From zero to full in 40 seconds, and other strange tales from the 2020 golf season
Tim O’Connor is a golf and performance coach, writer and author of four books, co-host of the Swing Thoughts podcast, and webinar presenter. He is the 2020 winner of the Lorne Rubenstein Media Award given by Golf Ontario. tim@oconnorgolf.ca]]>
Golf in 2020: Looking back on a year you'll never forget
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“We’re going to look back on 2020 and say, ‘amongst all the challenges, amongst a lot of really difficult situations for so many people, golf was a bright light that we built from,’” Applebaum said.For example, the COVID-19 Golf Relief Fund initiated by Golf Canada and the Canadian Golf Foundation raised more than $400,000. The fund subsidizes non-medical personal protective equipment for golf course employees as well as sanitization, hygiene and protective material expenses. It also subsidizes rounds of golf for front-line workers as well as juniors. What follows are some of the top golf-related stories from 2020, a very different year. These are just some of the headlines. Details on these stories and many others are available under News on the Golf Canada website.
January
The new World Handicap System came into effect with the goal of making the game more enjoyable by providing a consistent means of measuring performance and progress and to enable golfers of differing abilities to compete or play a casual round with anyone else on a fair and equal basis. Jared du Toit, a member of Golf Canada’s Young Pro Squad, won the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Qualifying Tournament Mexico.Grace McCann of Windsor, Ont., a past president of the former Canadian Ladies’ Golf Association, passed away at the age of 85. The Golf Journalists Association of Canada named Brooke Henderson (female professional), Corey Conners (male professional), Garrett Rank (male amateur) and Brigitte Thibault (female amateur) as players of the year for 2019.#TeamCanada’s @Jareddutoit finishes at 22 under to claim medalist honours at @PGATOURLA Q-School, earning fully exempt status ? pic.twitter.com/UOWNokr13U
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) January 18, 2020
February
Charlie Beaulieu of Lorraine, Que., was elected for a second term at Golf Canada’s annual meeting. Liz Hoffman of Thornhill, Ont., and Dale Jackson of Victoria remain as first and second vice-president respectively. Bill MacMillan of Eastern Passage, N.S., received the Bruce Mitchell Volunteer of the Year Award. Volunteer Richard Smith of Regina and golf journalist Ian Hutchison of Newmarket, Ont., received Golf Canada’s Distinguished Service Award. Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-L’lle-Perrot, Que., a graduate of Team Canada’s National Junior Squad, won the NCAA’s Gold Rush tournament in California. Golf Canada named the 2020 Young Pro Squads: Hugo Bernard, Jared du Toit, Stuart Macdonald, Taylor Pendrith, Chris Crisologo and Joey Savoie for the men and Jaclyn Lee, Brittany Marchand and Maddie Szeryk for the women.View this post on Instagram
March
As the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped not only Canada but the world, governments ordered the shutdown of non-essential businesses, which in most provinces included golf courses. The Summer Olympics, scheduled to begin in July in Tokyo, are postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic. They will still be called the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, however.April
Canadian Scott Pritchard, previously vice-president of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, is promoted to executive director.May
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, most golf courses across Canada did not open on schedule this spring. Although those in British Columbia were never ordered to close, those in other provinces were shuttered until they were allowed to open when stringent anti-COVID safeguards were in place. New Brunswick courses opened April 24 with the balance of the provinces following suit throughout the month of May. Golf Canada announced the formation of the Golf Industry Advisory Council, a volunteer group of experienced professionals to support Golf Canada’s Board of Directors and management team. The council will include course owners, operators, general managers, superintendents and professionals as well as executives from the golf equipment, apparel and footwear industry. Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame announced Lorie Kane of Charlottetown was among six athletes and five builders who will receive the Order of Sports award, Canada’s highest sporting honour.The Prince Edward Island Golf Association named Alison Griffin as its new executive director. The PGA TOUR announced that it would resume without spectators in June. The Tour had suspended play since The Players Championship was cancelled in March.BIG round of applause for @loriekanelpga, who was announced as an inductee into @sportshall class of 2020/21 ????
Congrats to all inductees! ??https://t.co/WDFgBToJg1 — Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) May 27, 2020
June
Despite months of planning, the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the founding of Golf Canada on June 6, 1895, also fell victim to the pandemic. Nevertheless, the historic occasion was commemorated virtually with pivotal moments in Canadian golf being recalled on social media platforms using the hashtag #GolfCanada125. Golf Canada announces that St. George’s Golf and Country Club will play host to the 2021 RBC Canadian Open. The 2020 championship, scheduled for St. George’s, was cancelled due to the pandemic.July
Team Canada’s Brigitte Thibault of Rosemere, Que., won the Women’s Western Amateur in Illinois. The LPGA Tour announced it would resume July 31 without spectators after having suspended play in February.August
Golf Canada and Canadian Pacific announced that Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club will play host to the 2022 CP Women’s Open.The Golf Canada Women in Coaching Program, a partnership between Golf Canada and the PGA of Canada with the goal of putting the sport on the path to further balance between the sexes at a high level, was announced. The new and free Golf Canada app was launched, allowing golfers nationwide to record and track their scores, trace where they have played and provide detailed game statistics as a game improvement tool. https://twitter.com/GolfCanada/status/1307001584820330500 The PGA TOUR announced that the 2024 Presidents Cup will return to The Royal Montreal Golf Club. The event, which pits the top male pros from the U.S. against the best from the rest of the world (except Britain and Europe), was held there in 2007. Golf Canada and U.S.-based First Tee announced the launch of First Tee-Canada. The partnership will bring First Tee’s youth development emphasis to strengthen Golf Canada’s junior golf activities —previously conducted under the Future Links brand — that reach kids in schools and at golf facilities. The innovative First Tee curriculum will focus on empowering young people to build strength of character through the game of golf.View this post on Instagram
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September
The third annual CP Women’s Leadership Summit, held virtually due to the pandemic, provided inspiring stories and a networking opportunity along with accepting donations for the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation. Hosted by TSN anchor Lindsay Hamilton, speakers included golfers Lorie Kane and Brooke Henderson, Olympians Marnie McBean and Perdita Felicien and other prominent women in leadership positions. “It was a success story for us,” said Mary Beth McKenna, assistant RBC Canadian Open tournament director who has co-led the event since it began. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCxNbGnzwAM The Golf Journalists Association of Canada announced that Kim Locke of Toronto, founder and president of SCOREGolf, was the 2020 recipient of the Dick Grimm Award. The association’s highest honour is awarded in memory of the late Richard Grimm whose legendary service to the RBC Canadian Open and the Canadian golf industry remains unparalleled. Laurent Desmarchais of Bromont, Que., a member of Team Canada’s junior squad, went wire-to-wire to win the season-ending Canada Life Series Championship at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley.October
PGA TOUR Champions rookie Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont., had victory in sight leading by three strokes heading into the final round of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Virginia but fellow rookie Phil Mickelson denied him the win. It was Weir’s third top-10 finish in eight starts on the tour. PGA of Canada member Jennifer Greggain of Chilliwack, B.C., was named coach of the National Junior Squads by Golf Canada, working with head coach Robert Ratliffe. Findlay Young of Prince George, B.C., a former Golf Canada president and honourary life governor, passed away at the age of 92.November
Twenty-nine athletes, male and female, were named by Golf Canada to represent Team Canada as part of the 2021 national Amateur and Junior Squads. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all athletes from the 2020 squad were able to return in 2021, provided they met team eligibility criteria. Aaron Cockerill of Stone Mountain, Man., finished T4 at the JoBurg Open in South Africa, his best career finish on the European Tour. The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) report, conducted on behalf of the national Allied Golf Associations (We Are Golf), was released. Among its findings were that the Canadian golf industry generated $18.2 billion in economic benefits, employs the equivalent of nearly 249,000 people through direct and spin-off effects and contributed to $10.6 billion in household income. https://twitter.com/GolfCanada/status/1323327060404850697 Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., finished in a tie for 10th at the Masters, which was postponed from its traditional April date due to the pandemic. That finish guaranteed him a spot in the 2021 Masters.Golf Genius Software, the leading worldwide provider of tournament management solutions, announced that Golf Canada and the provincial golf associations will begin using Golf Genius Tournament Management for their competitions in 2021.View this post on Instagram
So while what lies ahead for 2021 remains unclear, we can only hope that when we compile next year’s “Year in Review,” life as we know it will have returned to a semblance of normality, on the course and off.]]>
Happy Holidays from Golf NB
On behalf of all of the Volunteers & Staff of Golf New Brunswick, we would like to wish you and your families a very joyful Holiday Season and all the best for a successful, happy and healthy 2021!
Golf NB Holiday Office Closure
Tuesday, December 22, 2020, from 2:00 pm to
Monday, January 4, 2021, at 9:00 am
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Why golf may have been Canada's sport of the year in turbulent 2020
It feels strange for something to be celebrated in 2020 — questionable, almost. How? Why? But there’s no doubt in my mind that in Canada these last 12 months, golf was the sport of the year.
“When you look at it from a grassroots perspective — we were able to play. We had one of the most memorable years and more people played golf than in our recorded history, which is an amazing thing,” Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum told Sportsnet.
“When we sat here after the first quarter of the year, we really weren’t sure when things were going to happen … and then we were able to play. We were able to play safely. We were able to play robustly. And all of a sudden we became one of the things people really looked forward to with friends, family, and colleagues.”
Unlike in America, there is no organization here that oversees and tracks rounds played. However, Golf Canada has an online portal where its members can enter scores, and in 2020 they were entering them in record numbers. All of June, July, August, September and October broke previous high marks. Outside of golf-travel companies and courses that sit close to the U.S.-Canada border and rely on American traffic, it was a great year for the sport in terms of who played, and how much.
Applebaum said he and his team were very aware of the economic, physical, and mental hardships so many had to endure this year. That’s why, he said, he felt more responsible for golfers’ safety in 2020.
“People returned to the game, they came to the game for the first time, and the golf courses around the country did an amazing job in welcoming people safely to the tee in a way that we’ve never seen before,” said Applebaum.
One thing that didn’t happen in 2020, however, was the playing of the RBC Canadian Open and CP Women’s Open. The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada also cancelled its 2020 campaign.
Despite the Toronto Raptors playing out of Tampa, Fla., and rumours swirling that the NHL will have an all-Canadian division in its upcoming season, Applebaum said the organization is still focused on hosting the RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s Golf and Country Club (in Toronto) and the CP Women’s Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club (in Vancouver) in 2021.
“All of our energy is towards these two great sites, and working with officials at every level – city, provincial and federal – to make that a reality,” said Applebaum.
Still, Applebaum said there was plenty for Canadian golf fans to cheer about in 2020 in terms of professional golf.
The sport was one of the first to return to action and, despite a handful of positive tests, the travelling roadshow pressed on. New tournaments were added on both the LPGA Tour and PGA Tour, timelines were pivoted, and golf was played.
The PGA Tour was also the first major sports league to announce its schedule for 2021.
Applebaum’s top three moments of 2020 were seeing four Canadians tee it up at the Masters together (especially after Nick Taylor’s second career PGA Tour victory in February); Brooke Henderson playing so well at the majors (the LPGA Tour’s final two events of the year are happening in mid-December); and to see Mackenzie Hughes go on a wonderful run in the second half of the year, making it to the Tour Championship.
Taylor’s second PGA Tour victory – which came in February at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after a Sunday battle with Phil Mickelson – all but guaranteed him a spot in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. Everyone with two or more PGA Tour victories are already elected members.
Hughes missed nine of his first 11 cuts to start the season, but he finished runner-up at The Honda Classic right before the three-month COVID-19 break. After that he missed only one cut the rest of the way and had five top-15 finishes to end the season.
He and his wife, Jenna, just welcomed their second child (a son, Cohen Alan) to the family, and Hughes said he can look back on the season-that-was with confidence.
“I started to get on rolls and get momentum going and confidence built up. From there I just started playing golf and not thinking about too many things,” said Hughes of his hot streak.
Hughes’ mom, Sandra, is a nurse back in Hamilton, Ont., and he said he spent the year admiring her and the efforts from all the front-line workers. During the COVID-19 break he said he was able to take on new perspectives from being forced to be home for a long period of time – something he doesn’t get to do as a professional golfer.
Looking ahead to 2021, he’s already excited at the opportunity to tee it up at the Masters, and to keep tightening the screws on a couple parts of his game that he said need improvement.
For the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, Hughes was in the top 10 in two key short-game statistical categories, but he was 168th and 172nd in two key long-game categories.
“I look at the stats and I’m very aware of them, but I know the most important stat is your score,” said Hughes. “There are areas to be better at, but I still had this great season.
“I just need to hit it like my pal Corey Conners, and [keep] putting and chipping the way I am and I should be all set.”
