Rules and Rants

Recapping Golf Canada’s 2013 championship season

Eli Cole (Golf Canada/ Chuck Russell)

After another busy year, Golf Canada’s amateur championship season came to an end last month at the Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship. In all, 25 competitions were conducted from the beginning of May to mid-September.

Golf Canada’s Amateur championship department conducts eight National Championships. Our Canadian Amateur Championships continue to attract more top international competitors and offer exemptions into the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship as well as the RBC Canadian Open and Canadian Women’s Open. With the commitment of our national partners in RBC Wealth Management, Titleist and Footjoy, we have been able to hold best in class events. The Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship retained its reputation on the world stage remaining an ‘A’ ranked event on the World Amateur Golf Rankings, the highest distinction behind the four elite ranked championships.

In case you missed any events, here’s the low down on who took home Golf Canada hardware in 2013. Our reigning champions are:

Canadian University/College Championship – Club de golf Val des Lacs in Ste-Sophie, QC

Men’s Team Champions: Université Laval Rouge et Or
Women’s Team Champions: Université de Montréal
Low Men’s Medalist: Ugo Coussard of Université Laval Rouge et Or
Low Women’s Medalist: Sabrina Sapone of Université de Montréal

Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship – Club de golf Beloeil in Beloeil, QC

Amateur Champion: Brooke Henderson of Smith Falls, ON
Mid-Amateur Champion: Christina Proteau of Port Alberni, BC
Mid-Master Champion: Helene Chartrand of Pincourt, QC
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: British Columbia

Royale Cup Canadian Junior Girls Championship – Cherry Downs Golf & Country Club in Pickering, ON

Junior Champion: Maddie Szeryk of Allen, Texas
Juvenile Champion: Brooke Henderson of Smith Falls, ON
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: Alberta

Canadian Junior Boys Championship – Timberwolf Golf Club in Garson, ON

Junior Champion: Kevin Kwon of Maple Ridge, BC
Juvenile Champion: Andrew Harrison of Camrose, AB
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: Alberta

Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship – Royal Colwood Golf & Country Club in Victoria, BC

Amateur Champion: Eli Cole of Beverly Hills, California
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: British Columbia
Royale Cup Canadian Women’s Senior Championship held at Spallumcheen Golf & Country Club in Vernon, BC
Senior Champion: Mary Ann Hayward of Aurora, ON
Super-Senior Champion: Alison Murdoch of Victoria, BC
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: Québec

Canadian Men’s Senior Championship – The Briars Golf Club in Sutton West, ON

Senior Champion: David Schultz of Calgary, AB
Super-Senior Champion: Robert Fugere of Gatineau, QC
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: Alberta

Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship – Blackhawk Golf Club in Spruce Grove, AB

Mid-Amateur Champion: Kevin Carrigan of Victoria, BC
Mid-Master Champion: David Bartman of Los Angeles, California
Inter-Provincial Team Champions: Ontario

The CN Future Links series featured six regional events across the country. Each championship offered an opportunity for the top six boys to earn an exemption into the 2013 Canadian Junior Boys Championship and the girls champion to earn an exemption into the 2013 Royale Cup Canadian Junior Girls Championship. The 2013 Champions:

Pacific Championship – Crown Isle Resort in Courtenay, BC

Boys Champion: Kevin Kwon of Maple Ridge, BC
Girls Champion: Brooke Henderson of Smith Falls, ON

Ontario Championship – Listowel Golf Club in Listowel, ON

Boys Champion: Carter Simon of Sutton, ON
Girls Champion: Maddie Szeryk of Allen, Texas

Prairie Championship – Elmwood Golf & Country Club in Swift Current, SK

Boys Champion: Zach Anderson of Nanaimo, BC
Girls Champion: Jaclyn Lee of Calgary, AB

Quebec Championship – Club de golf Milby in Sherbrooke, QC

Boys Champion: Etienne Papineau of Champlain St. Lawrence, QC
Girls Champion: Annie Lacombe of Laval, QC

Western Championship – Wolf Creek Golf Resort in Ponoka, AB

Boys Champion: Brett Pasula of Red Deer, AB
Girls Champion: Sabrine Garrison of Calgary, AB

Atlantic Championship – Antigonish Golf & Country Club in Antigonish, NS

Boys Champion: Ryan Nowe of Bridgewater, NS
Girls Champion: Krysta Schaus of Fredericton, NB

The Canada Games were hosted in Sherbrooke, Québec with the golf portion held at Club de golf Milby. Thirty-six junior boys and thirty junior girls represented their provinces in an individual and team competition. British Columbia proved to be a dominating force as they were crowned the champion in the boy’s individual, girl’s individual, boy’s team, and girl’s team competition. The 2013 Champions:

Boy’s Individual
1st Place: Kevin Kwon of British Columbia
2nd Place: Étienne Papineau of Québec
3rd Place: Matt Williams of Alberta

Girl’s Individual
1st Place: Taylor Kim of British Columbia
2nd Place: Valérie Tanguay of Québec
3rd Place: Sabrine Garrison of Alberta

Boy’s Team
1st Place: British Columbia
2nd Place: Ontario
3rd Place: Québec

Girl’s Team
1st Place: British Columbia
2nd Place: Québec
3rd Place: Alberta

In its eighth season, the Canadian Women’s Tour continues to be one of the world’s premier development tours for women attracting rising professionals and elite amateurs, both Canadian and internationals. Samantha Richdale was awarded as the Jocelyne Bourassa player of the year after winning the Tour’s Order of Merit and topping the money list. Richdale then went on to win the low Canadian honours at the CN Canadian Women’s Open. The 2013 Champions:

CN Canadian Women’s Tour held – Beach Grove Golf Club in Tsawwassen, BC

Samantha Richdale of Kelowna, BC

CN Canadian Women’s Tour – Club de golf Cowansville in Cowansville, QC

Jennifer Kirby of Paris, ON

CN Canadian Women’s Tour held – Ambassador Golf Club in Windsor, ON

Emily Childs of Alameda, California

New to the Championship schedule in 2013 was the PGA Tour Canada TOUR Championship of Canada presented by Freedom 55 Financial. This event was conducted by Golf Canada in partnership with the PGA Tour Canada. Held at Sunningdale Golf & Country Club in London, Ontario, the 2013 champion was Université Laval alum, Max Gilbert. Five exemptions to the Web.com Tour were handed out at the conclusion of the championship. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, ON, Riley Wheeldon of Comox, BC, Mark Hubbard of San Jose, CA, Hugo Leon of Chile, and Wil Collins of Albuquerque, NM earned their ticket to the Web.com Tour as the top five finishers on the PGA Tour Canada’s Order of Merit.

Of course, Golf Canada also conducted our National Open Golf Championships. The champions were:

RBC Canadian Open – Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, ON

Brandt Snedeker of Nashville, Tennessee

CN Canadian Women’s Open – Royal Mayfair Golf Club in Edmonton, AB

Lydia Ko of Seoul, South Korea