Golf Canada – Syndication Server

Step right up at the RBC Canadian Open and see if you too can make the Nick Taylor 72-foot putt

North of the border, they refer to it simply as “The Putt.”

HAMILTON, Ontario – Step right up, folks, and see if you, too, can make a 72-foot putt!

Here, north of the border, they refer to it simply as “The Putt.” Amid a steady rain, the 72-foot eagle bomb at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club by Abbotsford’s own Nick Taylor on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff ended a 69-year drought of a Canadian not winning its national open.

“Still can’t believe it’s been a year,” Taylor said on Wednesday in his pre-tournament interview ahead of his title defense at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. “It’s been a fun ride.”

When his long-range bomb dropped, Taylor tossed his putter into the air and leaped into the arms of caddie Dave Markle, a former teammate on Canada’s amateur team, after the longest made putt of his PGA Tour career.

The 72-foot putting challenge for fans attending the 2024 RBC Canadian Open. (Photo: Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

“My distinct memory is seeing Dave charge at me, kind of his face. Then the rest of it is kind of a blur,” Taylor recalled. “I’ve seen the replay enough now that I kind of have that visual almost now instead of my own perception. Yeah, I’ve seen so many angles now, it’s really cool to see different people’s reaction. I feel when my wife and I see it we find a different person to look at and see how they reacted, which is pretty fun.

Golf Canada is giving every spectator at this week’s RBC Canadian Open a chance to see if they can duplicate Taylor’s feat.

RBC Canadian Open: Photos | Merchandise | Leaderboard | Tee times

So, yes, step right up and try your luck at the RBC Community Junior Golf 72-Foot Putt Challenge. For $20, fans receive two chances to hole a putt of the same length as Taylor’s iconic championship winner. Nail it like Nick and you’re rewarded with a new Scotty Cameron putter and upgraded passes for that day at the Open. (At press time, 22 contestants had holed it, including nine on Friday!)

Proceeds from the contest benefit the First Tee program that brings golf into elementary and middle school phys-ed classes in Canada.

After Taylor finished his pro-am round on Wednesday, he stopped by the challenge hole to help some First Tee kids give his long-range bomb a shot. One nearly made it.

Then it was Taylor’s turn. His first attempt slid right and a little long. His second stopped about a foot wide to the left. Turns out 72 feet is as hard as it looks.

“You don’t have a whole lot of 72-footers in practice or in tournaments,” Taylor told the Hamilton Spectator. “It was a one-in-a-million type shot.”

While he couldn’t pull it off this time, he rediscovered the magic at a charity event back home in his native British Columbia a few months ago.

Make that a 1-in-500,000 type putt.

Corey Conners’ hole-in-one at the Masters got the ultimate Canadian tribute — a donut

After Corey Conners’ ace at the Masters, the local club in his hometown sent “runners” to tell the club’s patrons about his hole-in-one.

The 2021 Masters was loaded with tasty storylines, including Canadian Corey Conners draining the sixth hole-in-one on No. 6 in the tournament’s history — marking the first time since 2013 a player aced a hole other than No. 16 during the event at Augusta National.

Conners hails from a small region in rural Ontario, Canada, about two hours from Toronto, and was immortalized as only a Canadian can be — through a Tim Hortons donut.

Robert Rumph owns the Tim Hortons — a famous coffee and donut chain named for a hockey player that stretches across Canada and into some Northern U.S. towns — in Listowel, a small unincorporated area where Conners was raised.

Rumph was watching when Conners buried the ace, a shot that landed short of the hole and rolled in.

Rumph said Conners’ ace sent waves through the nearby Listowel Golf Club, a 27-hole semi-private golf course, designed by Dave Moote, RF Moote & Associates. Although the clubhouse is currently closed, Rumph said “runners” were sent out on the course to tell all the club’s patrons that Conners had just pulled off Masters history.

“It was amazing,” said Rumph, who has plenty of connections with the family, including knowing Conners’ dad Mike from his time as a local hockey coach. “Corey has made everyone in this area so proud. And when he’s home, he usually stops around and has a donut, so we made this special donut for him.”

The donut is covered in green icing and has a small while “golf ball” of icing on top. It’s not the first time Rumph has created something for Conners, when the 2010 Ontario Amateur champ first qualified for the Masters, the store had a similar donut, minus the golf ball.

“This time we had to add a little something extra,” Rumph said.

Conners should be able to foot the bill for plenty of patrons in the town of 7,500 — he finished T-8 at the Masters and has 11 top-25 finishes in 17 starts on the PGA Tour this season, amassing $2,785,045. He currently sits 42nd in the Official World Golf Ranking and 29th on the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

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Alena Sharp feels proud that Team Canada sent IOC a strong message

Alena Sharp’s 2016 Olympic experience proved to her why this year’s Olympics could not go on as scheduled in the wake of the coronavirus.

Alena Sharp stayed in the Olympic Village at the Rio 2016 Games. She roomed with Canadian basketball coaches and watched compatriots medal in platform diving. She thrived on being part of a bigger team.

All of those experiences helped Sharp, 39, understand why Team Canada announced on Sunday night that it would not send Olympic or Paralympic athletes to the Tokyo games if they went on as scheduled this summer. The Canadian committees urged the IOC to postpone the Games by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sharp said she was initially shocked by the decision.

“But at the same time I’m also proud that Canada is the first one to step up and maybe open the IOC’s eyes that this isn’t the best situation for athletes,” said Sharp, who along with No. 7 Brooke Henderson, would have represented Canada based off of current rankings.

On Monday, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks.

Sharp thought about the Olympic Village, and how easily the virus could spread in such close quarters with athletes coming together from around the world.

“That would just be a nightmare,” she said.

While many Olympic hopefuls can’t train with so many businesses and facilities shut down, Sharp said her club in Phoenix, Seville, still carries a packed tee sheet. The club has taken several precautions to help keep members safe. Golf carts don’t have sand bottles or ice chests. The rakes are gone. The cups are flipped upside down. Flagsticks aren’t to be touched.

Sharp had originally signed up for last week’s Cactus Tour event in Phoenix but with mixed feelings eventually pulled out, deciding that she wouldn’t compete again until the LPGA is back up and running.

The LPGA hasn’t hosted an event since the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in mid-February. Sharp played three times before the tour shut down, finishing tied for ninth at the ISPS Vic Open. The LPGA has postponed the next four events, including a major, with the next one scheduled for May 14-17 just outside Tampa, Florida.

“I’m just hopeful that we can play as soon as possible,” said Sharp, “but I don’t see it happening until June.”

Sharp’s gym recently closed so she moved to in-home equipment. She bought a hitting mat and net at Dick’s in case her golf club shuts down. She also recently took up pickleball.

“The news is on quite a bit,” said Sharp. “We started watching HGTV in between segments of the news. We started playing Mario Kart on Nintendo Switch. (The news) can be overwhelming at times.”

Golf Canada CEO urges golfers to stay home during pandemic

While many U.S. courses are taking precautions and remaining open, Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum advised all of Canada to stay home.

To play or not to play?

As the COVID-19 pandemic brings much of the world to a standstill, the golf industry continues to debate the safety of remaining open for play. While many courses in the U.S. are taking extra precautions and remaining open, Golf Canada CEO Laurence Applebaum has advised all of Canada to stay home.

“I think it’s really a normal thought to see golf as a great activity with regards to some of the social distancing guidelines that were given, but I would give further thought to the fact that it’s a lot more interactive than you may think at the outset,” Applebaum told The Canadian Press. “Everyone has to do their duty to not come into contact with others.

“So we’ll refer to the experts who are giving these guidelines and give Canada a chance to really plank the curve, not just flatten it.”

It’s still early season in Canada and while many public courses have closed, operators at private clubs will be making decisions in the coming days and weeks.

“I will tell you that the overwhelming majority are thinking about the health and wellness of their staff, and of their overall memberships, and so the majority of them have closed their doors until further notice,” said Applebaum.

“It’s on a club-by-club basis and we’ve been providing the guidance of wanting to have everyone think about what (public health officials) have told us are the best things we can to be safe, be healthy, and to try and do all the right things to eradicate the coronavirus.”

On Sunday evening, Team Canada announced that they will not be sending any Olympic or Paralympic athletes to Tokyo if the are held as planned this summer. The Canadian committees urged the IOC to postpone by one year.

That means that if the Games continue as scheduled, Canada’s beloved star, Brooke Henderson, will not be competing. Henderson is the winningest player in Canadian history – male or female – with nine LPGA titles. She’s the highest-ranked Canadian golfer at No. 7 in the world. Adam Hadwin is the highest-ranked male at No. 25.

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