Oakville, Ont. – Golf Canada has announced the creation of a World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship beginning in 2014.
The inaugural international championship – which will be contested September 26th to October 1st at the Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont. – will be conducted by Golf Canada in partnership with the Golf Association of Ontario.
The championship will feature three-player teams of athletes under the age of 18 representing 15 countries. As host country, Canada will field a second squad in the competition.
The 16-team field will compete over 72 holes for both individual and team honours. Qualifying countries for the inaugural championship will be invited based on their performances at the 2012 World Amateur in Turkey.
The 2014 World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship will mark the first official playing of a female junior championship of its kind – the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup is a boys’ only event that has been contested for almost 20 years.
“The creation of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship provides a world-class international championship for Canada’s top female junior golfers to benchmark themselves against the world’s best,” said Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons. “For nearly two decades, the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup has provided an incredible opportunity for the world’s top junior boys to compete internationally. It’s exciting to partner with the Golf Association of Ontario in creating an event that we strongly believe will evolve into the premiere junior girls’ team and individual golf competition in the world.”
The creation of the World Junior Girls Golf Championship will see Golf Canada work closely with the Golf Association of Ontario in conducting the international competition for a minimum of three years in the province of Ontario.
“The World Junior Girls Golf Championship represents an exciting opportunity for the Golf Association of Ontario and Golf Canada to further align and work collaboratively to produce a world class event,” said Golf Association of Ontario Executive Director Steve Carroll. “With the support of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, golf development in Ontario and Canada will benefit from important legacy components associated with the championship including skill development clinics, officials training initiatives, officials mentoring activities and a coaching summit.”
In addition to a 72-hole competition, the championship will include skills competitions, an international golf coaches’ summit and golf clinics outside of tournament play in the spirit of establishing an interactive junior golf festival around the championship.
The event – which is supported by the International Golf Federation, will receive grant funding by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Other funding partners will include the Golf Canada Foundation (Women’s Golf Fund) as well as Central Counties and the Pan-Am Games.
“The Government of Ontario values the power of sport hosting as an excellent opportunity to showcase our beautiful province, encourage the development of sport infrastructure and generate increased economic activity in communities across the province,” said Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport for the Pan/Parapan American Games “We welcome the World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship to Ontario — as a celebration of our athletes and an opportunity to build our reputation as a premier destination to host international sporting events.”
The Angus Glen Golf Club will also play host to the debut of golf at the 2015 Pan Am Games from July 16-19, 2015. The World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship will provide training opportunities for officials and volunteers registered for the historic event that is set for the south course at Angus Glen.