OAKVILLE, Ont. – CN and Golf Canada are pleased to recognize the Blomidon Golf and Country Club with the CN Future Links Facility of the Year award for the 2014 season.
Blomidon, nestled in the heart of Corner Brook, Nfld., earned the award for its marked performance and delivery of CN Future Links, Canada’s junior golf program. Under the direction of head PGA of Canada professional Wayne Allen, Blomidon instilled the fundamentals and values of golf through CN Future Links to over 280 juniors—all of whom graduated stages of the Learn to Play program.
“We are very proud to acknowledge Blomidon’s dedication to junior golf with this important award,” stated Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer. “We thank Wayne Allen and the golf club for their leadership, delivery and support of the program. There were many qualified facilities to choose from that have been delivering exceptional junior golf activities—Blomidon should feel very proud of this accomplishment.”
“CN is proud to honour Blomidon with this award for their dedication to the well-being of children in delivering the CN Future Links program,” said Claude Mongeau, CN President and Chief Executive Officer. “Golf and its inherent values are good for our children and we appreciate clubs like Blomidon for delivering Canada’s national junior golf program in communities across Canada.”
Learn to Play is a four-stage rewards program that tracks progress performance of participants through reports issued by the instructor. New in 2014, juniors received complimentary hats courtesy of program partner Cobra Puma Golf upon graduating a stage to represent their progress.
“CN Future Links helps me give kids the opportunity to reach any level that they want to achieve—which is very important for me,” said Allen, a PGA of Canada Class ‘A’ member. “I think any pro who is not using the tools available through this program is putting their club at a disadvantage.”
With large junior camps, Allen maximized admin time by entering progress reports on-the-go through the mobile app, available on the App Store. In total, Allen and his team were successful in completing 100% of the progress reports of their juniors. With the success of Allen’s CN Future Links programming, Blomidon has opened two new streams of membership—family and intermediate—to accommodate the growing demand.
Allen is very active in other areas of junior golf; most notably, he conducted four CN Future Links Field Trip events, which connect local students to nearby golf clubs for introductory lessons. In addition, Allen delivered eight different golf lessons to school sites registered in Golf in Schools—a program that CN has supported with over 100 adoptions.
Blomidon is the second Canadian golf club to receive the CN Future Links Facility of the Year Award, which was introduced in 2013. The club, which also serves as a National Junior Golf Development Centre, will host local media and representatives later in the spring to celebrate receiving the award.
“On behalf of the PGA of Canada and its 3,700 members, I’d like to congratulate Wayne Allen and his staff on the CN Future Links Facility of the Year Award,” said PGA of Canada President Constant Priondolo. “It’s important for PGA of Canada professionals like Wayne to be recognized for all their hard work in growing the game of golf in Canada through the CN Future Links program.”
Last year alone, 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 while more than 56,000 youngsters participated in more than 1,200 mobile golf clinics across the country. Since 2006, more than 1 million children have been introduced to golf through the CN Future Links program.