BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Rob Couture edged into the lead at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after a third round 3-under 69 at Barrie Country Club.

Couture, of Dallas, opened a three-stroke lead at the turn after a front-nine 4-under 32, but carded two bogeys on his closing stretch to finish a stroke ahead of Team Canada’s Garrett Rank at 5-under 211.

“I feel like obviously I can get it done and it’s one thing to hope you can get it done and think you can get it done but I know I can,” said Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion. “I don’t think there’s any concern with Garrett either, he’s won plenty of tournaments and he knows that he can do it too so I’m just going to go and try to play a really good round of golf, add it up at the end and see what happens.”

Playing alongside Couture, Rank of Elmira, Ont. cut into the lead with a back nine 2-under 34.  His third round 3-under 69 leaves him in striking distance of a spot into next year’s RBC Canadian Open and a second national championship title — Rank captured the Canadian University/College Championship Individual title in 2012.

“I finished well, I made three birdies in the last six holes so that was good because I think at one point he [Couture] had stretched out to five or six ahead of me,” Rank said. “I like being one back better than two back but I can’t really worry about what he’s doing. I just have to go out there tomorrow, control what I can control, stick to my game plan and continue to play some pretty good golf.”

Windsor, Ont.’s Michael Rutgers will join the final pairing on Friday after carding even-par 72. Rutgers sits in solo third at 1-under 215 for the championship, while Darren Shaw of Stoney Creek, Ont. is in fourth at even-par 216.

Shaw, the overnight leader, struggled in the third round with a 3-over 75, but remains ahead in the Mid-Master competition by three strokes over Calgary’s Kevin Temple.

The champion of the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.

BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Rob Couture edged into the lead at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after a third round 3-under 69 at Barrie Country Club.

Couture, of Dallas, opened a three-stroke lead at the turn after a front-nine 4-under 32, but carded two bogeys on his closing stretch to finish a stroke ahead of Team Canada’s Garrett Rank at 5-under 211.

“I feel like obviously I can get it done and it’s one thing to hope you can get it done and think you can get it done but I know I can,” said Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion. “I don’t think there’s any concern with Garrett either, he’s won plenty of tournaments and he knows that he can do it too so I’m just going to go and try to play a really good round of golf, add it up at the end and see what happens.”

Playing alongside Couture, Rank of Elmira, Ont. cut into the lead with a back nine 2-under 34.  His third round 3-under 69 leaves him in striking distance of a spot into next year’s RBC Canadian Open and a second national championship title — Rank captured the Canadian University/College Championship Individual title in 2012.

“I finished well, I made three birdies in the last six holes so that was good because I think at one point he [Couture] had stretched out to five or six ahead of me,” Rank said. “I like being one back better than two back but I can’t really worry about what he’s doing. I just have to go out there tomorrow, control what I can control, stick to my game plan and continue to play some pretty good golf.”

Windsor, Ont.’s Michael Rutgers will join the final pairing on Friday after carding even-par 72. Rutgers sits in solo third at 1-under 215 for the championship, while Darren Shaw of Stoney Creek, Ont. is in fourth at even-par 216.

Shaw, the overnight leader, struggled in the third round with a 3-over 75, but remains ahead in the Mid-Master competition by three strokes over Calgary’s Kevin Temple.

The champion of the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.

DEAL, N.J. – Joan Higgins of Glendora, Calif. defeated Judith Kyrinis of Thornhill, Ont. 1 up, in the final match Thursday to win the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, held at the 6,109-yard, par-73 Hollywood Golf Club.

Higgins, 58, became the third player to win both the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, a championship she captured in 2008. She joins World Golf Hall of Famer Carol Semple Thompson, who won four Senior Women’s Amateurs and two Women’s Mid-Amateurs, and Ellen Port, who captured the 2012 and 2013 Senior Women’s Amateur and four Women’s Mid-Amateurs.

Higgins did not miss one fairway off the tee in the 18-hole final. She also came from behind on the inward nine against Kyrinis, just like she did in her quarterfinal and semifinal matches.

Kyrinis, 50, took the lead on No. 13 with a two-putt par after Higgins was unable to get up and down from the left greenside bunker. Higgins, who played collegiate tennis at the University of Wisconsin in the 1970s, split the middle of the fairway with her tee shot but came to rest in a grassy depression that left her with an awkward lie.

Higgins, who is not ranked in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, squared the match on No. 14 with a par. Her approach shot hit the flagstick and caromed 19 feet past the hole. Meanwhile, Kyrinis found the left rough off the tee and sent her second shot over the green, leading to a bogey.

The key hole turned out to be the par-5 16th. Both players were in perfect position in front of the green after laying up short with their second shots. Higgins struck her third shot to within 16 feet, but Kyrinis got under the ball with her approach and was well short of the putting surface. She eventually misfired on a 5-½ foot putt in an attempt to halve the hole.

“There are lots of different times during the match to think where I could have taken advantage that I didn’t,” said Kyrinis, a registered nurse in Toronto who was playing in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur. “To move all over that little pitch shot was not very good.”

After each player bogeyed the par-3 17th after missing the green with their tee shots, Higgins closed out the match with a hard-working par on the finishing hole. She hit a 155-yard rescue club to the right fringe, while Kyrinis’ approach shot rolled through the putting surface and over the green. Higgins later converted an 8-foot putt.

Kyrinis, who defeated two past Senior Women’s Amateur champions in Mina Hardin (2010) and Terri Frohnmayer (2011) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, made a 10-foot bogey putt on No. 7 and a 3½-foot par putt on No. 8 to halve both holes and keep the match all square. She took the lead just before the turn on the par-4 ninth when she two-putted over a ridge and down a slope from 30 feet.

“The greens were pretty slick,” said Kyrinis, who reached the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur semifinals in 2000 and is No. 2,005 in the WAGR. “The pins were like every Sunday position I think they had out there. [I] felt like I was playing prevent defense.”

Higgins, who never got past the quarterfinals in seven previous U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur appearances and took out the No. 3 seed (Kyrinis), the No. 4 seed (Andrea Kraus) and the Canadian Women’s Senior Amateur champion (Helene Chartrand) on her way to the title.

Kyrinis, who held a 1-up lead on three occasions on the outward nine, was attempting to become the third Canadian to win this championship, joining Marlene Stewart Streit, a three-time champion, and Gayle Borthwick, a two-time winner.

All quarterfinalists are exempt from qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, to be played Sept. 26-Oct. 1 at Hillwood Country Club in Nashville, Tenn.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, for players 50 years and older, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the United States Golf Association, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club at St. Andrews is no longer just for men.

The R&A became the latest golf club to end years of male-only exclusivity on Thursday when its members voted overwhelmingly in favor of inviting women. The vote was effective immediately.

“I can confirm that The Royal & Ancient Golf of St. Andrews is now a mixed membership club,” R&A secretary Peter Dawson said in a statement.

Dawson said more than three-quarters of the club’s 2,500 members worldwide voted, with 85 percent in favor. It was the first time in the R&A’s 260-year history that members were allowed to vote by proxy at the annual business meeting.

The members also voted to fast-track a “significant” number of women to join in the next few months. The R&A did not say how many women would be invited, though previous reports indicated it could be as many as 15.

“This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club,” Dawson said. “The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men.”

Augusta National, home of the Masters, decided two years ago to invite women to join. Unlike the R&A, Augusta National did not have a written policy that banned women. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore were the first female members.

While the R&A members have access to the clubhouse behind the first tee at the Old Course, they belong to a club, not a golf course. The seven golf courses at St. Andrews are open to the public.

The favorable vote was hailed from golf organizations, public officials and sponsors around the world.

“This is positive news for the sport, and I hope we will now see other golf clubs that still have outdated same-sex policies follow suit,” said Helen Grant, Britain’s minister for sport. “With golf in the next Olympics there is a huge opportunity for the sport to grow and this sends out the right inclusive message that golf is for everyone.”

The Royal & Ancient governs golf everywhere in the world except for the United States and Mexico. It is separate from “The R&A,” a business arm created 10 years ago to handle the Rules of Golf, organize the British Open and operate other business affairs. But while the R&A has female employees, the committees and board are populated by club members, so there had been no women in leadership roles governing the game or running championships.

The R&A was coming under increasing pressure when The Open was held at all-male clubs, most recently Muirfield in 2013. Even some of its sponsors were getting uncomfortable with the centuries-old policies barring women.

“As a partner of the R&A and a long term international sponsor of golf, we welcome this news with open arms,” said Giles Morgan, HSBC’s global head of sponsorship and events. “HSBC is committed to growing the game at all levels and fundamental to this is our commitment to the value of diversity and our support of women’s golf, which is a cornerstone of our global golf portfolio.

“We look forward to continuing this successful partnership at St Andrews in 2015 for what promises to be the start of a new era.”

The Women’s British Open has been played at St. Andrews twice since 2007, and they were allowed in the clubhouse during the championship.

“The LPGA is happy to hear that the members of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews have voted to include female members,” the LPGA Tour said in a statement. “This decision is certainly a step in the right direction and one that better captures the current diversity and inclusiveness of our great game.”

Here’s the full statement from Dawson.

I am very pleased indeed to announce that the membership of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has voted overwhelmingly in favour of welcoming women members.

More than three quarters of the club’s global membership took part in the ballot, with a decisive 85% voting for women to become members.

This vote has immediate effect and I can confirm that The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is now a mixed membership club.

The membership has also acted to fast-track a significant initial number of women to become members in the coming months.

This is a very important and positive day in the history of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club. The R&A has served the sport of golf well for 260 years and I am confident that the club will continue to do so in future with the support of all its members, both women and men.

EDMONTON – Camrose, Alta.’s Jayla Kucy is headed to next year’s Masters Tournament in Augusta, GA.

Kucy, 8, punched her ticket to Augusta National after earning a spot in the Drive, Chip and Putt finale which takes place the weekend prior to tournament week.

Close to 5,000 girls in 250 sites across the U.S. will compete in Kucy’s under-10 competition — 50,000 overall in all the divisions for boys and girls ages seven to 15 – after the qualifying procedure is complete for this year’s event.

Kucy won local qualifying (Dupont, Wash.), a sub-regional event (Lacey, Wash.), and then a final elimination (Park City, Utah.) to become one of just 10 girls who will compete for her division title at the 2015 Masters.

Click here to read more on Kucy from Edmonton Journal’s Curtis Stock.

DID YOU KNOW? Canada has it’s own version of Drive, Chip and Putt. Click here to learn more about the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge.

DEAL, N.J. – Joan Higgins and Canada’s Judith Kyrinis have advanced to the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur final, winning two matches Wednesday at Hollywood Golf Club.

The 58-year-old Higgins, a former University of Wisconsin tennis player who lives in Glendora, California, beat the reigning Canadian Women’s Senior champion Helene Chartrand 1 up in the morning quarterfinals, and then went in to top Kareen Markle of Meridian, Idaho, 2 and 1 in the semifinals.

“I need to play pretty well, because I know in the final I am playing someone who has played five great rounds, too,” said Higgins, the 2008 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion. “Hopefully, tomorrow I can start playing the same way I ended today.”

The 50-year-old Kyrinis, a registered nurse in Toronto and member of Thornhill Golf & Country Club, had two 3-and-2 victories over past champions. She beat 2010 winner Mina Hardin of Mexico in the quarterfinals and 2011 winner Terri Frohnmayer of Salem, Oregon, in the semifinals.

“It’s awesome,” Kyrinis said. “It’s been awhile for me to get back here and play some good golf.”

Attempting to become the first Canadian winner since Marlene Stewart Streit in 2003, Kyrinis was a semifinalist in the 2000 Mid-Amateur.

“I didn’t want to go out in the semifinals again because nobody remembers that,” Kyrinis said.

In the other quarterfinals, Markle routed Susan West of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 7 and 6, and Frohnmayer edged Kim Eaton of Tempe, Arizona, 2 and 1.

BARRIE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Darren Shaw’s 5-under 67 lifted him into the top spot on the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur leaderboard after the second round at Barrie Country Club.

The Stoney Creek, Ont. native carded six birdies on Wednesday and closed with a 3-under 33. His back-nine was highlighted by an incredible greenside up-and-down on the par-5 9th hole for birdie and the outright lead.

“It feels good, honestly I played better golf yesterday and couldn’t make a putt,” Shaw said. “I changed putters today and I made some putts, I switched to this one and it seemed to work.”

At 3-under 141 for the championship, Shaw currently leads by a stroke over of Rob Couture of Dallas, Texas. He also sits four strokes ahead of Calgary’s Kevin Temple and Dwight Reinhart of Renfrew, Ont. in the Mid-Master (40+) title race.

Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion, carded an even-par 72 and sits in solo second in the overall competition, one-stroke ahead of Team Canada’s Garrett Rank of Elmira, Ont. and Michael Rutgers of Windsor, Ont. Rank and Rutgers both finished runner-up at last year’s championship in Edmonton.

“I struggled early, I really didn’t play well until probably the last 13 or 14 holes,” Couture said. “I was a couple over early and I just didn’t hit very good shots for whatever reason, but I hit it well the last 10 or 12 holes and got it back to even.”

In the Inter-Provincial team competition, the Team British Columbia contingent of Victoria’s Kevin Carrigan, Vancouver’s Patrick Weeks and Sandy Harper of Nanaimo held onto their opening round lead to win the overall title by four strokes over Team Alberta. The trio finished at 1-over 289 for the 36-hole championship.

The champion of the 2014 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship will earn an exemption into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.

The “Home of Golf” is about to find out if its doors are open to women.

On the same day Scotland votes on whether to become independent, a historic sporting decision will be made inside arguably the most famous building in golf.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, an all-male bastion since its founding 260 years ago, votes Thursday whether to admit women members. For the first time, the R&A is allowing its 2,500 worldwide members to vote by proxy.

“I think it’s the right thing,” R&A club secretary Peter Dawson said during its spring meeting in May, “and I hope that R&A members do what’s right for golf.”

While a “No” decision is the marginal favorite in the independence referendum, the R&A vote should be more clear-cut at its annual Business Meeting at St. Andrews.

“We wouldn’t be entering this if we didn’t feel there was strong member support for it,” Dawson has said.

The club said a favorable vote would take effect immediately.

“We would hope to have a meaningful number of women become members in a reasonable time scale,” the club said in a statement. “The first women members are likely to have made a significant contribution to the development of our sport.”

It has been just over two years since Augusta National – the club that hosts The Masters – announced it had invited women to join for the first time. That ramped up the pressure on the R&A club, which, unlike Augusta, had a policy barring women from being members. Three all-male clubs are on the British Open rotation – Royal St. George’s, Royal Troon and Muirfield.

Dawson has said the R&A vote will have no bearing on whether the Open is played on those courses. Royal Troon is the 2016 host.

The push for change has come from outside golf, from a society that perceives the R&A to be out of touch and having outdated views on equality. The issue of allowing female members has been on the R&A’s agenda for some time, Dawson says, but every year that goes by without the club having women members is damaging to its image.

The Royal & Ancient has been in charge of the Rules of Golf and the British Open for years. Ten years ago, the club devolved administrative duties to a corporate structure that is called “The R&A,” of which Dawson is the chief executive. That group is in charge of the Rules of Golf and organizes The Open and other R&A championships. It has female employees but its committee and board roles are populated by members of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, meaning there are currently no women in leadership roles.

BARRIE, Ont. – Rob Couture took control of the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship after a 2-under 70 at Barrie Country Club on Tuesday.

Couture, the 2011 Mid-Amateur champion, overcame gusty conditions during the afternoon draw to finish one-stoke ahead of two-time defending champion, Kevin Carrigan, of Victoria, B.C. and Greg Jones of Berry Mills, N.B.

“[The golf course] is very good, it’s the kind of golf course that if there wasn’t any wind you could certainly make a lot of birdies and shoot a good score but especially in wind like this anything under par is a good round,” Couture said. “The greens get quick, you can certainly get in the wrong spot and there’s not much you can do to two putt in some areas.”

The Dallas, Texas native made five birdies during the opening round and closed with a clutch par save on the par-5 18th to finish atop the leaderboard heading into Wednesday’s second round.

“I putted well, I didn’t get off to a great start, I bogeyed No. 2 from 95 yards in the middle of the fairway but then I chipped in on No. 4 off the front of the green for birdie to get back to even,” Couture said of his turning point on course. “That’s kind of something that can change things a little bit so that was good and from there on I played pretty solid.”

Carrigan and Jones currently trail Couture by a stroke after opening with a pair of 1-under 71’s. Jones birdied the difficult par-4 17th on his closing nine to grab the lead in the Mid-Master race by two strokes over Toronto’s Dennis Kavelman, Calgary’s Kevin Temple and Paul Coulson of Biblehill, N.S.

Four players finished the day at even-par to share fourth spot in the Mid-Amateur division including Toronto’s Marc St-Germain, Andrew Tomchuk of London, Ont., Alex Palmer of Fredericton, N.B. and Michael Rutgers of Windsor, Ont.

In the Inter-Provincial team competition, the Team British Columbia contingent of Kevin Carrigan, Patrick Weeks and Sandy Harper leads by two strokes over Team Alberta after carding an even-par 144.

Complete scoring, results and pairings can be found online by clicking here.

UXBRIDGE, Ont. — The Golf Association of Ontario (GAO) is proud to announce a new initiative called She Swings She Scores (SSSS). SSSS is a program that targets female athletes currently participating in the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association (OWHA) and introduces them to golf at sanctioned hockey tournaments across Ontario.

The program, which will begin in October, aims to visit 20 tournaments across the province during the 2014/15 female hockey season and will expose more than 6300 girls to the game of golf.

The program represents a partnership between the GAO and the OWHA that is made possible by the Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund.  The partnership between the two complementary sports will provide opportunities for these girls and their teammates to participate in sport all year round.

“She Swings She Scores” targets girls currently participating in hockey and introduces them to golf by bringing golf directly to them.  It also provides opportunities for these girls and their teammates to learn the sport together,” said Steve Carroll, GAO Executive Director. “She Swings She Scores” is a great example of introducing the game of golf to girls and will help engage them with all of the benefits golf has to offer.”

SSSS has strategically aligned itself with Golf Canada’s CN Future Links Girls’ Club program to help introduce more girls to the sport of golf.  Girls’ Club has similar goals to SSSS in that it encourages girls to experience all of the benefits of sport in a fun and engaging “girls only” setting. In addition to learning golf skills, the program promotes building self-esteem through a sport they can enjoy for life.

“We are thrilled to partner with GAO on this outstanding initiative that showcases the exceptional opportunities for girls to excel as athletes and to grow as people through participation in two great sports”, said Fran Rider, President, Ontario Women’s Hockey Association.

The GAO is also pleased to announce that they have partnered with three-time Olympic Hockey Gold Medalist Gillian Apps as the ambassador of the program. “I’m really excited to be involved with She Swings She Scores. This great initiative provides a fun environment for girls to get outside and be active. As an Olympic hockey player, I truly believe it’s important for youth to play different sports. Golf is a great way to challenge yourself and acquire new skills that will help make you a better all around athlete,” said Apps.

Follow along with SSSS by liking them on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/sheswingsshescores and on Twitter at @GAO_SSSS.