MESA, Ariz. – Team Canada Development Squad member A.J. Ewart carded a bogey-free final round 71 on Sunday to finish tied for fourth at the Winn Grips Heather Farr Classic hosted by Longbow Golf Club.
The 16-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., product finished at 4-under par (71-67-71) in the 54-hole event conducted by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA). He trailed the trio of leaders by just one stroke, with Ricky Castillo of Yorba Linda, Calif., emerging to win the two-hole playoff.
The result marks the third Top-5 AJGA finish for Ewart—he won the Sunriver Junior Open in 2015 and finished T5 at the AJGA/CJGA Junior Championship in 2014.
Fellow Canadian James Song was also in action at Longbow, posting a 77-69-71 (+4) to finish T22. Development Squad teammate Jack Simpson of Aurora, Ont., missed the cut after struggling with scores of 71 and 78.
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CONCORD, N.C. – Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Mackenzie Hughes carded a bogey-free final round 66 (-6) on Thursday to lock down the win at the GProTour event contested at the Rocky River Golf Club.
The 25-year-old Dundas, Ont., product finished the 36-hole tournament at 8-under par (70-66) to edge out co-runner-ups Kelvin Day of England and Chip Lynn of Sanford, Fla., by two strokes.
With the win, the Kent State graduate takes home $3,400 (USD). He will tee-it-up next at Web.com Tour’s Brasil Champions presented by Embrase from Mar. 31 – Apr. 3.
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EATONTON, Ga. – Team Canada’s Amateur Squad member Hugo Bernard finished T4 on Tuesday at the Bobcat Invitational to record his third consecutive top-5 collegiate finish.
Bernard, a freshman with the Div II Saint Leo Lions, finished at 4-over par (71-69-74) to share a three-way tie of 4th place at the Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee course. The group was chasing Lynn University’s Jose Andres Miranda, who ran away with a three-stroke victory thanks to a tournament-low 66 in Sunday’s opening round.
Collectively, Bernard led the Lions to a 6th place finish overall, with Lynn University taking home the hardware.
Since joining the Lions in January, Bernard has made a significant impact. The 21 year-old Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., product notched a T20, 4th, and two T4 finishes in his first four events.
Canadian standout and Team Canada graduate Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., won medalist honours for Barry University in 2014.
Bernard, last year’s Canadian Men’s Amateur runner-up, will look to keep up his hot play when the Lions hit the Argonaut Invivational from Apr. 4–5.
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SURREY, B.C. – Team Canada’s Development Squad wrapped up a two-tournament stint in B.C. on Saturday by collecting two additional wins at the CJGA Western Junior Championship presented by the Tour Performance LAB at the Northview Golf & Country Club.
In the Junior Girls (U19) Division, Development Squad member and Surrey, B.C., product Hannah Lee collected her second consecutive CJGA victory with a three-stroke victory over fellow Surrey native Susan Xiao. Lee, 16, captured the U19 Division despite being eligible for the U17 category. She proved to be up to the test, posting her second straight wire-to-wire victory with a 6-under (69-69-72) finish.
Team Canada’s Tiffany Kong of Vancouver came in at 2-under (76-68-70) to climb to a third place finish. Teammates and Richmond, B.C., natives Alisha Lau and Kathrine Chan finished 6th and 9th, respectively. All three Canucks also competed in the older U19 division despite being eligible for U17.
Vaughan, Ont., native and Development Squad member Tony Gil led the way for the Junior Boys (U19) Division, posting a 14-under (68-67-67) par score for the wire-to-wire victory. Fellow teammate A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, B.C., trailed by three strokes to finish as runner-up at 11-under (70-71-64). Jae Wook Lee of Langley, B.C., rounded out the top-three by finishing at 9-under (74-69-64) to finish two back of Ewart.
Jack Simpson (Aurora, Ont.) and Charles-Éric Bélanger (Québec) were also in action for Team Canada, finishing T12 and 14th, respectively. Bélanger struggled down the stretch after a come-from-behind victory at the CJGA Junior at Cordova Bay a week earlier.
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VALDOSTA, Ga. – Amateur Squad member Hugo Bernard kept up his hot play of late on Tuesday, collecting his second straight Top-5 collegiate finish for Saint Leo at the Southeastern Collegiate.
Bernard, last year’s Canadian Men’s Amateur runner-up, came in at 1-under par (72-71-72) for the tournament to finish tied for fourth. The 21-year-old is making an impact early in his freshman season with the Lions. In three events since joining the squad in February, the Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., product has posted a T20 and fourth place finish to go along with Tuesday’s result.
Overall, Bernard finished two back of co-medalists John Coultas (Valrico, Fla.) of Florida Southern and Mateo Gomez (Colombia) of Lynn University.
Collectively, the Saint Leo Lions slipped one spot in Tuesday’s final at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club to finish T5. They will tee-it-up next from Mar. 21–22 at the Bobcat Invitational.
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VICTORIA – Three members of Golf Canada’s Development Squad shone through dark clouds and falling rain at the Canadian Junior Golf Association (CJGA) Junior at Cordova Bay to capture their respective divisions. Despite strong winds which gusted to 50km, Charles-Éric Bélanger, Grace St-Germain and Hannah Lee emerged victorious at the two-day event held at Cordova Bay Golf Course. The tournament marked the second event of the season on the CJGA national schedule.
Charles-Éric Bélanger of Québec, claimed the Junior Boys (U19) Division with a second straight 2-over 73 performance. The 16-year-old began the day in fifth, trailing fellow Development Squad member A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, B.C., by three strokes. Ewart succumbed to the difficult conditions, finishing in fourth at 9-over 150. Aurora, Ont., native Thomas ‘Jack’ Simpson shot 5-over 76 on the day to claim second. Fellow Ontarian Tony Gil of Vaughan – the final male member of the Squad at the event – finished fifth at a combined 7-over 152.
Orleans, Ont., native and Development Squad member Grace St-Germain secured a four-stroke victory atop the Junior Girls (U19) Division with a second-round 8-over 80. The 17-year-old held off Megan Ratcliffe of Bowser, B.C., who notched three birdies on the day en route to a 4-over 76 to match St-Germain’s opening round.
Hannah Lee of Surrey, B.C., did not relinquish her first-round lead and earned a six-stroke victory in the Juvenile Girls (U17) Division following rounds of 75-76–151. Lee, 16, led the Development Squad contingent to a sweep atop the division. Chloe Currie of Mississauga, Ont., finished 13-over 157 to claim runner-up, while British Columbians Tiffany Kong (Vancouver) and Kathrine Chan (Richmond) were T3, one-stroke back of Currie.
Complete results from the CJGA Junior at Cordova Bay are available here.
DELTONA, Fla. – Augusta James finished runner-up at the National Women’s Golf Association (NWGA) event at The Deltona Club. The member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad shot a final-round 73 to finish 5-under 211 and claim second – one-shot back of winner Erica Popson of Davenport, Fla.
James, a former standout at N.C. State, began the day knotted with Popson at 6-under after identical opening rounds of 69. The pair went back-and-forth throughout the day, but an eagle on the par-5 16th propelled Popson to victory.
The 22-year-old from Bath, Ont., earned a victory on the NWGA earlier in the season, capturing a two-stroke win at Soboba Springs Golf Club in San Jacinto, Calif.
Full tournament results can be found here.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Former British Open winner Ian Baker-Finch says the Olympic golf course in Rio de Janeiro has “come up nicely … grown in well” and that parts of the layout remind him of Royal Melbourne.
Baker-Finch, who will captain the Australian team in golf’s return to the Olympics, also said that despite earlier reports that Adam Scott wasn’t interested in playing, he expects the winner of the past two PGA Tour events to represent his country in August.
Nine Brazilians – five men and four women – played the Olympic course this week in a test event. The course is sandwiched between a sewage-polluted lagoon and luxury apartment towers in the western Rio neighbourhood known as Barra da Tijuca.
Baker-Finch says Scott and Jason Day are excited about playing there.
“Every time I see Jason Day, he says, ‘Finchy, I’m pumped, I’m pumped, I can’t wait’,” the 1991 British Open champion told Melbourne’s SEN radio station Thursday.
“I know there’s been a lot of talk about Adam, the way he started off this year, but he says, ‘Finchy, I play in the green and gold every week, you know that’ . and he’ll be playing his butt of when the time comes.”
Baker-Finch, who also said Minjee Lee and Karrie Webb – the likely Australian women’s team – were “champing at the bit” for their Olympic chance, said he’d only heard good reviews from the course’s test event, which was attended by Australian Olympic chef de mission Kitty Chiller.
“It was more about 18 months ago when they were unsure how it was going to grow in and finish up, but it’s all come up really nicely,” Baker-Finch said Thursday.
“But now . the course looks good, I’ve seen lots of photos and videos. The clubhouse is done (and) practice facilities look good. The course has grown in well. The last six months, that was their main concern, and it certainly looks pretty nice, right now.”
Baker-Finch said architect Gil Hanse tried to incorporate some traditional, deep bunkering into the new course which adds a “little Royal Melbourne” feel.
“The course will stand up,” Baker-Finch said. “It’ll be new and the greens won’t be as good as we’re used to on the (Melbourne) sandbelt because of its age, but the course itself will be really good. It has a little links style, an open look to the course, some wetlands and lovely-looking bunkering.”
Derek Ingram, Canada’s Men’s Team coach, and Tristan Mullally, Canada’s Women’s Coach, also visited the course for the test event. Mullally was also impressed.
Qualification will be based on world ranking as of July 11, 2016 with a total of 60 players qualifying in each of the men’s and women’s events. The top 15 players of each gender will qualify, with a limit of four golfers per country that can qualify this way. The remaining spots will go the highest-ranked players from countries that do not already have two golfers qualified.
If the team was decided today, David Hearn, Graham DeLaet, Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp would represent Canada.
HOUSTON – Team Canada member and University of Houston Men’s Golf senior Blair Hamilton was honoured Thursday morning as the 2015-16 American Athletic Conference (AAC) Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Hamilton will receive a $4,000 scholarship, which may be applied to graduate or professional studies. His selection was made by the Conference’s Academic Affairs Committee.
A four-year member of the Men’s Golf program, led the Cougars with a 72.03 scoring average as a junior during the 2014-15 season. The Burlington, Ontario, Canada, native earned eight top-20 finishes in 12 tournaments with three top-10 showings.
With scores of 68-69-68, he captured a share of the individual title at the NCAA Lubbock Regional a year ago, becoming the third Cougar to earn medalist honors at an NCAA Regional and the first to record three straight rounds in the 60s in the NCAA postseason.
Hamilton drained a birdie on the 17th hole of the NCAA Lubbock Regional and led the Cougars into a tie with Purdue for the fifth and final sport to advance to the NCAA Championships. On the first playoff hole, the Cougars broke the tie and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the second straight season..
Competing at the nation’s top collegiate event, Hamilton tied for 27th with a score of 292 and received PING All-America Honorable Mention after being named to the All-Central Region Team.
He qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship last summer after advancing to the Round of 32 in match play in 2013. In addition, he received the Gary Cowan Award – given to the top amateur player – at the 2015 Canadian Open, where he finished in a tie for 71st.
In 2015-16, Hamilton has picked up where he left off a year ago. He ranks second among the Cougars with a 72.43 scoring average and nine rounds of par or better. Hamilton has posted six top-20 finishes in seven tournaments to date and enjoyed three top-10 finishes in a 4-tournament stretch at the end of the fall and start of the spring seasons.
Hamilton was named to the Dean’s List twice in seven semesters and earned a place on the American Athletic Conference All-Academic in each of the last two seasons. Holding a 3.25 grade-point average, he will graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in communications.
A member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, he has volunteered for several service projects at Houston, including the annual Canned Food Drive, the Generation One Volunteer program (an elementary school program for underprivileged children), the Halton Women’s Place Shelter (for victims of domestic violence) and the annual Christmas Charity fundraiser.
The American Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award is one of a number of scholarships presented by the conference during the 2015-16 academic year. One male and one female from each of the conference’s 11 member institutions may be named as the winners of the conference’s Institutional Scholar-Athlete Scholarships. The conference also names male and female Basketball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and a Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. – Team Canada Amateur Squad member Hugo Bernard recorded a final-round 75 (+3) on Tuesday at the South/Southeast Regional Preview to finish alone in fourth—his first Top-5 collegiate result.
The 21-year-old freshman from Mont-St-Hilarie, Que., led the Division II Saint Leo Lions with a 2-over par finish (73-70-75) at the Mission Inn Resort & Club’s El Campeón course. Chico State’s Lee Gearhart took home medalist honours at 2-under par, one stroke ahead of co-runner-ups Alistair Docherty (Chico State) and Manuel Torres (Lynn).
Fellow Canadian and Saint Leo teammate Joey Savoie of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., climbed three spots on Tuesday to finish T15.
Collectively, Lynn University won the team title with an 880 (+16), two strokes ahead of Chico State.
Bernard, last year’s Canadian Amateur runner-up, will look to keep things rolling with the Lions from Mar. 13–15 at the Southeastern Intercollegiate.
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