Montreal – Golf Canada and RBC announced today the final field of competitors set to challenge for the $5.7 million (USD) RBC Canadian Open, July 21-27 at The Royal Montreal Golf Club.

Defending champion Brandt Snedeker will be challenged by a world class field of PGA Tour stars that includes World No. 5 Matt Kuchar, World No. 16 Dustin Johnson, World No. 17 Graeme McDowell, World No. 18 and two-time Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk, World No. 20 Luke Donald, World No. 26 Charl Schwartzel, World No. 46 Hunter Mahan and World No. 58 Ernie Els.

The field of players will also include eleven past champions who will challenge for Canada’s National Open title including Snedeker, Scott Piercy (2012), Sean O’Hair (2011), Carl Pettersson (2010), Nathan Green (2009), Jim Furyk (2006 & 2007), Mark Calcavecchia (2005), Vijay Singh (2004), John Rollins (2002), Billy Andrade (1998) and Dudley Hart (1996).

In all, 156 players will compete for the $5.7 million USD purse next week in Montreal when Canada’s National Open Championship returns to The Royal Montreal Golf Club for the 10th time.

The RBC Canadian Open will once again feature a strong international contingent as 16 countries will be represented including the United States, Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Korea, Venezuela, South Africa, Fiji, Sweden, Australia, England, Colombia and Canada.

Leading the charge for the Canadian contingent are PGA Tour players Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont., Stephen Ames of Calgary and Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont.

Other Canadians set to compete include the Web.com Tour’s Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. who won the 2014 Web.com Tour’s Chile Classic as well as fellow Web.com Tour player Nick Taylor of Abbottsford, B.C. who was offered an exemption.

In addition, recently crowned 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and PGA of Canada Player Rankings leader Billy Walsh of Markham, Ont. will also join the field alongside the 2013 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur champion, Kevin Carrigan of Victoria. PGA Tour Canada’s Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. and Beon Yeong Lee of Montreal are also set to compete after winning the their regional qualifying sites. Additionally, Team Canada’s Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. earned exemptions into Canada’s National Open Championship.

“The field is set and we’re ready to kick off the 105th playing of Canada’s National Open Championship,” said Bill Paul, Tournament Director of the RBC Canadian Open. “The golf course is in tremendous shape and ready to challenge the world’s best golfers for the 10th time. Our team of nearly 1,500 volunteers is ready and there is no doubt that Canadian golf fans will be treated to a terrific showcase next week at The Royal Montreal Golf Club.”

Three additional exemptions will be confirmed on Sunday evening following the conclusion of PGA Tour Canada’s Stall Foundation Open in Thunder Bay, Ont. The top three players on the PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit at the conclusion of the Stall Foundation Open will earn an exemption into the RBC Canadian Open.

Click here to view the full field.

HOYLAKE, England – As his tee shot curled farther and farther away from the 17th fairway, heading toward all sorts of trouble, Tiger Woods simply stuffed his club in the bag.

He appeared to mumble something to himself, but that was about it.

No fiery outburst. No course language. No complaints about someone talking too loud, or being on the phone, or snapping a picture.

Shoulders slumping, Woods looked as though he had accepted his fate.

There won’t be a 15th major championship.

Not at this British Open.

Woods needed a birdie at the final hole – his only one of the day – just to make the cut. He walked off the 18th with a 5-over 77, his worst Open round since that stormy day at Muirfield in 2002, and headed to the weekend a staggering 14 shots behind the leader, Rory McIlroy.

“Not very good,” Woods said.

Indeed, it wasn’t.

Woods made double-bogey at the first hole, a bogey at the second. Just like that, all the good vibes from a 69 in the opening round were wiped away, his score tumbling to even par. From there, it was a grind – 14 pars in a row as McIlroy pulled away.

Then came the 17th, where Woods made such a mess of things, he nearly missed the cut at a major for only the fourth time in his professional career. That aforementioned tee shot sailed out of bounds right of the fairway, though Woods didn’t realize it until he had walked some 150 yards toward his ball.

Back to the tee box he trudged, to hit another after taking a one-stroke penalty. This time, Woods yanked it off in the tall grass to the left, between the 16th and 17th fairways. Four more shots were required to finish off a triple-bogey 7 that nearly finished off his hopes of getting in two more much-needed rounds.

Clearly, Woods is rusty after undergoing back surgery on March 31. He missed the Masters and the U.S. Open, finally returning to action at Congressional three weeks ago. He missed the cut in that event, and his opening round at Hoylake – five birdies in six holes on the back side – was merely an aberration.

There’s a lot of work to do.

“I had some opportunities to make a few birdies along the way to get back to even par for the day, and I just never did,” Woods said. “I just never made anything. I had myself in good positions to make birdies, and I just didn’t do it.”

More distressing for those in the Woods camp, his body language looked more and more defeated as McIlroy kept adding to what was a mere three-shot lead over Woods at the start of the round.

Woods sounded downright delusional when he brought up Paul Lawrie’s comeback from a 10-shot deficit on the final day at Carnoustie in 1999.

That, of course, required Jean Van de Velde to essentially give the tournament away on the 72nd hole.

Hard to see McIlroy making such a blunder – and, even if he did, Woods’ game being in any sort of shape to take advantage of it.

“I’m pretty far back,” Woods conceded. “Luckily I’ve got two rounds to go. And hopefully I can do something like Paul did in `99. He made up, I think, 10 in one day. Hopefully I can play well on the weekend and at least give myself a shot at it going to the back nine on Sunday.”

Actually, Woods’ rehabilitation would seem to be a longer-term project.

He showed flashes of his once-dominant form – that stretch of birdies on Thursday, a testy chip over a pot bunker to set up a 6-footer for birdie at the 18th on Friday – but the consistency just isn’t there. Too many errant drives. Too many iron shots that just weren’t quite close enough to the flag. Too many putts that came up short or slid by the cup.

What made it all the more striking was the performance by McIlroy, usually considered the most likely player to succeed Woods as the face of the game.

The Boy Wonder from Northern Ireland made his second straight 66 look downright easy, barely breaking a sweat on the sticky day.

“He plays pretty aggressively to begin with,” Woods said. “And when he’s going, he can get it going pretty good.”

That’s what they used to say about Woods, who was only 32 when he won his 14th major championship.

Now he’s 38, and still waiting to add another.

Hard to see that changing at Royal Liverpool.

CHATHAM — It was a lead that could not be overcome as Mitchell’s Courtney Tolton was able to cruise to win the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Investors Group Junior Girls’ Championship, July 18, at Maple City Country Club. Tolton entered the final round with a seven-shot lead and was never in jeopardy as she carded a one-over (73) to earn the title.

The 18-year-old Tolton, who plays for the Longwood University golf team, had an up and down start to her round with a birdie on the first hole but a double bogey on the second. After another bogey on six, she would birdie the eighth to finish the front nine one-over. One more birdie on the 12^th followed by a bogey on 15 had her finishing the round one-over (73) and four-under for the tournament.

“I think I definitely did a good job keeping my shots in play,” said Tolton after the win. “I made sure to hit fairways, greens and made my two putts to get out of there and onto the next hole.”

Tolton is a former member of the GAO’s Team Ontario and had to hold off the current members (Alyssa Getty, Grace St-Germain, Monet Chun and Annika Haynes) this week. After the first round, it was Kingsville’s Getty who had the lead after a course record four-under (68). However, Getty would struggle on the final three rounds and eventually finished the final round two-over (74) and tied for second at four-over for the tournament.

Richmond Hill’s Chun entered the day in a tie for third at three-over. She jockeyed for second place with Getty and St-Germain throughout the day and had an opportunity to finish alone in the position, but a bogey on 18 brought her into a tie. She finished the round at one-over (73) and four-over for the tournament.

Starting the day in the second to last group was Ottawa’s St-Germain. After beginning the day with three bogeys on the first three holes, she settled down with birdies on eight and nine. She would finish the day one-over (73) and joined Getty and Monet as silver medalists at four-over for the tournament.

In fifth, was Oakville’s Haynes. Haynes had a consistent day and finished at even par (72), eight-over for the tournament.

Because Getty, St-Germain and Chun all tied for second they needed a playoff to determine which two would join Tolton in representing Ontario for the Inter-Provincial competition at the Canadian Junior Girls’ Championship, July 29-Aug. 1 at the Thornhill Golf and Country Club. In the playoff, Getty’s second shot went wide of the green and she would have to settle for bogey. St-Germain and Chun each two-putted for par earning the spots.

Tolton summed up her week after the win. “I feel really happy about the win especially since this is my last junior year. I started off strong and finished out well, I can’t say I would have wanted it any other way.”

As a former member of the team, Tolton said she expected this year’s Team Ontario to play well and challenge her during the tournament. “I was happy for them all, I expected that was how it was going to be, with them right in the hunt.”

Playing with the lead, Tolton knew she had to play the same game she had in the other three rounds to close out the win. “I really didn’t change my thought process. I just wanted to keep it in play and come out even or one-over, it really didn’t matter to me as long as I kept the lead.”

In the end, that is just what she did earning the 2014 title.

For more information and the final leaderboard, click here.

HOYLAKE, England – The British Open once again lived up to its fickle, unpredictable weather reputation, and doesn’t half the field at Royal Liverpool know it.

Ideal weather greeted morning groups Thursday, but the wind picked up in the afternoon. On Friday, those same afternoon golfers got the worst of gusty morning conditions.

By midday Friday, the wind died down, creating similar conditions for the same lucky golfers who benefited from good scoring opportunities Thursday morning.

That left George Coetzee, who shot 69 Friday, as the only player among the leaders who drew the unlucky Thursday afternoon-Friday morning double.

Those guys shouldn’t despair: Padraig Harrington experienced battering wind and rain during his first round at Royal Birkdale in 2008 and shot 74. Three days later, he won his second British Open.

U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer shrugged his shoulders when asked Friday about his unlucky draw over the first two rounds – a 1:38 p.m. start with gusting winds Thursday and even worse conditions Friday when he began play at 8:37 a.m.

“I can’t take care of the weather,” Kaymer said. “I just take it the way it is. That is what The Open is about.”

Darren Clarke, the 2011 champion at Royal St. George’s, was on the lucky side of the draw. He agreed with Kaymer.

“You get good sides, and I’ve been at enough Open Championships where I’ve had the bad side of it as well,” Clarke said. “They all even out.”

Adam Scott, among the few players who were on the leaderboard after playing in the afternoon on Thursday, saw more of the same on Friday. Except worse.

“Today was much tougher out there, just the slight direction change and the gusts,” Scott said. “All of a sudden there were holes where I was hitting 6-iron from in the 140s (yards). That’s when you know it’s pretty windy.”

Justin Rose, who played in Scott’s group, saw the change immediately.

He has just finished his morning round and was doing media interviews when he pointed to a television monitor showing a limp flag at No. 2, and said: “When I was playing the second hole, it was howling.”

Both Scott and Rose play on the U.S.-based PGA Tour, where conditions usually become tougher for the afternoon golfers and the luck of the draw usually isn’t an issue.

The forecast for Saturday? Rain and possible thunderstorms. But at least it should be a near-level playing field for the leaders going off late in the round.

Jason Day, who shot rounds of 74 and who was in Kaymer’s group, says “you take what you can get” when it comes to the weather.

“You can come over and play social rounds and get used to the course this way, but it’s nothing like playing a tournament on links golf,” Day said. “It’s very frustrating, but there’s some luck involved. And obviously it can change in a heartbeat.”

The British Open will use a two-tee start for the first time in the tournament’s 154-year history for Saturday’s third round due to predicted heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Tournament official David Rickman said Friday play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) Saturday off the first and 10th tees. That compressed schedule would allow for up to five hours of delays and enable the round to be completed.

The British Open has always used a one-tee start, but Rickman says the decision to use a second for the 70-plus players in groups of three would allow the tournament to be “in a better place on Sunday.”

The forecast calls for deteriorating weather to begin overnight Friday, with an expected break of up to four hours late Saturday morning.

North Vancouver, British Columbia – After a thrilling five-hole play off, Jordan Lu won the 112th British Columbia Amateur Championship presented by Blue Shore Financial at Seymour Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Lu birdied the final hole of regulation play; a 558-yard par 5, to finish even (284) for the Championship tied with Michael Belle, and forced a sudden-death play off to determine the 2014 champion.

The pair both struggled to find the fairway from the 18th tee, but recovered well and exceptional short game kept them alive, shooting par on the first trip down number 18 in the playoff, and birdieing on their second run.

They continued neck-and-neck until Belle bogeyed on number 10 giving Lu the opportunity to putt for par and end the Championship. Lu capitalized on the chance and made a short putt to earn the privilege of hoisting the Bostock Trophy.

“Before he putt I was thinking ‘just make my putt’ because I know he’s not going to miss, but after he missed it I thought, ‘ok, now I really have to get this,'” said Lu.

“In the fourth play off I pulled my putt really hard, which was not good. So I was just trying to focus and make sure I made a good stroke. And I did.”

The 17-year-old entered the Championship with no expectations to win. He opened with a +1 after struggling on the back nine. The following day he shot 73 and at the midway mark of the Championship was 3-over. The Marine Drive Golf Club member recorded a one-under on Thursday that still left him well back of the leader.

“At the start of the day I thought I’m four strokes back I’m just going to focus on what I can do and just hit fairways and greens and hopefully make birdie,” he said.

Lu recorded five birdies on the final day of competition on his way to claiming the title and kept up with several players his senior with college-level experience. His summer season began strong after winning the individual title at the BC School Sports AAA Championship.

“[Winning these titles] makes me feel that my game has gotten a lot better. Last year I came in tied at 22nd in the BC Amateur so I’m just going to do the same thing at the Pacific Coast Amateur. Fairways and greens and hope for the birdie,” stated Lu, who is set to compete in Flagstaff, Arizona at the 48th Pacific Coast Amateur July 22-25.

Belle, 22, played an exceptional four rounds of golf, leading or co-leading for the entirety of the competition but finished two-over-par on the final day, conceding a share of the lead with four bogeys in his final round.

The Vancouver Golf Club member started the Championship off with a bang, recording the first of four holes-in-one during the course of the competition.

Jacob Vanderpas shot two-under for the second day in a row to battle to a third place finish at one-over. The 19-year-old was five-over after two days of play but with a tournament low score tying 69, repeated twice, he fought his way in to the top three. Vanderpas was already three under at the turn on the final day of competition with only a single bogey blemishing his scorecard.

Lu, Belle and Vanderpas will represent British Columbia at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship August 4-7 at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club/ Southwood Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Alex Francois and Adam Svensson finished T4 just a single stroke behind Vanderpas at +2. Francois, 16, had his best showing of the Championship with a 2-under-par 69 on the final day of competition. Svensson was -3 at the turn but struggled with four bogeys out.

Earlier this week it was announced that Svensson earned an exemption into Canada’s National Open Championship and will compete next week at Royal Montreal Golf Club along side fellow BC Amateur competitor, Kevin Carrigan, who finished tied at seventh at +5.

North Vancouver, British Columbia – After a thrilling five-hole play off, Jordan Lu won the 112th British Columbia Amateur Championship presented by Blue Shore Financial at Seymour Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Lu birdied the final hole of regulation play; a 558-yard par 5, to finish even (284) for the Championship tied with Michael Belle, and forced a sudden-death play off to determine the 2014 champion.

The pair both struggled to find the fairway from the 18th tee, but recovered well and exceptional short game kept them alive, shooting par on the first trip down number 18 in the playoff, and birdieing on their second run.

They continued neck-and-neck until Belle bogeyed on number 10 giving Lu the opportunity to putt for par and end the Championship. Lu capitalized on the chance and made a short putt to earn the privilege of hoisting the Bostock Trophy.

“Before he putt I was thinking ‘just make my putt’ because I know he’s not going to miss, but after he missed it I thought, ‘ok, now I really have to get this,'” said Lu.

“In the fourth play off I pulled my putt really hard, which was not good. So I was just trying to focus and make sure I made a good stroke. And I did.”

The 17-year-old entered the Championship with no expectations to win. He opened with a +1 after struggling on the back nine. The following day he shot 73 and at the midway mark of the Championship was 3-over. The Marine Drive Golf Club member recorded a one-under on Thursday that still left him well back of the leader.

“At the start of the day I thought I’m four strokes back I’m just going to focus on what I can do and just hit fairways and greens and hopefully make birdie,” he said.

Lu recorded five birdies on the final day of competition on his way to claiming the title and kept up with several players his senior with college-level experience. His summer season began strong after winning the individual title at the BC School Sports AAA Championship.

“[Winning these titles] makes me feel that my game has gotten a lot better. Last year I came in tied at 22nd in the BC Amateur so I’m just going to do the same thing at the Pacific Coast Amateur. Fairways and greens and hope for the birdie,” stated Lu, who is set to compete in Flagstaff, Arizona at the 48th Pacific Coast Amateur July 22-25.

Belle, 22, played an exceptional four rounds of golf, leading or co-leading for the entirety of the competition but finished two-over-par on the final day, conceding a share of the lead with four bogeys in his final round.

The Vancouver Golf Club member started the Championship off with a bang, recording the first of four holes-in-one during the course of the competition.

Jacob Vanderpas shot two-under for the second day in a row to battle to a third place finish at one-over. The 19-year-old was five-over after two days of play but with a tournament low score tying 69, repeated twice, he fought his way in to the top three. Vanderpas was already three under at the turn on the final day of competition with only a single bogey blemishing his scorecard.

Lu, Belle and Vanderpas will represent British Columbia at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship August 4-7 at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club/ Southwood Golf and Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Alex Francois and Adam Svensson finished T4 just a single stroke behind Vanderpas at +2. Francois, 16, had his best showing of the Championship with a 2-under-par 69 on the final day of competition. Svensson was -3 at the turn but struggled with four bogeys out.

Earlier this week it was announced that Svensson earned an exemption into Canada’s National Open Championship and will compete next week at Royal Montreal Golf Club along side fellow BC Amateur competitor, Kevin Carrigan, who finished tied at seventh at +5.

The Claret Jug has been presented to every Open Championship victor since 1873. First awarded to Tom Kidd, the Claret Jug has been raised by some of golf’s greatest champions. Here’s what they’ve put in in…

Top 10: Best players never to win the Open Championship

HOYLAKE, England – Phil Mickelson broke par in a major for the first time since he won last year’s British Open. It was just what he needed Friday at Royal Liverpool to stay in the hunt at this one.

Typical of Mickelson, it wasn’t easy.

He missed a 4-foot birdie putt after one of his best shots of the day, and was so irritated by that it caused him to bogey the next hole. He lost his tee shot on the par-5 10th hole, had to play another tee shot but still made par by getting up-and-down from about 215 yards away with a 2-iron.

A 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole gave Mickelson a 2-under 70, bringing him back to par for the championship.

“Fortunately, I was able to fight hard and get it back on the back nine because I was 1-over par and then hit one out of bounds, essentially,” Mickelson said. “So to get it back to even is good. And, hopefully, the weather is supposed to come in tomorrow. It will be tough for all of us.”

It looked plenty tough for him halfway through the second round.

Mickelson, who opened with a 74, appeared to be hitting his stride after a wild tee shot on No. 4 that flew over the gallery, so far right that it landed in grass that had been tamped down. He hit that to 4 inches for birdie, made eagle on the par-5 fifth hole and looked as if he would get under par when he hit a 5-iron on No. 7, the toughest at Hoylake, to 4 feet.

But he missed the birdie putt and walked quietly to the next tee, shaking his head. Mickelson usually puts blunders behind him quickly, but not this time. And it cost him. Playing aggressively to a pin tucked by a slope on the right side of the green, he went long and into the first cut. A flop shop wasn’t hit hard enough and rolled back off the green. He had to make a 4-footer to escape with bogey.

“I wasn’t patient,” he said. “I tried to get that shot a little close. And what happened is I drew that 8-iron with the wind, and when it’s going downwind, it just doesn’t stop. I should have hit it 30 feet. I thought, `I’m going to try to get one close.’ Hit it over the green, hit a poor chip and made bogey.”

Nothing saved his round quite like the 10th, however.

He never found his tee shot in the gorse and thick bushes and had to play his provisional, meaning he was playing his fourth shot from 215 yards away. He drilled a 2-iron onto the green and holed the short par putt.

Mickelson made it sound routine: “Lost ball, played the provisional in the fairway, hit a 2-iron to 6 feet and made it for par.”

Lefty didn’t drop a shot the rest of the way and closed with a birdie. Whether that’s enough depended on how the leaders fared in the afternoon and how much nasty weather arrives Saturday.

He was four shots out of the lead going into the weekend last year at Muirfield, and still five behind going into the final day. Mickelson closed with a 66, one of the great closing rounds in major championship history. He didn’t break par in a major over his next 11 rounds until Friday.

He has said he has been close at various times this year, though his last victory was at Muirfield.

Mickelson said he made a few adjustments on the back nine, such as extending his swing more toward the target, though his putting has been inconsistent.

“I’m striking it so good,” Mickelson said. “And if I putt the way I putted the last nine holes for the weekend, I’m going to have a good chance.”

That’s more than he can say for the two major champions in his pairing.

Two-time Open champion Ernie Els never recovered from that triple bogey on the opening hole that led to a 79. He shot 73 and will miss the cut at 8-over 152. Masters champion Bubba Watson bogeyed the last hole for a 72. He was at 4-over 148 and will also not play the weekend.

It’s as easy as one, two, three for the Tam Family when it comes to playing golf at King’s Forest Golf Club in Hamilton.

Forty years ago in 1974, John Tam signed up as one of the club’s very first members, when he switched his membership to the City of Hamilton’s newest municipal golf course, after being a member at its sister club since 1966.

At the time, the steelworker, who would go on to retire from Stelco in 1997, never thought his passion for the game would become a family affair, but today he looks back with only fond memories as he tees off with his son Paul and his grandson Michael.

“When I was really young my dad would bring me out and I would walk a few holes with him and just hit the ball,” says Paul, who is a Grade 7-8 teacher at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Elementary School in Stoney Creek. “Then, when I was in Grade 7 in 1983, he bought me a junior membership and I have been here since then.”

As it turns out, Paul has two children, Isabel, who is 11-years-old and plays rep soccer with dad as coach, and Michael, 14, who is walking in his grandfather’s and father’s footsteps. “When Michael was in Grade 7 I decided it was time to buy him a junior membership at King’s Forest and since that time the three of us have had a great time golfing together.”

Their summer golf routine is pretty amazing. They play 18 holes together three times a week and Grandpa John is usually out there with friends on the other weekdays. Michael also plays a few holes with his grandfather in the evenings. The Grade 10 student at Cardinal Newman CSS in Stoney Creek caddies twice a week at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, where he makes $32 for looping 18 holes plus tips.

The trio are quite funny and when asked what they think each other’s Golf Canada handicap factor might be. They all have a different number in mind for each other. To avoid a family scrap, we’ll say it’s in the teens for each of them, but the question of who is the best golfer in the group will surely be debated for years. They are definitely competitive. John says Michael is a “Wildman”, Paul says Michael is “erratic”, Michael says playing with dad and grandpa is “painful.” They all laugh. “I’m really lucky to spend this time with them. A lot of other juniors at the club aren’t out here with their parents, let alone grandparents,” Michael says. Paul says golf has allowed the trio to be best friends. John, who is 74 years-old, says it’s a “Godsend.” They walk all of the time – no carts for these boys!

John hasn’t added up the number of rounds he’s played at King’s Forest, but at an average of 100-plus rounds a year for 40 years, there were some years he had to buy two memberships because he was playing so much, John has played more golf at King’s Forest than any other person on his earth.

Not surprisingly, John has also collected four aces at King’s Forest, which he calls his second home, over the years with one on No. 5, two on No. 14 and once on No. 17. At home, his wife Marisa doesn’t mind when John leaves the house at 6 am to play golf. She continues to welcome him back later in the day with a smile, unless he’s gone to play racquet ball at the YMCA, but that is another story for another day.

The scenic layout at King’s Forest was designed by former parks foreman Matt Broman, who was 76-years-old at the time, with the guidance of Rod Goodes, the Head Professional at Chedoke Civic Golf Club from 1965 to 1990. The design was monumental for its day. It measured just over 7,000 yards, par-72 from the tips over a rolling 250-acre landscape that featured a variety of terrific elevated tee shots, several challenging doglegs and six holes crossing the naturalized Red Hill Creek. It’s interesting to note that the two courses and 36-holes at Chedoke Civic GC are laid out on just over 220 acres!

“It’s a beautiful spot, but it’s getting harder, or maybe it’s just my age,” John says. “It was pretty wide open when I first came here 40 years ago and now the trees have grown up just like my son and his son – it’s a great place to call home.

Junior golf appears to be alive and well in Alberta.

After Jaclyn Lee won both the Sun Life Financial Ladies Amateur and the Alberta Junior Girls Championships in consecutive weeks, Tyler Saunders matched the feat today with a convincing win at the Sun Life Financial Men’s Amateur Championship at Desert Blume, to follow up his 3 shot win at the Alberta Junior Boys Championship a week ago.

Saunders, with rounds of 70, 69, 65 and 67 produced a 9-shot victory. The nearest competitor was Jack Wood, who came in 8-shots back of the victor in what was one of the more lopsided victories at the championship in recent years.

Taking advantage of his length, Saunders eagled the par 5 7th hole for the 2nd consecutive day, making the turn in 3 under par on the day, before coming in with a 33 back nine to close out a round of 67.

“I had a really good start, everything was really solid,” said the newly crowned champion. “The guys I was playing with helped me feel comfortable out there,” Saunders said. “My putting was the best part of my game this week. The guys were getting sick of how many putts I was making on the back nine. I just had a good handle on the greens all week.”

Saunders will be off to the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship at Elmhurst Golf & Country Club and Southwood Golf & Country Club in Winnipeg from August 4-7 as a representative of Alberta’s Willingdon Cup team.  Wood will join Saunders on that team alongside AJ Armstrong, who defeated Brett Hogan and Evan Holmes in a playoff for the final team position.

Jordan Irwin finished the championship as the low 25 years or older competitor earning the last position on the Alberta Mid-Amateur Interprovincial Team. Irwin will join teammates Harry Aime and Kevin Temple at the Canadian Mid-Amateur Championship at the Barrie country Club in Barrie Ontario September 16-19.

For full results, click here.