Calgary’s Ryan Yip carded a 6-under-par 66 in round two of at the Web.com Tour’s LECOM Health Challenge to sit T5 through 36 holes at the Peek N’ Peak Resort Upper Course in Findley Lake, NY.

The Calgary native was T29 at -3 after round one (69). Starting on hole No. 10 Yip was 5 under par through four holes with three birdies and an eagle.

He recorded two more birdies and one bogey to move to 9 under par two shots back of co-leaders China’s Xinjun Zhang and Adam Long (New Orleans, La.)

A member of the inaugural Team Canada National Team in 2005, Yip came to Findley Lake ranked 100th on the Web.com Tour’s Order of Merit.

.@RyanYipGolf‘s first four holes of Round 2 @LECOMHC:
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He’s T4 heading into the weekend in New York. pic.twitter.com/TCwGciW5EI

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) July 7, 2017

The 32-year-old’s best result of the season was a T9 at Chitimacha Louisiana Open presented by NACHER in March. He has two additional top-25 finishes this season.

Young Pro Squad’s Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) is T23 at 6-under-par after a second consecutive 69.

Conners’ Young Pro Squad teammate Albin Choi (Toronto, Ont.) started the day in a tie for fourth after an opening round 66 (-6), but a 1-over-par 73 in round two dropped him to T25.

Merrit, B.C., native Roger Sloan is T47 at 3 under par (70-71).

There are 11 Canadians in the field this week.

Click here for the full leaderboard.

The Web.com Tour and Ellie Mae announced today that 2017 National Basketball Association (NBA) Champion and Golden State Warriors All-Star Guard Stephen Curry will play in the Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae, to be contested the week of July 31-August 6, 2017.

Curry will maintain his amateur status in the event and will compete on an unrestricted sponsor exemption.

“We are elated to have Stephen Curry compete in this year’s Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae,” said Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae Tournament Director Trish Gregovich.

“Our longstanding goal has been to create a meaningful community impact through this event, and allowing a true pillar of the Bay Area community and a genuine sports superstar inside the ropes to compete alongside future PGA TOUR stars helps to elevate that effort.”

Curry, a member of the Warriors since 2009, is a two-time winner of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons, and has appeared in the last three NBA Finals with the Warriors, helping lead the team to Championships in 2015 and 2017.

The 29-year-old is also currently the Warriors’ all-time leader in three-pointers made, and four of the top five single-season three-point totals in NBA history, including a record 402 three-pointers in 2015-16.

Curry has been selected to three All-NBA Teams and has been a starter on the Western Conference All-Star team in each of the last four seasons.

“I’m honored to have the opportunity to play with the pros in the upcoming Ellie Mae Classic, not only to be able to compete against some of the best golfers in the world, but to also help bring light to the tournament’s charitable footprint of giving back to the Warriors Community Foundation,” said Curry.

“Golf has always been a passion of mine and it’s a dream come true to get the chance to play inside the ropes amongst the pros in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned tournament.”

Game! Blouses! @JordanSpieth with the hole-out from the bunker to win it! Congrats bro

— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) June 25, 2017

Last year’s Ellie Mae Classic produced one of the most memorable weeks in the Web.com Tour’s 28-year history, with Germany’s Stephan Jaeger posting a PGA TOUR-record 58 in the opening round on his way to a record-setting 30-under-par 250 total and a seven-shot victory.

“We’re proud to welcome Stephen Curry to the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae. He’s a terrific player on the court and we expect him to dominate on the green as well,” said Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae.

“We’re also thrilled to once again partner with our main charitable beneficiary, the Warriors Community Foundation. We love seeing the players, coaches and staff out on the course, supporting the tournament’s tradition of philanthropy, which aligns with our core value of giving back.”

“It’s a huge honor.” ⛳️ ?@Warriors guard @StephenCurry30 officially accepts an unrestricted sponsor invitation into @EllieMaeClassic. pic.twitter.com/fVO2rU8pr9

— Web.com Tour (@WebDotComTour) June 28, 2017

The Warriors Community Foundation serves as the event’s main charitable beneficiary, as charity continues to play a key role in every PGA TOUR-sanctioned event, with other Ellie Mae charities also benefiting.

The TOUR and its tournaments generated a record $166 million for charity in 2016, in turn elevating the all-time total donated to charity to $2.46 billion.

Since purchasing the Golden State Warriors in 2010, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have continued the club’s longstanding tradition of community involvement. The Warriors Community Foundation, established in 2012 under the new ownership group, serves to expand the team’s impact locally.

Click here for more information on the Ellie Mae Classic.

The Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada goes across Canada with 12 events in 2017, with players competing to take the next step on to the path to the PGA TOUR. Check out tournament profiles, players to watch, feature stories and more in the 2017 Mackenzie Tour Digital Magazine.

Click here to read.

As part of Canada 150 celebrations, the nation’s capital is hosting the stars of the LPGA Tour, including a strong Canadian contingent led by last week’s LPGA Tour winner Brooke Henderson. Golf Canada, in partnership with Canadian Pacific (CP), has announced many of the world’s top players have committed to play in the 2017 CP Women’s Open from August 21-27 at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.

Defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn leads a stellar list of early commitments set to challenge for the $2.25 million USD purse, one of the largest prizes on tour. A six-time winner on the LPGA Tour, the Thailand native recently climbed to No. 1 in the Rolex World Rankings following her victory at the 2017 Manulife LPGA Classic in Waterloo, Ont.

Three-time CP Women’s Open champion and world No. 2 Lydia Ko of New Zealand will be searching for a record fourth Canadian Women’s Open title. Ko’s three Canadian titles (2012, 2013 and 2015) ties the 20-year-old with Meg Mallon and Pat Bradley for most victories at Canada’s National Women’s Open. A 14-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Ko held the No. 1 world ranking for 85 weeks prior to Jutanugarn.

World No. 3 So Yeon Ryu, who won the inaugural CP Women’s Open in 2014, will also compete at Ottawa Hunt. Jutanugarn and Ryu are among nine of the top-10 players on the LPGA Tour Official Money List who have confirmed their intention to compete in the nation’s capital later this summer.

Other top-10 commitments include In Gee Chun, Christie Kerr, Canada’s Brooke Henderson, Inbee Park, Anna Nordqvist, Sei Young Kim and Sung Hyn Park.

No player will generate more excitement this August in Ottawa than Canadian sensation Brooke Henderson of nearby Smiths Falls, Ont., who will compete in her seventh career National Open, this time in front of hometown crowds at Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club.

Coming off her impressive come from behind win at last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic, the four-time winner and major champion has amassed 18 top-10s since joining the LPGA Tour in late 2015.

The graduate of Golf Canada’s National Team program is a former world No. 1 amateur and represented Canada at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she finished T7.

A proud ambassador for CP, Henderson will lead the Canadian contingent into Ottawa as part of the Canada 150 celebration events being hosted in the nation’s capital. World No. 71 and Canadian Olympian Alena Sharp of Hamilton will look to improve on her top-five finish at the 2016 CP Women’s Open as she competes in her national

Open for the 13^th time. Canadian Golf Hall of Fame honoured member and CP ambassador Lorie Kane, a four-time winner on the LPGA Tour will be competing in Canada’s National Open Championship for a record 27^th consecutive time.

The world’s best will be at Ottawa Hunt to compete for the CP Women’s Open trophy, with a strong Canadian contingent led by Smiths Falls Brooke Henderson.

LPGA Tour members Jennifer Ha of Calgary and Maude-Aimée LeBlanc of Sherbrooke, Que., are also set to compete and will be joined by several more Canadians to be announced in the coming weeks.

Jutanugarn, Ko and Ryu will be among 10 past champions competing this year along with Brittany Lincicome (2011), Michelle Wie (2010), Suzann Pettersen (2009), Cristie Kerr (2007) and Katherine Kirk who won the event in 2008 when Ottawa Hunt last hosted the stars of the LPGA Tour.

The field of 156 golfers teeing it up at Ottawa Hunt is expected to again represent arguably the strongest field on the LPGA Tour, carrying over from the 2016 event which welcomed 96 of the top 100 players on the LPGA Tour money list.

“We are thrilled to bring the stars of the LPGA Tour back to Ottawa Hunt as part of the special Canada 150 celebrations happening in the nation’s capital and across Canada in 2017,” said Tournament Director Brent McLaughlin.  “Ottawa is a tremendous golf market with passionate golf fans and no doubt the global stars of the LPGA Tour and Canadian talents led by hometown hero Brooke Henderson will make for a truly special event in 2017.”

Information regarding tickets, volunteer opportunities and corporate hospitality for the CP Women’s Open can be found at www.cpwomensopen.com.

CP Has Heart Charity Campaign to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario…

Now in its fourth year, CP’s community investment program, CP Has Heart is committed to raising funds in support of children’s heart health in the host community of the CP Women’s Open. The 2017 edition of Canada’s National Women’s Open is proud to have the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) as the beneficiary charity.

The CP Has Heart fundraising activities tied to the CP Women’s Open and CHEO are part of CP’s overarching “Beautiful Hearts” campaign across the Ottawa region which will also run during the CFL regular season, playoffs and Grey Cup

The “Beautiful Hearts” campaign will support the refurbishment of facilities that patients use every day at CHEO and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and celebrate the resiliency and spirit of the human heart.

“At CP, we take great pride in our history of connecting Canada and are thrilled to be in Ottawa for this celebration connecting Canadians with the world’s best golfers – including our CP Ambassadors Brooke Henderson and Lorie Kane – and connecting CHEO with opportunities to further its important work,” said Keith Creel, CP President and CEO.

“Our family of 12,000 railroaders is excited about the tournament, but more than that, we are excited to leave a charitable legacy in the nation’s capital. CP Has Heart’s ‘Beautiful Hearts’ campaign will bring crucial support to both CHEO and the Ottawa Heart Institute this year.”

Each year, CHEO touches the lives of more than 500,000 infants, children and youth from Eastern and Northern Ontario, Western Quebec and Nunavut. To better care for these patients, CHEO will be embarking on a $1.8 million project to upgrade the hospital’s Catheterization Lab and Interventional Suite. A redesigned space, specialized equipment and pediatric specific training will be critically important elements in the health and wellness of CHEO’s patients.

Through August 27, 2017, CP will match all donations made towards pediatric cardiac care and research at cheoheart.com. CP will also donate $5,000 to CHEO for every birdie made by a player on the 15th hole at Ottawa Hunt during this year’s championship.

The 15^th hole will also feature the 15^th Green CP Fan Zone where golf fans can donate $20 to upgrade their grounds pass to access a covered greenside bleacher and viewing area with all proceeds to benefit CHEO.

Since 2014, the CP Has Heart charity campaign has raised more than $4.5 million in support of children’s heart health.

Kids 17-and-under Get in Free…
Golf Canada and CP are committed to offering a fan friendly, family event with the CP Women’s Open. To introduce more juniors to the sport, children aged 17-and-under get FREE admission to the CP Women’s Open for the entire week.

Tickets…
Juniors – 17 & Under Free
Early Week (Mon-Wed) $11.30
Anyday Grounds (Thurs-Sun) $39.55
Weekly (Mon-Sun) $90.40
Clubhouse Badge (Mon-Sun) $169.50.

Visit www.cpwomenspen.com for more information.

36 year-old pro tops the Province’s strongest field of the year

SUNDRE, Alta. (Alberta Golf) – You could call it a case of Dustin being Dustin. The Strathmore native who has virtually been on a winning tear since last year continued his dominant play into today’s final round of the 2017 Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP Alberta Open Championship.

Risdon shot a final round 69 to win by one shot over Calgary’s James Love. Professional, Ryan Werre, of Redcliff finished tied for third and five-time champion, Wes Heffernan, of Calgary finished at even par in a tie for seventh.

In his winning speech, Risdon said “I always wanted to win this one and now I’ve got my hands on it.” Risdon has been a top player since his junior days, winning the Alberta and Canadian Junior Championships, along with three Canadian Tour wins (Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada). He now enjoys the game more than ever as he has found teaching the game to be both rewarding and a benefit for his own competitive game. Risdon will put the first-place cheque of $5,000.00 towards expenses for the rest of his competitive 2017 schedule, which now includes his exemption into the ATB Financial Classic on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada.

Evan Holmes, of the Glencoe G&CC, had a one-shot lead in the championship after five holes before making a 10 on the par five, sixth hole when his drive hung up in the trees and was forced to head back to the tee and struggled to get it home.

Low Amateur honours went to Brendan MacDougall of the Glencoe G&CC. The 19-year-old Team Alberta High Performance Squad member made a clutch 5-foot par putt on the eighteenth hole to go bogey-free in the final round. When asked about his accomplishment, MacDougall said “I think it’s awesome. It just really shows that all the work I’ve put in, over the last few years, is really coming together. It shows that I can compete with just about anyone in Alberta.” He will be the number one seed in the Alberta Match Play Championship which starts tomorrow morning.  The Match Play Champion will become the second teammate on the 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur Alberta Morse Cup team.

For the full leaderboard, click here.

For photographs from the championship, click here.

Follow along using #ABOpen.

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ABOUT ALBERTA GOLF
Alberta Golf hosts 13 annual provincial championships in order to identify the best golfers in various age and gender catergories. A mix of nearly 1,500 pro and amateur golfers compete on high quality member facility courses across the province. Championships are hosted by a core team of staff and over 100 volunteers. The tournaments promote competition, build pride in the community, support charitable giving and inspire future generations of golfers. They also serve as an opportunity for golfers to qualify for national amateur championships.

The Alberta Golf Association was incorporated as a society in 1912 and continues today as a not for profit Provincial Sport Organization (PSO) operating as Alberta Golf. As the PSO, we are commited to realizing the positive impacts of golf on indivudals and communities across Alberta. Our vision is that through golf, Albertans will enjoy a high quality of life, improved health and wellness, a strong sense of community, economic benefits and personal fulfillment.

ABOUT SCOTT VENTURO RUDAKOFF LLP
Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP is a multi service law firm based in Calgary, Alberta. Since its establishment in 1986, the firm has become one of Calgary’s leading legal service providers, focusing on delivering high quality, efficient solutions for clients. The partners, associates and staff of Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP come from a wide range of backgrounds, and this experience enables us to offer responsive, effective and creative legal solutions to our clients.

Past Champion, James Love, holds a slim one shot lead after day one

SUNDRE, Alta. (Alberta Golf) – The 2017 Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP Alberta Open Championship is feeling like a flashback as James Love sits on top of today’s leaderboard. In 2015, Love made a second day charge to win the event in dramatic fashion. This year it’s a different story. “I got off to a good start. I birdied my first two holes. So that sets the tone pretty easily for the day,” Love said.

It took four birdies on the front nine and three more on the back to secure a one stroke lead over Evan Holmes. The conditions today made for good scoring with 15 players at even par or better.

Love said the course was just working for him, having not played the track since the renovations 10 years ago. “This is a good course here. You want to keep hitting it in front of you, and you want to keep out of the trees. I pretty much did that today.”

A practice round wasn’t even needed, as the Calgarian travelled in from the Kelowna area after playing in the GolfBC Championship on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada event held last week. Love said that he is hoping to keep his momentum going into round two. “You know, I’ve been playing well most of the year. So there isn’t a lot of stuff that I need to do differently. I will hopefully get off to a good start again and keep that rhythm going.”

TOP 10 – ALBERTA OPEN LEADERBOARD

For the full leaderboard, click here.

Evan Holmes is looking for some redemption at the Sundre GC. Having narrowly missed at the Alberta Men’s Amateur four years ago at this same course, he is proving to be a notable contender, as he sits alone in second place and only one shot back of Love.

PGA of Alberta Professional, Craig Gibson, from the Sirocco Golf Club, is in third place at three under par. Notably, Dustin Risdon had it to five under par through 12 holes before a double bogey on 13 stalled his round. He sits three shots back and will surely be a player to keep an eye on in the final round.

Tomorrow’s champion will earn a spot in the ATB Financial Classic on the Mackenzie Tour – PGA Tour Canada. The top 16 amateur players will advance to the Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP Alberta Match Play Championship the following two days. The Match Play Champion will become the second teammate on the 2018 Pacific Coast Amateur Alberta Morse Cup team.

For photographs from round one of the championship, click here.

The final group will tee off at 1:10 PM.

Follow along using #ABOpen.

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ABOUT ALBERTA GOLF

Alberta Golf hosts 13 annual provincial championships in order to identify the best golfers in various age and gender catergories. A mix of nearly 1,500 pro and amateur golfers compete on high quality member facility courses across the province. Championships are hosted by a core team of staff and over 100 volunteers. The tournaments promote competition, build pride in the community, support charitable giving and inspire future generations of golfers. They also serve as an opportunity for golfers to qualify for national amateur championships.

The Alberta Golf Association was incorporated as a society in 1912 and continues today as a not for profit Provincial Sport Organization (PSO) operating as Alberta Golf. As the PSO, we are commited to realizing the positive impacts of golf on indivudals and communities across Alberta. Our vision is that through golf, Albertans will enjoy a high quality of life, improved health and wellness, a strong sense of community, economic benefits and personal fulfillment.

ABOUT SCOTT VENTURO RUDAKOFF LLP

Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP is a multi service law firm based in Calgary, Alberta. Since its establishment in 1986, the firm has become one of Calgary’s leading legal service providers, focusing on delivering high quality, efficient solutions for clients. The partners, associates and staff of Scott Venturo Rudakoff LLP come from a wide range of backgrounds, and this experience enables us to offer responsive, effective and creative legal solutions to our clients.

Dustin Risdon captured the PGA of Alberta Championship at the Edmonton Petroleum G&CC. He continues to play extremely well, winning the PGA of Alberta’s first Players’ Tour event of the season on May 24, 2017. 

Junior champion.

Professional golfer.

Caddie.

PGA of Canada assistant.

Teacher.

Dustin Risdon has been there, done that … is doing that. And somewhere along the lines, he’s still finding time to do what he does best— win golf tournaments.

But these days, golf is paying dividends for him in more ways than with just prize money.

These days, the Strathmore native is stress-free and having fun golfing.

Again.

Finally again.

“I definitely lost the fun on a number of occasions,” said the 35-year-old two-time Alberta junior kingpin and 1997 Canadian junior champ, who eventually swung his way to success on the Nationwide Tour, now the Web.com Tour, during a roller-coaster pro golf career. “I wanted to quit the game countless times.”

Good thing he didn’t, in retrospect.

While they may not be events on the Nationwide Tour, of which he played in 46 events from 2003-10, or the Canadian Open, of which he’s played in three over the years, Risdon found his way to a run of wins — and a ton of fun — during the 2016 PGA of Alberta golf season.

First, it was victory at the PGA of Alberta Assistants’ Championship with a two-day 16-under 128 at Mill Woods Golf Club.

Second, it was the PGA of Alberta Championship that saw him shoot a field-best 1-under 71 at Edmonton Petroleum Golf & Country Club.

Then, it was the SunIce Tour Championship at which he carded a two-day 11-under 133 to beat runner-up Wes Heffernan by eight strokes and set a new course record at Sundre Golf Club.

Along the way, he won seven of the eight PGA of Alberta events he entered and finished runner-up in the other.

And in the end, he was tops on the PGA of Alberta’s order of merit and grabbed — of course — its player-of-the-year honour.

It was definitely good times for the oft-reserved Risdon.

“I was having fun most of the time,” said Risdon of the key to his golf success. “When I was travelling, I kind of got the old feelings back staying in the hotel rooms by myself, thinking ‘I don’t want to be doing this anymore.’ Quebec was a real tough one (for a third-place finish at the Quebec Canadian Circuit Pro Tour), because we were way out in the middle of nowhere — I was pretty much isolated by myself, it was a four-day event, and by the end of the week, I was pretty much begging to come home.”

But his crowning achievement of the schedule was yet to come on the shores of Georgian Bay at the Lora Bay Golf Club just outside Thornbury, Ont., where he trounced the field last September to triumph at the PGA Assistant’s Championship of Canada.

“It was relaxing staying at a house instead of being stuck alone in a hotel room — and that helped,” said Risdon of bunking with a friend in a huge home by Georgian Bay. “It’s a different feeling when you’ve got someone there with you there all the time, so that made life easier.”

Indeed, Risdon rode a stress-free week to a three-day, 18-under 198, beating the nearest competition by an event-record 11 strokes to collect a $9,000 paycheque. The first two rounds of his 67-67-64 effort helped Alberta win the 36-hole inter-zone competition — again in record fashion — at the national tournament.

“I was kinda building up to that — won a few tournaments going in,” Risdon said. “The year before, I had a bad first round. I felt like I could’ve won that tournament, but I actually felt a little nervous playing at a national championship again, even though it wasn’t the Canadian Open.

“So I went in last year thinking I can play with these guys and shoot 6-under each round. I shot 5-under the first round, and I told (the PGA of Canada reporter), ‘I’m one shot behind my goal — I want to shoot 6-under every day and finish 18-under’ — and his eyes went wide open. I birdied the last three holes to finish 18-under, and he was the first guy to say, ‘Holy, you did it!’

“So just the mind was right. I had a place to stay, and I had a buddy caddying for me — I was comfortable.”

These days, he’s most comfortable teaching the game to others as an associate teaching professional at National Golf Academy in Calgary.

Risdon brings, of course, a wealth of not just knowledge but the experience of having played high-pressure golf in the top ranks of the sport. It all makes him the perfect teacher.

“The first thing I teach in a lesson is we’re going to keep this as simple as possible, so you can go out and have some fun,” Risdon said. “They’re not going out on tour, so let’s get a golf-swing groove that you can go out and rely on. And I teach them how to self-diagnose, so they don’t have 18 different thoughts in their head before they hit the ball.”

He’s especially keen on mentoring those young talents with a chance, perhaps, to follow in his footsteps.

“You can’t perfect this game — you lose 99% of the time,” said Risdon, who’s also spent time working in the much-ballyhooed junior program at Collicutt Siding Golf Club in Carstairs. “It’s hard to explain the mental side. That’s why I go out and play a lot of lesson holes with the juniors. I’ll go out and show them how to play the course and offer course management and the mental experience.”

“You never say never when it comes to playing again — but for now, it’s teaching,” added Risdon, who can be reached at dustin@nationalgolfacademy.ca. “I’d like to become more of a coach — my ultimate goal is to help juniors along that are getting ready to go to college and help them get their scholarship. I didn’t have too much of that growing up. I had a lot of offers, but I didn’t have a lot of guidance. I want to re-do what I did with other kids and get them on the right track.

“If I can get them there and get them on their way, that would be gratifying to me.”

Dustin being Dustin

This article was originally published in the 2017 edition of The Alberta Golfer Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here.