See how Canadians fared in professional events around the world this past week.

Courtesy Golf Canada

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. and ST ANDREWS, Scotland – The USGA and The R&A have released the 2018 Annual Driving Distance Report, containing driving-distance data from seven men’s and women’s professional golf tours around the world. This is the fourth annual distance report issued by the game’s governing bodies, completed in an effort to monitor current trends in driving distance.

The 2018 data show that driving distances on these seven tours increased by an average of 1.7 yards, beyond the previous year’s gain of more than 3 yards.

See how Canadians fared in professional events around the world this past week.

By GORD MONTGOMERY, Inside Golf

"Even though a new set of guidelines have now been put into play for the game of golf, the rulebook still doesn’t address one major component found in every weekend warrior’s game — the mullligan or breakfast ball.

Despite that oversight, the new rules, the first in over six decades, will make the game’s regulations a bit easier for one and all to comprehend and abide by. At least that’s the word coming from Adam Helmer, the Director of Rules and Competitions for Golf Canada.

By GOLF CANADA

The field for the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship is taking shape as the tournament announced the first 66 players who accepted invitations into the 72-player field for the April 3-6 event.

By John Gordon/Courtesy Golf Canada

As you have heard, a historic reworking of the Rules of Golf came into effect on Jan. 1.

To gain a better understanding of how it affects recreational golfers like me, I invited Adam Helmer, Golf Canada’s director of Rules, competitions and amateur status, to play nine holes with me at my home club. While the round is fictional—it is minus 8 in Central Ontario and Midland G&CC is snow-covered as I write this—the new Rules are anything but.

By JORDAN SCHWARTZ, USGA

Matt McCue was used to overcoming the odds. Diagnosed with leukemia at 5, he eventually lost his sight due to a stroke, but didn’t give up. Instead, he found Envision, a not-for-profit in Wichita, Kan., that supports the visually impaired through employment, outreach, rehabilitation, education and research.

One of the programs Envision runs is a summer golf clinic that the USGA has helped fund three times since 2015 through its Alliance Grant Program. The clinic matches visually impaired golfers with mentors to learn the basics of the game.

“Aside from the physical benefits of playing golf, it gives these people an outlet for socialization and engagement with others,” said Bonnie Cochran, director of support programs for Envision.

The clinic began in 2011 as the brainchild of a child. Envision patient Andrew McLeod wanted to play golf like his dad, Brady, so he asked Cochran what she could do. The program director mentioned the idea to a volunteer named Manuela Nivia, who played at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School. Nivia asked her first coach if he’d teach the class.

“I said yes, and I haven’t been sorry for it one day,” said senior instructor Len Hudson. “I got a little panicked on the way to the first session because I had never taught visually impaired people before, but then I realized it was the same as anyone else: grip, stance and swing.”

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Kimberley, BC's Jared du Toit (R) Is One Of Two BC Players, Vancouver's Stuart Macdonald Is The Other, Joining The Likes Of Maddie Szeryk (L) On The 2019 Team Canada Young Pro Squad - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Via Golf Canada

OAKVILLE, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 10 athletes—six female and four male—who have been selected to the 2019 Team Canada Young Pro Squad.

Comprising the 2019 Women’s Young Pro Squad is Brittany Marchand (Orangeville, Ont.) , Anne-Catherine Tanguay (Quebec City), Maddie Szeryk (London, Ont.) Augusta James (Bath, Ont.), Jennifer Ha (Calgary) and Jaclyn Lee (Calgary). Lee, 21, makes the transition from the Amateur Squad after turning professional in December.

The Men’s Young Pro Squad will be represented by Jared du Toit (Kimberley, B.C.), Hugo Bernard (Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Que.), Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Stuart Macdonald (Vancouver).

By THE PGA OF CANADA

The PGA of Canada is proud to announce its 2018 National Award winners and newest Hall of Fame inductee.

Laurence Applebaum - Image Courtesy GNN

Golf Canada's CEO Laurence Applebaum recently chatted with GolfNewsNow (GNN) owner, operator and Canadian golf writer Ian Hutchinson about Golf Canada's upcoming Annual General Meeting in Montreal, the welcoming of a new President, some new initiatives and the unveiling of a new Strategic Plan.

To listen to this inteview please click HERE.

Some of the new Rules of Golf appear to have confused people.

This may help, a video highlighting the main changes with the new 2019 Rules of Golf.

Abbotsford, BC's Adam Hadwin Has His Eyes On A Presidents Cup Spot This Year, Among Other Goals For The New PGA TOUR Season - Image Courtesy www.adamhadwin.com

By Adam Stanley/Courtesy Golf Canada

With the Presidents Cup in his sights and high hopes to return to major championship fields, Adam Hadwin knows a strong start to 2019 is essential.

The Abbotsford, B.C., golfer was in the field at the Sony Open in Hawaii (where he finished T57) – the first full-field event of the 2019 portion of the PGA TOUR season – alongside fellow Canadians Mackenzie Hughes, Ben Silverman, Roger Sloan, Adam Svensson, Nick Taylor, and Corey Conners, (who qualified for the event late on Monday and parlayed that into a T3 finish after back-to-back weekend 64's).

Hadwin, who notched two top-10 finishes on the PGA TOUR and represented Canada at the World Cup of Golf with Taylor (they tied for fourth) during the fall of 2018, said he’s excited to get back into the heat of competition again.

Golf’s new Rules have been published by the The R&A and USGA in partnership with Golf Canada with the effective date of Jan. 1, 2019.

For the first time, a new Player’s Edition of the Rules of Golf is being introduced to provide a shorter, more user-friendly version of the Rules for golfers at all levels of the game.

Canada's Own Brooke Henderson Won Her National Open With Sister Brittany On The Bag At Regina’s Wascana Country Club - Image Courtesy Golf Canada

Written by John Gordon/Courtesy Golf Canada

What a year it was for Canadian golf.

Our pros won literally around the world and on just about every tour imaginable. Our amateurs of all ages made Canada proud at home and abroad. And, off the course, there were significant moments that are well worth memorializing as 2019 looms on the horizon.

Over 140 Women Celebrated This Year’s Success At The 15th Annual Golf Fore The Cure National Event At Thornhill Golf Club In Thornhill, Ont. - Image Courtesy Golf For The Cure Facebook

Via Golf Canada

The season of giving has another reason to be cheerful. Golf Fore the Cure presented by Subaru raised over $425k for breast cancer research in 2018 thanks to the efforts over 13,000 participants at 175 events across the country, including two interior locales in BC who were among the top 20 fundraisers, Fernie GC and Chinook Cove Golf & RV in Barrière.

Since the program’s inception in 2003, upwards of 120,000 women have raised over $6.7 million to date with all proceeds donated to the Canadian Cancer Society and the Québec Breast Cancer Foundation.

Brian McDonald claimed his first national title at the PGA Head Professional Championship of Canada presented by Titleist & FootJoy Thursday as he closed with a 5-under-par 67 for a five-shot victory.

The Director of Golf and General Manager at Fairview Mountain in Oliver, B.C., featured five birdies in his final round at The Gold Course at Wigwam Golf Club, coming from behind to raise a PGA of Canada national championship trophy for the first time in his career.

By John Gordon (Courtesy Golf Canada)

If asked the question “How has technology impacted your game?”, most golfers automatically think of their adjustable driver, game-improvement irons, a ball that promises both distance and accuracy, foul-weather gear and footwear that protect them from the elements and, perhaps, a distance-measuring device that takes the guesswork out of approach shots or an electric trolley that saves wear and tear on their bodies during a round.

But we got some revealing and unexpected answers when we asked experts from various sectors of the Canadian golf industry what technology they thought was most impactful on golfers.

By RYAN HERRINGTON, Golf Digest

As January 1, 2019, approaches, it’s time to consider what New Year’s resolutions you’ll be making to help your golf game in 2019.

For those who haven’t come up with any, here’s a suggestion: Learn the Rules of Golf. (No, really learn them this time.)

Perhaps you’ve tried, only to find that by February, the copy of the rules book you picked up is covered with as much dust as that Peloton you bought to get into shape.

Yet here’s the thing: There’s no better time than now to give it another shot because a new, modernized version of the rules goes into effect on New Year’s Day.

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In this week's Golf Canada Top 10 rankings, Abbotsford's Nick Taylor picked up 13 spots in the OWGR thanks to his T9 in the Australian PGA Championship.

Taylor remains at number 4 in the Men's Pro rankings in Canada, with fellow Abbotsford native Adam Hadwin continuing to be this country's top ranked male professional, a place he's held for nearly two years running, and sits at number 68 in the world.