The 2016 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship is expected to attract a strong international field when it is played at Ken-Wo GC in New Minas, N.S., this summer.

The tournament, an “A”-ranked event by the World Women’s Amateur Golf Ranking (WWAGR) for the past five years, will run July 26-29.

It will be the fifth national tournament held at the venerable course, which opened as a nine-hole layout in 1921 and is one of the oldest in the province.

It will also be the second time that Ken-Wo has hosted this prestigious event, one of the oldest competitions in the country. In 2002, Lisa Meldrum won her second of three consecutive national women’s titles on the Ken-Wo layout. Other national tournaments played at Ken-Wo include the 1985 Canadian Junior Girls, the 1996 Canadian Club Champions’ event and the 2001 Canadian Junior Boys.

Golf Canada president Roland Deveau of Nova Scotia said Ken-Wo was chosen to host the Amateur for a variety of reasons.

“First, it’s a great championship course. It has a great variety of holes and is a challenging track, which will bring forth an excellent champion,” said Deveau. “I have been involved with a number of national and provincial championships at Ken-Wo and each one has been a great experience for the players and club. And finally, the Annapolis Valley area will be a fine host for competitors, their friends and families. It is a region in which competitors from across the country and international guests will truly enjoy,” he said.

Hosting the 103rd Women’s Amateur has the strong support of the Ken-Wo membership, according to Rene MacKay, the club’s director of golf and operations and co-chair of the tournament.

“This club has a long history of supporting competitive golf,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to put the club’s name on the national golf map. The members take pride in their club and it is exciting for staff and members to be involved,” MacKay added.

Ken-Wo, which got its name from its location in New Minas, halfway between Kentville and Wolfville, home of Acadia University, is a traditional tree-lined track, known more as a “thinker’s course,” explained MacKay.

The course is expected to play to a par 70 and approximately 6,200 yards from the tips, certainly not long by today’s standards. However, savvy course management and green reading will be keys to scoring well.

“Ken-Wo’s defence is it is tree-lined and the greens are difficult. I have been here for close to 20 years and I still have a hard time with them because they are difficult to read,” MacKay said.

In a brief overview of what these top-flight golfers can expect, MacKay acknowledged the first five or six holes are fairly straightforward, “laid out in front of the golfer” with holes seven, eight and nine more difficult.

“They are all par 4s. The seventh hole is tree lined and fades left to right. If you hit to the right you will have no shot into the green. The eighth hole is a beautiful golf hole. It is also tree lined and a slight dogleg left. The ninth hole you hit into a valley but it is tough to get your second shot up the hill to the back of the green,” said MacKay.

Holes 10 through 13 are affectionately called the course’s “orchard” holes because it used to be the site of an old apple orchard.

Holes 14 through 18, known locally as Death Valley, “are likely this golf course’s biggest strength,” said MacKay. He noted that many championships have been won and lost over these last holes.

“At Augusta they say the (Masters) starts on the last day on the back nine. For us the tournament starts on the last day on No. 14,” he said with a smile. “So much can happen there.

The last holes are the meat of the golf course. Many rounds have gone down badly. This is where the course really defends itself,” he stated. The last five holes include two par 5s, two tough par 4s and a long par 3.

Overall, MacKay said Ken-Wo is a “positional” course and there are definitely “spots where you can’t hit it.” He anticipates the longer hitters will decide not to use driver on some of the shorter holes where being long off the tee may not be of any benefit.

The greens — about 4,000 to 5,000 square feet with a lot of undulation — are protected by about 50 sand traps and some water. “This course lends itself well to a national championship,” he concluded.

MacKay is intrigued to see how well the players will score and speculates a lot will depend on where the pins are situated on the greens. “I think we will see a 65 or 66, but not from one player every day. I think, depending on the setup laid out by Golf Canada, maybe four, five or six under will win.”

Atlantic attack This article was originally published in the May 2016 edition of Golf Canada Magazine. To view the full magazine, click the image to the left.

BELMONT, Mich. – Defending champion Lexi Thompson shot a 6-under 65 on Thursday for a share of the Meijer LPGA Classic lead, with Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn close behind.

The 21-year-old Thompson played the front nine – her final nine at Blythefield – in 6 under. After parring the first nine holes, she holed out from 71 yards with a lob wedge for eagle on the par-5 first and birdied Nos. 3-5 and 8 – playing the three front-nine par 5s in 4 under.

“I had a slow start for my first nine there on the back, but hit it very well and then got on a birdie run there on my second nine,” said Thompson, ranked fourth in the world. “It’s definitely playing a little bit softer, so the greens are more receptive than last year. It was a lot firmer last year. The course was playing tough at one point because it got pretty windy.”

She was tied for the lead with 52-year-old Laura Davies, Sei Young Kim, Carlota Ciganda and Paula Reto. U.S. Women’s Open champion In Gee Chun was at 66 along with So Yeon Ryu, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Jaclyn Jansen, Alena Sharp and Amelia Lewis.

Henderson, coming off a playoff victory Sunday over the top-ranked Ko in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship outside Seattle, matched Ko with a 67.

Henderson had five birdies and a bogey. The 18-year-old Canadian, up to No. 2 in the world, has 10 top-10 finishes this season. She also won last year in Portland, Oregon.

“It was a pretty solid day,” Henderson said. “Four under, I’ll take it. Only two back from the lead right now, the leaderboard’s pretty crowded with the top names and a ton of really good scores. I’m excited for the rest.”

Ko had three of her four birdies on the back nine in her bogey-free round.

“It was a pretty consistent day,” Ko said. “I had a few putts where it was close to going in but didn’t fall. You’ve got to commit to your lines and put a good stroke on it. But I’m happy to start with a 67. Especially, that front nine and those first few holes were tough because the wind was getting up and it seemed like the skies were getting dark, too.”

Jutanugarn, third last week after winning her previous three starts, bogeyed the last two holes for a 68. She played alongside Henderson.

Thompson won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February for her seventh LPGA Tour title. The long-hitting Florida player also won a Japan LPGA event last month. She rallied to win last year at Blythefield, finishing at 18 under for a one-stroke victory.

“A lot of great memories,” Thompson said. “I just replayed a lot of the shots I hit basically the last round. I remembered a lot. There was actually a lot of Sunday pins from last year today.”

Davies had seven birdies and a bogey.

“I’ve been playing well recently, but I haven’t been holing any putts,” said Davies, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. “Today, I holed some putts, so that’s what I put it down to 100 per cent. I did drive it well, but the putter was the reason.”

The long-hitting English player won the last of her 20 LPGA Tour titles in 2001.

“I have a very natural game,” Davies said. “I don’t have to rely on coaches and that sort of thing. It’s just all feel for me, and that’s why it’s so frustrating to play as well as I’ve done over the past few years and get nothing from it. So, I’m not saying I’ll get anything from this week, but it’s a nice start.”

Kim, the Founders Cup winner in Phoenix in March, birdied her final two holes. She had eight birdies and two bogeys.

“I shot pretty steady,” Kim said. “The greens are really holding, so it should make birdie opportunities very easier.”

Reto, from South Africa, had five birdies in a six-hole stretch on her opening nine, then added birdies on No. 3 and 9 – holing an 18-footer on the last. The former Purdue player is winless on the tour.

“I told myself, ‘If it goes in, it goes in. I’m going to put a good stroke on it,”’ Reto said. “I was really happy that it did go in.”

Ciganda had six birdies in a bogey-free round. She’s winless on the tour.

“The way it’s playing, a little wet, it reminds me a little bit of my home course back in Spain,” Ciganda said. “I played very solid today, six birdies, no bogeys. My putting was good, too.”

Michelle Wie had a 71. She had a double bogey on the par-4 16th, four birdies and two bogeys. Wie is winless since the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open and hasn’t had a top-10 finish in 37 events.

OAKMONT, Pa. – Storms that took plenty of bite out of Oakmont wound up shutting down the U.S. Open on Thursday.

The first round was suspended for the third and final time just as 28-year-old qualifier Andrew Landry was finishing up a dream round in his debut at golf’s toughest test.

Coming off two straight bogeys, Landry hit his approach into about 10 feet on the ninth hole for a birdie attempt when the horn sounded as a violent storm approached. He was at 3-under par.

That wasn’t the only memorable U.S. Open debut. Scottie Scheffler, who just finished his sophomore year at Texas, can at least say he was the leader for the day. Scheffler, one of only nine players to finish, opened with a 69.

Seven of the 78 player who teed off in the morning were under par, so Oakmont still presented its typical share of problems, mostly on the greens.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth was irritated by a few mistakes, though he was 1 over through 12 holes. Spieth was mainly disgusted on the 17th hole when his wedge landed behind the pin, spun back on the rain-softened green and kept trickling until it went down the slope and into a bunker.

“You got to be KIDDING me! How is that in the bunker?” Spieth said from the fairway before slinging his club toward his bag. Even more irritating to Spieth and others was that after the initial delay of 1 hour, 19 minutes, players were sent back to the course without having a chance to warm up.

It could have been worse. Masters champion. Danny Willett, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler played in the same group and were a combined 14-over par through 13 holes. Fowler had missed the cut in three of his last five events.

Oakmont received more than an inch of rain overnight, and it was evident immediately how much it affected the course reputed to be the toughest in America. Denny McCarthy, the first to hit a shot in the 116th U.S. Open, struck what he thought was a good approach to No. 1. The fairway slopes sharply downhill to a green that runs away from players, and the typical play is to land it some 25 yards short and let it run onto the green and, hopefully, have it stay there.

His shot stopped short of the green.

But while the greens were soft, they still were quick as ever. Starting on No. 10, Bryon DeChambau had a 40-foot birdie attempt that didn’t stop until it was some 35 feet beyond the hole.

Two holes later, Spieth hit a wedge that checked up about 10 feet short of the hole and then trickled a few inches toward the cup. And it didn’t stop. Turn by turn, the ball kept moving until it settled 2 feet away. Even then, Spieth gave the putt great care and rolled in it.

“It’s nice to know if I miss it, I’m chipping,” Spieth said walking off the green.

There was still enough excitement, with Lee Westwood holing out with a wedge on the 14th hole, Danny Lee holing out from the fairway on No. 6 and McCarthy getting it on the act with a hole-out from the 11th fairway.

Lee was at 2 under through 13 holes, along with Bubba Watson, who made only two pars in his opening holes. Watson has never played the U.S. Open very well, except at Oakmont. He tied for fifth in 2007.

Westwood, Kevin Streelman and Harris English were at 1 under on various parts of the course.

DeChambeau, who won the U.S. Amateur last year and had to qualify for the Open because he turned pro, was among the early leaders until two holes set him back.

His shot out of deep rough in the 18th fairway squirted low and left and into a bunker, and his third shot banged off the grandstand, leading to double bogey. On his next shot at No. 1, he pushed right and into the bushes. Then, he hit a provisional shot into deep rough on the left. DeChambeau was spared by finding his ball. It was unplayable, so he was allowed to go back to the tee. He hit the fairway and limited the damage to a double bogey.

Players were sent back onto the course to play no more than two holes before another band of storms arrived, and play was halted the second time for 2 hours, 26 minutes.

The longest day of all belonged to the likes of Jason Day, Phil Mickelson and the other half of the field that didn’t even play. And they faced an even longer day on Friday that for some could mean 36 holes at Oakmont.

VICTORIA, B.C.—Marc-Etienne Bussieres etched his named on the P.D. Ross trophy Friday at Victoria Golf Club, capturing the 2016 PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf.

The 29-year-old from Club de golf Longchamp bested Billy Walsh 3&1 on the 1893 A.V. Macan-designed seaside links gem in the championship’s final match.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to have your name on a trophy that’s as historic as the P.D. Ross,” Bussieres said.  “To be beside names like Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and George Knudson is really something,” he said, adding, “but they’re legends of the game and I’m just trying to get better and keep winning trophies.”

Past champions of the PGA Championship of Canada include Moe Norman, George Knudson, Al Balding, Bob Panasik, Wilf Homenuik, Stan Leonard, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer.

Bussieres admitted two things after his win: he hasn’t been playing much golf this year and he felt his nerves during the week.

“Honestly, I haven’t been playing a whole lot this year,” he said. “I’ve been busy working in the shop and teaching lessons, so my schedule has been pretty full.

“I’ve been pretty relaxed all week, but I was a little nervous during my first match against Oliver (Tubb). When you’re low medalist and are seeded No. 1, you don’t want to be ousted right away.”

After claiming medalist honours earlier in the week, Bussieres defeated Tubb, Kevin Black, Phil Jonas and Walsh on his path to the championship title.

In the third place match, Jonas defeated Bryn Parry 1-up.

With the championship win, Bussieres not only takes home the P.D. Ross Trophy and a $15,000 winner’s cheque, he also earns 60-ranking points and moves inside the top 10 on the PGA of Canada Player Rankings.

Click here for scoring.

In celebration of golf’s imminent return to the Olympic Games in Rio this summer, Golf Canada, its NAGA partners, the 10 Provincial Golf Associations and MacKenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada are proud to join forces again to announce the launch of the Golf Canada Golf Podium Predictor Contest – just one of the many new features of the newly revamped golfcanadagolf.ca site.

“2016 is an exciting year for golf in Canada.” says Peter Kirkpatrick, Managing Director of Brand and Marketing Services at Golf Canada. “With golf’s return to the Games, and Canada’s status as defending champions (Canadian George S. Lyon won the gold medal in 1904, the last time golf was contested at the Olympic games) our team at Golf Canada felt it was important to give Canadians the opportunity to share in the excitement. It’s our hope that the enhancements to the golfcanadagolf.ca site, including the contest, will increase the awareness for golf in the Olympics and ignite passion and pride for the game itself.”

The contest gives participants the opportunity to show off their prognostication skills by stating their predictions for who will win Gold, Silver and Bronze medals this summer.

One lucky entrant will walk (or fly rather) away with the Grand Prize of an amazing golf vacation for two in Whistler, B.C., courtesy of Tourism Whistler.

The prize includes:

• Round-trip airfare and ground transportation
• Five nights’ accommodation courtesy of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler
• One round of golf at Big Sky Golf & Country Club
• One round of golf at Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club
• One round of golf at Nicklaus North Golf Course
• One round of golf at Whistler Golf Club 
• One $100 dining gift certificate to Quattro Whistler

In addition, weekly random draws will be made for Team Canada Head Covers.

“They’re very cool and are becoming a must have for Canadian golf fans.” says Marianne Baker, Golf Canada’s Director of Brand and Merchandising. “I’m sure they will only get more popular when people see them on the clubs used by our Olympians in Rio this summer. They’re kind of our version of the Canadian mitts.”

golfcanadagolf.ca, launched in 2015, is an industry initiative that invites golfers and fans to share their golf stories and passion for the sport.

“We’re building a movement,” added Kirkpatrick. “And, it couldn’t be easier to join in using the #golfCanadagolf, the rally cry for all things great about golf in Canada.”

Visit golfcanadagolf.ca to learn more.

When the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship begins September 25th, Canada’s top female teenage golfer won’t be attendance.

That’s because Brooke Henderson is a little busy skyrocketing up the world rankings, winning major championships on the LPGA Tour, and becoming the face of the sport in this country.

However, that doesn’t mean her presence won’t be felt.

The blonde-haired youngster with a megawatt smile participated in the inaugural edition of the World Junior Girls event in 2014 at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont. It was her final event as an amateur and she finished fourth individually. Her team of three claimed the bronze medal.

Henderson recorded a video for the competitors last year at The Marshes Golf Club in Ottawa, which was incredibly well received. This year, when the tournament heads to the storied Mississaugua Golf and Country Club just outside Toronto, Henderson will have just wrapped up the final major of the year in France.

But for the Canadian and international competitors alike, Henderson is an inspiration, especially given her young age.

“I’m still a young girl myself,” she said with a laugh when asked how it feels to inspire girls who are around her age. “It’s really unbelievable. Hopefully I can continue to be that role model.”

Henderson appeared at an event in Ottawa led by noted Canadian golf instructor Kevin Haime in early May this year before heading out on her most recent run of fine play, culminating with Sunday’s victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the teenagers’ first major championship win.

At Haime’s event, Henderson and her sister Brittany put on a clinic for a group of approximately 60 juniors – both male and female.

“What an opportunity for those kids to watch her. She’s going to do special things in golf, and as a junior in the area (Ottawa), you can’t imagine a better get for this event,” explained Haime. “It’s even more special than Jordan Spieth, the kids can really relate her. It’s the whole local element.”

The native of Smiths Falls, Ont., was part of Canada’s national team since she was 14. That was the year she first felt that playing golf, for a living, was within her grasp.

“I had that dream as a young girl, to play on the LPGA Tour, and I thought maybe it was possible,” she stated. “I didn’t know for sure until I was 14 and won a pro event in Quebec and got an invite to play against LPGA Tour players.”

The event in question was a Canadian Women’s Tour event that took place almost exactly four years to the date of her major victory (June 13, 2012). With that win, she eclipsed the record for “youngest person to win a professional golf event” held previously by someone who was already becoming familiar to her: Lydia Ko.

It was also Ko who Henderson took down in a playoff to capture her first major.

But Ko remains an inspiration to Henderson, by the Canadian’s self-admission.

They had a spirited exchange on Twitter at the conclusion of Sunday’s playoff that ended with Ko saying what Henderson was “doing for golf in Canada and women’s golf is amazing.”

The day after her win Henderson was asked what she remembers, if anything, of Mike Weir’s win at The Masters in 2003 – seeing as Henderson was only five years old.

Although she admitted she didn’t remember watching it, she knew how much his win meant.

“He really changed golf in Canada, I think, for everybody,” she said.

With Henderson only at the beginning of her career, and with Weir in the twilight of his, there is a chance she will change golf, again, in this country.

And perhaps it will start at the World Junior Girls Championship in September.

Will there be the next Brooke Henderson in the mix?

Henderson, unlikely, will want to give up the mantle quite yet. However, she is happy to be a part of the inspiration to get more young girls playing golf. Many of whom will be in the championship field in September.

“It’s pretty cool to think that I can inspire and motivate,” she said. “And just being someone they want to be like is really amazing.”

For more info on the World Junior Girls Championship, visit www.worldjuniorgirls.com.

Though he should be considered one of Canada’s greatest sporting heroes, the sad reality is that George Seymour Lyon is little known in this country.

That will change, to a small degree, during the upcoming Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when Lyon is recognized as the defending champion in golf for his win in 1904, the last time the sport was in the Summer Games.

What most media won’t have time or the inclination to tell is the full story of who he was, what an amazing athlete he became, how he didn’t take up golf until his late 30s, and won the Olympic gold medal at the age of 46 against a rising star less than half his age. Not to mention how four years later Lyon became one of the first athletes in Olympic history to decline a gold medal because he felt he hadn’t earned it.

“The story of what George S. Lyon did, at age 46, and all of the other things he accomplished in his life is simply remarkable,” says Scott Simmons, CEO of Golf Canada. “There is no doubt in my mind that if he, as a multi-sport athlete, had accomplished what he did in today’s modern era sport and media landscape instead of the late 1800s and early 1900s, that we would be celebrating one of Canada’s most iconic athletes and arguably one of the most compelling stories in the history of sport.”

Lyon was born in Richmond, Ont., near Ottawa, in 1858 and it seems he was born to do historic things. His great uncle Robert Lyon fought and lost the last duel in Canadian history. And his grandfather, captain George Lyon, was wounded but survived in the Battle of Chippewa during the War of 1812. It was a noteworthy battle because it marked the first time that American regulars had defeated British regulars on the battlefield.

The Lyon family moved from Richmond to Toronto where young George would demonstrate a remarkable ability as an athlete. It didn’t seem to matter what sport he tried — track and field, baseball, cricket, hockey, tennis, curling, golf — he was good at it.

At the age of 18 he set a Canadian pole vault record.

George S. Lyon (middle, seated) was a member of the 1894 Canadian International Eleven (Golf Canada Archives)

Lyon was one of, if not the best, batsmen in Canada at a time when cricket was still big in this country.

In 1894, playing for a Toronto team against Peterborough, he carried his bat for 238, a record which lasted for 40 years. And he regularly captained Canadian teams in international competitions.

Lyon was a good enough curler to be a part of numerous championship teams, including vice-skipping a rink that won the Ontario tankard.

Golf was a sport that came late to Lyon, however. He was usually tied up with cricket during the summer months and he even showed some disdain for the game initially.

He was 38 and, if the old story is to be believed, was waiting for a cricket practice to begin when a friend, John Dick, invited him to come to the adjacent golf course to give it a try.

After those first few swings, Lyon like so many before and after him, was hooked on golf.

He eschewed the golf swing of the day and instead came at the ball hard like he was swinging a cricket bat at it. The swing may have been unorthodox and looked odd but the result was prodigious length. That, and his natural athletic ability, allowed him to pick up the sport very quickly. So quickly in fact that within two years he had won the first of his record eight Canadian Amateur Championships.

In September of 1904, Lyon journeyed by train to St. Louis to play in the Olympic Games with two other golfers from his home club, Lambton Golf and Country, which he had helped found and design in then-suburban Toronto.

Lyon, at age 46, qualified for match play and made it to the finals where he faced Chandler Egan, the 20-year-old rising star of American golf who had already won the Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur earlier that summer.

In the 36-hole, one-day final, played partly in a pouring rain storm, Lyon won 3 & 2 to capture the Olympic gold medal (which has long since gone missing) and the majestic championship trophy which resides in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum.

Egan, citing exhaustion, retired to his hotel room while Lyon, who had been kidded by the local press about being old and overweight, walked the length of the banquet hall on his hands to accept his reward.

Four years later Lyon went to London, England to attempt to defend his Olympic title. When he arrived, Games organizers informed him golf had been cancelled over a dispute involving the rules of amateur status. They offered Lyon the gold medal but he declined it because he said he hadn’t earned it.

Lyon went on to have many more years of competitive golf and served as an administrator with the Royal Canadian Golf Association (now Golf Canada) including a term as president of the organization in 1923.

He died in 1938 at the age of 79.

George S. Lyon This article was originally published in the May 2016 edition of Golf Canada Magazine. To view the full magazine, click the image to the left.

Behind every successful junior golfer there is a vital mentor, teacher, instructor or coach. For instance, do you think Canadian Golf Hall of Famers Marlene Stewart Streit and Gary Cowan would have reached such dizzying heights around the world had they not worked with Gordon McInnis, Sr. and Lloyd Tucker, respectively, when they were young?

From coast to coast, Canada has been blessed with many wonderful junior golf instructors, coaches and PGA of Canada professionals that have kept the cradle of golf alive in this country.

Each of the current crop of Canadian professional stars like Brooke Henderson, Alena Sharp, Nick Taylor, David Hearn, Graham DeLaet and Brad Fritsch had mentors too. And their success serves as a carrot for aspiring young golfers today.

“When you see all the good players like Brooke Henderson that Golf Canada has helped to produce through its national team programs you see a lot of young athletes who want to play golf to become the next Brooke Henderson or whoever,” said Dave Smallwood, who runs the successful Golf Performance Centre at Whistle Bear GC in Cambridge, Ont.

“Golf Canada and the provincial golf associations have done a great job with their [National Junior Golf Develop- ment Centres].”

Smallwood was a successful club pro for more than two decades, but about 10 years ago he decided to move solely into a coaching role.

“For me, it’s not only rewarding to coach juniors, the move allowed me to specialize,” said Smallwood, a PGA of Canada Class “A” member. “As a club pro you obviously have to wear many hats and one of those hats used to be instruction.

“To have professionals who can now specialize in instruction has im- proved the quality of teaching or coaching better than technology and we have many more teachers suitable for player development.”

Smallwood has seen the quality of play among junior golfers evolve and improve in his time as a coach because there is “actual coaching going on.”

At Whistle Bear, the students of Smallwood and his staff are working on their games all season long because of an indoor facility.

Launch monitors, video, mental coaching and work in the gym are areas that encompass the best junior teachers in Canada. It’s not just about the fundamentals anymore.

“If you have a junior who wants to be the best he or she can be, you have to offer all the tools they may need,” Smallwood said. “Whether it’s technology, proper club fitting, whether it’s sports psychology, strength and conditioning or quality instruction, all my players have that. There are no limitations.”

“When I was a young golfer I never had that. I didn’t have a high-end player to idolize. It’s revolutionary what’s going on in Canada.”

One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is keeping golf fun. It’s always a challenge with such a difficult sport to learn and young athletes have other options to pursue.

That’s why when you arrive at the Brian Affleck Golf Academy in New Glasgow, N.S., you may wonder if you’re at a hockey school, soccer academy or golf academy.

Affleck isn’t afraid to bring out hockey sticks or have his students kick soccer balls to better understand the body motion required for a successful golf swing.

“Yeah, we have a few unconventional methods,” said Affleck, who has seen his program boom from 43 students when he opened his facility in 2013 to more than 300.

“My biggest philosophy is that everybody is different, so I don’t try to teach everybody the same golf swing,” Affleck said. “I try to teach them a swing that is natural to them and then we find a way to make that work.

“This way they enjoy it more and really that’s the ultimate goal — find a way for them to enjoy themselves playing golf.”

A common approach among Canada’s top junior golf coaches is to treat the young golfer as a young athlete.

Golf Québec’s provincial coach Fred Colgan was a baseball player first, then got hurt and fell in love with golf. He opened his first golf academy in Quebec City 25 years ago and has seen quite a difference in the type of young people who are playing golf.

“Golf has become a sport,” Colgan said. “There no longer are players who look like Craig Stadler or John Daly.

“I’d say in the past 10 years the game of golf has improved in all kinds of directions and one has been teaching or coaching. You have swing fundamentals, short game, mental therapists and trainers so the golfer becomes an athlete too.”

Colgan and his team have been successful because of their commitment to developing their high-performance students not just with their swing skills but their life skills.

“You have to be committed to coaching a person over a long period of time,” said Colgan, who is a leader in delivering Learn to Compete, Golf Canada’s latest development program.

“Golf is more than a sport, it’s a way of life. You’re teaching them to set goals, planning a day, making them a better player and a better person.”

Brian Gallant takes a similar approach at his Junior Golf Development Centre at Firerock GC in London, Ont., with his pilot program called Learn to Play, Life Skills he helped set up last year.

His aim is three-fold: to keep the game fun; the importance on being an athlete first and golfer second; and a family and life-skills approach.

“Golf is an activity you can do as a family for your entire life,” said Gallant, who enjoys working with juniors of all ages and all levels. “You don’t see a family playing hockey together at the rink or playing soccer together on the same pitch.

“There has to be enjoyment and fun first. If kids aren’t having a good time at something they are probably not going to want to continue to do it because there are so many things for them they can do.”

One of the attractions to golf over time has been how it can bleed into other areas of life. Discipline, work ethic, commitment, honesty and life skills are areas long been associated with golf and are areas that Colin Lavers teaches at the state-of-the-art instruction facility at Seymour Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

“I love teaching juniors because I want them to learn to love the game the way I did when I was their age,” Lavers said. “Some of my best memories as a child were spending the summer at the golf course from ages 12 to 18.

“One of the great things about juniors is they have more time to spend working on their game compared to adults, so they see improvement. The more they improve, the more they want to play and the better they play the more they believe in themselves.

“It’s a lot of fun to see a junior golfer go from a 30 handicapper to a two handicapper and be along for the ride.”

People like Lavers, Gallant, Colgan, Affleck and Smallwood are a small sample of why the game is in good hands in this country.

Will juniors be the answer?

Programming and membership created specifically for junior players are key to the survival of an Ontario course. 

A neat development over the winter took place in Brantford, Ont., when the Arrowdale Municipal Golf Course was up for closure but then saved.

With support from Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons, a Brantford native, the nine-hole layout is staying open. Jeff Moore, the director of golf operations for the five city courses in Brantford, found a way to rescue Arrowdale by introducing two new programs aimed at getting young golfers involved in the game.

The new Junior Junior program will offer special twilight fees every weekend and holidays for young golfers aged six through 10 and a family twilight golf special every weekend and holiday during the season.

The second program will offer a new Junior Junior membership for $100, plus tax, that includes unlimited play after 11 a.m. as well as reduced green fees for a parent or adult wishing to accompany the junior golfer.

Moore came up with the idea when he studied the membership statistics of both Arrowdale and Northridge Municipal Golf Course in Brantford. He discovered there were 114 juniors at the 18-hole Northridge club, but only 11 junior members at Arrowdale.

“I started thinking Arrowdale would be the perfect place to introduce it to give them the start,” Moore told Brant-News.

Moore’s hope is that juniors will ignite their passion for golf at Arrowdale and continue to play at Northridge as adults.

“I think it’s going to be a win-win for both operations,” said Moore, the 2011 Ontario PGA Junior Leader of the Year, who along with his son, Zac, will teach biweekly short game clinics for the juniors on Saturday afternoons in June through August.

“I’ve always had a passion for working with the juniors. I’ve always operated under the premise if you take care of the kids, the parents aren’t going to be too far behind.”

Camp counsellors This article was originally published in the May 2016 edition of Golf Canada Magazine. To view the full magazine, click the image to the left.

The magnitude of Canada’s most significant golf victory since Mike Weir won The Masters in 2003 was still sinking in Monday for Brooke Henderson.

Phone calls to her parents, responding to a stream of congratulatory text and Twitter messages – including one from Weir – and a road trip filled the hours after her first major win Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

The 18-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., birdied the first hole of a playoff to beat world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand at the Sahalee Country Club east of Seattle.

From three sand saves, to a 90-foot eagle putt on No. 11, to getting out of tree trouble for par on No. 18, Henderson was a study in resilience and shot versatility in a 6-under final round.

The victory propelled Henderson into the No. 2 spot behind Ko in the world rankings. It also pushed Henderson’s season earnings to over US$1 million.

With a lot more golf to play in 2016, including three more majors and the Olympic Games, the Canadian has set her sights on overtaking Ko.

“This is huge momentum for sure,” Henderson told reporters Monday morning from Portland, Ore., on a conference call.

“Definitely a huge confidence booster. To get that world ranking up to No. 2 is kind of surreal, kind of unbelievable, but I still have one more spot to go.”

Henderson was in Portland promoting the Cambia Classic, which was the scene of her first LPGA victory last August.

She and her sister and caddie Brittany checked into their hotel early Monday morning following the three-hour drive from Washington.

They were to fly to Michigan later Monday for this week’s Meijer Classic, as well as meet up with parents Dave and Darlene.

The first Canadian woman to win a major since Sandra Post in 1968 had an inkling of her victory’s impact at home because of Weir’s example.

Henderson was five when a 32-year-old Weir won at Augusta.

She grew up with the knowledge a fellow Canadian could hoist one of golf’s most prestigious trophies despite the country’s short playing season.

“He really changed golf in Canada I think for everybody,” she said.

As Post put it Monday on the conference call “majors are forever and that’s sort of how you define careers.”

But Henderson is far from done defining her career. She turns 19 in September so her competitive upside is abundant.

The corporate world will take notice if they aren’t already, according to one sports marketing expert.

Given the limited advertising space on their clothing, the ideal for golfers is to have deep sponsorship deals with three or four companies as opposed to shallow contracts with many brands, says Brian Cooper of S & E Sponsorship Group.

“Has this win propelled her to the level where she’s being noticed by brands as a potential sponsor? Without a doubt,” Cooper said from Toronto.

“The fact that she’s a very attractive, Canadian, young female that sort of projects Canadian values with true grit the way she won yesterday, that is definitely going to work in her favour.

“She’s got to sustain it. If she wins another major or puts together three or four titles within the next 12 months, she’ll be well on her way.”

Henderson’s ascension from the two hundreds to No. 2 in the world in the span of a year coincides with golf’s re-entry into the Olympic Games in Rio in August.

Canada’s George Lyon won gold in the sport’s lone previous appearance in 1904. Henderson is a medal favourite the first time women play golf in a Summer Games.

“The Olympics is kind of an opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. “I’m very fortunate to look like I’m going to be representing Canada and be on that team.

“Winning a gold medal and defending that championship that the Canadian won over 100 years ago, it would be a lot of fun to bring that back home to Canadians.

“I know I have the whole country behind me cheering me on.”

TOYOTA CITY, Japan – Team Canada Men’s Development Squad returns to the Chukyo Golf Club this week from June 14–17 for the 24^th annual Toyota Junior Golf World Cup supported by JAL.

Leading the way for the Canadian foursome is Tony Gil of Vaughan, Ont., who will be returning to the event for the third consecutive year. In 2015, the 18-year-old University of Houston commit finished T10 to lead the Canadians. He will be joined by teammates Charles-Éric Belanger (Quebec), A.J. Ewart (Coquitlam, B.C.) and Jack Simpson (Aurora, Ont.).

The Canadian contingent will be under the direction of Lead Development Squad Coach, Robert Ratcliffe—who is entering his fourth year coaching the event. Ratcliffe will be joined by fellow PGA of Canada Class “A” member Matt Wilson, who will be acting as team captain for the second straight year. Wilson currently works out of the La Rinconada Country Club in Los Gatos, Calif., as the Director of Instruction.

The 72-hole event, featuring both a boys and girls division, plays host to 87 players from 19 countries across the globe. The scoring is conducted in a stroke-play format, with each team’s lowest three scores counting towards the day’s aggregate total.

The Canadian quartet will look to improve on last year’s sixth place finish 2015 and they will look to dethrone the defending champion and host Japan.

Click here for pairings.
Click here for scoring.