Update to Program Handicap Stipulations Coming

(Acton, ON) - The PGA of Canada is pleased to announce that some of Canada’s top courses have been secured as host sites for the 2022 RBC PGA Scramble Regional Finals.

Building on last year's return to Cabot Links for the National Final and the largest draw of players ever to participate in the program, we are excited to announce that players who qualify from their local qualifier will head to one of the following Regional Final hosts:

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The start of British Columbia Golf’s championship season is just two months away and Chief Executive Officer Kris Jonasson is delighted with the courses that will play host to the events. 

“We have an outstanding set of venues for our championships this year,” Jonasson says. “We’re really excited about where we are going.” 

The season tees off May 16-19 with the Women’s and Men’s Mid-Amateur/Mid Master Championships at Talking Rock Golf Course in Chase. “We have been trying to go to Talking Rock for an event the last three years and we have been thwarted by the pandemic,” Jonasson says.

Player Registration Is Now Open For The 2022 RBC Canadian Open Regional Qualifying Competitions In British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, & Alberta

(March 14, 2022) - Golf Canada, in partnership with title sponsor RBC, is pleased to announce the qualifying format for the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, scheduled for June 6-12 at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto with nearby Islington Golf Club serving as the official practice facility.

A two-stage qualifying process for Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship will feature regional qualifying competitions in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec as well as Alberta which is new for 2022. Three of four regional qualifier dates and host sites are set with the Quebec qualifier details to be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The 111th playing of Canada’s National Men’s Open Championship Returns June 6-12, 2022 At St. George’s Golf & Country Club In Partnership With Islington Golf Club In Toronto

For Immediate Release

(March 10, 2022) – The RBC Canadian Open is officially back to kick off the 2022 summer festival season!

Golf Canada, in partnership with title sponsor RBC, is pleased to offer a full selection of ticket options for the 2022 RBC Canadian Open.

Following two years of cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the RBC Canadian Open returns June 6-12 at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Toronto with nearby Islington Golf Club hosting the tournament’s official practice facility.

The stars of the PGA TOUR will return to Toronto as St. George’s prepares to host the tournament for the fifth time and first since 2010.

From L-R: David Atkinson, Berne Neufeld, Scott Vannatter

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

First as a high school teacher and then as the director of Victoria Golf Club’s Evans Scholarship program for caddies, Berne Neufeld has made changing the lives of young people a personal passion. 

Neufeld is the reason the Evans program exists at Victoria Golf Club and her steadfast determination is why it has prospered. “Berne just took it upon herself to make it happen,” says John Bodenhamer, who is now chief championships officer with the United States Golf Association.

“She singlehandedly made it happen.”

Gary Puder Won The BC Mid-Amateur At His Home Vancouver Golf Club In 2001 -Image Courtesy VGC/@batchp

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Gary Puder, a longtime Vancouver Golf Club member who won the B.C. Amateur, B.C. Mid-Amateur and B.C. Senior titles in three different decades, died last week following a lengthy illness. Puder, a retired high school principal, was 84.

Friends and fellow competitors remembered not only Puder’s great golf game, but his impeccable character. “Gary Puder was a special person in British Columbia golf,” said former PGA TOUR winner Richard Zokol. “A great gentleman, great competitor and great player.”

Proceeds will help give more kids the opportunity to participate in organized sport

For Immediate Release – February 22, 2022 (Vancouver, BC) – KidSport BC launched their first ever online 50/50 raffle in hopes of raising much-needed funds to help more kids across the province experience the joy of a season of sport.

Proceeds from the fundraiser will support KidSport BC’s Provincial Fund, which provides grants (up to $400) to kids from communities across BC that don’t have a KidSport chapter to help cover the cost of their sport registration fee.

Former BC Amateur Champion Gary Puder (R) With Fellow Vancouver Golf Club Member Paul Batchelor - Image Courtesy Paul Batchelor/Twitter

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Gary Puder, a longtime Vancouver Golf Club member who won the B.C. Amateur, B.C. Mid-Amateur and B.C. Senior titles in three different decades, died last week following a lengthy illness. Puder, a retired high school principal, was 84.

Friends and fellow competitors remembered not only Puder’s great golf game, but his impeccable character. “Gary Puder was a special person in British Columbia golf,” said former PGA TOUR winner Richard Zokol. “A great gentleman, great competitor and great player.”

Media Release/Golf Canada

Golf Canada is undertaking an integrated and multi-faceted enhancement of its high-performance program to accelerate Canada’s position in the global professional golf landscape.

The National Sport Federation announced last week (Feb. 23rd) a strategic framework for its player development program with a stated primary objective to increase the cumulative number of Canadian athletes on the LPGA and PGA TOUR to 30 by 2032.

BC's Nick Taylor (L) And Adam Svensson (R) - Images VGT/EBO

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was a tale of two Sundays for British Columbians Nick Taylor and Adam Svensson in the final round of the Honda Classic. 

Taylor left PGA National’s Champions Course, where trouble seems to lurk everywhere, feeling pretty good about a week that had started out so badly. The Abbotsford native opened the event with an ugly seven-over 77, but rallied with a brilliant five-under 65 to make the cut on the number. His closing 67 on Sunday left him tied for 16th at even par.

Svensson wasn’t feeling quite as good despite finishing the event tied for ninth.

Victoria Teen Holly Stewart Is Off To The University of Washington This Fall After Earning Prestigious Evans Scholarship

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Holly Stewart was 12 years old when she began caddying at Victoria Golf Club and in those days it often felt like the bag she was carrying weighed as much as she did. 

On some days, particularly when the wind whipped off the water and swept across the oceanside layout, her ‘loop’ was something of a balancing act. “You’d arrive at the club and it’s like, oh, it’s a beautiful day, nice and sunny, and then you get out there and the wind is whipping all around you,” Stewart says.

“And as a tiny little 12 year-old I did not have good balance. I slid down hills a few times because I couldn’t stand up.”

When The Banks Of The Coquihalla River Overflowed Last November, It Did Serious Damage To The Hope Golf Club - Image Courtesy Hope GC

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Eric Beamish isn’t sure the driving range addition at Salt Spring Island Golf Club would have been built last year without the help of the B.C. Amateur Sport Fund.

The club used the fund to help raise money for the addition of a covered post-and-beam driving range area that includes six mats under a shed-style roof.

“It probably doubled the amount of donations we got,” said Beamish, who is the club’s operations manager. “The fund provided a way for us to offer charitable tax receipts to people donating. It probably doubled the amount of donations that we got. We wouldn’t have been able to fund the project without that ability to offer charitable tax receipts.”

Other forward-thinking golf clubs are beginning to tap into the fund, which is administered by Sport BC.

With the Canada Summer Games back on the schedule this year, following its postponement in 2021 due to the Covid -19 pandemic, British Columbia Golf is pleased to announce the selection of the coaches who will be in charge of our province's team heading to Niagara, Ontario August 6th - 21st.

Golf is being played the second week from August 14th - 21st, and will feature two events. Both the team event and individual event will be played at the Legends on the Niagara Battlefield Course in Niagara Falls with four rounds of play.

Golf joined the Summer Games sport program in 2009, and has been on every summer program since. https://niagara2022games.ca/

Vancouver, BC's Leah John (2nd From Left) Was The Individual Champion In The Show at Spanish Trail - Image Courtesy University of Nevada

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

It was a great round immediately followed by the round of her life. Wherever her golf journey takes Leah John in the future, she will never forget the 36 holes she played on the opening day of The Show at Spanish Trail tourney in Las Vegas.

John, the reigning B.C. Women’s Amateur champion and a junior at the University of Nevada, carded rounds of 69 and 66 to set up what would be the first win of her collegiate career. The Vancouver native laughed when she described those opening two rounds in a telephone interview, “It was ridiculous,” John said.

“It was funny, I shoot 69 in the first round and it’s like okay, that was great, I want to be done for the day. But of course I have to go again. So I started playing my second round and was making a bunch of pars and then all of a sudden my putts just started to drop.”

An Announcement From viaSport:

After a challenging two years, we are very pleased to be moving to a full reopening of sport, as announced by the Provincial Health Officer. Click here for full details.

To support this transition and ensure the safety of the community, proof of vaccination and mandatory mask wearing indoors off the field of play remain in place.

As we all adjust to these changes, we remind everyone to follow venue and sport organization’s guidance and respect the differing levels of comfort during this transition period.

Let’s also keep in mind the fundamentals of keeping each other healthy, like staying home if you are feeling sick and regular handwashing.

We have updated our Return to Sport Restart 2.0 Chart to reflect this information as well as our FAQ document.

We want to acknowledge each and every individual and organization who supported the safe return to sport over the last many months. You all deserve a thank you and to know how appreciated your work and efforts are.

Please share this message with anyone you think may benefit from it.

From all of us at viaSport, thank you for your commitment to keeping your sport and your community safe.

Hannah Lee Competed In Canadian Women's Am At Marine Drive GC With Mom As A Caddy - BC Golf Photo/Bryan Outram

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

For many years growing up, Northview Golf & Country Club was Hannah Lee’s home away from home. She pounded balls on its driving range, spent countless hours on its putting green and gained an intimate knowledge of the Ridge and Canal courses at the Surrey facility.

Northview helped Lee develop into one of British Columbia’s top junior players. She became a member of Golf Canada’s national junior team and earned herself a scholarship to play collegiate golf at the University of Oklahoma.

And now she’s back at Northview, beginning a new kind of golf journey, not knowing quite where it will take her. Lee has just joined the PGA of Canada as an apprentice professional at Northview and is now seeing golf from a new perspective.

Written by Clark Stork (reprinted with permission)

Regina’s Chad McCormick is very pleased he has a Golf Canada membership.

McCormick was in Kelowna for a family wedding celebration when a vehicle in the parking lot at the course he was playing was broken into. The vehicle was “cleaned out” according to McCormick with many wedding gifts being swiped as well as clubs belonging to several players, including McCormick.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A small British Columbia company specializing in handcrafted tartan golf head covers and accessories is teaming with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Plaid for Dad campaign to help raise money for prostate cancer research.

Vernon residents Henry and Sandra Goy started Maggie’s Celtic Golf Collection about five years ago. Recently retired and both avid golfers, the couple was looking for something to do during the off-season. “How it started is kind of an interesting story,” Henry says.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The 2022 BC Golf Education Summit. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

The 2022 Summit will bring together leaders in their field to talk about competitive golf as it relates to Mid-Amateur and Senior athletes. It is an amazing opportunity for competitive players to come together to learn from some of the most knowledgeable people in Canada on how to succeed along the path to becoming the best possible golfer you can be.

All Webinars are free and start at 7:00 p.m. PST

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

A small British Columbia company specializing in handcrafted tartan golf head covers and accessories is teaming with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Plaid for Dad campaign to help raise money for prostate cancer research.

Vernon residents Henry and Sandra Goy started Maggie’s Celtic Golf Collection about five years ago. Recently retired and both avid golfers, the couple was looking for something to do during the off-season. “How it started is kind of an interesting story,” Henry says.