Vancouver Native Stuart Macdonald Has A Lot On The Line At This Week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship - Image Courtesy Korn Ferry Tour

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Stuart Macdonald hopes to treat it like any other week, but of course it is not.

This week’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship in Newburgh, Ind., has life-changing implications for Macdonald and so many others who will tee it up in the final event of the season.

Twenty-five PGA TOUR cards will be handed out to the top-performing players in the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals. Macdonald is in the hunt as the 26-year-old Vancouver native sits 30th heading into the Tour Championship.

Kevin Stinson Of Mission Will Be One To Watch In The Vancouver Open This Week - Image Credit VGT

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The Vancouver Open was born back in 2007, when Phil Jonas won what was then a two-day event held at University Golf Club. Fifteen years later, the Vancouver Golf Tour’s flagship event has produced a rich history that will be added to this weekend when it is played at the three City of Vancouver municipal courses.

A record field of 312 players will compete Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Fraserview, McCleery and Langara. “It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years,” says VGT commissioner Fraser Mulholland. “It has gone by way faster than expected.”

BC's Roger Sloan Came Through Big To Make The Playoffs And Keep His PGA TOUR Status For Next Year - YouTube Screen Grab photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The biggest week of his golfing life didn’t start quite the way Merritt’s Roger Sloan had hoped. There were more bogeys than birdies in his opening round of the Wyndham Championship and Sloan knew that had to change in a hurry. Thankfully, it did and things turned out better than he could have imagined.

“This was such an incredible week,” Sloan said over the phone after losing in a six-man playoff at the Wyndham Championship. “I had some jitters knowing what had to be done this week when I teed off on Thursday and I think I was three-over through 11 holes and at that point there’s nothing left to lose. That just freed me up a little bit and we were able to play 18-under the rest of the way and get ourselves in a playoff. So a really cool story and just a really cool week here.”

Image Courtesy PGA TOUR

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada circuit has released an eight-event schedule for Canadian-based players that concludes with tournaments in Kelowna and Victoria in late September and early October.

The schedule touches both coasts as it includes two tournaments in Prince Edward Island in late August and early September.

The schedule begins July 29 - Aug. 1 with the Mackenzie Investments Open in Blainville, Que. It concludes Sept. 31 - Oct. 3 with the DCBank Open presented by Times-Colonist at Uplands Golf Club in Victoria.

The GolfBC Championship at Gallagher’s Canyon in Kelowna goes Sept. 23-26. The tour’s regular Vancouver-area event will not be played this year.

BC's Adam Hadwin Has Qualified To Play In The U.S. Open At Torrey Pines Next Week - File Photo

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin has played his way into what will be his sixth U.S. Open Championship.

Hadwin returned Tuesday morning to finish his 36-hole qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, which had been delayed by weather on Monday. Hadwin had just one hole left to play. He made a par to finish at seven-under par and in a four-way tie for ninth spot.

Sixteen players advanced from the Columbus site and earned a spot in the U.S. Open, which will be played June 17-20 at Torrey Pines’ South Course in La Jolla, Calif.

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

For the second straight year, the CP Women’s Open scheduled for Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver has been cancelled. 

The LPGA event, which had been set for Aug. 26-29, is once again a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current border and quarantine restrictions.

Golf Canada and tournament sponsor Canadian Pacific made the announcement late Wednesday afternoon.

Stuart Macdonald Is A Proud Member Of Point Grey Golf Club In Vancouver - Image Courtesy Stuart Macdonald/Twitter @stuart_mac_golf

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Golf is a numbers game and on the Korn Ferry Tour two very important numbers are 25 and 75.

Finish inside the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, where Surrey’s Adam Svensson currently resides, and you earn yourself a promotion to the PGA TOUR. 

Right now, Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald is focused on that other number: 75.

Players finishing the season inside the top 75 are guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour status for the following year. And they also get to participate in three post-season events where 25 more PGA TOUR cards are up for grabs.

With The Masters about to tee it up in a couple of days, we thought it might be interesting to read why one prognosticator includes at least one Canadian in his top 10 picks for players 'Most Likely To Win The Masters'- ed.

By Rich Hunt/golfwrx.com

Each year for the Masters, I create a filtering process to help determine the players who are most likely to win the green jacket based on criteria that have strongly predicted outcomes at Augusta. I usually get the list down to roughly 20-25 players.

Last year, Dustin Johnson was one of my 21 players who could win the Masters. Dustin was at 9/1 odds. The other top finishers, like Cameron Smith and Sung Jae Im, were filtered out unlike previous years where players that were in contention were typically shortlisted. My theory on that is that due to the tournament being played in November, the course was not playing as firm and as fast as it normally does, and that allowed players who typically do not get through my filter to get into contention.

Before I discuss my picks for this year’s Masters....

Click HERE to see full article

The PGA Tour Champions Is SetTo Hold A 3-way Cup For All Parts Of The World - Image Courtesy World Champions Cup

CHICAGO (MARCH 16, 2021) – A unique and exciting new professional golf competition is ready to take the world stage, as sports media and marketing firm Intersport announced the creation of the World Champions Cup, scheduled to debut in the fall of 2022.

Inspired by the passion and tradition of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the World Champions Cup will be a first-of-its-kind golf tournament featuring Team USA, Team Europe and Team World squaring off over three days of competition that will renew some of the game’s most storied rivalries as the teams battle for international pride and global bragging rights.

Victoria, BC's Jeevan Sihota - Image Credit Jurgen Kaminski (JKam Photos)/BC Golf

By  BRENTLEY ROMINE/golfchannel.com

Bryson DeChambeau's thought of driving it over the lake and into the ninth fairway while playing No. 18 this week at TPC Sawgrass isn't unprecedented.

The aggressive line is already known as “The Sihota Line.”

Last September at the AJGA Junior Players Championship, Jeevan Sihota, a high-school junior from Victoria, British Columbia, played the Stadium Course's par-4 finishing hole down the ninth all three days.

“It’s a lot wider target to hit,” Sihota told GolfChannel.com on Tuesday. “I knew I had speeds capable of doing it, so I figured why not? It leaves you a better angle into the green and basically takes the water out of play.”

Click HERE to read complete story...

Courtesy Golf Canada

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA AND TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA – Due to logistical challenges related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA TOUR, title sponsor Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Golf Canada announced today that the 2021 RBC Canadian Open, scheduled for June 7-13 at St. George’s Golf & Country Club in Etobicoke, Ontario, has been cancelled.

“Even with an extensive health and safety plan in place, we faced a number of significant logistical challenges that led us to this decision,” said PGA TOUR President Tyler Dennis. “While we are disappointed to cancel Canada’s National Championship, we are thankful to our partners RBC and Golf Canada – along with our Canadian fans — for their unwavering support and cooperation throughout this process. We look forward to the RBC Canadian Open returning to our schedule next year.”

O Canada! Roger Sloan's outdoor rink at his home in Houston, Texas - Image Courtesy Roger Sloan 

The following is an excerpt from Postmedia National Golf Writer Jon McCarthy’s Monday Morning Golf newsletter.

by Jon McCarthy/Toronto Sun

You can take a Canadian out of Canada, but you can’t take Canada out of a Canadian. 

With all the news of snowstorms, blackouts and varying states of emergency coming out of Texas, it seemed like a good time to check in with our man in the Lone Star state, PGA Tour player Roger Sloan.

After missing the cut at Pebble Beach two weeks ago, he was anxious to get home to Houston and see if the forecasted winter weather was actually going to show up. He thought it might be fun for his two young kids to see snow on the ground in the backyard, something that happens maybe once a decade.

“We thought it would be cool but we really didn’t know what we were getting into,” Sloan said.

Click HEREto read full article...

Current LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan Will Become The USGA CEO Starting In Summer 2021 - Image Courtesy LPGA Tour

Via Press Release

LIBERTY CORNER, N.J. (Feb. 17, 2021) – The USGA announced today that Mike Whan will join the organization this summer as CEO, and will become the eighth top executive in USGA history.

Last month, Whan announced his intention to step down as LPGA Commissioner in 2021, after his organization completes a search for the next Commissioner. His transition follows an impressive 11 years at the helm of the LPGA, during which the organization experienced historic growth in virtually every aspect of the business.

Nick Taylor, Wife Andie And Their Apparently Unimpressed Young Son Charlie Posed Following Taylor's Win At Pebble Beach Last Year - Image Courtesy Twitter

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

The memories figure to last a lifetime, so one year after the biggest win of his professional career Nick Taylor has no difficulty recalling some of the most special moments of that magical week on the Monterey Peninsula.

One of the best was having his wife Andie and their young son Charlie waiting for him behind the 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links after he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Kamaiu Johnson Will Realize A Lifelong Dream When He Tees It Up This Week At Torrey Pines - Image Courtesy Kamaiu Johnson/Twitter

By Tod Leonard / Golfdigest.com

The story of Kamaiu Johnson’s improbable journey to his PGA TOUR debut in this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines has to begin with the stick. Not a golf club. A real, honest-to-goodness stick. One that blew off a tree.

If Johnson, a slightly built teenager, had not been swinging a stick near his apartment on the perimeter of the Haliman Golf Course in Tallahassee, Fla., in 2007, Jan Auger would never have noticed him.

Click HERE for complete story...

This Is The Fifth Operation The 45-Year Old Woods Has Had On His Back And The First Since A Spinal-Fusion Surgery In April 2017 - Image Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

By Daniel Rapaport / Golfdigest.com

Tiger Woods’ 2021 season is on hold after he announced that he underwent a microdiscectomy procedure on his back to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching a nerve.

He is expected to be sidelined through at least the first two-plus months of the year and will miss both the Farmers Insurance Open and the Genesis Invitational, where he doubles as tournament host.

Click here to read the full story...

BC's Nick Taylor Used His Knowledge Of The Rules In The Sony Open To Get Relief From This Situation By Stating He Would Play It Left-Handed - Image Courtesy Golf Rules Questions YouTube Video Grab

In the second round of the Sony Open, on the 503-yard, par-5 9th at Waialae Country Club, Nick Taylor hit his drive left and off the tall netting that separates the driving range from the hole, and his ball dropped inches outside of out-of-bounds fence posts below.

Abbotsford's Nick Taylor Had A Solid Tournament At The Sony Open In Hawai Finishing With A T11 - File Photo Image Credit VGT/Fraser Mulholland

By Brad Ziemer/British Columbia Golf

SO CLOSE AT SONY: Nick Taylor didn’t have quite the weekend he’d hoped for, but still tied for 11th at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Taylor entered the weekend with a two-shot lead after firing an eight-under 62 in Friday’s second round.

He closed with weekend rounds of 68 and 67 on the par-70 Waialae Country Club layout in Honolulu to finish the event at 17-under par, four shots behind winner Kevin Na.

Sunday’s finish was Taylor’s best on the PGA TOUR since winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am nearly one year ago. Taylor earned $153,450 on Sunday and completed a nice two-week visit to Hawaii.

He tied for 29th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua’s Plantation course in Maui the previous week.

A Happy, Smiling, Maddox Hadwin Celebrated Her 1st Birthday Last Week - Image Courtesy Jessica & Adam Hadwin

By Brad Ziemer, British Columbia Golf

Adam Hadwin and his wife Jessica recently celebrated the first birthday of their daughter Maddox, a day in which they reflected on not only the joy she has brought to their lives but the struggle they faced bringing her into the world.

Adam and Jessica went through many ups and downs, including two failed pregnancies, in their attempts to start a family.

With the help of in vitro fertilization (IVF), Maddox arrived on January 8, 2020. The struggles they endured and the fact they were in a financial position to use IVF led the Hadwins to think about trying to help others facing similar challenges. Late last year they started The Hadwin Family Foundation.

Mike Whan Is The LPGA’s Eighth – And Longest-Serving – Commissioner. He Joined The LPGA In 2010 - Image Courtesy LPGA

Written by LPGA Tour Communications - Courtesy Golf Canada

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Jan. 6, 2021 – After completing his 11th year as LPGA Commissioner, Mike Whan has notified the LPGA Board of Directors that he has made the difficult decision to transition out of the LPGA in 2021.

While no firm date has been set for his departure, this announcement begins the start of a thorough and thoughtful Commissioner succession process.