The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) Virtual Summit presented by RBC on the State of Canadian Golf took place November 11, 2021, which was part of an ongoing GJAC series intended to help membership stay connected, as well as to generate discussion and opportunities around important issues in the game.

GJAC Virtual Summits presented by RBC are approximately one hour in length and are recorded for public viewing. You can watch this one below. The format consists of a moderated question and answer period, followed by a brief opportunity for questions from attendees. 

Panelists for this Summit include:

*Laurence Applebaum, Golf Canada
* Kris Jonasson, BC Golf
*Kevin Thistle, PGA of Canada
*Jason Logan, SCOREGolf Magazine – Moderator

Click below to watch…

A panel of judges has examined close to 100 stories, photos, videos and podcasts to identify the finest content created by members of the Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) in 2020. There was an astonishing variety of content produced across many platforms in 2020 in the world of Canadian golf journalism. The judges faced a difficult task but managed to identify the cream of the crop in five categories: Column, Profile, Feature, Photography and Multimedia. Due primarily to the pandemic there were fewer entries in certain categories, which resulted in the merging of the Action and Landscape categories to a single Photography category and the merging of the Travel category into the Features category.  

There were some notable highlights from this year’s award, including sweeps in two of the categories. Bernard Brault swept the Photography category with his exceptional work from 2020 and Kody McWilliams and Casey McWilliams swept the Multimedia category for their set of Mackenzie Tour videos on PGA TOUR Canada. 

Other highlights included a focus on golfers with disabilities, resulting in Tim Baines winning First place in Features and Second place in Profiles for his story, “Breaking Down Barriers: Golf has healing powers for people with disabilities.” A different kind of barrier breaking was written about in Rick Young’s winning profile of golf architect Christine Fraser. David McPherson picked up top spot for columns with his timely and lively mix of music and pandemic precautions. 

The full list of GJAC Award winners is below:

Column

First Place: David McPherson, Golf from a Distance, snowbirds.org
Second Place: Robert Thompson, Nick Taylor, Global Golf Post
Third Place: Jon McCarthy, Take a magical ride to the Masters from your couch, Toronto Sun

Photo

First Place: Bernard Brault, An aerial view of  the 14th hole , par  3, of the south course of the Elmridge Country Club in Île Bizard, Québec
Second Place: Bernard Brault, A view of the 6th hole , par 5, at the Château Bromont golf course
Third Place: Bernard Brault, Richard Boudreau gets out of the bunker of the 15 th hole during a nice autumn day at the Château Bromont golf course

Profile

First Place: Rick Young, Christine Fraser Breaking All Kinds of New Ground, Score Magazine
Second Place: Tim Baines, Breaking Down Barriers: Golf has healing powers for people with disabilities, Postmedia
Third Place: Adam Stanley, Taylor Pendrith’s dream of playing on the PGA TOUR is close, PGATOUR.com

Multimedia

First Place: Kody McWilliams and Casey McWilliams, Laurent Desmarchais is on the rise, Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada
Second Place: Kody McWilliams and Casey McWilliams, Blair Bursey’s journey from Newfoundland towards the PGA TOUR, Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada
Third Place: Kody McWilliams and Casey McWilliams, Eric Hawerchuk competes with a heavy heart at Canada Life Series, Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada

Features

First Place: Tim Baines, Breaking Down Barriers: Golf has healing powers for people with disabilities, Postmedia
Second Place: Curtis Gillespie, The Long Game, enRoute magazine
Third Place: Brad Zeimer, Golf, Played Well…Or Not So Well, Has Immense Health Benefits, British Columbia Golf

The GJAC Media Awards are often presented at the annual GJAC golf day event, which has usually been held in southern Ontario during the early summer. However, the pandemic affected planning for this event, which will go ahead in early October 2021. Given that time frame, the awards this year were presented via a social media release in early August and will also be posted on the GJAC website.

GJAC wishes to offer its thanks to the judges for their effort and insight. This year’s judges were Jeff Brooke, Patty Condon, Harvey Freedenberg, Craig Gardner, Bernie Kollman, Norm MacDonald, Brian McPherson, Scot Morison and Shana Wilson.

Xander Schauffele won the Olympic gold medal in golf in a tense finish.

Schauffele was tied for the lead with Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia with two holes to play. The American made birdie from 6 feet on the 17th hole to regain the lead. Then after a bad tee shot that forced him to play short of the water, he hit wedge to 4 feet and made the par to win.

“I felt like for the most part of the day I stayed very calm,” Schauffele said. “I usually look very calm but there’s something terrible happening inside at times. So I was able to learn on those moments where I’ve lost coming down the stretch, where I hit a bad shot or a bad wedge or a bad putt and sort of lose my cool. But I felt like today I really, I thought I had a one-shot lead going into 16 or 17 and I looked at the board and I saw Rory shot 61, so that was a nice wake up call for me; thank goodness there was a board there or I wouldn’t have known. Yeah, it was a roller coaster day for me especially on that back nine coming in and just happy I could fall back on parts of my game to sort of pull me through.”

Sabbatini set an Olympic record with a 61 and won the silver.

“I was out there today and I kept just trying to remind myself, okay, don’t think ahead, don’t think ahead, just enjoy the moment that you’re in because you don’t know what it’s going to end, just enjoy every hole as it comes,” Sabbatini said. “It just seemed like every time I kind of had a hiccup out there I was like, oh, maybe this is the end of the run, but okay. And then all of a sudden, I kicked back into gear. So it was a lot of fun and it was just one of those rare days that you have on the golf course.”

The bronze medal was determined by playoff which included a star-packed field that also included Matsuyama (who shot 67), Paul Casey of Great Britain (68), Rory McIlroy of Ireland (67), Mito Pereira of Chile (67) and Sebastián Muñoz of Colombia (67). It was so large, it required splitting into two groups.

Matsuyama and Casey were eliminated first, followed by Muñoz, then Pereira and McIlroy.

Morikawa bogeyed the final hole after his approach to the 18^th green plugged in the steep upslope of the fronting bunker. Pan sank a par-saving putt for the medal. 

Canada’s Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished 13th (65) at 13-under and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., (75) was 50th at 3-under.

Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes and Corey Conners are tied for 17th after three rounds at the Olympic men’s golf tournament, seven shots behind the leader heading into Sunday’s final round.

Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., carded a 65.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., had a 66 to climb up the leaderboard.

American Xander Schauffele maintained the one-stroke lead he held at the beginning of the day, though now the closest pursuer is Japan’s own golf hero, Hideki Matsuyama, who replaced Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz as Schauffele’s closest pursuer at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

Both Canadians slipped down the leaderboard during the second round of the men’s Olympic golf tournament in Japan on Friday.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., shot a 1-over 72 and dropped into a tie for 39th at 1-under.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for 34th overall at 2-under par thru 16 holes.

Due to lightning, the second round was suspended at 11:57 a.m. and resumed at 2:21 p.m., a delay of 2 hours, 24 minutes. Another thunderstorm forced the second round to be suspended for the day at 5:20 p.m. with 16 players left to complete round two. Play will resume at 7:45 a.m. Saturday morning with round three scheduled to start at 9:03 a.m. off split tees.

American Xander Schauffele leads at 11-under par with rounds of 68-63. Schauffele’s father, Stefan, is French/German and grew up in Germany as an Olympic decathlete hopeful before a car crash with a drunk driver caused loss of vision in his left eye, ending his Olympic dream at age 20

The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) Virtual Summit presented by RBC on the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum took place May 12, 2021, which is part of an ongoing GJAC series intended to help membership stay connected, as well as to generate discussion and opportunities around important issues in the game.

GJAC Virtual Summits presented by RBC are one hour in length and are recorded for public viewing. You can watch this one below. The format consists of a moderated question and answer period, followed by a brief opportunity for questions from attendees.

Panelists for the event included:     

• Cathy Sherk – Honourable CGHF Member
• Ted Fletcher – Son of Late Honourable CGHF Member Pat Fletcher
• Meggan Gardner – Director, Heritage, Golf Canada
• Garry McKay, GJAC Moderator

Enjoy!

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum will be holding a virtual gala on June 8 as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. The FREE event will be co-hosted by Bob Weeks and Gail Graham.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

TORONTO – Premier Doug Ford and the Ontario government announced today that the province will be under a stay-at-home order effective 12:01am Thursday, April 8th. Included in this announcement is confirmation that outdoor golf courses and driving ranges can remain open.

Provincial golf bodies have been actively engaged with the Ontario government conveying the message that golf is safe and that now, more than ever, safe outdoor recreational options will be critical to ensure the physical and mental well-being of Ontarians.

The golf industry continues to be a leader in providing one of the few safe recreational outlets that are vital during these challenging times.

 All Ontario golfers and facilities are required to adhere to the following mandates:

• If two riders from different households are on a cart, they must wear a mask while in the cart.
• All staff and players must stay at least 6 feet apart.
• Courses are required to have clear and consistent screening protocols.
• Pre or post game gatherings at not permitted. 
• Limiting the majority of non-essential retailers to only operate for curbside pick-up and delivery, via appointment, between the hours of 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., with delivery of goods to patrons permitted between 6:00 am and 9:00 pm, and other restrictions.
• During the current Stay-At-Home Order, indoor or outdoor (patio) food service is not permitted. Facilities are allowed to proceed with pick up, take out and delivery service (including halfway hut and beverage cart service). All seating must be removed.

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Toronto (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada and The Good Beer Folks at Steam Whistle have announced the renewal of a multi-year partnership that will see Steam Whistle continue on as the Official Beer of Golf Canada, the RBC Canadian Open, and the CP Women’s Open.

Through the multi-year partnership – which began in 2018 – Steam Whistle will continue to work with Golf Canada to grow their brand amongst golfers and golf enthusiasts across the country.

Through the partnership, Steam Whistle’s premium product line will be served at Golf Canada’s PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour events—the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open.

“We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Steam Whistle as Golf Canada’s Official Beer Partner,” said John Sibley, Chief Commercial Officer of Golf Canada.  “There is tremendous interest in golf right now and we are fortunate to have the continued support of Steam Whistle who have aligned their premium brand with our sport. Their commitment to quality craftsmanship and proud Canadian identity are well positioned as the beer of choice to enjoy at our National Open Championships or after a round at golf courses from coast to coast.”

The renewed agreement builds on Steam Whistle’s largest partnership in company history – a significant milestone for the independent Canadian brewer.

“Steam Whistle is committed to supporting the game of golf in Canada and our partnership with Golf Canada is the best example of that,” said Tim McLaughlin, Steam Whistle’s Vice-President of Marketing. “There is so much momentum behind the sport in our country thanks to the great work Golf Canada has done at the grassroots, amateur and professional level, and we are thrilled to be a long-term partner to support their efforts.”

In the first year of the partnership, beer sales at the 2018 RBC Canadian Open were up 200 per cent to the year prior. Founded in 2000, Steam Whistle’s Premium Pilsner has long been a staple of golf courses and refrigerators across the country. The Toronto-based brewery launched a Premium Pale Ale in 2019 and a Premium Session Lager in 2020 to go along with its award-winning Premium Pilsner.

TORONTO – In a year unlike any other, which included the PGA TOUR’s longest hiatus since World War II due to Covid-19, a record number (7) Canadians held PGA TOUR status while the country as a whole impressed across both the amateur and professional ranks.

The Golf Journalists Association of Canada (GJAC) is proud to announce Brooke Henderson, Mackenzie Hughes, Laurent Desmarchais and Brigitte Thibault as the 2020 Players of the Year as voted by GJAC members across the country. Along with the player awards, the surge in popularity in golf across Canada was voted as the story of the year.

“Each year, GJAC is proud to recognize and applaud the incredible performances by Canadian professional and amateur players,” said Rick Young, GJAC President. “While 2020 was a difficult year, players across Canada continue to record performances that make covering their achievements and telling the stories behind them a joy for our members.”

After claiming two wins in 2019 to become the winningest Canadian golfer of all time, Henderson continued to make headlines in 2020, making all but one cut on the LPGA Tour, including five top-10 finishes and a runner-up showing at the ANA Inspirational. The 23-year old finished the season with the second-lowest scoring average on Tour (69.7) and is currently the sixth-ranked female professional player in the world.

Mackenzie Hughes was named Male Professional of the Year after recording his best season to date, earning six top-10 PGA TOUR finishes in 22 starts. The 30-year old’s season was highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Honda Classic, where he posted 66 in both the third and final round, and the Tour Championship, where he finished in 14^th place in the FedEx Cup standings, the best of any Canadian since 2013 (Grahem DeLaet, 8^th).

For the second-consecutive year, Rosemére, Quebec’s Brigitte Thibault earned honours as Female Amateur of the Year after another standout season that included wins at the Women’s Western Amateur and the Women’s Dixie Amateur. In addition, Thibault earned two top-3 collegiate finishes with the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Finally, Longueuil, Quebec’s Laurent Desmarchais was named Male Amateur of the Year after claiming a victory over both amateurs and professionals in the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada’s Canada Life Series Championship at TPC Toronto. In addition, Desmarchais was named to the Golf Canada’s National Amateur team due to his standout play.