• Matt Cella To Coach British Columbia’s Golf Teams At Canada Summer Games In Winnipeg

    By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

    Matt Cella, who has been appointed Team B.C.’s head golf coach for the 2017 Canada Summer Games in Winnipeg, knows the bar has been set awfully high for him.

    After all, British Columbia has swept the individual and team competitions in the two Canada Summer Games where golf has been contested. Golf was first played at the Canada Summer Games in 2009 in Prince Edward Island, where North Vancouver’s Eugene Wong and Sue Kim of Langley won individual gold medals and B.C. swept the team titles.

    Four years later in Sherbrooke, Que., Kevin Kwon of Pitt Meadows and Taylor Kim of Surrey won gold and B.C. again took home gold in the boys’ and girls’ team competition.

  • ‘Poor Putting’ Doesn’t Keep Jackie Little Out Of PNGA Hall Of Fame

    Jackie Little Will Be Enshrined In The PNGA Hall Of Fame On April 28th - Image Credits British Columbia Golf/PNGA

    By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

    Jackie Little is one of British Columbia’s most accomplished amateur golfers, but she hasn’t yet quite convinced her young granddaughter of her playing prowess.

    Last June, Little placed second at the B.C. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Kelowna Golf & Country Club. Her five-year-old granddaughter Myelle was there to watch Little complete her round. As she walked off the 18th green, Myelle asked her grandmother if she had won.

    “She said, ‘Granny, did you win,’” Little recalls with a chuckle. “And I said, ‘no, Granny didn’t win today, Granny didn’t putt very well.’ Ever since then, any time we ask her about my golf she goes, ‘oh Granny, it’s too bad you can’t putt.’ 

    “So I'm going to have to win another championship to prove to her that I can putt.”

  • Macdonald And Rowe Represent British Columbia In Lima

    The XXIX Campeonato Internacional De Afficionados sees Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald Victoria’s Lawren Rowe representing British Columbia at the Lima Golf Club in Lima, Peru.

    Macdonald, a member of Team Canada, is currently the 8th ranked amateur in the country. Rowe is in his 3rd year at the University of Victoria and is the 4th ranked male amateur in Canada.

  • The R&A And USGA Work With Handicap Authorities To Develop A Single World Handicap System

    image courtesy pixabay

    (19 April 2017), Far Hills, USA and St Andrews, Scotland: The USGA and The R&A are working with golf’s handicapping authorities to develop a single World Handicap System for the sport.

    More than 15 million golfers in over 80 countries presently have a handicap, a numerical index long used as a reference to gauge a golfer’s potential skill level. Handicaps are currently delivered through six different systems around the world. The aim of the proposed handicap system is to adopt a universal set of principles and procedures that will apply all over the world.

  • Trophy Design Contest Winner Announced For 2017 Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship

    The Winning Trophy Design For Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship Reflects A Strong West Coast Theme - Image Courtesy SportBox PR

    VICTORIA, BC (April 18, 2017) - The Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship announced today the winner of the Event’s 2017 Trophy Design Contest. Tournament Organizers received many amazing submissions, making it a difficult choice to narrow down the designs to three finalists.

    Following the initial finalists selection, the trophy design contest was opened to the public to decide on the winner based on the majority of fan votes. After voting closed on April 12, it was determined that Patrick Belanger of Vancouver Island was the winner.

  • John Buchanan Classic Tees Off Drive For Endowment Honouring Longtime Golf Coach At Simon Fraser University

    Interim SFU Golf Coach Matthew Steinbach And Many Other SFU Clan Members Both Past And Present Were On Hand To Honour The Legendary Golf Coach - Image Credit British Columbia Golf

    By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

    The weather was far from perfect. Dark clouds hovered overhead, delivering cool showers and at one point a brief hail storm. A steady breeze chilled what was already an unseasonably cold April afternoon.

    John Buchanan would have called it a great day for golf. Of course, every day was a great day for golf for Buchanan, the legendary Simon Fraser University golf coach who passed away in January at age 77.
    “John taught me to be a mudder,” Matthew Steinbach, who played under Buchanan at SFU and was recently named interim coach of the men’s and women’s teams, recalled with a smile.

    “The first time I played in weather like this with John, the club was literally flying out of my hands because I didn’t have rain gloves and he just said, if you want to live in Vancouver and play golf here, you have to learn to play in this.”

  • USGA Led North American Golf Innovation Symposium Videos

    USGA Chief Executive Officer Mike Davis Addresses The North American Golf Innovation Symposium In Vancouver - Image Credit USGA

    In March of this year a major gathering of many of golf's most important leaders took place in Vancouver, BC over a 3 day period.

    A number of initiatives were discussed as the game's governing bodies in North American addressed many of the concerns facing the future of golf as well as introducing some innovative ideas on how we might deal with those concerns.

  • British Columbia Golf Announces 2017 PNGA Cup Team

    The 2017 PNGA Cup is being held this year from May 3-5 at the Timberstone Golf Course in Caldwell, Idaho.

    This Ryder-Cup style championship features some of the most notable amateur golfers in the Pacific Northwest region with 12-member teams representing the regional golf associations that makeup the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, which includes British Columbia Golf, Idaho Golf Association, Oregon Golf Association, and Washington State Golf Association.

  • Get Out And Golf Day Teed Up For Sunday May 28th

    Canadian Golf Industry Partners With The PartcipACTION 150 Play List To Invite Canadians To Celebrate The Country And The Game Of Golf In Communities From Coast-To-Coast

    OAKVILLE, Ont. (Golf Canada) — With Canada 150 celebrations happening in communities from coast-to-coast all year long, the Canadian golf industry has partnered with ParticipACTION in designating Sunday, May 28th as Get Out and Golf Day.

    The ParticipACTION 150 Play List — introduced this year in honour of Canada 150 — invites Canadians to participate in 150 activities throughout 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. As part of Get Out and Golf Day, avid players and new enthusiasts are encouraged to participate in a round of golf (No.14 on the Play List), learn more about the sport or take part in golf related activities at golf facilities in their community.

  • Tourism Investment To Help Bring Golf Tournaments Back To British Columbia

    MLA For Vancouver-Fraserview, Suzanne Anton Was On Hand At Point Grey G&CC To Announce A $100,000 Investment By The Province Of B.C - British Columbia Golf Image

    For Immediate Release

    The Province of British Columbia is investing $100,000 in the BC Golf Swing to help welcome top golfers and fans from around the globe to B.C., announced Suzanne Anton, MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview, on behalf of Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour.

    The announcement was made today in front of assembled media and golf industry officials at the host club for the Freedom 55 Financial Open, Point Grey Golf & Country Club in Vancouver.

  • Gudz Wins Humber College PGM Western Junior Championship Presented by Tour Performance LAB

    St. Patrick's Day Saw These Four Plucky Players Finding Gold At The End Of The Rainbow In Some Rather Wet Conditions At Northview G&CC. (L-R): Bailey Bjornson, Euna Han, Jennifer Gu And Keaton Gudz - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski/ British Columbia Golf

    courtesy CJGA

    Surrey, BC (March 18, 2017) – Juniors from coast to coast gathered in British Columbia this past spring break for the Humber College PGM Western Junior Championship presented by Tour Performance LAB. The three-day event took place on Northview Golf & Country Club’s Canal Course in Surrey, B.C.

  • Final Selection Camp For 2017 Canada Summer Games Set For Northview March 15-17

    Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/ British Columbia Golf

    The final 2017 Canada Summer Games Selection Camp will be held March 15-17, 2017 at Northview Golf and Country Club, Surrey, BC and supported by the Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA), a sanctioned BC Golf OOMtournament.

    British Columbia Golf is the provincial sport organization in BC that oversees the Team BC program for golf at the multi-sport games.

  • British Columbia Golf Board Of Directors Praised For Its Diversity At USGA Symposium

    British Columbia Golf Executive Director Kris Jonasson (Far Right) And Four Members Of The 12-Member Board Of Directors  (L-R) -- Patrick Kelly, Helen Jung, Jasvinder Dhaliwal and Michelle Collens -- Participated In A 45-Minute Session Entitled 'Driving Innovation Through Inclusion' - (USGA/Steven Gibbons)

    By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

    The board of directors of British Columbia Golf was held up as a shining example of inclusion at the United States Golf Association’s North American Golf Innovation Symposium in Vancouver.

    “What makes the organization unique and quite frankly unique in golf, as well as unique generally in business, is the nature of inclusion that exists on the board of directors,” the USGA’s Steve Schloss told the symposium at the Marriott Pinnacle hotel.

  • USGA Boss Hopes To Change More Than Golf’s Rules

    USGA Chief Executive Officer Mike Davis Delivers Closing Address 'Imagining The Future' At The Conclusion Of The 2017 North American Golf Innovation Symposium In Vancouver - (USGA/Steven Gibbons)

    By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

    Variable-distance golf balls, courses that are more brown than green, hard and fast fairways, slower greens and balls with chips embedded in them that you will always be able to find.

    Those are just some of things Mike Davis, executive director of the United States Golf Association, sees in golf’s future.

  • Yahoo! Founder Jerry Yang Headlines Speakers At 2017 North American Golf Innovation Symposium In Vancouver

    Two-Day Gathering Draws Golf’s Leaders to Vancouver March 6-7

    (Feb. 28, 2017) – Entrepreneur and technology investor Jerry Yang will headline a noteworthy lineup of speakers at the 2017 North American Golf Innovation Symposium, which will be hosted by the USGA in conjunction with Golf Canada and the Mexican Golf Federation on March 6-7, 2017, in Vancouver, British Columbia.

    The co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo! and the founding partner of AME Cloud Ventures, Yang exemplifies the focus on data, innovative thinking and transformative technology that are keystones of the symposium and bedrocks of the USGA’s work in advancing the game toward a stronger, more sustainable future.

  • Golf Canada AGM Concludes With Roland A. Deveau Elected To Serve Second Term As President

    Courtesy Golf Canada

    TORONTO – Golf Canada’s 2017 Annual General Meeting culminated on Saturday, February 25th with the election of Roland A. Deveau of Bedford, N.S., to serve a second term as the National Sport Federation’s President.

    Deveau’s election to serve a second term is historic as he joins Alfred Collyer (1930-31), F.A. Rolph (1915-1919), A.W. Austin (1907 & 1910) and Col. George A. Sweeny (1898, 1901 & 1909) as only the fifth President to serve multiple or consecutive terms since the association’s formation in 1895.

  • It's Pink Shirt Day In BC And At British Columbia Golf

    British Columbia Golf Staff Members L-R: Elizabeth Dunn, Andy Fung And Corrie Wong Wear Pink To Support The Erase Bullying Campaign On Pink Shirt Day

    As part of the #ERASEbullying program being run in conjunction by viaSport and the Government of BC, many Provincial Sport Organizations (PSO) are taking part in the initiative both by signing the Declaration of Commitment and on this special day, February 22nd, by wearing pink to symbolize the commitment to promoting positive, respectful, engaging, accessible and inclusive environments for all participants in sport.

    TAKE THE PLEDGE TODAY TO #ERASEBULLYING IN SPORT

    Bullying is unwelcome or aggressive behaviour that involves a real or perceived power imbalance and can take many forms including physical, verbal, emotional or other types of intimidating or humiliating behaviours. The behaviour is often repeated and can occur on or away from the playing field, court or arena.

    A sport environment in which participants - athletes, coaches, volunteers and officials – are exposed to negative experiences, such as bullying, can be harmful and cause individuals to quit, and viaSport and the Government of B.C. want to ensure participants at every level of sport are aware that bullying of any form cannot be tolerated.

    To achieve this, the B.C. sport sector is committed to promoting positive, respectful, engaging, accessible and inclusive environments for all participants, and to ensuring a safe, welcoming and positive sport culture and environment for all British Columbians.

    The #ERASEbullying campaign is an important part of this initiative and a key highlight will be on Pink Shirt Day, Wednesday, February 22, 2017, when provincial sport organizations are invited to come together to celebrate the Province’s first Declaration of Commitmentto erase bullying in sport throughout B.C.

    So, stand with us, take the pledge and encourage your sport organizations to support this initiative to #ERASEbullying in sport.

  • Golf Canada Announces 2017 Championship Schedule Starting At Chilliwack GC

    Golf Canada

    OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce its competition schedule including host clubs and dates for the 2017 championship season.

    A total of 25 professional and amateur championships, as well as qualifying events into Canada’s two National Open Championships—the RBC Canadian Open and the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open—will be conducted in 2017.

  • Victoria Developers Continue To Build Golf Community

    Patricia and Kenneth W. Mariash Sr., the developers behind Victoria's Bayview Place have supported top-tier pro golf in BC's capital city for more than a decade. Now they are adding support for the amateur side… and more.

  • Canada Games Team BC Selection Camp At Mayfair Lakes

    The 2017 Canada Summer Games will be hosted in Winnipeg, Manitoba from August 9-12th for the sport of golf. 

    The 2nd of 3 Canada Games BC Team Selection Camps is coming up March 4th and 5th at Mayfair Lakes Golf & Country Club.

    The games was established in 1967 as part of Canada's Centennial Celebrations promoting unity through sport as it provides an opportunity for amatuer athletes progressing to national and international level competitions.

    The Games is Canada's largest multi-sport competition for young athletes. Athletes from the 13 Provinces and Territories across the Nation compete for the Canada Games Flag and Centennial Cup.

    The 2017 Canada Summer Games BC Team Selection process includes a series of selection camps with the Final Team Selection to be done by a BC Golf Canada Games Selection Committee of a minimum of 5 individuals: including Coaches, BC Golf Board member(s), BC Golf Staff, including the Managing Director of Player Development.