OAKVILLE, Ont. – Golf Canada in partnership with title sponsor CN announced today that the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event will be hosted at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont. on Saturday, July 18th leading into the 2015 RBC Canadian Open.
Now in its seventh season, the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge National Event brings together Canada’s 24 top-scoring juniors in a competition that showcases putting, chipping, iron and driving skills on the national stage.
Delivered by Golf Canada in partnership with the PGA of Canada, CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenges are conducted throughout the year by facilities running CN Future Links programming across Canada. Scores from each Junior Skills Challenge are submitted online to a national leaderboard, from which top qualifiers are selected prior to the June 22nd deadline. Participants from six different age groups will be invited as follows:
• Girls 11 and under (5 players)
• Boys 11 and under (5 players)
• Girls 12 to 14 (4 players)
• Boys 12 to 14 (4 players)
• Girls 15 to 18 (3 players)
• Boys 15 to 18 (3 players)
For Golf Canada Chief Sport Officer Jeff Thompson, hosting the CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge leading into the RBC Canadian Open will bring a heightened level of excitement for juniors looking to qualify for the National Event.
“CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge is an exciting platform to motivate junior golfers to want to improve both personally and against their peers across four fundamentally important areas of golf skill development,” said Thompson. “We are excited to host the National Event this year on the same grounds as the RBC Canadian Open just days before PGA TOUR stars vie for our National Open title.”
The winners of the CN Future Links Skills Challenge National Event in the boys and girls 15-18 age groups will receive an exemption into their local CN Future Links Championship in 2016. All other attending participants of the CN Future Links Junior Skills National Event will receive prizing courtesy of Titleist Footjoy.
“The CN Future Links Junior Skills Challenge is an excellent part of the entire CN Future Links suite of programs, of which PGA of Canada members are proud leaders in the delivery in the program,” said Gary Bernard, PGA of Canada CEO. “The partnership between the PGA of Canada and Golf Canada continues to grow, thus ensuring the continued growth of developing world-class programs for golf in this country.”
To celebrate the event being hosted for the first time leading into the RBC Canadian Open, junior participants will also have the opportunity to test the storied Glen Abbey layout in an exciting match play format on Sunday, July 19th prior to tournament week. Following that, junior participants will be provided weekly grounds passes and have an opportunity to be involved in Monday’s Pro-Am and secure a spot in Wednesday’s CN Future Links Walk with a Pro event during the Wednesday Pro-Am.
The Junior Skills Challenge is one of many program elements from the CN Future Links family of programming, dedicated to promoting the active, health and safety values of golf.
Current CN Future Links programming includes the Learn to Play program as well as mobile clinics, PGA Jr. League, Girls Club, Field Trip and the CN Future Links Championships. As part of its investment in Canadian junior golf, CN is also a proud supporter of Golf in Schools.
In 2014, CN Future Links junior golf activities were conducted at 455 golf facilities with more than 7,000 juniors registered in the Learn to Play program. In addition, 160 golf facilities took part in the Junior Skills Challenge running more than 3,200 juniors through qualifying events. More than 56,000 youngsters participated in more than 1,200 mobile golf clinics across the country. Since 2006, more than 1.2 million children have been introduced to golf through the CN Future Links program.
ABOUT CN
CN is a true backbone of the economy, transporting more than C$250 billion worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, ranging from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods, across a rail network spanning Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico. CN – Canadian National Railway Company, along with its operating railway subsidiaries — serves the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company’s website at www.cn.ca. (TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI).
ABOUT CN FUTURE LINKS
CN Future Links is Canada’s national junior golf program conducted by Golf Canada, the PGA of Canada and Canada’s provincial golf associations. The program is designed to forge a link between Canada’s youth and golf to ensure the future of the game in Canada. Since the inception of the program in 1996, more than 1.2 million young Canadians have taken part in CN Future Links. A number of new initiatives, including Field Trips and Learn to Play, have succeeded through CN’s sponsorship of the program. For more information, visit www.cnfuturelinks.com.
Golf Canada’s CN Future Links program is proudly sponsored by CN, Acura, Cobra Puma Golf and supported by ClubLink, Heritage Canada and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA).
ABOUT THE PGA OF CANADA—THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE GAME OF GOLF:
Established in 1911, the PGA of Canada is the second oldest and third largest professional golf association in the world. The PGA of Canada is a non-profit Association comprised of 3,700 golf professionals across the country. The Association’s mandate is to develop, promote and support our Members as experts in the game and business of golf and, in so doing, serve both its Members’ needs and those of the golfing public through the Association’s varied programs and events. The Association consists of the National Office located in Acton, Ont., and nine Zone Offices across the country.
GOLF CANADA – LOVE THE GAME. GROW THE GAME.
Golf Canada is the National Sports Organization and governing body for golf in Canada representing close to 310,000 golfers at more than 1,400 member clubs across the country. A proud member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Golf Canada’s mission is to grow participation, excellence and passion in the sport while upholding the integrity and traditions of the game. By investing in the growth of the sport and introducing more participants of all ages to the game, our goal is to be relevant to and respected by all Canadian golf enthusiasts from coast to coast. For more information about what Golf Canada is doing to support golf in your community, visit www.golfcanada.ca.
For more information, contact:
Golf Canada:
Dan Pino
Director, Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-800-263-0009 ext.: 406
Cell: 416-434-5525
Email: dpino@golfcanada.ca
PGA of Canada:
Chris Fry
Managing Director, Corporate Communications & Digital Media
PGA of Canada
1-800-782-5764 EXT. 234