SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Team Canada’s Amateur Squad member Austin Connelly, along with playing partner Sam Burns, have advanced to Wednesday’s semi-final at the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship.

The young duo started the tournament on a high note, capturing the No. 2 seed after carding an 8-under (66-66) through two stroke-play rounds at the Olympic Club.

They haven’t looked back since.

Connelly and Burns, both 18, opened match-play on Monday with a 3 and 2 victory in the round of 32. They followed with a 3 and 1 win on Tuesday morning and a 2 and 1 victory in the afternoon’s quarter-final.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we’re doing so well is because we understand each other’s games,” said Burns, an LSU signee. “Our games are very similar, and we know when an opportunity comes for birdie that the other guy needs to secure the par. So, I think from that mentality, that’s why we’re doing so well. We understand that it’s not about me. It’s about us.”

Connelly, a dual-citizen of Canada and the U.S., won the prestigious Jones Cup earlier in 2015 and now sits in the driver’s seat for another strong finish in his first year with Team Canada.

The teenaged duo are set to square off in Wednesday’s semi-final against Todd White, a 36-year-old investment advisor and Nathan Smith, a 47-year-old high school history teacher.

The match will begin Wednesday at 7:20 am PDT at the Lake Course, followed by the final in the afternoon.

Click here for live scoring.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Canada’s Adam Svensson notched his second NGA Tour victory on Saturday, carding a 20-under through four rounds at Killearn Country Club for the one-stroke win.

The 21-year-old Svensson posted a final-round 65 for the low-round of the day and the come-from-behind victory, taking home a cool $20,000 (USD) in the process. Perhaps more importantly, the Young Pro Squad member earned an exemption into the News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot, a Web.Com Tour event in late August.

Fellow Canadian and Young Pro Squad member Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., cracked the top-10, finishing two strokes behind Svensson in a tie for seventh.

With two wins in roughly one month as a professional, Svensson continues to remind us that he is wired to win. As an amateur, he set records with nine NCAA victories in under three years at Barry University, earning him the Jack Nicklaus award in 2014 for the top golfer in NCAA Div I, II and III golf.

Click here for full scoring.

LEBANON, Ohio — Kent State has tied the record with their 17th straight Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship title on Sunday, winning by a 10-stroke margin over runner-up Eastern Michigan.

Leading the way for the Golden Flashes was Canadian Josée Doyon. The St-Georges-de-Beauce, Qué., native finished at 6-over par (74-74-74–222) for a convincing five-stroke victory. Doyon, a 21-year-old junior, is coming off back-to-back victories, making this her third straight. She also recorded consecutive MAC Golfer of the Week awards for her recent performance.

Also lifting the Golden Flashes to victory was Team Canada’s Amateur Squad member, Jennifer Ha. The Calgary native finished inside the top-10 with a 17-over, eighth place finish.

Bowling Green State’s Patricia Holt and Eastern Michigan’s Kelsey Murphy rounded out the podium, finishing in second and third place, respectively.

Doyon, Ha and the Golden Flashes are set to ride their momentum into the NCAA Regionals from May 7-9.

Click here for full results.

TORONTO — Team Canada Young Pro Squad member Brooke Henderson can add another award to her already extensive trophy case, as she was named the Syl Apps Ontario Athlete of the Year Award recipient by the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

The Hall announced their 2015 inductees and award winners April 22. Henderson, a Smiths Falls, Ont., native had a terrific 2014 season as an amateur before turning professional in December.  She will be presented the award at the 20^th annual Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which will be held Sept. 24 in Toronto.

The Syl Apps Ontario Athlete of the Year Award was unveiled in 1998 and is named after former Toronto Maple Leafs captain and Olympic pole-vaulter Syl Apps.

As the 2014 winner, Henderson is the first female golfer to win the award and only the second female to take the prize. It is the fourth time an Ontario golfer has earned the honour as Mike Weir was the 1999, 2000 and 2003 recipient of the honour. At just 17-years-old, Henderson is also the youngest winner of the award.

Henderson had an impressive 2014 where she won the Ontario Women’s Amateur Championship, Porter Cup, Scott Robertson Memorial Tournament, South Atlantic Ladies Amateur, Canadian Women’s Tour – Ontario, Espirito Santo Trophy and finished runner up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Henderson was also the number one ranked amateur in the world before turning professional.

Since turning pro, Henderson has already captured two Sun Coast Series championships and played in numerous LPGA and Symetra Tour tournaments.

The Syl Apps Ontario Athlete of the Year Award is voted on by Ontario-based sports writers, broadcasters/personalities (with at least 10 years experience covering sports in the province), members of the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors and the Hall’s Advisory Board. Points are awarded on a five, three and one point structure with voters asked to name their top three athletic performers on their ballot.

To be eligible for the Award, athletes must be Ontario-born or Ontario-based and made an outstanding and memorable contribution to Ontario sports during the previous calendar year.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Canada’s Augusta James won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial on Sunday for her first Symetra Tour title – and her first win as a professional.

The 22-year-old James, a former North Carolina State player making her fourth start on the tour, closed with a 5-under 67 for a four-stroke victory over Laura Kueny and Brianna Do.

James, a Bath, Ont., native finished at 10-under 278 at Cypress Lake Country Club. Named Augusta after being born on the first day of the 1993 Masters, James won the Canadian Women’s Amateur last year by an impressive six shots.

Kueny and Do each shot 72.

With the first place check of $22,500, James moves from 58 on the Volvik Race for the Card money list to the top spot.

“It’s a fantastic feeling,” said James, who made only three bogeys over 72 holes. “I’m really happy and really excited that my hard work is paying off.”

It’s great to move to the top spot because my goal is to get one of the top 10 spots so I can play on the LPGA Tour next year,” added James. “However, I’ve been told that as soon as you start thinking about money, your golf game suffers.”

James had an incredible week off the tee. She hit 51 of 56 fairways. The flatstick was also working all week as she needed only 26 putts on the final day.

Canadians have been the story in the early part of the Symetra Tour season. Sue Kim of Langley, British Columbia won the last event in Lake Wales, Florida. Four of the top 10 and five of the top 12 on the money list are Canadians.

Maude-Aimee LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., and Samantha Richdlae of Kelowna, B.C., tied for 4th at 5 under this week.

“Definitely a great Symetra Tour season for Canadians so far,” said James. “We’ve all been playing really well which is awesome and it was great to have Lorie Kane and Gail Graham from the Legends Tour here this week.”

Midway through her senior season at North Carolina State, James decided to turn professional after completing three stages of LPGA Qualifying Tournament and earning strong Symetra Tour status. James was a three-time All-ACC performer for the Wolfpack.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. – It was a fitting end to the storied amateur career of Corey Conners, as the Listowel, Ont., native took home top amateur honours at the Masters — a tournament he has dreamed to play in ever since first learning to swing a club.

On the heels of his remarkable performance at Augusta, the 23-year-old will debut as a professional this week at the PGA TOUR’s RBC Heritage by way of sponsor exemption.

Now in his fifth season with Team Canada, the Listowel, Ont., native will remain a member but will transition to the Young Pro Squad, joining Surrey, B.C. native Adam Svensson as new additions mid-way through the season.

Conners, a graduate of Kent State University, makes the leap to the professional ranks after winning numerous amateur events, including the Lake Macquarie Championship (2015), the Jones Cup (2014) and the Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship (2010). He was holding the No. 21 spot on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) before making the jump.

The actuary mathematics major notched five individual collegiate victories with the Golden Flashes, along with being named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list twice (’13, ’14) and sharing Co-Mid-American Conference Player of the Year honours (2014) with good friend and fellow Team Canada member, Taylor Pendrith.

The calm, collected Conners also earned the Merle Wagoner Award, given to Kent State’s most outstanding athlete who demonstrates leadership, positive image, athletic ability and academic performance.

“The experience and relationships I have built with Team Canada has given me a leg-up on the competition and has allowed me to comfortably make this decision,” said Conners. “I’m very excited to transition to the Young Pro Squad in the next stage of my career.”

Team Canada Men’s Head Coach, Derek Ingram, was with Conners last week at the Masters and couldn’t be more supportive with the decision.“He’s clearly proven to be one of the best amateurs in the world over the last three years, with results very appropriate of turning professional,” said Ingram. “What a way to go out—finishing with a 3-under at Augusta National, the timing is perfect for him.”

Conners signed with International Sports Management (ISM) back in September of 2014.

SAN BUENAVENTURA, TLALPAN, Mexico – Four of the six Men’s Development Squad members are ramping up to compete in the zone qualifier for the 2015 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup, which as usual will be held in Japan in June.

The qualifying tournament consists of four teams of four athletes—all gunning for one of two available spots to earn a ticket to the World Cup in two months. Each team will count their three lowest scores for the day, counting towards their overall aggregate total. The two lowest scores after Thursday’s final round at the Golf Club of Mexico will advance onwards to Japan.

Canada will be represented by Étienne Papineau (St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué.), Tony Gil (Vaughan, Ont.), Trevor Ranton (Waterloo, Ont.) and Patrick Murphy (Crossfield, Alta.).

The Canucks are set to square off against Dominican Republic, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Development Squad Lead Coach, Robert Ratcliffe, expressed his optimism heading into tomorrow’s opening round.

“The course here lends to the strengths of the boys—it sets up well for us,” he said. “We’ve put in a lot of great practice as a team in the past few months and we’re excited to get started tomorrow.”

Last month, Ratcliffe and the boys competed at the Southern Cross Invitational in Argentina, coming out with a fourth-place finish. The international team experience will be a great asset for the squad as they gear up for tomorrow’s competition.

Toyota Junior Golf World Cup is the world’s only junior golf championship in which 20 national teams, winners of regional qualifiers held across 6 continents and participated by more than 60 national teams, compete for the world champion trophy.

In 2014, the Men’s Development Squad placed seventh, 11 strokes back of champion Norway. The best Canadian finish came in 1994 when the team took home runner-up honours.

Click here for live scoring from the qualifier.

OXFORD, Miss. – Kent State junior Josée Doyon of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Qué., posted the second-lowest three-round score in program history en route to capturing medalist honours at the Rebel Intercollegiate on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Doyon finished at 8-under par (69-71-68) for a comfortable five-stroke cushion over runner-up Marijosse Navarro of Texas A&M. Doyon’s performance lifted the Kent State Golden Flashes to a collective runner-up finish. Team Canada’s Jennifer Ha of Calgary pitched in with a T25 finish at 6-over par for the tournament.

Team Canada’s Amateur Squad member Maddie Szeryk was also in action, finishing T3 at 2-under par (71-72-71) to help lift Texas A&M to a first place team finish. This marks the sixth time Szeryk has placed inside the top-five in her freshman season.

The Golden Flashes will head to Columbus next to compete in the Lady Buckeye Invitational from Apr. 18–19 while Szeryk and the Aggies will prepare to tee-it-up at the SEC Championship from Apr. 17–19.

Click here for full scores.

LADY LAKE, Fla. – Team Canada’s Adam Svensson continued his winning ways, recording his first win as a recently-turned professional at the SwingThought Tour’s Lake County Classic presented by Royal Fund Management.

The Surrey, B.C. native was determined during Saturday’s final round at Harbor Hills Country Club, carding a 7-under 65 to finish at 18-under and force a playoff with fellow Canadian Lucas Kim of Toronto. The 21-year-old Svensson birdied the first playoff hole, sealing the victory and marking his first win as a professional.

Svensson’s surge up the leaderboard was thanks in part to two eagles—one on the par-5 6^th of his first-round 69, and even more impressive the par-4 15^th during Friday’s third-round 66.

Svensson made the leap to the professional ranks earlier in March after winning nine of his last 14 NCAA Division II titles, while playing for Barry University. He also won the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2014, given to the top golfer in NCAA Division I, II and III golf.

This victory makes Svensson the fourth member of Team Canada to record their first win as a professional in recent months. He joins Albin Choi, Taylor Pendrith (both SwingThought Tour winners) and Brooke Henderson (SunCoast Series). Amateur Squad’s Brittany Marchand also won on the Cactus Tour in 2015, while still holding amateur status during her fifth year of study at N.C. State.

Click here for full scores from the Lake County Classic.