Novelist Paul Theroux once said: “Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” He could never have imagined just how true those words would ring right now.

Not that we have much choice. Most of us, the sensible ones that is, are staying home because of the pandemic and the precautions imposed to prevent its spread. Kudos to us.

So what’s a golfer to do? We’re mired in a Canadian winter with travel south of the border restricted and limited opportunities to congregate at public golf simulators, ranges or other golf-related activities.

Don’t despair!

If you don’t have the space, budget or inclination to have a home simulator, there are myriad options to pass the time … “prepare” as Theroux suggested … until, hopefully, golf courses across Canada reopen in spring. Online instruction, social media, podcasts (what?) … even, dare I say, books and magazines … all not only can improve your game but boost your spirits as well.

READ

As an author myself, I may be biased but I enjoy turning the pages of a book or magazine. My special area of interest is course architecture so, after rereading the essentials yet again, I look for Canadian authors. Keith Cutten’s The Evolution of Golf Course Design is a fascinating deep dive into the broader question of not just how course design evolved but why. James Harris’s Stanley Thompson and Icons of Canada has no equal in its in-depth examination of Canada’s most iconic architect as a master of his craft and a man. Although not Canadian and actually intended for green committee members and club managers, many of whom (wrongly) think they are qualified for DIY projects on a multi-million-dollar course, Designs on a Better Golf Course (published by the American Society of Golf Course Architects) is a must-read for armchair architects as well as folks whose hobby is second-guessing their course’s superintendent. For pure “golf porn,” there are few better options than Catalogue 18, a luxurious magazine published in Toronto featuring awesome photography and text from around the world.

WATCH VIDEO TIPS

We were all thankful when the PGA TOUR and LPGA Tour returned to TV in January but if you need more than entertainment and climate envy, there are hundreds of videos on social media, many from PGA of Canada instructors. Derek Ingram, Team Canada’s Men’s Head Coach, posts indoor tips on Instagram. Women’s Head Coach Tristan Mullally offers helpful hints on Twitter. (Just between you and me, Ingram and Mullally are collaborating on an upcoming project that distills their extensive experience into instruction for folks like you and me. Stay tuned.

 

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PRACTICE

Once you’ve looked at those videos, you’ll want to practice, so order a putting mat and/or chipping net online. My Golf Spy picked the BirdieBall 4×14 as its best putting mat but the company has a variety of customizable products. Lots of other companies make comparable mats at various price points and in a full range of sizes. A chipping net is a compact and convenient way to hone your short game at a reasonable price. My choice would be the GoSports Chipster. It’s about $60, includes three nets of various sizes and can be used indoors with foam balls or outside with real golf balls.

CONNECT

Find some (virtual) friends with common interests. I’m a member of the Stanley Thompson Society and the Golf Historical Society of Canada. If you’re interested in the history of the game in this country and/or being a collector of anything golf, the GHSC is a fantastic resource.

FANTASY GOLF

Fantasy pools, such as PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, can be a blast if you need some heated competition to warm you up during the winter. Or you can organize your own fantasy league using online resources and invite your friends and colleagues to participate.

VIDEO GAMES

You may not have access to that Golden Tee game down at the local pub but you can order the home edition if you’re addicted. More affordable options are video games such as the highly rated PGA TOUR 2K21. Golf nut Shawn Bell of Kelowna, B.C., has not only played the game since its first release several years ago but has actually designed a course for it. He says he enjoys the experience for many reasons including the fact that “it provides me with an outlet to spend time thinking about and playing the game I enjoy so much. There is also the ability to play with others live which is pretty cool. Played a round with an acquaintance in Ireland the other night. It was fun and a social interaction, playing golf, that would otherwise be impossible.”

PODCASTS

If, like me, you were late to the world of podcasts, a podcast is a conversation or discussion you can download to your personal device and listen to at your leisure. Makes for great company when you’re walking the dog or when you’re just hankering for the sound of someone else’s voice. (Although I do get some odd glances when I bark back at them when they don’t share my own—indisputably correct—opinion.) There are lots of terrific golf podcasts including some with great Canadian content that I subscribe to like Flagstick.com’s TeeTalk, Golf Talk Canada and Swing Thoughts with Tim O’Connor and “Humble” Howard Glassman.

And, remember, in the words of Ernest Hemingway,

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be the happiest.”

That won’t be a problem for us golfers!

Just how busy were golf courses across Canada in 2020?

Early one morning at the beginning of the season, Stephen Jardeleza positioned himself in front of his computer at GreyHawk Golf Club. On his screen was a blank tee sheet for the Ottawa club where he is the Director of Operations.

In a few minutes, the computerized tee-times reservation system would open for members to begin booking tee times for the upcoming Saturday. Up for grabs were 130 tee times across the club’s 36 holes, which, if fully booked, would work out to 520 golfers.

At 7 a.m., the tee sheet came alive. “In 40 seconds, our tee sheet was fully booked,” Jardeleza said. “And this happened every day.”

The 2020 golf season—and the year—will go down in infamy as one of the strangest that most of us will ever experience.

Faced with a mysterious and deadly nemesis, golf provided a beacon of badly needed joy amid fear and frustration. We were smitten. We couldn’t get enough golf.

“It didn’t matter that there was a worldwide pandemic,” said Simon Bevan, General Manager of Riverbend Golf Club in London. “Golf was like a drug. We all wanted to hit the little white ball.”

Now that the season has ended, the golf club industry in Canada is celebrating a record year in which rounds skyrocketed to historic proportions. Thousands of people took up golf—some for the first time, and some came back to the game—and veteran golfers played more than they ever have.

But right out of the be-careful-what-you-wish-for playbook, the industry faced the challenge of how to mollify established golfers frustrated that they could no longer get to the first tee when they wanted.

Back in April, with cities around the world looking like ghost towns, and major league sports and the PGA TOUR shut down, golfers held on to a slender thread of hope that a golf season might be possible.

By early May, golfers in Ontario and Quebec had endured two months of a gruelling lockdown, made worse by a tantalizingly warm spring that screamed golf. Golfers ached for their game. A friend said, “Golfers can distance. I play golf with people. I don’t dance with them.”

After weeks of consultation with the golf industry on safety measures, the Ontario government said courses could open May 16. Quebec set May 20 as its opening day.

Golf clubs had only a few days to finish their preparations in order to keep golfers safe. Staff removed ball washers, water coolers, benches and outfitted flagsticks with doo-hickeys that allowed you to extricate your ball without having to touch the stick.

Held back from their usual start to the season, golfers were ravenous. On May 15—the first day that tee times could be booked—thousands of ClubLink Members went online to reserve their tee times at 7 a.m., causing the system to crash.

Many technology platforms serving the golf industry were overwhelmed. When Golf Ontario opened its online tournament registration on June 24, 17,000 people visited its site in a matter of minutes, causing it to crash for the first time in its history, according to executive director Mike Kelly.

On those first wonderful days of the 2020 golf season, golfers were over the moon to play and golf club personnel were cautiously nervous.

“We were hoping that members wouldn’t contract the virus just from touching things,” said Paul Carrothers, Director of Golf at Royal Ottawa Golf Club.

Thousands of golfers wanted to play the game—not just because they are an extremely obsessive bunch—but also to escape the same four walls at home. Without having to travel for work or commute, working from home also afforded many golfers the freedom to play when they wanted. More or less.

With offices and schools closed, and nearly every other option for having fun shut down, golf became the ‘it’ activity. Spouses, friends and kids who had not tried golf, and those who had given up the game, were playing.

“Almost all of the guys that I played slow-pitch with every Tuesday for 20 years were now playing golf,” said Kevin Thistle, CEO of the PGA of Canada. “The way we play golf, work, watch sports—it’s all changing, and forcing us to adapt.”

From the once-a-year golfer to the 100-rounds-plus player, everyone played more—and wanted more.

“Players who would normally play 30 to 40 rounds played 70 to 80 rounds,” said Adam Tobin, Director of Golf at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge.

Even with most corporate events cancelled at most clubs, tee times became a precious commodity.

By the end of June, Canadians had played more than 1.5 million rounds during the month, an increase of 17 per cent over June 2019. And that’s a monumental feat folks when you consider June is THE busiest and best month to play. For an industry that faced media reports a few years earlier that it was declining, business was booming.

But for avid golfers who routinely play three or more rounds a week and were used to convenient tee times, it was not all sunshine and rainbows.

“There was a lot of frustration,” said Jason Wyatt, Head Professional at Sunningdale Golf & Country Club in London, where demand shot up 52 percent over 2019 with the same number of members. “There were people who wanted an 8 a.m. time but had to settle for hours later.”

Even playing ‘executive’ or nine-hole courses was a challenge. “There were times that we had six groups lined up to play our nine-hole course,” said Dennis Firth, Head Professional at Royal Montreal which experienced a 30 percent increase in rounds over 2019. “It was unprecedented.”

As a golfer, and the fellow in charge of tracking golfers across the country for Golf Canada, Adam Helmer said he could no longer just head out to play. He had to become organized in scheduling his golf.

“A downside of golf being so popular was that not everyone was able to get the tee time they wanted,” said Helmer, senior director of Golf Services for Golf Canada.

The problem was simple. Demand for tee times appeared limitless, but every course has a finite number of holes and daylight. And to keep golfers from getting too close to one another, most clubs spaced out tee times, which meant fewer golfers on the course.

John Finlayson, Chief Operating Officer of ClubLink, says that—as a general rule of thumb—a private golf club with 18 holes carries about 400 full dues-paying members to sustain its business.

But even in June when the days are longest, there’s only enough room to accommodate about 225 golfers. “If 300 people want to play that course that day, you have a problem,” said Finlayson, whose ClubLink courses saw a 29 percent increase in rounds in 2020 compared with 2019.

Many private clubs responded by restricting the number of guests that members could bring, and restricted access for certain classes of memberships.

“To make room for our full members, we had to restrict our legacy and out-of-town members,” said Ian Leggatt, General Manager of Summit Golf Club in Richmond Hill. “We had to communicate to them that these are unusual times,” said Leggatt, who has since moved to the same position at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

Initially, Leggatt and other senior club managers wondered if golfers would “drift from the game” because they couldn’t socialize in the clubhouse restaurant afterwards,

and the on-course experience was altered.

But with fewer golfers on the course, no need to rake bunkers, and single riders on carts, the speed of play improved dramatically.

“The measures were taken for safety, but it provided a better experience,” Finlayson said. “Most golfers expect to play 18 holes in 4 to 4.5 hours, but this year a 4-hour round was considered a bit slow.”

Nonetheless, many golfers were frustrated about access, and many golf clubs stepped up their communication efforts to help their members adapt.

“You couldn’t over-communicate,” Leggatt said. “This whole thing was shifting, and there was no template on how to make it work better.”

It affected everyone, including ClubLink Member and CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada, Jeff Calderwood.

“I’d jump on the computer five days in advance at 7 a.m. this fall, and there were often no times at Eagle Creek (his Home Club in Ottawa),” he said. “It illustrated the dilemma we had.”

Industry leaders such as Calderwood are thankful golf provided a silver lining during a pandemic, but they are also mindful that the industry is challenged by how it satisfies core golfers while retaining new players.

“I don’t claim to have all the answers. You could restructure and find that, perhaps with a vaccine, demand doesn’t stay so high, and then you’re not sustainable if you got it wrong.”

Mike Kelly of Golf Ontario was among the industry leaders who consulted with the Ontario government to allow clubs to open this season, and he’s grateful golfers turned a possible disaster into a banner year for golf.

As a golf administrator who represents the sport in Ontario, as well as players who want to play and have fun, Kelly says he can’t lose focus on what’s truly important.

“Our job is to provide a safe environment. That’s our No. 1 priority during this pandemic. We can’t screw this up. The game has grown and the industry will evolve, but the priority must be safety.”

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

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.

2021 NSGA Junior Pinehurst Championship – May 29 hosted by Paragon

2021 NSGA Men’s Four-Ball Championship – June 12-13 hosted by Hartlen Point

2021 NSGA Women’s Am & Sr Championship – July 2-4 hosted by Clare

2021 NSGA Junior Provincial Championship – July 6-8 hosted by Digby Pines

2021 NSGA Men’s Amateur Championship – July 9-11 hosted by Avon Valley

2021 NSGA Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship – July 23-25 hosted by Paragon

2021 NSGA Women’s Pinehurst Championship – July 27 hosted by Abercrombie

2021 NSGA Women’s Bronze Championship – August 10 hosted by Oakfield

2021 NSGA Men’s Senior Championship – August 11-13 hosted by Brightwood

2021 NSGA Men’s Senior Four-Ball Championship – August 19-20 hosted by Granite Springs

2021 NSGA University Championship – September 26 hosted by Antigonish

The Nova Scotia Golf Association announces the resignation of David Campbell, Executive Director of the NSGA. It is bittersweet but the Association is pleased for David, as he has chosen to pursue interests outside of the golf industry.

David has been the Executive Director of the NSGA for the past 15 years, and had become the face of the association.

Throughout his time at the NSGA David has managed numerous Provincial, Regional, and National Championships, and has worked closely with members, member clubs across the province, and key stakeholders at Golf Canada. He most recently navigated the NSGA and the game of golf through the unprecedented 2020 season which was COVID-19.

David embraced the challenge that COVID-19 presented to golf in Nova Scotia. His hard work and efforts collaborating with like industry stakeholders resulted in a successful 2020 season.

We will miss David’s professionalism, dynamic personality and leadership.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff of the NSGA, please join us in wishing David continued success in his future endeavours.

Sincerely,

Golf Canada is pleased to announce that Kevin Blue has joined the National Sport Federation as its new Chief Sport Officer.

A dynamic and accomplished executive, coach, and high-performance golfer, Blue joins the Executive Team of the National Sport Federation after serving nearly five years as Director of Athletics for the University of California, Davis, an NCAA Division I institute.

His responsibilities with Golf Canada as Chief Sport Officer include the oversight, management and strategic development of key functional areas including golf services with a focus on membership; high-performance player development; sport and junior programs including First Tee – Canada; amateur competitions; and governing body activities across the Rules of Golf, Handicapping, Course Rating and Amateur Status. Blue will be a lead contact with numerous provincial, national, and international stakeholders.

“Kevin brings a depth of executive leadership experience across business, education, coaching and high-performance sport, and we are thrilled to have him elevate our sport, golf services and player development activities,” said Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum. “He is a transformative leader and passionate advocate for Canadian golf who will bring tremendous energy and enthusiasm to improving the golfer, facility and athlete experience at all levels.”

For Blue, born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, the opportunity to return to Canada to champion the growth of golf was an opportunity to apply his executive leadership experiences across the sport that has been a lifelong passion.

“Golf has impacted my life in extraordinary ways,” said Blue. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to return home and help to extend the reach of our sport to more Canadians. I’m also very excited to partner with our athletes, coaches, and many others in the golf community nation-wide to continue building Canada’s global prominence in the sport we love.”

As Director of Athletics for the University of California, Davis, Blue oversaw a $41M athletic department featuring 25 collegiate teams. He led record-setting fundraising campaigns at UC Davis that supported coaching endowments, athlete scholarships, and the construction of multi-million-dollar facilities including a $52M student-athlete performance centre currently under construction. In addition to facilitating all-time academic results for student-athletes and competitive success on the field of play, he implemented a formal diversity, equity and inclusion strategy for coaches and senior-level hires as well as mandatory implicit bias training for all employees.

Prior to joining UC Davis, Blue honed his executive management skills over three years as the Senior Associate Athletic Director, External Relations with Stanford University where he had oversight of key external business units including ticket sales, sponsorships, marketing, communications, business strategy, ticket operations, fan experience, and video. As a key member of the athletic department senior executive team, he contributed to strategic planning, policy, personnel, sponsor relations, and university integration in addition to launching the Pac-12 Network at Stanford. As a Lecturer at Stanford, he taught an introductory Sport Psychology course and constructed a curriculum that surveyed topics related to peak performance, talent development and mental health. He also taught a graduate level course on Strategic Management for Sport Business at the University of San Francisco.

Other leadership roles during his time at Stanford included three years as Associate Athletic Director and two years as an Athletics Department Fellow. Prior to Stanford, Blue was involved in high-performance golf, providing sport psychology and short game coaching to professional and elite amateur golfers.

An accomplished amateur golfer growing up in Toronto, Blue played in numerous provincial and national amateur competitions and spent time with Golf Canada’s National Junior Golf Team (prior to the formation of the Team Canada program) and represented Canada at the 2001 Toyota Junior Golf World Cup in Japan. He attended Stanford University on a varsity golf scholarship where he earned his B.A. in Psychology, was a captain on the golf team, and was an NCAA Academic All-American.

He went on to attend Michigan State University where earned his Ph.D. in Sport Psychology and then completed an executive education program at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Blue has authored a multitude of articles on topics related to sport, education, and business.

Blue will be returning to Canada with his wife Betsy and their four children and is set to begin his role as Golf Canada’s Chief Sport Officer in early January 2021.

NOTE: pictures of Kevin Blue are available here.

OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada is pleased to announce the names of the 29 athletes, male and female, who have been selected to represent Team Canada as part of the 2021 National Amateur and Junior Squads.

Fifteen athletes will compete on Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad, consisting of eight players on the men’s squad and seven on the women’s squad.

The announcement marks a significant increase in roster size, adding six athletes to the previous year’s team. The roster expansion is due in large part to a restructuring of team resources in addition to increased funding support from the Golf Canada Foundation’s network of Trustee partners.

“We are very pleased to extend the reach of the Team Canada program to support more of the country’s top athletes,” said Derek Ingram, Head Coach of the National Men’s Squads. “The new program structure allows our coaching staff to focus more resources on training and sport science with each athlete’s individual results used to determine their respective competitive schedule.”

Team Canada’s 2021 Squad members have all competed and achieved impressive results at regional, national, and international competitions, including medals at the Pan-Am Games, NCAA tournament wins and victories at prestigious amateur competitions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all athletes from the 2020 Squad were able to return in 2021, provided they met team eligibility criteria.

“We are very excited with the athletes selected – they represent a mix of returning team members as well as talented up-and-coming athletes,” said Tristan Mullally, Head Coach of the National Women’s Squads. “It is a new chapter for amateur golf in Canada and we have a tremendous group of ambassadors representing our country.”

The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2021 Amateur Squad:

WOMEN’S AMATEUR SQUAD

Taylor Kehoe | Strathroy, Ont. – West Haven Golf & Country Club
Alisha Lau | Richmond, B.C. – Marine Drive Golf Club
Noémie Paré | Victoriaville, Qué. – Club de golf de Victoriaville
Mary Parsons | Delta, B.C. – Mayfair Lakes Golf Club
Sarah-Ève Rhéaume | Québec, Qué. – Club de golf Royal Québec
Brigitte Thibault | Rosemère, Qué. – Club de golf de Rosemère
Brooke Rivers | Brampton, Ont. – Brampton Golf Club

MEN’S AMATEUR SQUAD

Matthew Anderson | Mississauga, Ont. – Credit Valley Golf & Country Club
Cougar Collins | Caledon, Ont. – TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley
Laurent Desmarchais | Longueuil, Qué. – Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu Noah Steele | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf & Country Club
Henry Lee | Coquitlam, B.C. – Public Player
Brendan MacDougall | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf and Country Club
Étienne Papineau | St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Qué. – Club de golf Pinegrove
Johnny Travale | Hamilton, Ont. – Glendale Golf & Country Club

Click here to read full player bios.

National Junior Squads

The National Junior Squad—a U19 program—features fourteen athletes (seven girls and seven boys).

In September, Golf Canada hosted a selection camp at Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria, B.C., to evaluate Canada’s top juniors. In partnership with the Provincial Golf Associations, all golfers were run through a series of testing modules followed by a 54-hole competition.

From March through early June, the Junior Squad will practice out of Golf Canada’s National Training Centre at Bear Mountain—the fourth year that the program has provided centralized training, accommodation and education for athletes during the second semester of their school year. Team members will be immersed in a focused centre of excellence, surrounded by world-class technical coaching staff and experts in the areas of mental performance, physiotherapy, biomechanics, and nutrition.

The following athletes have been selected to Team Canada’s 2021 Junior Squad:

JUNIOR GIRLS SQUAD

Angela Arora | Surrey, B.C. – Beach Grove Golf Club
Katie Cranston | Oakville, Ont. – Oakville Golf Club
Nicole Gal | Oakville, Ont. – Oakville Golf Club
Jennifer Gu | West Vancouver, B.C. – Seymour Golf & Country Club
Lauren Kim | Surrey, B.C. –  Morgan Creek Golf Club
Michelle Liu | Vancouver, B.C. – Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club
Emily Zhu | Richmond Hill, Ont. – National Pines Golf Club

JUNIOR BOYS SQUAD

Willy Bishop | Victoria, B.C. – Victoria Golf Club
Félix Bouchard | Otterburn Park, Que. –  Club de golf de la Vallée du Richelieu
Malik Dao | Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Qué. – Summerlea Golf & Country Club
Ashton McCulloch | Kingston, Ont. – Cataraqui Golf & Country Club
Owen Mullen | Shortts Lake, N.S. – Truro Golf Club
JP Parr | St-Célestin, Qué. – Club de golf Ki-8-eb Golf
Hunter Thomson | Calgary, Alta. – Glencoe Golf & Country Club

Click here to read full player bios.

Team Canada Coaching Staff Announced 

Golf Canada is pleased to announce the 2021 Team Canada coaching staff that will support both the National Amateur and Junior Squads.

For the amateur squads, Derek Ingram of Winnipeg returns as men’s head coach with support from assistant coach Andrew Parr of London, Ont. On the women’s side, Tristan Mullally of Dundas, Ont., returns as head coach.

On the junior side, Robert Ratcliffe of Comox, B.C., will lead the centralized Junior Squads at the National Training Centre in Bear Mountain for the fourth year. He will receive support from newly named coach Jennifer Greggain, also of Comox, B.C.

Players will have access to Team Canada’s sport science staff, which includes physiotherapist Greg Redman and Psychologist Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood supporting the men’s team with physiotherapist Andrea Kosa and mental performance consultant Christie Gialloreto supporting the women. The Junior Squads will continue to receive sport science support from the Canadian Sport Institute Pacific in the areas of strength & conditioning, physiotherapy, mental performance, and nutrition.

“Team Canada has shown tremendous success and the coaching staff is well-positioned to lead the increased roster of athletes along with the centralized training program at Bear Mountain,” said Laurence Applebaum, Golf Canada Chief Executive Officer. “Along with every area of the business, we will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 to ensure the health and well-being of the athletes and coaches. We now look ahead to helping shape the bright futures of Canada’s top up-and-coming athletes looking to follow in the footsteps of graduates such as Brooke Henderson, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.”

Mullally, Ingram, Ratcliffe, Greggain and Parr are all PGA of Canada members.

Golf Canada will announce the selection of the 2021 Team Canada Young Pro Squad in January.

WAYNE, Penn. – Golf Genius Software, the leading worldwide provider of tournament management solutions, announced today that Golf Canada and Canada’s Provincial Golf Associations will begin using Golf Genius Tournament Management to manage their golf competitions beginning in 2021.

Golf Genius will provide Golf Canada-branded versions of its TM Club, TM Club Premium and TM Association cloud-based services to the Canadian golf market. Golf Canada and the Provincial Golf Associations will join a number of other national golf associations and tours in using the TM Association solution, which is purpose-built to meet the specialized needs of national and regional golf associations.

Golf clubs and other golf facilities across Canada will also be able to utilize the Golf Canada versions of the TM Club at preferred rates and TM Club Premium services. Golf Genius will provide single sign-on support to club administrators through the Golf Canada Score Centre and will integrate with the World Handicap System (WHS) services provided through the Golf Canada Score Centre. Golf Genius will also provide French language versions of its TM services as part of its agreement with Golf Canada.

Mike Zisman, Co-CEO of Golf Genius Software, commented: “We have committed substantial resources to build a significant presence in the Canadian market, including our recent acquisition of two respected Canadian software providers. Our new relationship with Golf Canada will not only enable us to serve the tournament management needs of Golf Canada and the Provincial Associations, it will also help us more rapidly expand our customer base in the club and facility market. We are honored to have been selected by Golf Canada for this critical relationship.”

Adam Helmer, Senior Director of Golf Services at Golf Canada, added, “We conducted a rigorous process to select a tournament management solution which included an RFP last year and the evaluation of several prospective vendors. Golf Genius presented the most robust product, and most importantly, can meet the needs of Golf Canada, our Provincial Golf Associations and over 1,400 of our member golf facilities in Canada with one integrated solution.”

In 2020, Golf Genius has also announced national association agreements with England Golf, the Singapore Golf Association and Golf NSW serving New South Wales in Australia.

The Canadian golf industry generated $18.2B in economic benefits across our nation in 2019, according to a recent economic analysis conducted by Group ATN Consulting Inc. on behalf of the National Allied Golf Associations (We Are Golf).

According to The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019), the Canadian golf industry employs the equivalent of nearly 249,000 people through direct and spin-off effects and contributed to $10.6B in household income. The industry also contributed $4.5B in government tax revenue ($1.8B federal and $2.1B provincial) used to support a variety of programs for all Canadians.

Based on nationwide surveys completed by golfers and golf course operators in 10 provinces and three territories along with multiple industry data sources, The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) is a follow up to previous comprehensive and independent assessment studies (2014, 2009) of the economic impact of the golf industry in Canada. The $18.2B economic impact of golf represents a 14% increase in contribution to Canada’s GDP between 2013 and 2019.

“The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) further reinforces the enormous financial, employment, charitable, tourism and positive environmental impact that the sport and the business of golf are affecting across Canada,” said Laurence Applebaum, Chair of We Are Golf and CEO of Golf Canada. “This third iteration of the study provides the golf industry with a powerful snapshot of the scale and magnitude that our sport has on the Canadian economy and within the communities where we live, work and play.”

The study presents economic insights for each of the 10 provinces and three territories from coast to coast. Also captured in the report are comparisons to international economic insights from select countries and regions including the United States, European Union, and Australia.

The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) was conducted on behalf of We Are Golf by Group ATN Consulting Inc., a world leader in economic development and analysis for communities, regions, and industries. Group ATN previously conducted the 2014 and 2009 Canadian Golf Economic Impact Studies (based on 2013 and 2008 data respectively) which have allowed the Canadian golf industry to benchmark the game’s economic impact over five-year periods.

“Every industry has its own unique circumstances to allow for, and the ability to repeat the same application of our model for Canadian golf is a significant advantage,” said Tom McGuire, Principal with Group ATN Consulting. “Beyond consistency, we have also been able to further improve certain aspects based upon learnings from the prior studies we did for the National Allied Golf Associations (We Are Golf).”

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF IN CANADA (2019)

The game of golf accounts for an estimated $18.2B of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is up 14% from the $15.9B reported in 2014*. Included within the 2019 economic impact:

• The golf industry directly employed nearly 150,000 full-time, full-year equivalent positions, representing many more individuals who are employed in the sector. This number grows to approximately 249,000 when accounting for direct, indirect, and induced employment.

• The golf industry directly contributed $4.8B in household income, rising to $10.6B when considering the combined direct, indirect, and induced impacts.

• The golf industry generated $4.5B in government tax revenue; including $1.8B in federal tax revenue and $2.1B in provincial tax revenue.

• Conservatively, course operators invested $727M industry-wide on capital expenditures.

*Note that 2014 figures are adjusted by the consumer price index and reported as current dollars.

Additional Insights from The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019)

• Employment – The golf industry is a significant job provider for youth with 48% of its workforce identified as students.

• Travel – Canadians along with international visitors contributed to $8.6B in golf-related travel nationwide. Canadians made approximately 4.8M trips involving golf, including 3.0M in their home province and 1.8M outside their home province and abroad.

• Golfer Spending – golfers in Canada spent approximately $19.3B on items such as green fees, memberships, lessons, equipment, travel, hospitality, events, and other golf-related expenditures.

• Canadian Course Operators – a total of 2,283 facilities were estimated to be operating in 2019, accounting for 2,043 courses (18-hole equivalent); course operators collectively spent approximately $3.8B in course expenditures.

• Land management – Golf course operations manage between 155,000 and 175,000 hectares, including 30,000 to 35,000 hectares of wildlife and wetland area.

• Charitable Impact – The golf industry generated an estimated $330M in charitable impact through more than 51,000 tournaments and events.

• Golf Participation – Canadian golfers played an estimated 57.0M rounds in 2019.

Although released in 2020, The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) does not factor in the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian golf industry.

“Establishing a baseline for the economic impact of our sport measured against pre-2020 Covid-19 spending is an important benchmark consideration for the integrity and continuity of the study,” added Applebaum. “Based on what we learned through the 2020 season, the safety of golf through this pandemic and the potential for a lift in participation and spending on the game, we are optimistic in looking ahead.”

An executive summary along with a complete report outlining the results of The Economic Impact of Golf in Canada (2019) is available by clicking here or by visiting any of the We Are Golf partner websites.