The Golf Canada Foundation is offering golfers a unique fundraising mini-tournament experience with the launch of the first ever ‘Play Like the Pros’ Charity Challenge.

Between May 25^th and July 20^th, participants will have the opportunity to book a limited number of tee times at nine of Ontario’s most prestigious golf courses by pledging support for junior golf through the Golf Canada Foundation.

The top-five fundraising foursomes as well as the winning team from each ‘Play Like the Pros’ Charity Challenge event will win an ultimate prize package to play Glen Abbey Golf on July 27^th – the day after the conclusion of the 2015 RBC Canadian Open – including the same tees, pin positions and tournament conditions faced by PGA TOUR players competing in Canada’s National Open Golf Championship.

Individual golfers or foursomes can secure their spot online at www.playliketheprosgolf.com by selecting their preferred course, date and paying the registration fee ($100/player or $400 per foursome). Each foursome agrees to pledge or fundraise a minimum of $400 per golfer ($1,600 per foursome) to participate in the ‘Play Like the Pros’ Charity Challenge.

“It’s a unique opportunity for golfers to secure a once in a lifetime golf experience at some of the Canada’s most prestigious golf courses and fundraising their way to Glen Abbey to play under PGA TOUR tournament conditions,” said Martin Barnard, CEO of the Golf Canada Foundation. “I can’t say enough to thank the participating golf courses and their members for generously supporting junior golf through this unique fundraiser.”

Space is limited as each of the nine participating golf courses will offer up to five foursomes at each event. Foursomes that hit fundraising targets of $3,000, $5,000 or $10,000+ per team will also receive additional prize packages courtesy of TaylorMade.

The Golf Canada Foundation is pleased to have the following golf courses participating in the ‘Play Like the Pros’ Charity Challenge:

Tournament play will be 4-person team Stableford format with handicap allowance of 75%. Scoring will assign Stableford points to the net score, and combine for team total. The winning team from each event will be invited to play Glen Abbey on Monday July 27^th. All participating players must have an official Golf Canada Handicap Factor.

The 2015 RBC Canadian Open will run July 20-26 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

For more information or to register a foursome in the ‘Play Like the Pros’ Charity Challenge visit www.playliketheprosgolf.com.

“You sometimes knock yourself on the head and ask, ‘Why didn’t we think of this earlier?'”

Jeff Thompson is seated by an electric fireplace near the entrance of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, reflecting upon the genesis and subsequent success of the National Golf in Schools program.  It’s a crisp, cloudless February afternoon, but Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer finds himself inching away from the heat being thrown off next to him.

Of course, if Thompson is feeling a little warm and fuzzy at the moment, he has every right.  The National Golf in Schools (NGIS) program- launched at the elementary school level in May 2009, for Grades 9-12 in 2012, and then bridging the gap with Grades 7-8 beginning in May-has been embraced by almost 2,600 schools nationwide, exposing more than 306,000 children to the sport annually.  That number is steadily growing with the addition of 300 to 400 schools per year.

The potential is staggering, with nearly 6.5 million students enrolled at 10,000 elementary and 4,500 high schools, but there is cause for concern.  Physical education classes across the land are gradually diminishing due to budget restrictions-this despite the fact that the 2014 Active Healthy Kids Canada report indicated that a mere seven per cent of Canadian kids aged five to 11 are active enough to meet Canada’s basic daily physical-activity guidelines-and despite the fact that a mountain of scientific research screams the physiological, sociological and scholastic benefits of athletic participation in school.  Among the more recent studies was a University of Illinois report released last August that linked physical exercise with stronger brain activity in children.  Findings published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience indicated that aerobically fit 9- and 10-year-olds have denser regions of ‘white matter’ in their brains, enhancing their ability to pay attention, reason and retain memories.

Consequently, anything that helps gym class remain a staple of the curriculum is invaluable, and Golf Canada did its homework in preparing NGIS.

“It was in 2006, during the time when we were developing the Long-Term Player Development guide,” Thompson recalls.  “Part of the process was looking at gaps in our sport, and one of the things that came up was the absence of golf in our school curriculum.  There were some ad hoc situations, where teachers who played golf had introduced it to the school, but there was nothing developed to be delivered by teachers.”

Extensive research included the First Tee program, which had just been launched in the U. S. “At that time, they were using golf pros to go into schools to instruct it, or teachers who had to participate in multi-day training to deliver the program,” says Thompson.  “We really felt there were teachers delivering all sorts of other sports in schools without specific training, so how was golf that much different?

“When we talked to Physical Health Education Canada, they noted what schools and teachers are concerned with is delivering learning outcomes for specific grades. For example, they won’t allow any program for Grade 3 unless it delivers on balancing, striking skills and coordination.  We built our curriculum based on those requirements.  The object was not to develop competitive golfers, but to get kids exposed to the game so that they might go home to their parents and say, ‘Hey, we’re doing golf at school this week and I really like it.  I want to go to the range.'”

SPORTING PIONEERS

Golf Canada was a trailblazer in this regard, says Chris Jones, Executive Director and CEO of Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada) in Ottawa, which develops physical and health education programs and resources for Canadian teachers.  “The national sport organizations have increasingly come to us in the way golf did, seeing it as a way to expose kids to their sport-that if you adapt it correctly and make it relevant and straightforward to implement, the kids can develop an awareness of the sport and perhaps move over to a complementary program, such as CN Future Links in the case of golf.”

As with all such proposals, the NGIS program had to meet stringent criteria in order for PHE Canada’s board to grant its approval.  It had to be pedagogically sound, user-friendly, comprehensive and relevant.  And for Golf Canada, they are looking for a relationship to Sport Canada’s Long-Term Athlete Development model, which identifies specific training to be addressed at different stages of a youth’s development.

While many see golf as a relatively static sport, the design of NGIS lessons keeps kids on the move-indoors or out-with multiple stations, complementary activities (such as Frisbee throwing to help teach youngsters how to align to a target), as well as warm-up drills and stretching exercises targeting the golf-specific task that day.

Provincial golf associations also play a key role in enhancing the program by off ering a variety of Golf in School “activations,” such as sending golf pros to the schools and inviting classes to golf facilities.

“Three criteria that were also instrumental in our choice to accept Golf in Schools were that we saw it was a sport you can play for life, that it has a fitness dimension in walking the course, and that there’s the social dimension,” says Jones.  “These are the kinds of things we try to promote in our current programs.  We want kids to have fun, to socialize and to learn some athletic and motor and movement skills aspect of etiquette that golf includes is just an added benefit.”

That latter element is being harnessed as a school recruitment tool.  “We just partnered with the University of Ottawa to develop a life-skills, core-values component that will be integrated into Golf in Schools beginning this May, including the idea of sportsmanship, honesty, integrity and perseverance,” says Thompson.  “For the schools that ask, ‘Why is this better than teaching them basketball?’  We will have this research to sell them on it.  I think that will be a game-changer.”

P.E.I. Provincial Golf Coach Dallas Desjardins is among the PGA Of Canada members already on the front lines. “A lot of our discussions when we go into schools are about the values that golf instills,” he says. “I don’t market is as ‘Come play golf.’  I market it as ‘Get your kid involved in golf so that they’re building relationships and are exposed to a social network and not stuck at a computer.'”

How well has the program been received?  “The average time period that golf is being delivered in a school is 3.4 weeks, which is above the norm of typical sports in the curriculum,” Thompson observes.  “And 100 per cent of teachers surveyed found their students were responsive to the NGIS program, with 95 per cent noting the program was easy to implement.”

Why isn’t everyone jumping on board?  Financial restraints, for many, although the cost is reasonable: $475 for the resource manual and 177-piece elementary school set, which includes hard plastic clubs and foam balls, and $795 for the high school kit, which includes real clubs.

Golf Canada’s Adopt a School program enables golf facilities, companies or individuals to sponsor the NGIS program at a local school while getting a tax receipt in return.  “Of the schools we get each year, about 60 per cent are adoptions,” says Thompson.

Additional support will help foster the program’s penetration into the Canadian school system, which will lay the groundwork for future golfers.  At a societal level, it will help keep young bodies active, but, unlike any other sport in Canadian physical education, it may also be intrinsically suited to shape minds for the better.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Symetra Tour has announced that 17-year-old Brooke Henderson has received sponsor exemptions to play in two upcoming Symetra Tour events. She will play in the Four Winds Invitational at Blackthorn Golf Club, June 19-21, and the Tullymore Classic at Tullymore Golf Club, July 3-5.

Henderson recently finished third at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, missing out on a playoff by just one shot. That finish vaulted the Smith Falls, Ont., native up 116 spots to No. 91 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Henderson then Monday Qualified for the LPGA Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout and finished in a tie for 13th. Henderson is competing this week on the LPGA at the Kingsmill Championship.

The Team Canada Young Pro Squad member is now ranked No. 80 in the world in her first year as a professional.

“It’s exciting for me to have the opportunity to play in the Four Winds Invitational and the Tullymore Classic on the Symetra Tour,” said Henderson. “I’m so thankful to be living my dream of playing professional golf and I will use these weeks to continue working on my game.”

Prior to turning professional in December of 2014, Henderson was the top ranked amateur in the world. In 2014, she was the runner up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, finished in a tie for tenth at the U.S. Women’s Open and won the individual title at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championships.

In 2012, Henderson became the youngest ever to win a professional tournament when she won as a 14-year-old on the Canadian Women’s Tour.

The Four Winds Invitational and the Tullymore Classic will be the second and third events that Henderson has played on the Symetra Tour. She finished in a tie for second with her older sister, Brittany, at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic earlier this year. Brittany, who ranks 11th on the Volvik Race for the Card money list, is expected to play both events.

The Four Winds Invitational is part of the Symetra Tour’s Potawatomi Cup where players have the chance to earn an additional $50,000 in bonus money over the course of five events. The Tullymore Classic is one of seven new events on the 2015 schedule and one of three in the state of Michigan.

For more information about the Four Winds Invitational, visit www.fourwindsinvitational.com. For more information on the Tullymore Classic, visit www.tullymoregolf.com.

Just about everything about golf has evolved over the years—the equipment we use, the apparel we wear, even the Rules we play by. So, inevitably, have we— the golfers who play the game.

Originally, golf clubs were founded—and funded—by their members. When the clubs decided it would be beneficial to have someone organize and oversee things like interclub competitions, administration of the Rules, and so on, golf associations came to be. In turn, the clubs supported those associations financially.

In modern times, that model is evolving yet again. While golf continues to be the most popular sport in Canada, a large majority of golfers now choose, for any number of reasons, not to join a traditional golf club. They love the game, but elect to play a variety of our country’s awesome selection of courses, rather than belong to just one.

By no means does this indicate that these golfers are any less enthusiastic or supportive of the game than their counterparts who choose to join a club. Far from it. We are all part of the same incredible sport and care about its future. Golf Canada realizes this and has acknowledged this evolution with a new membership model, one which welcomes the millions of players from coast to coast to be part of “golf in Canada.”

“Seventy or 80 years ago, about 90 per cent of golfers in Canada belonged to a club,” says Karen Hewson, Golf Canada’s Managing Director, Membership and Heritage Services. “In recent years, that has totally reversed. Now, fewer than 10 per cent are club members.”

One result of this reversal is that only a small percentage of golfers feel connected to the game in a larger sense; part of golf’s fabric, so to speak. They’re not part of that traditional club-based linkage, a situation that Golf Canada is reacting to in a positive way.

“Everyone who loves golf should feel that they are an important part of its traditions and of its future,” says Hewson. “Things like handicaps and course rating and Rules are, and will always be, integral to the game and Golf Canada’s role in it. But we are very aware that a very real priority is to build relationships with, communicating with, and educating everyone who plays the game, regardless of where they choose to play.”

After extensive surveys and focus groups conducted with golfers and facilities across Canada, a new structure will be rolled out across Canada over the next three years. The three-tiered program is so innovative that it is being viewed with great interest by other national golf associations who are considering revamping their own membership methods.

“The primary objective is to be more inclusive, to welcome all golfers to be a part of golf in Canada,” says Hewson. “In fact, the basic Bronze membership is free.”

The secondary objective is to enhance golfers’ playing experience with new tools on mobile devices, current golf information, a rewards program, online score posting and access to instructional tips, along with (at the Silver and Gold levels) upgraded benefits including an identification system that minimizes the impact of lost, stolen or damaged equipment and a program that offsets the cost of replacing lost, stolen or damaged equipment (or golf carts).

For no cost whatsoever, Bronze members receive discounts on tickets, merchandise and more; frequent rewards and prizes just for playing golf; score posting; the ability to track a season-long “ringer” scorecard at one course; basic statistics tracking, health information; dynamic course search; Global Golf Post and E-Golf News.

A Silver membership (available in 2016) costs $24.95 and offers all the Bronze benefits plus better discounts on tickets, merchandise and more; better rewards and prizes just for playing golf; more online/mobile tools for tracking your game; Golf Canada magazine home delivery; golf club labels and access to the Golf Canada Equipment Identification and Retrieval System; and online access to a PGA of Canada professional to assist and direct you on how to get the most out of your game.

For $49.95, a Gold membership gets you all of the above plus the best discounts on tickets, merchandise and more; the best rewards and prizes just for playing golf; access to provincial, national and other sanctioned events; official handicap factor; equipment guarantee (reimbursement for replacement of lost, stolen or damaged equipment); enhanced game tracking; internationally recognized membership card; and cart damage coverage.

Let’s say, for example, you are a member at an 18-hole semi-private golf club. The new membership model offers your club a couple of options.

The club may choose to pay its facility fee (another new concept) and then turn over the membership aspect to Golf Canada. When you visit the Golf Canada Score Centre at www.golfcanada.ca to post a score for the first time, you will be asked which level of membership you prefer: Bronze, Silver or Gold. Silver and Gold membership fees can be charged to your credit card at that time.

Alternatively, the club pays its facility fee and purchases memberships for its members directly from Golf Canada.

In addition to the new strategy and benefits for individuals, the reworked Golf Canada initiative offers benefits for golf facilities as well.

“We want to be partners in the game with every facility, from driving ranges to public courses to private clubs,” says Hewson. “We also want to provide every golfer in Canada, and I emphasize ‘every golfer’, a more enjoyable golf experience, more choices, and a broader perspective on the game.”

If you’re a golfer, you can find out more at www.golfcanada.ca/join. If you are a golf facility operator, please contact members@golfcanada.ca.

Jump start the season with these dynamic yoga warm-up exercises.  Dynamic Conditioning Makes All The Difference.  Continuous, dynamic movements are the most effective in preparing the body for golf.  Dynamic stretches “alert” the neuromuscular skeletal system for the explosive golf swing more effectively than static stretching.  Dynamic movement raises core temperature, coordinates movement and breathing (great for rhythm and tempo), and supports mental focus.

YOGA FOR GOLFERS (YFG) FOCUSES ON:

• quieting the mind and proper breathing techniques to achieve focus and relaxation.
• achieving body symmetry, balance, and alignment through the swing to increase power.
• enhancing flexibility and core development to improve mobility, strength, power and endurance.

FOR ALL GOLFERS, AT ALL LEVELS, YFG ELEVATES YOUR GAME TO GO THE EXTRA DISTANCE.  THE PROGRAM:

• improves performance beyond golf lessons/instruction.
• focuses on biomechanics of the body through the swing.
• enables golfers to play their best game, right from the first tee.
• extends the body’s ability to play, minimizing discomforts and risk of injury; and
• improves the body’s mobility, allowing golfers to play better, longer, with more confidence and increased enjoyment.

BENEFITS OF THE YOGA FOR GOLFERS DYNAMIC WARM-UP:

• increases blood flow to the muscles
• increases the core body temperature
• prepares the neuromuscular system, supporting better coordination.
• promotes flexibility and strength
• reduces the risk of injury; and
• prepares you mentally and boosts confidence.

DYNAMIC STRETCHING TIPS:

• Breathe in and out through the nose.
• Flex or engage the opposing muscle.  For example, while stretching the hamstrings, engage or flex the quads.
• Stretch before, during, and after your round to develop and maintain optimal muscle balance.
• Don’t bounce in the stretch
• Avoid stretching injured or overstretched, hyper-flexible joints and muscles.
• Be sure you don’t continue if you experience any pain in the muscle.  Slight discomfort is acceptable, pain is not.  As with all physical fitness programs, be sure to have your physician’s clearance to participate.

JUST BREATHE

Proper breathing prepares the body and mind for the explosive nature of the golf swing.  It also better connects the mind and body to facilitate greater focus, one pointed concentration, and a greater sense of “feel” in the short game.  In the dynamic warm-up, remember to focus on continuous breathing.

Ongoing adherence to the program is more important than duration.  For maximum benefit, practice 3-4x per week in the pre-season, and before each round of golf during the season.

For more info: www.yogaforgolfers.com

BANDON, Ore. – Mika Liu and Rinko Mitsunaga won the inaugural U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball title Wednesday at Bandon Dunes, beating fellow teens Hannah O’Sullivan and Robynn Ree 4 and 3.

The 16-year-old Liu, from Beverly Hills, California, and 18-year-old Mitsunaga, from Roswell, Georgia, were 8 under for 15 holes on the Pacific Dunes course. Liu had six birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the front nine, and Mitsunaga holed out from 88 yards for eagle on the par-5 12th.

“My putting was so hot today,” Liu said. “I feel like I pretty much made everything, so I was very happy with that.”

Liu and Mitsunaga won Nos. 6, 7 and 8 with Liu’s birdies to open a 3-up lead, Mitsunaga made it 4 up with her eagle on No. 12 and they halved the next three holes with pars to end the match.

“It really has not hit me,” Mitsunaga said. “Right now, we’re just happy to be here. We’re so thankful for the golf course and all the volunteers for having us this week. It’s been a long, tough week.”

O’Sullivan and Ree won the opening hole with a birdie, Liu and Mitsunaga tied it with a birdie on the second and they halved the par-5 third and fourth holes with birdies.

“(Ree’s birdie) actually gave me a really fast reminder that I had to be focused on every shot and work hard to win it,” Liu said. “I didn’t know if I was going to win it or not, but I was going to give it my best try, and I was going to just go for it.”

Liu and Mitsunaga attend IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Liu plans to play at Stanford, and Mitsunaga is headed to Georgia.

The 17-year-old O’Sullivan is from Chandler, Arizona, and the 18-year-old Ree is from Redondo Beach, California. They plan to play at Southern California.

“Everything happens for a reason,” O’Sullivan said. “We’ve just got to keep our heads up and take the positives from it – learn from it, bring it into our next events and use it as motivation to do better next time we compete.”

O’Sullivan won the Symetra Tour’s Gateway Classic in February in Mesa, Arizona, at 16 to become the youngest winner in the history of the professional circuit.

Ree and O’Sullivan were 4 under.

“We were happy with how we were playing,” Ree said. “We just wish a couple of putts dropped.”

In the morning semifinals, Liu and Mitsunaga beat Alyaa Abdulghany of Newport Beach, California, and Ellen Takada of Irvine, California, 3 and 2, and O’Sullivan and Ree topped Madelein Herr of New Hope, Pennsylvania, and Brynn Walker of St. Davids, Pennsylvania, 3 and 2.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A month removed from the Masters, Team Canada standout Corey Conners returns to the PGA TOUR by way of sponsor exemption to this week’s Wells Fargo Championship.

Conners, a 23-year-old Listowel, Ont. native, will play in his second PGA TOUR event as a professional—he played in the RBC Heritage in April following his top-amateur performance at Augusta the week prior.

Joining Conners at Quail Hollow are Canadians Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.), David Hearn (Brantford, Ont.), Roger Sloan (Merritt, B.C.), Nick Taylor (Abbotsford, B.C.) and Canadian golf Hall-of-Famer Mike Weir (Brights Grove, Ont.).

Conners is set to tee-off Thursday at 8:50 a.m. EST.

Very excited for opportunity to play @PGATOUR @WellsFargoGolf this week at an amazing venue! Time to make some birdies ⛳️

— Corey Conners (@coreconn) May 12, 2015

WILTON, Conn. – A boy who was bullied for stuttering received strong encouragement from someone else who once struggled with his speech – Tiger Woods.

Golf Digest published the letter from Woods on its website Tuesday. The author also shared in via Twitter.

Here’s the letter Tiger wrote to the bullied boy who stutters. Truly heartfelt. pic.twitter.com/FAM2RuLUZ0

— Ron Sirak (@ronsirak) May 12, 2015

“I know what it’s like to be different and to sometimes not fit in,” Woods wrote. “I also stuttered as a child and I would talk to my dog and he would sit there and listen until he fell asleep. I also took a class for two years to help me, and I finally learned to stop.”

The plight of the high school boy, identified only as Dillon, was publicized when his mother reached out to eight-time Solheim Cup player Sophie Gustafson of Sweden, who played her entire career on the LPGA and in Europe with a severe stuttering problem.

Gustafson shared the mother’s letter with Golf Digest, which published a story on its website April 30.

The mother said her son tried out for the football team only to quit because of the constant teasing about his stutter. She wrote that he was on the verge of leaping from his bedroom window on April 16 until his parents stopped him.

The mother’s letter to Gustafson also mentioned that her son watched golf and was a fan of Woods.

Not long after Golf Digest posted the story on its website, the boy received a letter from the 14-time major champion. Gustafson tweeted on Sunday her thanks to Woods “for sending my friend Dillon a letter. He got so happy! It’s being framed and hanged.” She added a hashtag that said “class.”

Woods said in the letter that he was younger than most kids he played and often was the only minority in the field.

“But I didn’t let that stop me, and I think it even inspired me to work harder,” he wrote. “I know you can do that too. You have a great family, and big fans like me on your side. Be well and keep fighting. I’m certain you’ll be great at anything you do.”