“I’m not good enough to keep track of my handicap.”

Craig Loughry, Golf Canada’s Director of Handicap and Course Rating, is tired of hearing that.

“The purpose of the Handicap System is to make the game of golf more enjoyable by enabling players of differing abilities to compete on an equitable basis,” the Golf Canada Handicap Manual states.

“If you’re playing golf regularly, you’re keeping track of your scores in some fashion,” he points out. “You’re golfing for a reason or reasons, whether it’s for the competition against yourself or others, recreation, socializing, whatever. It obviously is a significant part of your activity schedule, so why not keep track on an ongoing basis?

“If golfers didn’t care about keeping score, then courses wouldn’t need scorecards, but they seem to have to replace thousands every year.”

Loughry is right. Everyone tracks their progress in just about every other facet of their lives, so why not in their golf games? In business or other pursuits, you expect a level playing field, right? A Golf Canada handicap factor provides both for your golf life.

Additionally, you never know when not having a Golf Canada handicap factor will come back to haunt you.

Knowing zero about your handicap can find you playing off a zero handicap.

A couple of personal anecdotes…

Years ago, I was invited to play in a pro-am. When I showed up at registration, I was asked for my handicap. When I said I didn’t have one, I was told I would have to play off scratch, from the pro tees. Some of my drives barely made the tee block from where my fellow amateurs (the ones with official handicaps) were playing from. Needless to say, I started posting every score after that humiliation.

My wife (who faithfully maintains an accurate handicap factor) plays in the member-guest tournament at a friend’s club every summer. The club sends out a friendly note leading up to the event.  It says, “it is the member’s responsibility to provide a handicap factor from an accredited golf association for their guest(s). Failure to do so will result in your guest(s) playing from scratch. Please note that scorecards, letters or ‘she shoots about an 85’ are unacceptable.”

If you have a Golf Canada Gold-level membership, the lengthy list of benefits includes an official handicap factor. It’s easy to post your adjusted scores online or at any Golf Canada member course and there’s even an app for your phone. It’s easy to join online even if you’re not already a member of a club and start tracking your scores right away.

Now that I’ve persuaded those of you who haven’t maintained a current and accurate factor (you must post all scores using the easy-to-understand Equitable Stroke Control system) to get on the bandwagon, here are some other handicapping notes.

Active Seasons

Regrettably, the end of the Canadian golf season is approaching. Each provincial golf association decides on what is called the “active season” for handicap posting purposes.

By province, the active seasons are:

• British Columbia March 1-Nov. 15
• Alberta March 1-Oct. 31
• Saskatchewan April 15-Oct. 31
• Manitoba April 15-Oct. 31
• Ontario April 15-Oct. 31
• Quebec April 15-Oct. 31
• Nova Scotia April 15-Oct. 31
• New Brunswick May 1-Oct. 31
• Prince Edward Island April 16-Nov. 14
• Newfoundland and Labrador April 1-Nov. 30

Going South This Winter?

It’s never been easier to post out-of-country scores if you’re lucky enough to play in a warmer clime this winter.

“Essentially, all you have to do is simply change the Canadian flag icon to the international one and then start typing in the most unique part of the club/course name,” says Taylor Stevenson, Golf Canada’s manager of member services.

As well, says Loughry, the International Golf Network (IGN) allows Golf Canada members to link their golf membership (handicap record) from Canada to their U.S. club(s). What’s the advantage of that?

“You only need to post your score once and that score automatically gets posted into the other record. This is not only important now for our many members who travel and golf outside the country, but will be more so when the World Handicap System is implemented.”

We Are The World

In 2020, the new unified World Handicap System will be implemented to make handicaps truly consistent and equitable around the globe. The new system will feature more flexibility and reflect the changes in how the game is played worldwide.

For example, both competitive and recreational rounds will count for handicap purposes, the number of scores needed to obtain a new handicap will be reduced and, perhaps most importantly, the result will be a consistent handicap that is portable from courses to course and country to country.

There is even a calculation that considers the impact that abnormal course and weather conditions affected your score.

Click here for more on handicapping.

VERO BEACH, Fla. – The United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced tee times for the first two rounds of the 57th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, Saturday (Oct. 6) and Sunday (Oct.7), at 5,817-yard, par-72 Orchid Island Golf & Beach Club, in Vero Beach, Fla.

The U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur consists of 36 holes of stroke play on Oct. 6 and 7, after which the field will be reduced to the low 64 scorers. There will be six rounds of match play, starting Oct. 8. The quarterfinals and semifinals are slated for Wednesday, Oct. 10. The championship is scheduled to conclude with an 18-hole final on Thursday, Oct. 11, starting at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

The 132-player field feature 12 Canadians, including defending champion Judith Kyrinis of Thornhill, Ont. Joining her is 2017 runner-up Terrill Samuel of Toronto and Canadian Golf Hall of Famer Mary Ann Hayward.

Below is the full list of Canadians competing in the 57th U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur:

• Judith Kyrinis
• Terrill Samuel
• Mary Ann Hayward
• Helene Chartrand
• Gail Pimm
• Cheryl Newman
• Audrey Akins
• Alison Murdoch
• Marie-Therese Torti
• Barbara Flaman
• Jackie Little
• Rhonda Orr

Judith Kyrinis, 54, of Canada, won the 2017 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship by defeating Terrill Samuel, 4 and 3, in the final at Waverley Country Club in Portland, Ore. Kyrinis is a registered nurse at Toronto General Hospital and primarily preps cancer patients for surgery. She has competed in 14 USGA championships, including four Senior Women’s Amateurs. Her brother, Dan Allan, qualified for the 2016 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. In September, she reached the Round of 32 in the 2018 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis.

Audrey Akins, 51, of Canada, won the Canadian Junior Girls Championship in 1980 at age 13, making her the youngest winner in championship history. She was a member of the Canadian team that won a gold medal in the 1986 Commonwealth Games, an Olympic-style competition for countries that were traditionally associated with the former British Empire. Akins, a 1980 graduate of the University of Oklahoma who works as an English teacher, won the 2016 Michigan Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

Helene Chartrand, 62, of Canada, won the 2014 Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur Championship and finished runner-up in 2016. She is also the 2013 Canadian Women’s Mid-Amateur champion.

Mary Ann Hayward, 58, of Canada, is the manager of sports performance for the Golf Association of Ontario. The four-time Canadian Women’s Amateur champion has been inducted into the Canada, Ontario and Quebec Golf Halls of Fame. In 2005, she won the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur as Mary Ann Lapointe. An eight-time member of the Canadian team in the World Amateur Team Championship, she also served as the team’s captain in 2008. Hayward advanced to the Round of 16 in last year’s Senior Women’s Amateur.

Terrill Samuel, 57, of Canada, was the runner-up in last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, losing to fellow Canadian Judith Kyrinis, 4 and 3. It was the first time in USGA history that two Canadian players met in a final match. Samuel’s 80-year-old mother, Cam, served as her caddie for the 2017 Senior Women’s Amateur. Samuel, who is competing in her seventh Senior Women’s Amateur, played in the Inaugural Senior Women’s Open at Chicago Golf Club earlier this year. She was the 2010 Ontario Mid-Amateur Champion and the 2011 Ontario Senior Champion. Samuel is a two-time Canadian Senior Champion, winning in 2012 and 2015. Samuel is a teacher and a high school volleyball coach in the Toronto School District.

Gail Pimm, 58, of Canada, was a professional squash player for 10 years and competed in three world championships as a member of the Canadian team. Pimm was a teacher for 20 years and started playing golf in 2003.

Jackie Little, 60, of Canada, was a quarterfinalist in last year’s U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, losing to Patricia Schremmer, 2 and 1. Little, who is competing in her fourth Senior Women’s Amateur, is a five-time winner of the British Columbia Women’s Amateur and British Columbia Senior Women’s Amateur, and a three-time British Columbia Women’s Mid-Amateur champion. In 2008 and 2009, Little won both the Canadian Senior Women’s Amateur and Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA) Senior Women’s Amateur, earning Senior Women’s Amateur player-of-the-year honors from both associations. She is a member of the Golf Hall of Fame of British Columbia (2009), Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame (2012) and the PNGA Hall of Fame (2017). She and her husband, Pat, formerly owned the Hollies Executive Golf Course in Canada.

Click here for more information on the championship.

Red Deer, AB– It was an exciting finish to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Golf Championships and all student-athletes battled the elements on the final day of competition at Alberta Springs Golf Resort as they attempted to climb the leaderboard.

Medicine Hat College’s Becky Martin shot a 76 on Sunday for a two-round total of 150, accumulating three birdies and nine pars to earn individual women’s gold. Martin was a key member of the Rattlers and also helped her women’s team capture gold (330). Concordia University’s Kennedy Turcotte fired an 84 and earned individual silver (166), helping her group win bronze (344). RDC’s Shaye Leidenius recorded an 84 on the final day for a two-day total of 167 and individual bronze, and was an important golfer in leading the Queens to silver (332).

Michael Harrison from the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings won individual gold after shaving off one stroke from Saturday (72) for a weekend total of 145. Harrison had three birdies and 12 pars on day two. Chase Broderson of the RDC Kings finished Sunday with a 78 and captured silver (151), while also leading the Kings to team bronze (631). Noah Lubberding from MacEwan University was one stroke behind Broderson (152) for individual bronze, helping his group take gold (606). The Concordia University men won team silver (631).

The RDC Mixed Golf team finished in the gold medal position. Medicine Hat College won silver and Concordia University earned bronze.

RDC Golf Head Coach Scott Bergdahl, the 2018 – 19 ACAC Golf Coach of the Year, recognized the difficulty on the ACAC golfers with the windy and cool weather. “The conditions were extremely difficult out there and it was a grind,” he says. “All of the players toughed it out.”

Bergdahl especially credited the men’s silver winning team from Concordia University with a strong push on Sunday. “The Concordia men really brought it today and that’s a real testament to the strength of their program and where they are going,” he says.

There will be strong ACAC representation at the 2018 PING Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Golf National Championships, October 16 – 19, at Desert Blume Golf Club. Medicine Hat College will host the prestigious event.

The following is a summary of the ACAC Golf medal and award winners, recognized at Alberta Springs Golf Resort, Sunday evening.

Individual Men’s Champions

Gold – Michael Harrison (University of Alberta Augustana)

Silver – Chase Broderson (Red Deer College)

Bronze – Noah Lumberding (MacEwan University)

Male Golfer of the Year – Michael Harrison (University of Alberta Augustana)

Individual Women’s Champions

Gold – Becky Martin (Medicine Hat College)

Silver – Kennedy Turcotte (Concordia University of Edmonton)

Bronze – Shaye Leidenius (Red Deer College)

Female Golfer of the Year – Becky Martin (Medicine Hat College)

ACAC Coach of the Year – Scott Bergdahl (RDC)

Mixed Championship

Gold – Red Deer College

Silver – Medicine Hat College

Bronze – Concordia University of Edmonton

Men’s Championship

Gold – MacEwan University

Silver – Concordia University of Edmonton

Bronze – RDC Kings

Women’s Championship

Gold – Medicine Hat College

Silver – RDC Queens

Bronze – Concordia University of Edmonton

Brent Forster – RDC

Red Deer, September 29, 2018 – Despite a delayed start to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Golf Championships due to frost, the talented group of student-athletes still performed well on a cool opening day at Alberta Springs Golf Resort, 6 km west of Red Deer.

After Saturday’s round, Michael Harrison, from the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings, and Chase Broderson, of the RDC Kings, share top spot on the men’s side after firing one over par (73). Harrison started extremely well, picking up three birdies over the first four holes. The Bachelor of Science student ended the day with a total of four birdies and nine pars. Broderson, a first-year Business Administration student at RDC, recorded three birdies and 11 pars. Nicolas Pittman, of the Concordia University Thunder, rounded out the top three male golfers with a 75.

Medicine Hat College’s Becky Martin had an exceptional day on the course and finished two over par (74) to sit on top of the women’s leaderboard. The Rattlers’ star accumulated 4 birdies and ten pars to kick off the championship weekend. Concordia University’s Kennedy Turcotte scored an 82 for second place. Turcotte had one birdie and nine pars on day one. RDC’s Shaye Leidenius was close behind with 83, for third.

Leading the men’s teams after the first day are the MacEwan University Griffins (307), followed by the Red Deer College Kings (313) and then the Concordia University Thunder (323).

Not much separated the top women’s golf teams. The Medicine Hat College Rattlers women sit in top spot as a group (169). Next, are the RDC Queens (170) and then the Concordia University Thunder (171).

In the new ACAC Mixed Golf Division, RDC (403) leads the way followed by Concordia University (409) and then Medicine Hat College and MacEwan University are tied (421) for third. After another round, medals will be also awarded in this category on Sunday.

Considering the cool weather, Red Deer College Golf Head Coach Scott Bergdahl was thankful that   the championships could still go ahead. “We had a two hour frost delay in the morning but with snow falling in different areas of region, I am happy that we were able to play,” he says.

Bergdahl appreciated the skill and close competition on the first day. “Things are really close this year among ACAC golfers and teams,” he says. “It will be a dog fight on Sunday to earn a medal.”

With the standings extremely close and the thought of medals on the horizon, the golfers will look to climb the leaderboard with their best performances on Sunday, the final day of the championships. The original Sunday start will be delayed 90 minutes until around 11:30 a.m. with the anticipation of frost, once again.

Leaderboards

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Payback belongs to Europe, and so does the Ryder Cup.

Two years after the Americans thought they had their Ryder Cup problems figured out, Europe reminded them Sunday why it practically has owned this shiny gold trophy for the last quarter-century.

British Open champion Francesco Molinari was just as good on his own as he was with Tommy Fleetwood. The best year of the Italian’s golfing life got even better at Le Golf National when he became the first European – and only second player since the current format began in 1979 – to win all five of his matches.

The last one set off a wild, champagne-soaked celebration.

Europe already was assured the 14 1/2 points it needed because they were guaranteed halves in two matches. Molinari made it official. He was 2 up and safely on the green at the par-3 16th green when Phil Mickelson hit into the water, removed his cap and conceded the match.

The finish was most appropriate.

The celebration and singing had already begun. The Europeans were treated like rock stars before more than 50,000 fans. All that remained was Alex Noren in the anchor match. He was 1 up on the 18th hole when DeChambeau stuffed his approach to 2 feet for a conceded birdie. Noren hit the final shot in this Ryder Cup, a 40-foot birdie putt to win the match, and the stoic Swede hurled his cap.

Europe won, 17 1/2-10 1/2, the most lopsided victory since consecutive 18 1/2-9 1/2 victories by Europe more than a decade ago when the Americans looked utterly lost. They formed a Ryder Cup Task Force, spearheaded by Mickelson, after the 2014 loss. The idea was to build continuity and momentum, and it seemed to work when they won at Hazeltine in 2016.

Now, maybe it’s back to the drawing board.

Mickelson was desperate to make this team because the 48-year-old saw it as his last chance to win a Ryder Cup on European soil. He wound up losing both his matches. He started the week by setting a record with his 12th Ryder Cup appearance. He ended it by setting a more dubious Ryder Cup record with 22 losses.

He wasn’t alone. Tiger Woods went 0-4, the first time in his eight Ryder Cups that he failed to contribute a single point.

But this was more about the Europeans as a team, and they were tougher than ever on a course they know well.

“This team has been incredible from the start,” Molinari said. “We were determined to do the job. Nothing was going to stop us. And you saw it on the course.”

Trailing 10-6 going into the final day of singles, the Americans needed to put red points on the board early to build momentum. It never happened. Justin Thomas won the leadoff match over Rory McIlroy, but not until the 18th hole.

Webb Simpson and Tony Finau, the lone bright spot among the wild-card picks for U.S. captain Jim Furyk, won easily. Behind them, Woods was hanging tough against Jon Rahm and Dustin Johnson started to pull ahead of Ian Poulter.

“There’s always a moment where it looks like a spark of light,” Furyk said. “When it was there for us, Europe played really well.”

It wasn’t there long.

Rahm won two straight holes with pars to seize control. Johnson went from 1 up to 2 down in a four-hole stretch that ended his chances.

Rahm dropped his putter after making a 5-foot birdie on the 17th hole as Woods stood to the side of the green, arms crossed. One week ago, he overcame four back surgeries to win for the 80th time on the Tour Championship, a signal that he was all the way back.

And then at the Ryder Cup, it was another result with which he is far too familiar. Woods has played on only one winning team in 1999.

“It’s disappointing because I went 0-4, and that’s four points to the European team,” he said. “And I’m one of the contributing factors to why we lost the cup, and it’s not a lot of fun. It’s frustrating because I thought we were all playing pretty well, and I just didn’t perform at the level that I had been playing, and just got behind early in the matches and never got back.”

Thorbjorn Olesen, who had played only one match the previous two days, went 5 up at the turn over Jordan Spieth and won in 14 holes. Spieth is now 0-6 in singles matches in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

Sergio Garcia was in tears.

He played so poorly this year that he failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s post-season. Thomas Bjorn picked him anyway, saying he was like the captain of a football team. Garcia showed why by going 3-1. That final victory over Rickie Fowler made Garcia the biggest contributor in Ryder Cup history with 25 1/2 points.

But this was more about team, and about redemption, even for a team that now has won nine of the last 12 times.

“We took a really tough loss at Hazeltine a couple of years ago and that stung,” McIlroy said. “That was my first experience of what it feels like to be on the other side, so coming in here, obviously none of us want to feel like Sunday afternoon.”

ATLANTA – Tiger Woods, in his Sunday red shirt, both arms raised in victory on the 18th green.

For so many years, the scene was familiar.

This time, it was surreal.

“I can’t believe I pulled this off,” Woods said Sunday during the trophy presentation at the Tour Championship, where he gave thousands of delirious fans at East Lake, and millions more around the world, what they wanted to see, and what they thought they might never see again.

And at that moment, Woods was overcome with emotion and paused.

After two back surgeries six weeks apart, he couldn’t lie down, sit or walk without pain. Golf was the least of his concerns, so much that he once said anything else he achieved would be “gravy.”

One year ago, while recovering from a fourth back surgery, he still had no idea if he could come back to the highest level of golf.

“Just to be able to compete and play again this year, that’s a hell of a comeback,” he said.

Woods delivered the perfect ending to his amazing return from back surgeries with a performance out of the past. He left the competition feeling hopeless as he built a five-shot lead early and then hung on for a 1-over 71 and a two-shot victory over Billy Horschel.

It was the 80th victory of his PGA Tour, two short of the career record held by Sam Snead that is now very much in play. And it was his first victory in more than five years, dating to the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational.

And that brought a new version of Tigermania.

After he hit his second shot to the par-5 18th safely in a bunker in front of the green, the crowd came through the ropes and followed behind in a chaotic celebration. It was like that when he walked from the left side of the 18th fairway at the 1997 Masters he won by 12. It was reminiscent of that walk up the 18th fairway later that summer at the Western Open in Chicago.

This was pure pandemonium. Fans chased after any inch of grass they could find to watch the ending.

“I didn’t want to get run over,” Woods said with a laugh.

This felt just as big as a major, maybe better considering where Woods had been.

Several players, from Zach Johnson to Rickie Fowler to Horschel, waited to greet him. It was Johnson who unveiled red shirts at the Ryder Cup two years ago in the team room that said, “Make Tiger Great Again.”

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Congrats to our 2000 #RBCCO champion @tigerwoods on his 80th career #PGATOUR victory at the @playofffinale

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“They knew what I was struggling with,” Woods said. “It was special to see them.”

Woods played only one PGA Tour event over two seasons because of his back. Off the golf course, he had to overcome the embarrassment of a DUI arrest in the early morning of Memorial Day in 2017 when he was found asleep at the wheel, later found to have a concoction of pain medication in his system.

He was becoming a legend on in video highlights.

And then he brought it back to life this year, especially the last four days at East Lake. The players who have turns at No. 1 during his absence caught the full brunt of Woods in control. McIlroy faded early. Justin Rose faded late.

All that was left was the 42-year-old Woods in that red shirt, blazing brighter than ever, and a smile he couldn’t shake walking up the 18th to collect another trophy.

“The 80 mark is a big number,” he said. “It’s a pretty damned good feeling.”

He finished at 11-under 269 and won $1.62 million, along with a $3 million bonus for finishing second in the FedEx Cup.

The only disappointment – a minor one under the circumstances – was realizing as he came down the 18th that Rose had made birdie to finish in a three-way tie for fourth, which gave him the FedEx Cup and the $10 million bonus.

Without that birdie, Woods would have won his third FedEx Cup title after starting at No. 20 going into the Tour Championship.

“Congrats, Rosie,” Woods told him. “World No. 1, hell of a season.”

Actually, former world No. 1 for Rose. His four bogeys over the last 10 holes cost him the No. 1 ranking back to Dustin Johnson, who shot 67 and finished third.

But this wasn’t about the FedEx Cup or even the world ranking.

This is Tiger’s big day, and nothing was going to change it.

Woods had never lost when leading by three shots or more going into the final round. That was when he was regularly winning multiple times every season, compiling trophies at a rate never before seen in golf.

Was anything different having gone more than five years without winning?

Rose had said it was a bit more unknown, and “there’s a lot on it for him” as well as everyone else.

But this was still Woods’ arena. The walk from the putting green snakes some 80 yards across the road and through a gallery, and everyone could hear him coming from the procession of cheering. And within the opening hour, the Tour Championship had that inevitable feeling.

No one brings excitement like Woods, even when he plays so good and so smart that he eliminates any potential for drama.

The buzz was endless. A couple of teenagers climbed into a tree to see him made a 10-foot birdie on the first hole. When the putt dropped and cheers died, there was a wild sprint some 200 yards up the hill as fans tried to get into position for the next shot. He tapped in for par, and another stampede ensued to line the third fairway.

On and on it went. No one wanted to miss a shot.

A year ago, there was no guarantee anyone would see much of Woods, much less Woods winning.

He’s back again. This victory, his first since the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in August 2013 – 1,876 days, to be exact – brought him to No. 13 in the world. Not bad for a 42-year-old with four back surgeries who returned to competition in December at No. 1,199 in the world.

The next stop for Woods is to board a plane with the rest of his U.S. teammates for France and the Ryder Cup.

After that?

There’s no telling.

ANN ARBOUR, Mich. – Calgary’s Jaclyn Lee has picked up right where she left off last season, winning medalist honours and her fourth NCAA golf title on Tuesday at the East & West Match Play event.

The Ohio State senior carded rounds of 69-71 to finish the stroke-play portion at 4 under par, two strokes clear of the pack. The three-time Team Canada Amateur Squad member continued rolling in the match play rounds with 5&3 and 5&4 victories, leading the Buckeyes into a 3rd place finish.

Last season for the Buckeyes, Lee was a First-Team ALL-BIG10 athlete thanks to three victories, including a record-tying victory at the BIG10 championship.

The medal comes with a heavy heart for the 21-year-old Lee, who paid her respects to the late Celia Barquin Arozamena, a European golf star and Iowa State student who had her life tragically taken away this week.

 

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First W of the season ✅ • But real talk. Life’s too short, so tell the people you care about that you love them. Live each day to its fullest and be safe in this cruel world. • Bad things happen to good people. Rest In Peace Celia. Your family is much bigger than you think ❤️

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Next up, Ohio State travels to the Windy City Collegiate in Chicago Oct. 1-2.

Click here for full results.