Golf Canada in partnership with title sponsor CN announced today that the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event will be hosted at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. on Saturday, July 18th leading into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.
Now in its seventh season, the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event brings together Canada’s 24 top-scoring juniors in a competition that showcases putting, chipping, iron and driving skills on the national stage.
Delivered by Golf Canada in partnership with the PGA of Canada, CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenges are conducted throughout the year by facilities running CN Future Links programming across Canada. Scores from each Junior Skills Challenge are submitted online to a national leaderboard, from which top qualifiers are selected prior to the June 22nd deadline. Participants from six different age groups will be invited as follows:
- Girls 11 and under (5 players)
- Boys 11 and under (5 players)
- Girls 12 to 14 (4 players)
- Boys 12 to 14 (4 players)
- Girls 15 to 18 (3 players)
- Boys 15 to 18 (3 players)
For Golf Canada Chief Sport Officer Jeff Thompson, hosting the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge leading into the RBC Canadian Open will bring a heightened level of excitement for juniors looking to qualify for the National Event.
“CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge is an exciting platform to motivate junior golfers to want to improve both personally and against their peers across four fundamentally important areas of golf skill development,” said Thompson. “We are excited to host the National Event this year on the same grounds as the RBC Canadian Open just days before PGA TOUR stars vie for our National Open title.”
The winners of the CN Future Links Skills Challenge National Event in the boys and girls 15-18 age groups will receive an exemption into their local CN Future Links Championship in 2016. All other attending participants of the CN Future Links Junior Skills National Event will receive prizing courtesy of Titleist Footjoy.
“The CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge is an excellent part of the entire CN Future Links suite of programs, of which PGA of Canada members are proud leaders in the delivery in the program,” said Gary Bernard, PGA of Canada CEO. “The partnership between the PGA of Canada and Golf Canada continues to grow, thus ensuring the continued growth of developing world-class programs for golf in this country.”
To celebrate the event being hosted for the first time leading into the RBC Canadian Open, junior participants will also have the opportunity to test the storied Glen Abbey layout in an exciting match play format on Sunday, July 19th prior to tournament week. Following that, junior participants will be provided weekly grounds passes and have an opportunity to be involved in Monday’s Pro-Am and secure a spot in Wednesday’s CN Future Links Walk with a Pro event during the Wednesday Pro-Am.
The Junior Skills Challenge is one of many program elements from the CN Future Links family of programming, dedicated to promoting the active, health and safety values of golf.
Current CN Future Links programming includes the Learn to Play program as well as mobile clinics, PGA Jr. League, Girls Club, Field Trip and the CN Future Links Championships. As part of its investment in Canadian junior golf, CN is also a proud supporter of Golf in Schools.
In 2014, CN Future Links junior golf activities were conducted at 455 golf facilities with more than 7,000 juniors registered in the Learn to Play program. In addition, 160 golf facilities took part in the Junior Skills Challenge running more than 3,200 juniors through qualifying events. More than 56,000 youngsters participated in more than 1,200 mobile golf clinics across the country. Since 2006, more than 1.2 million children have been introduced to golf through the CN Future Links program.
To learn more about how to qualify for the 2015 CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event, click here.