The Golf Association was saddened to hear that former volunteer Heather Furlong passed away on Sept. 11 at the age of 72. Furlong had been a tournament scoring volunteer from 2007-2013. The GAO would like to send their condolences to her family. Below is Furlong’s obituary from the Waterloo Region Record.

Heather passed away peacefully at Sakura House Hospice on September 11, 2014, at the age of 72, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Heather had a loving and wonderful life for 51 years with her best friend and husband Jim. She was a great mum to Deb Duimering (Richard) of Gorrie, Brock Furlong (Jill) of Chicago and Scott Furlong (Nonie Lesaux) of Boston, and a special grandma to Connor, Emily, Jacob, Hannah, John and Morgan. She is survived by her brother Murray Cree (Pat) and niece Kate Cree (Patrick Peeling) of Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island.

Heather was born in Victoria, B.C. on February 7, 1942. By the age of ten Heather had lived in Victoria, Halifax, Regina, Aldergrove and finally Qualicum Beach. She took her nursing training at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, and graduated as an RN in 1963. After working for three months she received an unusual proposal by phone, accepted, married Jim, and they moved to Germany for three years. For ten summers she was a nurse at Camp Tawingo. While there she helped write a camp nursing manual to benefit others who would be helping young people in this special setting. For 23 years Heather was a nurse/receptionist for Dr. Bateman, an ophthalmologist, where her empathy skills were always at work. Heather was an excellent seamstress, and the first purchase in the marriage was a sewing machine. Everyone in the family, as well as some friends, wore clothes made by Heather. She loved to cook, garden, and dabble at weaving and art, but her favourite enjoyment came from being with family and friends.She was a volunteer with the Golf Association of Ontario and a member of PROBUS.

Special thanks to the kind and caring staff at Sakura House and the awesome doctors and nurses at the Grand River Cancer Clinic, especially Dr. Carolyn Campbell. The family is so very thankful for the kindness, visits, thoughts and prayers from friends and neighbours. It gave great strength to Heather.

Heather’s family will receive friends from 2:30-4:30 and 7-9 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, 2014 at the Henry Walser Funeral Home, 507 Frederick Street Kitchener, (519) 749-8467. Cremation has taken place and a private family service will be held at a later date. As expressions of sympathy, donations can be made to the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre, Sakura House Hospice or the charity of your choice. Visit www.henrywalser.com for Heather’s memorial.

ST. THOMAS— As the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) season comes to an end, the final senior men’s event took place on Sept. 11 at the St. Thomas Golf and Country Club. There were 55 teams of senior men, 55-years-old and over, that took to the course in damp, fall-like conditions for the Senior Men’s Better Ball Championship.

With many great teams taking part, it meant there would be many great scores. By the end of the day there were 16 under par in total. None was greater than that of Collingwood’s Michael Jackson and Welland’s Sandy Billyard who posted the low round at seven-under (65). The difference for the duo came on the ninth hole when Billyard, from Hunters Pointe Golf Course, hit a hole-in-one on the par three.

“It really seemed to get us going,” said Jackson. “Up until then we had made eight straight pars. Sandy played a great round of golf today.”

That seemed to galvanize the team as they went on to play the back nine five-under and finished the day seven-under (65).

“Number nine was the nicest shot I hit all day!” said Billyard. “It was a four-iron, 180 yards up hill. It landed just in the right spot and rolled in like a putt. Mike made a clutch birdie on 17 and that was the winner for us.”

It is the first time that either Jackson, Georgian Bay Club, or Billyard have won the Senior Men’s Better Ball title.

“The win means a lot to me because I haven’t won a provincial event since 1973,” added Billyard. “I’m thrilled! For Mike it is just another notch in his belt.”

“It is always nice to win a tournament but it was especially nice to win with Sandy. We didn’t make a bogey all day and just played a solid game,” said Jackson.

Finishing second was a team from the host St. Thomas Golf & Country Club, Stephen Brodie and John Scott. The two used their hometown knowledge of the course to their advantage finishing six-under (66).

Rounding out the top five was a tie for third between three teams. Richard Evoy (Sault Ste. Marie Golf Club) & Tom Hossfeld (Hylands Golf Club), Ian Montgomery (Weston Golf & Country Club) & Richard Lockwood (London Hunt and Country Club) and Kerry Short & Les Westlake (St. Catharines Golf and Country Club) all ended the day at three under (69).

For the final leaderboard see the tournament site at: http://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao1426/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

The Senior Men’s Better Ball Championship was first contested in 1982. The trophy was donated by the Oakdale Golf & Country Club, who annually host the GAO’s Men’s Better Ball Championship. Notable champions include Ontario Golf Hall of Famers Nick Westlock and Stu Hamilton. 2014 marks the first year that St. Thomas Golf & Country Club has hosted the event. The GAO would like to thank St. Thomas Golf & Country Club for their support of amateur golf in Ontario.

Brooke Henderson, Grace St-Germain and Naomi Ko to represent Team Canada along with Jaclyn Lee, Selena Costabile and Alisha Lau

Inaugural international junior girls’ championship to be conducted September 26^th to October 1^st at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont.

Markham, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada in partnership with the Golf Association of Ontario is pleased to announce the six players who will represent Team Canada’s two squads at the inaugural World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship September 26^th to October 1^st at Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham, Ont.

Representing the first of two Canadian squads competing are Brooke Henderson, 16, of Smiths Falls, Ont., Grace St-Germain, 16, of Ottawa, Ont. and Naomi Ko, 17, of Victoria, B.C. Canada’s second team in the event will include Jaclyn Lee of Calgary, Selena Costabile of Thornhill, Ont. and Alisha Lau of Richmond, B.C.

The Canadian contingent will be coached by Team Canada Development Squad Women’s Coach Ann Carroll, alongside Reggie Millage the provincial Head Coach for the Golf Association of Ontario.

The inaugural international junior girls championship – which will be contested on the South Course at Angus Glen Golf Club – will be conducted by Golf Canada in partnership with the Golf Association of Ontario.

The championship features three-player teams of athletes under the age of 19 representing 15 countries. As host country, Canada will field two teams in the competition. A full listing of rosters for each country can be found here. and full bios for the Canadians selected can be found below.

The 16-team field will compete over 72 holes for both individual and team honours. Qualifying countries for the inaugural championship were invited based on their performances at the 2012 World Amateur in Turkey.

The 2014 World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship will mark the first official playing of a female junior championship of its kind – the Toyota Junior Golf World Cup is a boys’ only event that has been contested for almost 20 years.

The event – which is supported by the International Golf Federation, received grant funding by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Other funding partners include the Golf Canada Foundation (Women’s Golf Fund) and the R&A as well as Central Counties.  Funding was also provided from the Federal and Provincial governments in preparation for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games.

In addition to a 72-hole competition, the championship will include skills competitions, an international golf coaches’ summit and golf clinics outside of tournament play in the spirit of establishing an interactive junior golf festival around the championship.

The Angus Glen Golf Club will also play host to the debut of golf at the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games from July 16-19, 2015. The World Junior Girls’ Golf Championship will provide training opportunities for officials and volunteers registered for the historic event that is set for the south course at Angus Glen.

The event gets underway with Opening Ceremonies at Angus Glen beginning at 5:30pm on Saturday, September 27^th.

Admission to the World Junior Girls Golf Championship is free for all spectators for the duration of the championship. For more information visit www.worldjuniorgirls.com

TEAM CANADA PLAYERS BIOS

Squad # 1

Brooke Henderson

As the No. 1 ranked amateur in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, the Smiths Falls, Ont. native has captured seven amateur titles this season and two professional titles (Canadian Women’s Tour Ontario and PGA Women’s Championship of Canada). A member of Team Canada’s National Amateur Squad, Henderson recently won the individual medal at the World Amateur Championship. Additionally, she finished runner-up at the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and also finished T10 at the U.S. Women’s Open. She also earned Low Canadian and Low Amateur honours at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open where she finished T46 and while also finishing T45 at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic.

Grace St-Germain

A native of Ottawa, Ont., St-Germain captured the 2014 Canadian Junior Girls Championship by seven strokes. The 16-year-old was also victorious at the Quebec Women’s Amateur Championship and earned medalist honours at the GAO’s Junior Girls’ Match Play Championship. Recently she added another win to her season at the Graham Cooke Junior Invitational.

Naomi Ko

A member of Team Canada’s National Development Squad, Ko is the reigning 2014 B.C. Junior Girls champion. Additionally, the 17-year-old Victoria, B.C. native won the CN Future Links Ontario title and finished fourth at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship.

Squad # 2

Jaclyn Lee

Lee is a three-time winner this season after victories at the CN Future Links Prairie Championship, Alberta Women’s Amateur Championship and Alberta Junior Girls Championship. The Calgary native is also a member of Team Canada’s National Development Squad.

Selena Costabile

A native of Thornhill, Ont., Costabile captured the 2014 GAO Junior Spring Classic and the CJGA World Junior Challenge. The 16-year-old also finished runner-up at the CN Future Links Ontario Championship and notched a pair of third place finishes at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship and the AJGA/CJGA’s Junior Championship.

Alisha Lau

A native of Richmond, B.C., Lau was victorious at the CJGA’s Nike Golf Junior Series at Hazelmere, finished second at the CN Future Links Prairie Championship and fourth at the CN Future Links Pacific Championship. Additionally, the 15-year-old posted a third place finish at the B.C. Women’s Amateur Championship.

On Sept. 6, 2014, 16-year-old Team Canada athlete Brooke Henderson took over the no.1 spot on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). This marks the first time in program history that a Canadian female has held the no. 1 spot. Henderson officially took over the post on her birthday, Sept. 10.

Henderson, a Smiths Falls, Ont. native, learned the news after former no. 1 Minjee Lee of Australia turned professional following the World Amateur, allowing Henderson to move up from the second spot. She will be representing Canada in the World Junior Girls Championship later this month.

INNISFIL, ON— After finishing the opening round at one-under, Aurora’s Peter Willis looked to hang on to his lead during the final round of the Golf Association of Ontario’s (GAO) Baka Wireless Public Player Championship, Sept. 9, at National Pines Golf Club in Innisfil.

It would not be easy for the 36-year-old Willis who had to fend off challengers from his final group along with the second to last group. Willis remained calm and despite all the moves going on around him, was able to tap in for par and the win on the 18^th, finishing the day two-over (74) and the tournament one-over.

“I played well during the opening round before a slip up at the end,” said Willis. “I think over the two days my ball striking was very good. I was able to make a lot of up and downs to save par, which is pretty much what kept me going.”

Two shots back of Willis were a pair of players: Burlington’s Barrett McCarthy and Oakville’s Derek Dalziel. Barrett finished the day at even par (72), while Dalziel was one-over (73) resulting in them each earning a share of the silver medal at three-over for the tournament.

“It was a good battle between myself and the two guys I was playing with. But I was able to grind out the win in the end. I was just taking some deep breaths out there and tried to finish off the round,” added Willis.

Rounding out the top five were Etobicoke’s John Contini at five-over for the tournament and Port Perry’s Shea Varty at six-over.

“This win is definitely one of the tops for me so far. A GAO win is always a good win, as Rob Cowan said at the Champion of Champions. I am honoured to win this event with all of the great public players who have won it.”

In the Net A flight, Sarnia’s Nick Powell was able to capture the title after his second straight round of two-under (70). In second was Mississauga’s David Nelson at even par, Erin’s Roland Hill was third at one-over, Oakville’s Bogdan Szybalski finished fourth at two-over and Bolton’s David Hynd and Peter Pusitz tied in fifth at three-over.

Nick Powell won the Net A Flight and receives the gold medal from GAO Executive Director Steve Carroll.

As for the Net B flight, Markham’s Fred Bowler fired an eight-under (64) during the final round to move to five-under for the tournament to take the win. Second was Toronto’s Rizalde Cuachon at four-under for the tournament, third was Toronto’s John Boyack at two-under, fourth was Mississauga’s Mark Blake at one-over and completing the top five was Allan Gregorio from Toronto and Toronto’s Peter Corbett at two-over.

Fred Bowler captured the Net Flight B division and receives his gold from GAO Tournament Manager Larry Longo.

For the final leaderboard for the Championship Division, visit the tournament site at: http://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao1425/index.htmand for the Net Division visit: http://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao14136/index.htm

The Baka Wireless Public Player Championship has been contested since 1958. It was suspended between 1984 and 1995. This year’s event is a two-round competition with a Championship and Net A and B flight. Former champions include: Ontario Golf Hall of Famer Gerry Kesselring, Ken Trowbridge, Dave Bunker and Lucas Kim. Craig Loughry holds the record for the most victories with four.

The Golf Association of Ontario would like to thank the volunteers and staff from National Pines Golf Club, along with event sponsor Baka Wireless for their support of golf in Ontario.

LEWISTON, NY– Collingwood’s Michael Jackson was announced as the co-winner of the 2014 Senior Porter Cup on Sept. 8 after thunderstorms made the Niagara Falls Country Club course in Lewiston, New York, unplayable. The tournament was reduced to a 36-hole event. Jackson, a member of the Georgian Bay Club, will share the honour with Steve Hudson after the pair both recorded scores two-over (142) after two rounds. Jackson shot an opening round of two-over (72) before his second round of even-par (70). Oakville’s Lars Melander was just one shot back at three-over (143) for the tournament.

Brooke Henderson shoots 19-under to finish as low individual

KARUIZAWA, JAPAN (Golf Canada) – Team Canada had history in their sights but it wasn’t meant to be as Australia, with a combined 131 from world no. 1 ranked Minjee Lee and Su Oh in the final round, came from seven strokes back to win the 2014 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship (WWATC) at 29-under-par 547 at Karuizawa 72 Golf East’s Iriyama Course.

Canada, which led on each of the first three days and was vying for its first Women’s World Amateur victory, finished second at 27-under 549 to capture the silver medal.

Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont. (66-69-66-68–269) and Brittany Marchand of Orangeville, Ont. (71-70-69-72–282) combined for a final round 4-under 140 but it was enough to hold off the surging Aussies. Teammate Augusta James of Bath, Ont. (69-76-72-75—292) shot a non-counting final round 75 to round out the trio.

“We did our absolute best out there today and it was just a little bit short,” said team captain, Liz Hoffman. “I look at that leaderboard and I think about what we’ve done the last four days and I am so proud of our girls. They’ve been fantastic and so wonderful to work with.”

Australia, which won the Espirito Santo Trophy for the third time, took the lead through six holes of the final round as Lee, No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™, was 4 under through five holes on an eagle and two birdies and Oh was 3 under with three birdies. Lee, 18, finished with an eagle and five birdies for a 65 while Oh, who is No.6 in the WAGR™, tallied six birdies for a 66. Neither recorded a bogey in their respective final rounds.

The Australians broke the mark for a final-round comeback of three strokes, which was set by their countrymen in 2002 in Malaysia. Their 72-hole total of 547 was one stroke shy of Korea’s record-low in 2010 and their final-round 131 is second-best all-time.

With her tournament score of 19-under par, Henderson, 16, finished as the low individual at the championship. Ranked No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, Henderson finished three strokes ahead of reigning World No. 1 Minjee Lee of Australia and her tournament score of 269 for the championship breaks the Women’s World Amateur mark of 274 set by Lydia Ko in 2012.

“Australia had a great round today, I was really impressed,” said Henderson. “They have very skilled players, including two in the top 10 in the world rankings, which is unbelievable. It’s a little disappointing to finish second but overall we had a really great week and played really well as a team.”

Canada’s runner-up finish marks the fourth time the squad has finished in second place in the race for the Espirito Santo trophy (’04, ’78, ’66).  With the win, Australia put an end to Korea’s bid to become the first team to win three consecutive World Amateur titles – Australia also won in 1978 and 2002.

The Republic of Korea finished third, one stroke back of Canada at 26-under par in Saturday’s final. Denmark finished fourth at 556, followed by Sweden and the USA tied for fifth at 557, Mexico in seventh at 560, England and host Japan tied for eighth at 562 and the Philippines in 10th at 563.

The Women’s World Amateur Team Championship is a biennial international amateur competition conducted by the International Golf Federation (IGF), which comprises 137 national governing bodies in 131 countries. The competition, which is being held for the 26th time, is rotated among three geographic zones: Asia-Pacific, Americas and Europe-Africa.

This year’s event is hosted by the Japan Golf Association. The teams play for the Espirito Santo Trophy. The IGF is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and will conduct the Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day (72-hole) total is the team’s score for the championship.

The 2016 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship will be played in Cancun, Mexico.

The men’s competition for the Eisenhower Trophy gets underway on Sept. 10. Canada will be represented by Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.), Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.).

US Am finalist, Listowel’s Corey Conners stopped by the GAO office this morning, Sept. 5, to receive a special picture from the staff congratulating him on his finish. Included was a shot of him during his time in one of the GAO programs along with a photo of him at the US Men’s Amateur. Above, he is pictured with the staff at the GAO office in Uxbridge. The GAO wishes Corey the best as he heads to Japan for the Men’s World Amateur!

Highlights from the Golf Association of Ontario’s 2014 Investors Group Senior Men’s Amateur Championship, Aug.12-14 in Welland at Hunters Pointe Golf Course, won by Oakville’s Larry Cooper.

BOND HEAD, ON – More than 100 golfers began the day but by the end, it was the team from the Cedar Brae Golf & Country Club who out lasted 27 other teams, along with heavy rain, to claim the title on Sept. 2 at the George S. Lyon Team Championship, hosted by The Club at Bond Head.

Four-man teams from golf clubs across Ontario came together for the 79th playing of the event. Players took to Bond Head’s South Course in a combined gross-score format, with Cedar Brae earning the title by three strokes at 16-over (304).

The team from Cedar Brae, in Scarborough, was comprised of Toronto’s Robert Gibson, Scarborough’s Richard Persaud, Markham’s Wesley Kwok and Toronto’s Marc St-Germain.

At the end of the round it was Gibson who led the way finishing in a tie for second among all players at even-par (72). Persaud and Kwok were both second on the team at four-over (76) and St-Germain finished eight-over (80). It is the third title for Cedar Brae since the inaugural event in 1931. Cedar Brae’s last title came in 2006.

“Winning this is a big deal for us,” said Gibson. “There are so many good players at our club so I think just to be here and represent the club in a competition like this is an achievement. There are a lot of folks that are going to be proud of us when we get back. We’ve had our name on here (the George S. Lyon Shield) before, but it has been a while, so it is good to have it back on here.”

Gibson also talked about how the team dealt with the rainy conditions during the round. “We just tried to keep the big numbers and damage down. It was easy to give up, make big numbers and shoot high scores but we stayed patient and didn’t try to get any big numbers back, that was the main thing.”

Runner-up honours went to the team representing the Sarnia Golf and Country Club: Ethan O’Meara, Eric Pattenaude, Stephen Brown and Aaron Pedlar, who were three shots back finishing at a combined 19-over (307).

The bronze medals were awarded to the team from North Halton. They finished the day at a combined 22-over (310). North Halton was comprised of Darren Morris, Brendan Heinz, Adam Salisbury and Rick Cody.

Pickering’s Christopher Kertsos, from York Downs Golf & Country Club, walked away with the top-individual award. He finished at two-under (70). He was the only player to finish the day under par.

For the final individual and team leaderboard see the tournament site at: http://gao.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/gao14/event/gao1424/index.htm

The George S. Lyon Team Championship was first played in 1931 and ran consecutively until 2000. Originally an inter-club championship, the event was reinstated in 2006 and is named after 1904 Olympic Golf gold medalist George S. Lyon, who still stands as the reigning Olympic champion of the sport.

The GAO would like to thank The Club at Bond Head for their support of the event as well as each of the golf clubs that entered the Championship.