Mississauga, Ont. – The CGSA and Bayer have announced Greg Holden from the Clear Lake Golf Course in Onanole, Man., as the CGSA/Bayer Superintendent of the Year for 2017.

The CGSA/Bayer Superintendent of the Year award recognizes a member of the CGSA who has held the position of golf course superintendent for a minimum of five years and who has distinguished her or himself through dedication to the profession, performance as a golf course superintendent and contributions to their profession and their community.

“Greg Holden is probably known as the most adventurous Golf Course Superintendent and truly one of the most vigilant of the environment,” said Jim Flett, AGS, CGSA president. “I had the privilege of calling Greg to inform him of winning this award and with this being Greg’s final season as Superintendent at Clear Lake Golf Course before retiring, what better way to add to his already astounding career.”

Greg has been a CGSA member since 1999 and was the President of the CGSA in 2010. He is one of the most innovative superintendents and the only Superintendent in Manitoba that collects up to 10,000 + litres of used cooking oils from shops and resorts around town to make Bio-Diesel to run 7 pieces of equipment.

Holden has experienced many adventures throughout his life thus far.  Everything from being a cameraman on a six-month journey crossing the Pacific Ocean on a rafting expedition from Ecuador to Australia, co-owning and operating the Mooswa Resort with his wife Linda in Riding Mountain National Park for 15 years, to operating a small organic farm on his property prior to stepping into his current position as Superintendent at the Clear Lake Golf Course.

His distinguished career began back in 1993 when he got the opportunity to work for the Clear Lake Golf Foundation. At that time, they were in the process of submitting a bid to Parks Canada to run the golf course in Riding Mountain National Park. Mr. Holden was instrumental in the writing of the environmental section of that bid that ultimately won them the contract to operate the course for Parks Canada over a 25-year period.

Holden has won him and his course many awards including the Eco Network Environmental Stewardship Award; was a finalist for the 2009 Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award and was the Manitoba Golf Superintendents Association (MGSA) Superintendent of the Year Award winner in 2012 for his outstanding contributions to the industry.

Mr. Holden will receive the CGSA/Bayer Superintendent of the Year award at the 2018 CGSA Awards Ceremony in Quebec City as part of The Canadian Golf Course Management Conference.

The award is funded by Bayer – a ssponsor of the CGSA.

The CGSA represents golf course superintendents, assistant superintendents, equipment technicians, and others involved in golf course management across Canada. CGSA was founded in 1966 and has over 1,000 members. Its mission is to promote excellence in golf course management and environmental responsibility through the continuing professional development of its members. For more information please visit www.golfsupers.com.

TORONTO – The inaugural adaptive golf competition of the Invictus Games took place Tues, Sept. 26, at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, where Canadians claimed five medals.

The competition was contested over 18 holes using modified Stableford scoring using Handicap Factors/Index.

Claiming gold in the men’s competition with a 38-point total was David Scott of the United Kingdom. Canada’s Étienne Aubé claimed silver with 37 points.  Canadians Dan Graham and Jay Nickol earned bronze with 35 points, as did American Josh Lindstrom.

In the women’s competition, Cornelia Oosthuizen of the United Kingdom captured gold with a score of 32. Canada’s Karyne Gelinas earned silver with 27 points and Sandy Bate earned 24 points ton win bronze.

Karyne Gelinas of Canada, Cornelia Oosthuizen of the United Kingdom  and Sandy Bate of Canada (Photo: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

His Royal Highness Prince Harry was on hand at St. George’s to cheer on competitors.

Prince Harry wishing competitors the best of luck as they continue competing in the final round of adaptive golf @StGeorgesGCC! #IG2017 pic.twitter.com/zoLPcRWvTB

— Invictus Games 2017 (@InvictusToronto) September 26, 2017

Prince Harry met with @InvictusToronto golf athletes, encouraging them through the final holes. #IAM #invictus2017 pic.twitter.com/wC0XSUGX73

— St. George’s GCC (@StGeorgesGCC) September 27, 2017

The Invictus Games are an international sporting event for wounded, ill and injured servicemen and women, both currently serving and veterans. The Games use the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding of and respect for those who serve their country.

The word Invictus is Latin for unconquered. It embodies the fighting spirit of the wounded, injured and ill service personnel and what these tenacious men and women can achieve, post-injury.

For full scores, click here.

For more information on the 2017 Invictus Games, visit www.invictusgames2017.com.

Furthering their commitment to growing Canadian junior golf, Acura is adopting five Golf in Schools kits through an Adopt a School Week contest in support of the Future Links, driven by Acura Golf in Schools program.

The contest requires Canadians to simply nominate a school along with the city and town by commenting on the contest Facebook post by Oct. 6.

On Oct. 13, 2017 at approximately 1 p.m. ET, one (1) eligible entry per Region will be selected by random draw from among all eligible entries submitted (full contest rules are available here).

Click here to participate a nominate a school in your area!

The indomitable spirit will be par for the course at the 2017 Invictus Games.

In the dark of night, at 9:33 p.m. on Oct. 2, 1994, a high-powered sniper bullet was fired from an enemy-held position in the Bosnia and Herzegovina town of Ilijas. It travelled some 800 metres and pierced the armoured vehicle in which Canadian Forces warrant officer Tom Martineau was riding. The bullet ripped through Martineau’s left triceps and ricocheted through his internal organs, splitting his left kidney, detaching his spleen and fracturing his thoracic 12 vertebrae, immediately paralyzing him from the waist down.

“I knew right then and there that this was going to affect my golf swing,” muses the resident of Kingston, Ont., who turns 57 in June.

One of Team Canada’s estimated 12 golf participants at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto this September, Martineau can joke about it now. But the physical injuries for wounded warriors often pale in comparison to the psychological demons that accompany them. Martineau, who fell victim to drugs and alcohol addiction in the aftermath of his injury, contemplated suicide on more than one occasion.

“I had a loaded rifle in my mouth,” he recalls. “For whatever reason, the thought occurred to me: ‘Who will look after my dog?’”

Martineau withdrew his weapon and began the journey back into the light — an arduous road shared by military veterans the world over as they learn to keep those demons at bay and reintegrate into society.

Double amputee Bernie Broad from Team UK is more than a match for most players (photo: Terry D. Cuffel)

For many, sports have provided an opportunity to find renewed focus and purpose. Nowhere is that more evident than the Warrior Games, a U.S.-based multi-sport event originated in 2010 for seriously wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans. The 2013 edition in Colorado was officially opened by Prince Harry, who was a captain and helicopter pilot in the British Army at the time. Inspired by the efforts of participants in the international Paralympics-style event, the prince was motivated to launch an expanded international version in 2014 — the Invictus Games.

Latin for “unconquered,” this year’s Invictus Games will feature 550 competitors from 17 allied nations and will debut golf among its dozen adaptive sports. Five-time Canadian Open host St. George’s Golf and Country Club will provide the venue for the one-day golf competition on September 26 that is expected to field around 60 competitors. Offering free entry for all spectators, the low-net event will employ the points-based Stableford scoring system, including a double-bogey maximum to assist with pace of play. Ground rules will also be implemented to address severe bunkers and other hazards for players with limited mobility.

“When (the Invictus organizers) said they’d like to have the golf event at St. George’s, I thought, ‘Well yeah, who wouldn’t?’ says Jim Clark, chair of the golf competition’s organizing committee. “But after we met with general manager Jason Clarke, the St. George’s board’s vote was a unanimous yes. And then they asked, ‘What else can we do to make it better?’”

Clark, who has served as chairman of the RBC Canadian Open since 2002 and of the 2015 Pan Am Games golf competition, is experiencing a lot of that type of support in preparation for golf’s launch at Invictus.

“We needed 60 volunteers, but were quickly oversubscribed,” he explains. “I’ve never seen anything like it. We’ve had to turn away more than 100 of these amazing, experienced Canadian Open volunteers.”

The royal, red-haired gentleman who will be handing out the medals on the 18th green is also worthy of mention.

“These Games have shone a spotlight on the unconquerable character of servicemen and women, their families and the invictus spirit,” says Prince Harry.

Karyne Gélinas, a 37-year-old Moncton native and Country Meadows GC member, is another Canadian hopeful. She suffered a lower back injury in a 1998 car accident, and after it was re-aggravated, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) captain was forced to retire from her air traffic controller role last fall. Now she’s training 10 to 12 hours weekly to hopefully walk all 18 holes at St. George’s.

“Invictus has given me a new purpose,” notes Gélinas, a multi-sport competitive athlete prior to her injury. “It has been an amazing experience and I’ve met incredible people. But honestly, it will be great to represent our country and wear the Canadian flag again.”

“You’re willing to give your life for each other so there’s a sense of failure when you’re removed from that equation,” adds Martineau, who now helps fellow service vets navigate the road to physical and emotional recovery with the Department of National Defence’s Operational Stress Injury Social Support services. “Some athletes on the team have never re-socialized. They’re being brought together as part of a team again. You cannot measure the positives of these Games that could be life altering.”

Martineau has recovered to the point that he can now stand on his own two feet, play to a 12 handicap and pummel drives nearly 240 yards at his home course — albeit never knowing if his left leg might buckle. It’s a long way from being wheelchair-bound for three years after the shooting.

Martineau, who will also be competing in wheelchair basketball at the Games, espouses the virtues of the Soldier On program — a CAF initiative that helps currently serving veterans and members overcome illness or injury through physical activity — as well as its support for those competing at the Invictus Games.

“But’s not about the medals,” he assures. “It’s the individual journey.”

To find out more information about the event or tickets, visit invictusgames2017.com

This article was originally published in the Summer Issue edition of Golf Canada Magazine. Click here to view the full magazine

If you’re taking some nationalistic pride in watching Brooke Henderson, Adam Hadwin and the other Canadians on the pro tours enjoy unprecedented success, then it’s time to ask yourself, “What can I do to support upcoming generations of Canadian golfers? How can I give back to the game?”

Surprise! I have the answer: Support the second annual Adopt a School Week from Sept. 18 to 22.

Adopt a School is a component of Future Links Golf in Schools driven by Acura, an umbrella junior development initiative created by Golf Canada in conjunction with the PGA of Canada and PHE Canada with support from the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada as a program partner. It provides golf facilities, companies and individuals with the opportunity to “adopt” one or more schools of their choosing to introduce the Golf in Schools program at that school. (Schools can also enroll in the program on their own.)

Since the program’s inception in 2009, adoptions have accounted for almost half of the more than 3,200 registered schools delivering the Future Links Golf in Schools driven by Acura curriculum. Last year, 234 new schools were adopted, introducing golf to an average of 120 students per school. Currently, the Golf in Schools program is in more than 3,200 schools with more than 380,000 students coast to coast.

While each of the preceding partners has a vital role, much rests on the country’s golf facilities and golfers to make this program succeed. Why? Because, ideally, each school is linked with a green-grass facility like a course or a range and none of this is feasible without financial support from donors like you.

Facilities that have linked to schools have reported significant increases from the business side, such as memberships, lessons and food and beverage, as well as the long-term gratification of enhancing the ongoing vitality of the game. Participating teachers at “adopted” schools laud the program for its emphasis not just on golf but on developing affiliated values such as perseverance, etiquette, character and honesty.

So whether your support helps develop the next Brooke Henderson or Adam Hadwin or just gets kids in your community interested in the game you love, you can take justifiable pride in the fact that you’ve given back to the game.

Invest in the future of golf in Canada. Support Adopt a School Week.

To support Adopt a School Week, visit www.golfcanada.ca/adoptaschool/ or call 1-800-263-0009 ext. 475.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Judith Kyrinis defeated Terrill Samuel, 4 and 3, Thursday morning at the 5,836-yard, par-72 Waverley Country Club to win the 56th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship. In winning the first USGA championship match between two Canadian competitors, Kyrinis became the seventh USGA champion from Canada and the first since 2005.

Kyrinis, 53, was the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up three years ago at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, N.J., losing 1 down to Joan Higgins.

“It’s very special, very surreal. I don’t really believe that I’ve won yet,” said Kyrinis. “You know, it was a tough match to lose [three years ago]. You take it to 18, and like I said, I was crying like a baby, and it’s not because I was mad I lost, it’s just because you’re so pent up with all these emotions for the whole week.”

It was another emotional week for Kyrinis, who like three years ago, was greeted before the final match by her brother, Dan Allan, who showed up without prior notice and slept the previous night in his car. The week was also a celebration of Canadian golf, as several of the nine Canadian players who competed in the championship stuck around to watch their countrywomen compete in the final. Of those nine Canadian players, four advanced to the quarterfinals.

“All the girls I think that you saw, we all played very well,” said Kyrinis. “We really kind of got far into the tournament, in our matches, and it was good because, you know, I’ve been looking at those leader boards, which were fabulous, and it really would spur you on. You’d see your friends doing well, and you’re like, OK, let’s go. You don’t want to be left in the back of the bus, right, so it was fun.”

One of those players following in the gallery was 2005 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Mary Ann Hayward, the most recent USGA champion from Canada and a quarterfinalist this week. It seems a fitting ending for Kyrinis, who lists four-time USGA champion and three-time U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Marlene Stewart Streit as a mother figure and golf idol.

“I’m just so happy for Judith,” said Hayward. “She’s worked so hard. We flew down and watched her when she made the final in New Jersey, and I’m just so happy for her.”

Three years after coming up just short, Kyrinis never trailed in this championship match. With her husband, Manny, on her bag, she won the first hole with a par.

After halving the next three holes, Samuel, a recently retired teacher from the Toronto area, played superb scrambling golf on holes 5 and 6. On the 451-yard, par-5 fifth, Samuel hit her second shot way left, behind a tree-lined area. With Kyrinis on in three, Samuel punched through the tree line, barely holding the back collar of the green. After Kyrinis rolled her birdie attempt 9 feet by the hole, Samuel two-putted from the collar and squared the match when Kyrinis three-putted.

On the ensuing 119-yard, par-3 ninth, Samuel, 56, hit into the right greenside bunker, plugged in the front lip. Kyrinis hit a beautiful shot to the front-right flag location, but her ball rolled off the right edge of the green, down a small valley. Forced to take an extremely awkward stance, Samuel popped the ball straight into the air and rolled it to 3 feet. Kyrinis then putted 8 feet past the hole, but earned a crucial half with a tricky par save to keep the match all square.

“You have to have a bit of luck with that shot, and so I was just trying to find a stance, and I was hoping that I could just pop it out,” said Samuel of her bunker shot. “It actually went perfectly because it went down, popped up and down. Got to have a little bit of luck. I knew if I could get it up over the lip, it will hit it hard enough that it would get out of the bunker because that’s pretty thick stuff in my stance.”

Kyrinis, a registered nurse who lives 20 minutes away from Samuel outside Toronto, immediately took advantage of her par save on 6 to win 7 with a birdie. Both players hit similar approach shots to about 10 feet. Going first, Samuel’s birdie attempt lipped out, and Kyrinis got a read on the line and converted hers to retake the lead.

After matching each other stroke for stroke on the next four holes, Kyrinis began her winning march on the par-4 12th hole. It all began with a fortuitous bounce for Kyrinis, as her tee shot hit the back facing of the right fairway bunker, but careened to the right rough instead of dropping in the bunker. Both players hit their second shots on the green, about 20 feet away. After Samuel posted a conceded par, Kyrinis rolled in her 20-footer to go 2 up.

“It was pretty flat, and as long as you keep the pace up on these greens, they’re not going to go one way or another way,” said Kyrinis. “It was probably a little more pace than I thought, or wanted, but happy to see it go down to the bottom of the hole for sure.”

On the par-5 13th, Samuel tried to play a delicate pitch over a bunker that protected the front-center flag location. Her shot was just a little short, however, and instead of a good birdie attempt, she was again playing out of a bunker. With Samuel unable to get up and down, Kyrinis made a routine par to go 3 up.

With Kyrinis still 3 up, the match ended on the 15th hole when Samuel again found bunker trouble. Samuel crushed her tee shot with a driver, but maybe hit it too well. She found herself in the front of a middle fairway bunker. Needing to be aggressive, Samuel took a full swing, trying to get on the green, but her shot hit the lip of the bunker and ricocheted backward. Once Kyrinis hit her second shot close, Samuel conceded the match before any putts were attempted.

Despite the defeat, Samuel was in good spirits and happy for her close friend.

Terrill Samuel and Judith Kyrinis, right, bump knuckles after splitting the sixth hole during final round of match play of the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore. on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. (Copyright USGA/Steven Gibbons)

“It’s easy, because I always root for her at every tournament because that’s the type of person she is, bar none,” said Samuel of Kyrinis. “We’re just such great friends. That was the bonus of playing today is whoever won, we’d be happy for each other.”

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, open to female amateurs age 50 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4, consists of two 18-hole rounds of stroke play and six rounds of match play. It is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

As the champion, Kyrinis receives a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, as well as two-year exemptions into the U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur championships. Kyrinis also receives a two-year exemption into the inaugural U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship next year at Chicago Golf Club, as well as the ensuing year at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club. Samuel is also exempt into the 2018 Senior Women’s Open and receives a three-year Senior Women’s Amateur exemption, a two-year Women’s Mid-Amateur exemption and one-year Women’s Amateur exemption.

PORTLAND, Ore.  – For the first time in USGA championship history, two Canadian players – Judith Kyrinis and Terrill Samuel – will meet in a final match. The two will face off in the 18-hole final of the 56th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at seven-time USGA championship host site Waverley Country Club, which is set up at 5,836 yards and a par of 72, at 8:30 a.m. PDT Thursday.

Kyrinis, who was 3 down through four holes in Wednesday’s semifinal match against former LPGA Tour professional Tara Fleming, of Jersey City, N.J., started to chip away at her opponent’s lead starting on the par-4 7th hole when Fleming bogeyed.

“I thought, ‘There’s lots of golf still in front of me, so be resilient and keep battling,’” said Kyrinis, who made it to the finals of the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, losing to Joan Higgins. “I’ve been playing well, so there’s no reason that I wouldn’t – that I couldn’t climb my way back. But, Tara is obviously a very accomplished golfer.”

A registered nurse and mother of three in suburban Toronto, Kyrinis birdied the par-3 16th hole with a 35-foot birdie from the fringe to take the lead from Fleming – a member of New Jersey’s winning team in the 2013 USGA Women’s State Team Championship – for the first time in the match.

“I can’t remember who said it, but a bad putt is way better than a bad chip,” said Kyrinis of her decision to go for the difficult putt on the 16th hole. “I try to stay calm in ups, and I try to stay calm in the downs. Just try to stay even keel, and I think I do that pretty well. I don’t get too high, and I don’t get too low.”

Kyrinis clinched the 2-and-1 semifinal win on the 17th hole. After Kyrinis missed a short birdie putt to pick up a conceded par, Fleming missed a 6-foot downhill putt that would have extended the match.

“I’m going to stick to the same game plan of driving it well, putting it well, and the goal will be to hit the irons a little bit better tomorrow,” said Kyrinis of her strategy for the final against Samuel, who also lives in suburban Toronto, approximately 25 minutes from Kyrinis.

Kyrinis, 53, also notched a 2-and-1 win in the morning’s quarterfinals against Lisa McGill, of Philadelphia, Pa. She made a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th hole to regain a 1-up lead over McGill, who never led. Kyrinis’ path to the final also included second- and third-round wins against USGA champions Martha Leach (2009 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur) and Sherry Herman (2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur), respectively.

Samuel also made a comeback on the inward nine against a former LPGA Tour player – Patricia Schremmer, 51, of Honolulu, Hawaii, to win her semifinal match. A teacher in the Toronto District School Board, Samuel, 56, won the match in 19 holes.

“It was going along OK, and then I made a couple of bad bogeys with wedges, and then she made two birdies, then I’m 4 down in four holes just like that,” said Samuel of Schremmer winning four consecutive holes starting with a 6-footer for birdie on No. 4. “And then it just turned around. You just hang in.”

With her 80-year-old mother and best friend, Cam Samuel, serving as her caddie, Samuel won three holes in a row starting with a 3-foot par on the 13th to cut Schremmer’s lead to 2 up. Samuel then posted a conceded birdie on the par-3 14th. To square the match on No. 15, Samuel hit a tee shot 30 yards past the mid-fairway bunkers, sticking her approach to 10 feet with a sand wedge before draining her birdie putt.

“It was pretty good,” said Samuel of the approach shot. “[After squaring a match], your adrenaline starts going.

Before, you’re just trying to stay relaxed and you’re fine, and just going along with whatever happens. Then, all of a sudden, you’re all square, and it becomes nerve-racking.”

The next three holes, 16-18, were halved, sending the match to the first extra hole, the par-3 ninth. On the 19th hole, Samuel’s par putt was conceded, and Schremmer missed her opportunity to extend the match by pulling her putt just left.

Samuel, the 2012 and 2015 Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur champion, never trailed in defeating two-time USA Curtis Cup competitor Patricia Cornett, of Mill Valley, Calif., 5 and 3, in the morning quarterfinal. Playing in her sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, Samuel’s previous best finish was in 2014 when she made it to the Round of 32.

Marlene Stewart Streit is the most recent Canadian to win the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, doing so in 2003. Gayle Borthwick is the only other Canadian to win the championship, winning in 1996 and 1998. Mary Ann Hayward, the 2005 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion who lost her morning quarterfinal match, 3 and 2, to Fleming, is the most recent USGA champion from Canada.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, open to female amateurs age 50 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4, consists of two 18-hole rounds of stroke play and six rounds of match play. It is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Both finalists receive an exemption from qualifying into the inaugural 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship at the historic Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill., with the winner receiving a two-year exemption into the championship. Both finalists also receive a two-year exemption into the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur (2017 and 2018) and exemptions for future U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs – 10 years for the winner and three for the runner-up. All of the semifinalists are exempt into the next two U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs, currently scheduled to be conducted at Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Fla., in 2018, and Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Country Club in 2019.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Four Canadian players won two matches each Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the 56th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship at Waverley Country Club. Hosting its seventh USGA championship, Waverley is set up at 5,836 yards and a par of 72.

Jackie Little joins Judith Kyrinis, Mary Ann Hayward and Terrill Samuel to comprise half of the remaining field, which began with nine Canadians.

“We’re pretty proud Canadians. We play some really good golf up there, as you can see,” said Kyrinis, 53, the 2014 Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up. “PGA, LPGA, we’re all really coming on strong. It’s great to see everybody do well here. We all hang out pretty often when we’re here, and we keep in touch with each other through social media.”

The way the bracket played out, none of the Canadian players will face each other in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

“We couldn’t have planned it much better,” said Little, 59, before the Canadian quartet left to go to dinner together at a local Italian restaurant.

Marlene Stewart Streit is the most recent Canadian to win the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, doing so in 2003. Gayle Borthwick is the only other Canadian to win the championship, winning in 1996 and 1998. Hayward, the 2005

U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, is the most recent USGA champion from Canada.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, open to female amateurs age 50 and older with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 18.4, consists of 36 holes of stroke play, with the low 64 players advancing to match play. The championship, scheduled to conclude with an 18-hole final on Thursday, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Kyrinis was one of two players to defeat two USGA champions on Tuesday. She first eliminated 2009 Women’s Mid-Amateur runner-up Martha Leach, 5 and 4, in the Round of 32, then won four of the final five holes to defeat 2009 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Sherry Herman, 2 up.

“It was a really tight, back-and-forth match,” said Kyrinis of her win against Herman. “I played so well against Martha, and it’s really hard to play like that back to back, but I held my own. I’ve been driving the ball really well and putting it well. If you can do those two things on this course, you’ll be in good stead.”

Hayward, 57, needed 20 holes to defeat fellow Canadian Marie-Therese Torti in the Round of 32, then cruised to a 7-and-6 win in the Round of 16 against Sherry Smith. Little led 2010 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Mina Hardin 3 up with four holes remaining, then held on to seal the match on No. 17 after Hardin won Nos. 15 and 16.

The winning Canadians then flocked to the 18th hole to watch the final match on the course, as Samuel sealed her victory with a conceded birdie against 2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur champion Carolyn Creekmore.

All quarterfinalists are exempt into the 2018 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club in Vero Beach, Fla. The quarterfinals begin at 8 a.m. PDT Wednesday with McGill facing Kyrinis. The semifinals are scheduled to begin at 12:45 p.m.

My grandparents lived in a duplex on a quiet street in Montreal, which I loved to visit any time the opportunity presented itself. In the hallway were photos of my grandfather, Albert, who was a professional golfer but never talked about his career in the game.

Not until I excused myself to head to their musty, unfinished basement did his involvement with golf become obvious. Along one of the walls, perched upright on a long narrow shelf were wooden golf clubs of every type and style you could imagine. One of the clubs looked like it was fashioned from a tree branch. Hanging beside his clubs, in a large wooden display case, were his antique golf balls and dozens of tees made of wood, paper and metal. In another room were his putty clay models of golf greens and what Granny called his “maps,” some rolled up on his desk, others hanging from the walls.

Amidst the hardware of trophies, metals and golf keepsakes that stuffed the china cabinet upstairs were four brimming scrapbooks of photos and clippings documenting a lifetime in golf. Not until decades later did a scrapbook of his brother, Charlie — revealed by a granddaughter who allowed the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Museum to scan it — confirm a stellar and pioneering career in professional golf for the brothers Murray.

Their father, Charles Joseph Murray, a carvers mason, had led them to Canada from England in 1888. In tow with he and his wife were three children: five-year-old Charles, eight-month-old Albert and a daughter in between, Frances. The patriarch wasted no time putting his skills to work, building a large family home replete with Corinthian columns while also taking mason jobs in the city. But finances were tight.

A few years later teenage son Charlie set out looking for part-time work. A tall, solidly framed youngster, he had heard about being a caddie at a nearby golf club where he could be outdoors, make a bit of money and learn a new sport on the side. Younger brother Albert, who respected Charlie a great deal and was never far from big brother’s footsteps, tagged along. He was nine.

In time, Albert picked up the rudiments of the game and in 1899 won his first caddies tournament; his prize was a plum pudding with a $5 gold piece inserted in the cake. He successfully defended his title the following year.

Competing for young Albert’s interest was the private racetrack behind their house owned by Joseph Seagram, founder of the distillery of the same name. Hanging around the stalls, Albert’s love of horses took root. With the permission of Mr. Seagram but not his father, along with Charlie’s promise not to say anything, Albert would get up at five in the morning to exercise and train the horses.

“In time, I gained confidence and would exercise any horse in the field,” Albert wrote in his diary. “The horses knew I liked them so it became easy to handle them.”

Almost immediately he had the desire to become a jockey, until his father found out.

“It was my first ambition and I liked it even more than golf,” he told a journalist years later.

The year 1900 saw the arrival of George Cumming, a Scotsman who started his career caddying at 14, to the original Toronto Golf Club, not far from the Murray home. There, Cumming met Charlie and enticed him to look at golf as a career given what he saw in Charlie’s natural abilities but, more importantly, his even temperament, a necessary skill to have in relation to the club members he would serve. Not to be outdone, Albert showed Cumming a golf club he had formed from a tree limb at 12 years old and soon the brothers were the first graduates of Cumming’s pro shop, having learned the art of club making and teaching the fundamentals of golf.

The Murray brothers applied their skills and expertise together, first at the Toronto Hunt Club with Charlie as head professional and Albert as designated teaching professional; then at Westmount Golf Club in Montreal; and next at Royal Montreal Golf Club.

In 1906, Albert left Montreal for the (Royal) Quebec Golf Club at the Plains of Abraham, specifically Cove Fields in Quebec City. Just 18, Albert was hired to revamp the course and be its head professional. His tenure lasted a year when he returned to Montreal but members of the Quebec club had not forgotten him and in 1915 commissioned Albert to lay out their new 18-hole course at Montmorency Falls.

This was a couple years after the inaugural Canadian Open at Royal Montreal. There were just 10 pros, along with some amateurs, competing for the win in 1904 but 16-year-old Albert came in 12th and Charlie finished fourth. Albert (1908 and ’13) and Charles (1906 and ’11) each won the event twice.

As the years passed, Charlie cemented his reputation with members of Royal Montreal and the larger golfing public with his competitive prowess. By the 1920s he was often scoring in the 60s, quite unusual in the dead ball era and poorly groomed courses. His charismatic, dependable and terse personality won the deep affection of his members. A decade later, Charlie was bestowed an honorary lifetime membership at Royal Montreal in recognition of his 25 years of service.

In addition to capturing the inaugural PGA Championship of Canada and two Open championships, Charlie took the Quebec Open crown nine times. Albert’s second victory in the Quebec Open in 1930 by a record score remained unbroken for almost 50 years.

In the meantime, Albert was looking for a classy venue to launch Canada’s first indoor golf school so he leased the basement of Montreal’s Ritz Carlton Hotel in 1916. He had already invented several golf aids to go along with his lessons and he would operate his winter golf schools in various locations around Montreal for the next 25 years.

Albert’s interest in golf course architecture developed early on and by 1915 the younger Murray had already laid out 10 courses, some with Charlie, including the Kanawaki and Whitlock golf clubs. He would go on to design or remodel more than 60 courses, spanning a professional career of the same length.

With the outbreak of the First World War, patriotic golf matches for the Red Cross Relief Fund were established. This was the first time spectators paid to watch professionals play golf in North America. The Murray brothers, teamed up against the best pros of the day, were undefeated in their matches. Undeterred, in 1918, the Toronto Mail and Empire reported that multiple Canadian Amateur champion, George Lyon and professional Percy Barrett had challenged the Murray brothers for a match at Weston Golf & Country Club in Toronto, “with a side bet of $500.00 or $1000.00.”

The pro game was becoming lucrative, and in May of 1922, the Vancouver Sun reported that Charles and Albert Murray were the highest paid professional golfers in Canada. Charles had just turned down an offer from E.B. Mclean, publisher of the Washington Post, to be his personal coach and head pro at a private course he was building in Florida. In turning down the offer, Charlie was firm in his loyalty to the members of Royal Montreal where he had been head professional since 1905.

Instead Charlie became the first head professional of the newly designed Donald Ross course, Gulf Stream, in Delray Beach, Fla., beating out a number of outstanding U.S. professionals for the coveted position at this uber-exclusive club.

A devoted father to his three sons, Charlie’s routine for nine years was to head with his family to Florida in late fall to take up residence for the high season at the Gulf Stream club, returning in time to open the season at Royal Montreal. It was at Gulf Stream that Charlie established a North American reputation, breaking course records in matches at area clubs and hosting the golfing stars of the day.

Meanwhile, younger brother Albert was head pro at the Country Club of Montreal where he had designed their first course in 1910. Two years earlier Albert had captured his first Canadian Open at 20, establishing a record as the youngest winner that still stands 109 year later. Charlie maintains the most top 10 finishes in the Open, two better than Jack Nicklaus.

Murrays Reigned Supreme In Early Era read the headline in the Montreal Star in 1967 when they interviewed Albert. The “Yellow Course,” the first municipal course in Quebec designed by the brothers was the first time a public course was chosen to host an Open championship in North America. Now in his 70s, Albert shook his head at the modern stars of Nicklaus, Palmer and Player, saying the game had completely changed since their days of golfing, then paused and with a wink said “but the hole is still the same size.”

Ian Murray, a grandson of Albert, is currently writing a book on the Murray Brothers in Golf’s ‘Golden Age.’

PORTLAND, Ore. – Helene Chartrand of Pincourt, Qué., who finished as a co-medalist, will lead six Canadians on to the Round of 32 at the 56th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship.

Chartrand won the first four holes and never trailed in her 6-and-5 win over American Nanette Seman.

“Nannette had a rough time starting, so it’s tough to come back from there,” said Chartrand, 61, who won the 2014 Canadian Women’s Senior Championship and finished runner-up in 2016. “If I’ve learned one thing in golf, it’s that you can never sit on a lead. You never want to let your competitor come back. That’s what I tried to do with some good shots where I forced her to make pars, and unfortunately for her, she missed putts.”

Chartrand has played in six consecutive U.S. Senior Women’s Amateurs and made a quarterfinals appearance in 2014, losing 1 down to champion Joan Higgins. She will be joined by five other Canadian players in the Round of 32, including Mary Ann Hayward, the 2005 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, and Judith Kyrinis, the 2014 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur runner-up. Hayward defeated M.K. Thanos-Zordani, 4 and 2, and Kyrinis ousted Jen Holland, 6 and 4, in the first round.

“These greens remind me of home – a lot of undulations and up-and-down reads,” said Kyrinis. “So, I get them and feel really comfortable on them. I sunk some fairly lengthy putts today. Anytime you birdie No. 3, that’s a real bonus.”

Rounding out the list of six Canadians advancing are Marie-Therese Torti, Terrill Samuel and Jackie Little.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, open to female amateurs age 50 and older with a Handicap Index not exceeding 18.4, consists of 36 holes of stroke play, with the low 64 players advancing to match play. The championship, scheduled to conclude with an 18-hole final on Thursday, is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.