefit from their performances in Canada and then go on to prove themselves a the next level is certainly encouraging.”

Hughes was part of Golf Canada’s national team program as an amateur and remains involved today. Hughes’ coach is Derek Ingram, who leads the national team and was at the helm of Canada’s Olympic golf team in Rio de Janeiro.

“The recipe Mackenzie has been using the last few years to get on the PGA Tour is almost exactly the same recipe he needs going forward,” Ingram said. “We are going to work on the same plan, be disciplined and professional in his approach, and just continue to be Mackenzie Hughes.

“We’re going to focus on getting a little bit better, but not search for unicorns out there. He knows if he plays his game, he will have plenty of success.”

Hughes connected with fellow Canadian PGA Tour golfers David Hearn and Nick Taylor prior to this week. Both advised Hughes on what they wished they could have done differently in their first seasons on Tour.

“They had great advice for me. It’s nice to know what some of those guys learned in their first year and just put it in my back pocket,” said Hughes. “I’m not going to play with Rory McIlroy one day and change my swing to hit it like him. It’s important to have that belief that what you did to get there (the PGA Tour) is good enough.”

Where Hughes finished on the Web.com Tour’s money list determined what PGA Tour events he will be able to get into during the six-tournament ‘Fall Series’ portion of the 2016-17 Tour schedule. He does not have enough status to pick-and-choose the rest of his schedule like veterans Hearn or fellow Olympian Graham DeLaet.

He wedding will keep him from next week’s event in Kuala Lumpur, but he will return for the Sanderson Farms Championship – won by Taylor in 2014.

Taylor, Hearn, DeLaet, Adam Hadwin, and fellow Web.com Tour graduate Brad Fritsch are also in the field at this week’s Safeway Open, which begins Thursday.

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Team Canada’s Maddie Szeryk posted another Top-10 result for Texas A&M on Monday at the Club at Carlton Woods Creekside, closing at 9-under par to grab a share of third at the Jim West Challenge.

Szeryk, a 20-year-old junior, shot a score of 4-under par in her final round of the 54-hole event to finish with a collective score of 207 (69-70-68). With the finish, the Allen, Texas resident collected her 13^th Top-10 result so far for the Aggies. Her performance helped lift Texas A&M to a collective score of 5-under par—good for a 5^th place result.

Florida State’s Matilda Castren took home medalist honours with a score of 13-under for the tournament, helping the Seminoles glide to victory with a seven-stroke advantage over runner-up Kent State.

Szeryk and the Aggies are set to tee-it-up next at the Alamo Invitational from Oct. 9-10 at the Briggs Ranch Golf Course in San Antonio.

Click here for full scoring.

The comeback of Tiger Woods is going to have to wait at least two more months.

Three days before he was to return at the Safeway Open, Woods said he wasn’t ready to return against PGA Tour competition.

He first said on Sept. 7 that he planned to play, then officially committed to the tournament on Friday.

Woods, who had back surgery three times last year, says he feels strong and his health is good. But he says that after several days of practice in California, he feels his game is vulnerable.

Ryder Cup inspired me to play my best. Unfortunately as I prepared, I still need work and refining. https://t.co/wCFjIznK6R

— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) October 10, 2016

Along with pulling out of the Safeway Open, Woods said Monday he was withdrawing from the Turkish Airlines Open next month.

He plans to play at his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week of December.

Woods was to play the Safeway Open with Phil Mickelson and defending champion Emiliano Grillo.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Jay Haas birdied the first hole of a playoff with Bart Bryant on Sunday to become the second-oldest winner in PGA Tour Champions history.

At 62 years, 10 months, 7 days, Haas trails only Mike Fetchick, the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational winner at 63 years to the day.

After opening with bogey-free rounds of 64 and 63 to take a five-stroke lead, Haas had to rally to get into the playoff. He made par saves on the par-3 17th and par-5 18th for a 1-under 70 to match Bryant – who earlier bogeyed 18 to give Haas an opening – at 16-under 197.

Also the 2007 winner at Newport Beach Country Club, Haas won his 18th title on the 50-and-over tour and first since 2014. He won nine times on the PGA Tour and captained the United States’ winning Presidents Cup team last year in South Korea.

The 53-year-old Bryant shot a 64, three-putting the 18th in regulation. He hit into the left greenside bunker in two, and hit something under the ball in the sand that sent that ball right and long.

Bryant also struggled on the hole in the playoff, hitting way left off the tee, then into a grandstand to the right of the green. Haas hit the fairway and drew a good lie in light rough, also right of the green. Bryant’s chip raced across the green and off, and Haas hit his to a foot for the winning birdie.

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Ha Na Jang held off Shanshan Feng by a stroke in wind and rain Sunday in the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship for her third victory of the year.

Eight strokes ahead of Feng after a birdie on the sixth hole, the 24-year-old South Korean player bogeyed two of the next three holes and scrambled to par the final nine for a 1-under 71.

Feng finished with a 66. The Chinese star chipped in for birdie from 35 feet on the par-4 15th to pull within two strokes, and nearly holed a bunker shot for eagle on the par-5 18th.

Jang then lagged her 15-foot birdie putt to inches, and danced on the green after tapping in.

Brooke Henderson, a 19-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., birdied the last two holes for a 70 to tie for third with South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim (69) at 10 under. Taiwan’s Candie Kung (69), South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace (71) and South Korea’s Hee Young Park (72) were another stroke back.

“I was like nervous every hole,” Jang said. “Shanshan really good play today. That’s why I got very nervous. And then I’m just simple every hole because weather is just so bad. And then just keep going the fairway and the green.”

She kept the celebration short after drawing criticism in South Korea for her flamboyant victory celebrations – a “Samurai Lasso” routine in Florida in February and a “Beyonce Single Ladies” dance in Singapore in March. Also, before the Singapore event, Jang’s father dropped a hard-case suitcase that tumbled down an airport escalator and injured rival player In Gee Chun.

“After Singapore’s not really good happening. That’s why little, small dancing,” Jang said. “Yesterday my agent and all the people text me say just try small celebration. Please just you try it. That’s why I got try a little more small one. But I think it’s really good. Celebration is a little small, but looks like a little bigger. It’s like dancing like, ‘I like it. I like it.’ Like that. So happy.”

Jang finished at 17-under 271. She set up some key par saves with sharp play around the greens, hitting to inches on 14 after striking the pin, to a foot on 15 after Feng holed out, and to 2 feet on 16 and 17.

“Really solid chipping,” Jang said. “My chipping is pretty good first time my life. That’s why every par is good score, because raining so bad. So that’s these why every hole is par. … My first win weather is rainy, exactly same. I like it raining on the golf course.”

Jang shot a 62 on Saturday to take a six-stroke lead over Feng into the final round. The 62 was the lowest score in her LPGA Tour career and matched the best round in the three years at Miramar.

The South Korean player earned $300,000 to jump from 12th to seventh in the money list with $1,199,719. She’s projected to go from 12th to eighth in the world ranking.

Feng had her third straight top-four finish. The Olympic bronze medallist was fourth in the Evian Championship and tied for fourth last week in China in the Asian Swing opener.

Top-ranked Lydia Ko shot a 70 to tie for 20th at 3 under. She won by nine strokes last year at Miramar.

The tour will be in South Korea next week, then visit China, Malaysia and Japan.