Adam Hadwin Is Tackled By A Security Guard Trying To Celebrate Pal Nick Taylor's RBC Canadian Open Victory - Photo Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

BY BEN FLEMING / Golf Monthly

It's been a year unlike any other for golf, with the sport embroiled in legal battles, senate hearings, shock mergers and controversial changes – and that’s before even mentioning any of the on-course action.

While many fans have become sick and tired of the boardroom politics dominating the sport's airwaves, it hasn't all been doom and gloom. So, as the year draws to a close, let's take a look at some of the funniest, most viral and light-hearted moments that got people talking on social media this past year.

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Courtesy PGA of Canada

By: Brendan Stasiewich, PGA of Canada with excerpts from Award Nomination Forms

We're excited to present the winners of the 2023 PGA of Canada National Awards.

Winners will be celebrated during Canada Night at the PGA Show in Orlando on January 24. Registration for the event can be found here. A link to a live stream of the event will be sent in the new year.

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Abbotsford, BC's Nick Taylor Became The First Canadian To Win Our National Men's Open In 69 Years - Image Credit Bernard Brault/Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It would be understandable if Nick Taylor was a tad reluctant to turn the page on 2023, which was a career-defining year for the Abbotsford native.

Who will ever forget that dramatic win at the RBC Canadian Open, sealed on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff at Oakdale Country Club by a putt from somewhere just north of Hamilton.

And Taylor was anything but a one-tournament wonder in 2023. In February, he almost won the WM Phoenix Open, finishing second to Scottie Scheffler. He and Abbotsford buddy Adam Hadwin were a solo second at the two-man team event in New Orleans. Taylor had six top-10s, 15 top-25s, finished 25th on the FedEx Cup points list and earned just over $6.2 million.

PGA TOUR Hopefuls Jared du Toit (L) & Stuart Macdonald Came Up Short At Q-School - File Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

They each began their week with a double-bogey and that seemed to set the tone for British Columbians Jared du Toit and Stuart Macdonald at the final stage of the PGA/Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school.

Both had headed to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., full of optimism after surviving the second stage of qualifying and dreaming about securing one of the PGA TOUR cards that were handed out to the top five and ties.

The PGA of Canada has announced the finalists for its 2023 National Awards. Among the finalists are several candidates from British Columbia including Keri Moffat from Mayfair Lakes GC and Kyla Inaba from Predator Ridge Golf Resort.

Each year, a National Selection Committee evaluates nominations from professionals across Canada. The winners will be revealed on social media over the next few weeks and will be celebrated during Canada Night at the PGA Show in Orlando on January 24, 2023.

Please click the link below to be directed to the award website page and to learn more information about the finalists.

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Adam Hadwin Has Been Hitting The Gym As He Prepares For The 2024 PGA TOUR Season - Golf Canada Photo/Bernard Brault

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

He won’t be mistaken for The Incredible Hulk, but Adam Hadwin has used the longest break of his professional golf career to try and add a little muscle.

After a highly successful 2023 season that ended in early October with a runner-up finish at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, Hadwin could have rested on his laurels.

And he’s certainly enjoyed plenty of down time with his wife Jessica and their soon to be four-year-old daughter Maddox. But Hadwin has also been hitting the gym harder than he ever has.

Adam Hadwin Is Pumped About Getting Pumped - Golf Canada Photo/Bernard Brault

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

He won’t be mistaken for The Incredible Hulk, but Adam Hadwin has used the longest break of his professional golf career to try and add a little muscle.

After a highly successful 2023 season that ended in early October with a runner-up finish at the Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, Hadwin could have rested on his laurels.

And he’s certainly enjoyed plenty of down time with his wife Jessica and their soon to be four-year-old daughter Maddox. But Hadwin has also been hitting the gym harder than he ever has.

By Michael Schurman November 28, 2023

Golf Professionals don’t get old, they just lose their………..(relevance). There’s a very old joke that has a different punch line. The point is, Golf Professionals do get old in the same way as everybody else. But do they?

Being a Head Professional at a golf club is a very unique position and with it comes a very unique way of life. A young Golf Professional packs his/her golf equipment and heads out for a stint at playing the TOUR for a few weeks. At the door, they tell their children. “Daddy has to be away for a week or two. He’s going to play golf. Be a good boy for your mom.”

Talk about a ‘twister.’ You’re going to work but you’re going to play golf!

Image Attribution: Yair Aronshtam from Israel, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Hanukkah (also spelled “Chanukah”) is an eight-day winter “festival of lights,” which begins each year on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.

Because the Hebrew calendar is based on the lunar cycle, the dates of Jewish holidays according to the Gregorian calendar change from year to year. For this reason, the beginning of Hanukkah can range from late November to late December.

In short, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors defeated the occupying Greek armies. The festival celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and of spirituality over materiality. 

In 2023, Hanukkah begins on the evening of Thursday, December 7th and continues through Friday, December 15th. The first candle is lit on the Chanukiah (menorah) on the first night of Hanukkah.

Golf Canada

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The Canadian Golf Superintendents Association (CGSA) announced Keith Lyall of the Sun Peaks Resort Golf Course in Sun Peaks, B.C. as the CGSA Gordon Witteveen Award winner for 2023.

The Gordon Witteveen Award is presented annually by the CGSA to the superintendent or assistant superintendent who has authored the best article for publication in the CGSA GreenMaster magazine during the past year.

Keith’s article entitled “Steps to An Effective Management System”, which was published in the Winter 2023 issue of GreenMaster, was judged by a panel of peers and Keith was unanimously chosen as the winner.

BC's Jared du Toit (L) And Stuart Macdonald (R) Are Off To Q-School Finals - Golf Canada Player Photos

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was one of the toughest weeks of their golfing lives, but Jared du Toit and Stu Macdonald both survived to play another day.

Another week, actually, as both players have earned the right to play in the finals of the Korn Ferry/PGA TOUR qualifying school later this month. It did not come easy.

“It was probably the hardest week for me in my career,” Vancouver native Macdonald said of surviving a second-stage qualifier in Valencia, Calif.

MEDIA RELEASE

(December 1, 2023) – In celebration of Nick Taylor’s historic victory in becoming the first Canadian to win Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship in 69 years, Golf Canada in partnership with title sponsor RBC, have reimagined the tournament logo for the 2024 RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf & Country Club in celebrating one of the most iconic moments in Canadian sport.

The updated brand identity depicts a silhouette of Taylor’s now legendary putter toss following his 72-foot eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole at Oakdale Golf and Country Club to defeat Tommy Fleetwood and become the first Canadian in seven decades to win Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship.

SFU Red Leaf Stalwart Freshmen Golfers Dana Smith (L) & Denby Carswell (R) - BC Golf Photos

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Recruiting can be a hit-or-miss game for collegiate golf coaches, who are always on the lookout for promising juniors who can help replenish their teams.

Those new recruits often need time to develop before they are ready to play regularly and make an impact with their college squads. That is why Simon Fraser University coach Matthew Steinbach feels blessed after seeing how two of his freshmen have performed this season.

Dana Smith of Campbell River and Denby Carswell of Burnaby have led the women’s and men’s teams this fall.

Via Media Release

Oakville, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the names of 39 amateur athletes and 10 coaches named to the 2024 men’s and women’s Team Canada – NextGen and Team Canada squads.

The Team Canada – NextGen program supports juniors and young amateurs who are transitioning to college golf. The Team Canada program supports a group of experienced amateurs who are on the path towards professional golf along with a group of young professional golfers who are building their careers as touring pros.

L-R: Stuart Macdonald, AJ Ewart & Jared du Toit - Macdonald/du Toit Courtesy Golf Canada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

He won his most recent qualifying school by 10 shots, but that doesn’t mean Jared du Toit is looking forward to his next one.

Q-school is not something you savour as a pro golfer. It’s all about survival, moving on to the next stage and finding a place to play. All that is on the line is your career. Try draining a five-foot putt for par with those kinds of thoughts racing through your head.

“I don’t care who you are, if you are a PGA TOUR winner or you’re a guy coming out of college, whatever, Q-school is just hard,” du Toit, a Kimberley native, said over the phone from Arizona.

Shaughnessy G&CC Hosted The 2023 CPKC Women's Open - Image Credit Bryan Outram/BC Golf

The CPKC Women’s Open has won the LPGA Tour’s highest tournament honour for the second consecutive year.

The event, hosted Aug. 22-27 at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, was named the back-to-back winner of tour’s tournament of the Year at the LPGA’s annual year-end tournament awards Wednesday night.

“We really have a secret sauce,” tournament director Ryan Paul told The Canadian Press at the CME Group Tour Championship, the final event of the LPGA Tour season. “It’s really an incredible golf tournament. You’ve got the best players in the world a rope-line away from you, but outside the ropes there are so many great things that you can see and do.”

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Uplands Golf Course In Victoria, BC - Image Courtesy Uplands GC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Keith Dagg has been a key organizer of Victoria’s annual pro golf tourney for more than 40 years and he will tell you it hasn’t always been easy to secure enough corporate sponsorship to keep the tournament running.

“I started this in 1981 and we’re still going,” Dagg says with a hint of pride in his voice. The tournament that has been a labour of love for Dagg will kick off the Canadian portion of the new PGA Tour Americas circuit early next summer.

Four of Eight PNGA POY Awards Go To Players From BC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2023

Tacoma, Wash. – The Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) has announced the region’s Players of the Year for 2023. Those honored include Men's Player of the Year, Cooper Humphreys of Vernon, B.C.; Women’s, Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C.; Men's Mid-Amateur, Zach Foushee of Portland, Ore.; Women's Mid-Amateur, Gretchen Johnson of Portland, Ore.; Senior Men's, Tom Brandes of Bellevue, Wash.; Senior Women's, Lara Tennant of Portland, Ore.; Junior Boys', James Lee of Whistler, B.C.; and Junior Girls', Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C.

The PNGA Player of the Year candidates are nominated by the state and provincial golf associations that comprise the PNGA (British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington), and are selected by a vote of the PNGA Championship Committee.

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The R&A

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(St Andrews, Scotland and Liberty Corner, NJ, USA) – The R&A and the USGA announced the first update to the World Handicap System™ (WHS™) as part of an ongoing review of the Rules of Handicapping™ and Course Rating System™ with a continued emphasis on accuracy, consistency and equity. The latest revisions will go into effect from the 1st of January 2024.

Many countries have seen significant increases in the number of scores being submitted for handicapping purposes since the WHS was introduced, reflecting golf’s broadening appeal. More than 100 million scores have been posted each year, unifying millions of golfers through a standard measure of playing ability. The 2024 update leverages the performance data gathered from around the world, in addition to feedback received from many of the 125 countries now using the system.

Significant updates to the WHS include:

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