NAPLES, Fla. – Harris English and Matt Kuchar won the Franklin Templeton Shootout on Saturday, holding off Wisconsin friends Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly by a stroke at Tiburon.

English and Kuchar also won in 2013 in their first start together and finished second the last two years.

“It’s a thrilling event to come out with a win, amazing feeling,” Kuchar said. “I think it’s just such a fun partnership we’ve had. We’ve had such a good run. To have our last four events together, to have our track record be first, second, second, first is quite amazing.”

English eagled the par-5 17th and they closed with a 7-under 65 in better-ball play to finish at 28 under.

“We had some good action there and it kind of came down to the last couple holes and kind of set up perfect on 17 for me,” English said. “Really reachable par 5 and hit a really good drive off the tee and knew Kuch was in really good position so I could play really aggressive. Hit a really good 8-iron right where I wanted to and made about a 12-footer.”

“That’s the difference in these events,” Kuchar said. “Pulling out some shots like that, getting an eagle, getting that two-shot swing, that’s a big deal. This event comes down to you need to make birdies, you need to make some scores under par, and to do it on the 17th hole today and the position and the situation we were in, it was a battle. We weren’t making a huge number of birdies. It’s not like we were just battling with birdies, it was a fairly challenging day. But for Harris to come through and eagle 17 and give us that one-shot lead.”

Stricker and Kelly also shot 65.

“We just couldn’t get that momentum,” Stricker said. “A shot here or there. Jerry played great. Wish I could have helped him out a couple more times. I had some putts at it I didn’t make, but it was fun. Harris made an eagle. I knew somebody was going to do something there. It was just playing too short. He hit two great shots there at 17 and that was the difference really.”

English and Kuchar each earned $385,000. They opened with a 57 on Thursday in the scramble round and had a 66 on Friday in modified alternate shot.

Charley Hoffman and Billy Horschel were third at 26 under after a 61.

Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., and Gary Woodland tied for last with Lexi Thompson and Bryson DeChambeau at 16 under. Thompson became the second woman to compete in the event, following Annika Sorenstam with Fred Couples in 2006.

Among the scant few awards in my office is one that dates back to when I was coaching my daughter’s rep basketball team. This prized ornament features a basketball and a hoop encircled by wreath of leaves of some description.

The inscription reads: “John Gordon. Ontario Basketball Association. King of Technicals.”

It was given to me in jest by my team. Great bunch of girls. Talent, in addition to a sense of humour. Despite my best efforts, they won provincial gold in their division that season.

But their underlying message was clear. I knew (or I thought I knew) the rule book better than some of the referees and didn’t fail to take any opportunity to point out their shortcomings. With the expected result: Yet another technical foul, coach.

So it may seem counter-intuitive that I am studying hard to achieve Level 3 in the Rules of Golf certification this winter through Golf Ontario.

I successfully completed Levels 1 and 2 a couple of years back but, for reasons that remain unclear (OK, I got lazy), never progressed beyond that.  As I found out this summer while volunteering at a Future Links Championship at my home club, Midland Golf and Country Club, my situation was far from unique.

Ian Giles, who has volunteered at the provincial and national levels for more than 40 years, was a Rules official at that tournament. I’ve known Giles for many years and during one of our chats, between rulings he had to make, he asked why I hadn’t continued on in the Rules program. I didn’t have a decent answer. He said it’s not uncommon for avid golfers with an interest in Rules to go through the first two levels and then drop out.

The result is that while there currently are 587 individuals who have successfully completed Level 1 and 152 who have passed Level 2, there are only 30 certified Level 3 and 113 Level 4 officials in the entire country. (For an explanation of the four levels, click here.)

“We don’t have nearly enough officials in Ontario or across the country,” says Golf Ontario Tournament Manager Larry Longo, one of the country’s leading Rules experts. “Ideally, there would be enough to have an official at not just Golf Ontario events, but PGA of Ontario, local amateur and junior tournaments, even club invitationals and member-guests.”

Golf Ontario Rules Chairman Lee Griffin has been a volunteer Rules official since 1999 and says the rewards are plentiful.

“There’s lots of gratification,” she says. “As a Rules official, I’ve gotten to meet some fabulous people I would never have met otherwise, like people at host clubs, other officials and players.  And to see young players grow into adults who are successful not only in golf but in life is wonderful. “

Although I like to think of my desire to become an accredited Rules official as giving something back to the game, many folks (no doubt some in striped shirts reffing ball games) will see it as karma, as in the cliché, “what goes around, comes around.”

Whatever. I just hope I pass.  I’ll keep you posted.

More information about the Rules of Golf and Golf Canada’s Rules Education Program is available by clicking here.

And if you want to join me, visit  www.gao.ca or your provincial golf association’s web site.

The game needs you. Er, us, that is.

adidas Golf Canada has joined forces with the Bring Back the Game initiative, a campaign which places priority on extending a platform for all individuals to experience the true love of golf, regardless of any physical or mental challenges.

Todd Keirstead, champion of Bring Back the Game, works to provide a welcoming environment where individuals can overcome any challenges or obstacles. With the help of adidas Golf, the initiative recently covered the unique stories of four athletes who had the opportunity to play a practice round at the Manulife Classic with Canadian Golf Hall-of-Famer Lorie Kane and LPGA Tour professional Danielle Kang.

Watch their experience below in the video titled “Golf’s Power to Heal.”

Click here to learn more.

As golf’s governing body in Canada, Golf Canada, in conjunction with the R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA), today announced a new Local Rule which will come into effect January 1, 2017.

Along with the R&A and USGA, Golf Canada holds a unique position as the only other governing body that sits on the Joint Rules Committee.

Golf Canada will be implementing this Local Rule as part of their Standard Local Rules which will be formally ratified at our annual general meeting by the Rules and Amateur Status Committee.

If a committee wishes to introduce this Local Rule, the following wording is recommended: “Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1 are modified as follows:

When a player’s ball lies on the putting green, there is no penalty if the ball or ball-marker is accidentally moved by the player, his partner, his opponent, or any of their caddies or equipment.

The moved ball or ball-marker must be replaced as provided in Rules 18-2, 18-3 and 20-1.

This Local Rule applies only when the player’s ball or ball-marker lies on the putting green and any movement is accidental.

Note, if it is determined that a player’s ball on the putting green was moved as a result of wind, water or some other natural cause such as the effects of gravity, the ball must be played as it lies from its new location. A ball-marker moved in such circumstances is replaced.

Further reading:

Click here for detailed explanations about the new Local Rule, including diagrams, videos and a detailed FAQ document.

More information about the Rules of Golf and Golf Canada’s Rules Education Program is available by clicking here.

Mary Parsons of Delta, B.C., has been nominated for the Sport BC Junior Female Athlete of The Year Award.

Parsons, who had an outstanding 2016 season with four significant victories, will find out on March 8th, 2017 during the awards ceremony dinner being held at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver, whether she will be adding another honour to her name.

Included in her list of accomplishments this past summer were wins in the CN Future Links Pacific Championship, BC Junior Girls Championship, MJT Boston Pizza National Championship and the Kent Ford Motors Bouctouche East Coast Jr. Girls Championship.

She also had 2nd place finishes in the BC Women’s Amateur, BC High School AA Individual Championship (in a mixed gender field) and the MJT Season Opener event in Coquitlam. She was 3rd in the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, the AJGA Under Armour Canadian Championship and the CJGA BC Junior Open.

Parsons also recorded a T4 in the CJGA Western Canadian Junior and was 9th in both the Junior Americas Cup and the CN Future Links Ontario Championship giving her a total of 13 Top 10 finishes in significant events this past season.

Along with recently signing her commitment to the Indiana University Hoosiers Women’s Golf program, Parsons also was named to the Team Canada National Development Squad, a goal she had set for herself from the start of the year.

Parsons was nominated by British Columbia Golf President Patrick Kelly and Kris Jonasson, Executive Director of British Columbia Golf. The 2015 winner was West Vancouver’s Emily Overholt for swimming.

The University of Victoria Vikes Men’s Golf Team (50 points) have been named the best University/College golf team in Canada at the mid-season point of the 2016-17 golf season, as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of Canada.

The Vikes earned all five 1^st place votes based on results from various Conference championships and fall team scoring averages.

The UBC Thunderbirds (41 points) came in second followed closely by the Laval Rouge et Or (40 points).  The Queens Gaels (30 points), and Waterloo Warriors (28) round out the top 5.

The Western Mustangs and New Brunswick Varsity Reds (18 points) tied for sixth place, followed by the Camosun Chargers (16 points), and Niagara College Knights (12 points) who are ranked ninth.  The University of the Fraser Valley Cascades complete the top 10 with 7 points.

Other teams to receive votes were the Humber College Hawks, Manitoba Bisons, Alberta Golden Bears, Calgary Dinos, and Concordia Stingers.

Full men’s rankings:

On the women’s side, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds Women’s Golf Team (50 points) topped the mid-season rankings. The Thunderbirds also earned all five 1st place votes based on results from various Conference championships and 2016 fall team scoring averages.

The Ontario University Association champion Toronto Varsity Blues (41 points) came second, followed closely by the RSEQ champion Laval Rouge et Or (40 points). The Canadian College Athletics Association champion Georgian College Grizzles (35 points), and Victoria Vikes (33 points) round out the top 5.

The Waterloo Warriors (24 points) and Montreal Carabins (21 points) are sixth and seventh place respectively, followed by the Western Mustangs (14 points), and Humber Hawks (9 points) who are ranked ninth. The Fraser Valley Cascades round out the top 10 with six points.

Full women’s rankings:

NAPLES, Fla. – Steve Stricker returned from a long layoff to team with Jerry Kelly to take the first-round lead in the Franklin Templeton Shootout.

The Madison, Wisconsin, duo shot a 16-under 56 on Thursday in the scramble format for a one-stroke lead over Harris English and Matt Kuchar at Tiburon Golf Club.

“It was just a great team effort today,” Stricker said. “We both played well. We both kept the pedal down all the way around, we never let up. We made a lot of good birdies, threw in an improbable eagle at the sixth hole, but other than that it was just good, solid golf all the way around, all the way to the end. Usually we have little hiccups here and there or a little lull period and today that never happened. We just continued that good play every hole really.”

On the eagle, Stricker holed a breaking 60-footer on the par-5 sixth.

“The pin was in a very difficult position kind of on the left side of the green,” Stricker said. “It was kind of up and over and speed was tricky. He put a good putt on it, on the first one. It was difficult, it had a lot of break. But speed was the issue and he gave me great speed and the line because I ended up giving it a little bit more.”

The 49-year-old Stricker had not played since the Deutsche Bank Championship on Labor Day. He’s teaming with the 50-year-old Kelly for the record eighth time. They won in 2009, and Kelly also won with Rod Pampling in 2006.

“We know everybody’s going to get in the fairway and get on the green in this format, so it’s really rolling in the putts,” Kelly said. “I just need to do my job and hit solid putts, so he can see where the line is and make it like he does.”

Harris and Kuchar won in 2013 in their first start together and finished second the last two years.

Charles Howell III & Rory Sabbatini were third at 59, and defending champions Jason Dufner and Brandt Snedeker were at 60 with Kevin Chappell-Kevin Kisner and Luke Donald-Russell Knox.

Lexi Thompson and Bryson DeChambeau were eighth after a 62. Thompson is the second woman to compete in the event, following Annika Sorenstam with Fred Couples in 2006.

The teams will play modified alternate shot Friday and close with better ball Saturday.

The Web.com Tour prepares to host its final stage of qualifying this week from Dec. 8-11 in Winter Garden, Fla., where 10 Canadians will compete for 2017 playing status.

The Canadian contingent will battle against 150-plus athletes in the 72-hole stroke play event, with players finishing inside the Top-45 (plus ties) earning guaranteed starts for the beginning of the 2017 campaign. The medallist of the event will earn fully-exempt status for the entirety of the season; Canada’s Adam Svensson captured that crown in 2015.

The following list of Canadians will tee-it-up at the Orange County National Golf Club’s Crooked Cat and Panther Lake courses:

• Ryan Yip (Calgary)
• Aaron Cockerill (Teulon, Man.)
• Seann Harlingten (Vancouver)
• Ben Silverman (Thornhill, Ont.)
• Lucas Kim (Toronto, Ont.)
• Justin Shin (Pitt Meadows, B.C.)
• Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.)
• Adam Cornelson (Langley, B.C.)
• Michael Gligic (Kitchener, Ont.)
• Austin Connelly (Irving, Tex. | Clare, N.S.)

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The Champions Tour announced today its 2017 tournament schedule, featuring 26 official tournaments and two “Challenge Season” events. The 23-event regular season will again highlight the Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, which will be used to determine the season-long Charles Schwab Cup champion. The Tour will contest events in four countries and 18 states, with total prize money of $55.7 million (U.S).

The 2017 season will feature five tournaments with new host venues, including Trump National Golf Club outside Washington D.C., Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., Caves Valley Golf Club in suburban Baltimore, Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales and Phoenix (Ariz.) Country Club.

The season will begin with the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, set for the week of January 16-21 in Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii. Thirteen-time PGA TOUR winner David Toms, who turns 50 on January 4, is expected to make his PGA TOUR Champions debut. Toms will be joined by fellow rookies Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly during the 2017 season.

This past year, World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer claimed an unprecedented fourth Charles Schwab Cup title after putting forth a dominant four-win season on PGA TOUR Champions.

The five major championships on the Champions Tour will kick off with the Regions Tradition, which returns to Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala. the week of May 15-21. The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship will be contested the following week at Trump National Golf Club near Washington D.C.

The final three major championships of 2017 will be held during a five-week stretch in the summer, beginning with the U.S. Senior Open at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass. the week of June 26-July 2. The Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship will move from June to July in suburban Baltimore at 2002 U.S. Senior Open host Caves Valley Golf Club (July 10-16), while the Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex will be contested at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Wales (July 17-23) for the second time in four years, dating back to 2014.

The schedule will feature two “Challenge Season” events, beginning with the Diamond Resorts Invitational the week of January 9-15, and the PNC Father Son Challenge, which will be contested in December on a date to be announced. The event’s 2016 playing is set for this weekend in Orlando.

Canada will once again have two Champions Tour stops. The Shaw Charity Classic will be played September 1-3 at Canyon Meadows G & Country Club in Calgary. The Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship will be contested at Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C. from September 15 – 17.

Team Canada Men’s Head Coach Derek Ingram was among the 10 award winners announced today by the PGA of Canada, earning the nod as the Ben Kern Coach of the Year recipient.

“I’m extremely honoured to be receiving this prestigious award from the PGA of Canada—an association I’m very proud to be a member of,” said Ingram, a class “A” member. “It was definitely a year to remember for a lot of different reasons and I’m very thankful to be honoured with this achievement.”

The Winnipeg native collects the award on the heels of another busy season at the helm for his 12th year with the Team Canada program. Ingram’s 2016 travels were highlighted by a trip to Rio de Janeiro, where he acted as the Canadian men’s head coach in golf’s return to the Olympics after a 112-year hiatus.

In September, Ingram led the Canadian trio of Jared du Toit, Hugo Bernard and Garrett Rank to Mexico, where they finished tied for ninth at the World Amateur Team Championships.

Ingram’s extended coaching efforts came full circle with the emergence of Young Pro Squad member Mackenzie Hughes, who collected wins on both the Web.com and PGA Tours in a span of three months. The 26-year-old Dundas, Ont., native has been a pupil of Ingram’s since joining the Team Canada program in 2008. He has since become an exemplary model of development through the Canadian system, something Ingram takes great pride in.

“Mackenzie is the perfect example of what we are trying to accomplish with the Team Canada program,” he said. “He climbed his way up through the ranks through dedication and hard work; he’s also a great champion off the golf course and I’m proud to have played a part in that.”

Alongside marquee events, Ingram upheld a schedule including training camps, contact days and competitions with the nine athletes on this year’s National Amateur and Young Pro squads. He is also heavily involved with industry-leading initiatives including Long-Term Player Development and high performance.

The award comes a year after close friend and counterpart Tristan Mullally (Team Canada Women’s Head Coach) took home the honours.

“Derek is a great leader and friend and deserves every recognition for helping better his athletes both in life and in sport,” Mullally said. “I look forward to new challenges with him and continuing to push each other to grow for seasons to come.”

The Manitoba Golf Hall-of-Famer is no stranger to receiving accolades, having won the PGA of Canada’s Teacher of the Year award twice (’03, ’07) to compliment being named the PGA of Manitoba’s Teacher of the Year a record seven times.

The following other award winners will be recognized during PGA of Canada Night on Jan. 26 at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.

• Murray Tucker Golf Professional of the Year—Alan Palmer, Class “A” head professional, Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club;
• George Knudson Teacher of the Year—Henry Brunton, Class “A” Master Professional, Henry Brunton Golf;
• Mike Weir Player of the Year—Marc-Étienne Bussieres, Candidate for Membership, Club de golf Longchamp;
• Ben Kern Coach of the Year—Derek Ingram, Class “A” head coach, Team Canada;
• Moe Norman Candidate for Membership of the Year—Garrett Malcolm, Candidate for Membership, Breezy Bend Country Club;
• Tex Noble Professional Development Award—Jason Helman, Class “A” teaching professional, Wyndance Golf Club;
• Pat Fletcher Retailer of the Year—Adam Tobin, Class “A” head professional, Whistle Bear Golf;
• Stan Leonard Class “A” Professional of the Year—Ashley Zibrik, Class “A” professional, Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club;
• Jack McLaughin Junior Leader of the Year—Amanda Minchin, Class “A” head professional, Estevan Woodlawn Golf Club;
• George Cumming Distinguished Service Award—Bob Weeks, TSN.