Golf Canada hoping to increase PGA, LPGA Tour players

TSN Senior Reporter

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It’s hard to argue that Golf Canada’s player development program has been anything but a success since its inception in 2005. Although it took some time, the growth in elite men and women golfers from this country has been almost staggering.

Last month, nine men set a record for the most Canadians to play in a PGA Tour event. And if it’s not quantity, it’s quality. Brooke Henderson, at 24, is the winningest Canadian golfer of all time.

But Golf Canada isn’t satisfied. It believes there is more where all this came from and has announced that it will enhance and expand the current program with a goal of getting a combined 30 players on the LPGA and PGA tours within a decade. There are currently 13 golfers with status on both circuits.

It’s a lofty goal but one that Kevin Blue feels is quite reachable. In his role as Golf Canada’s chief sport officer, Blue undertook a review of the existing program and came to the conclusion that there was potential to put Canadian golf on a higher trajectory.

While the target may appear lofty, Blue said that when the player development program was first launched, its goal was to get five men into the top 200, which it achieved.

“Some people didn’t think that was possible,” Blue stated. “But we’re setting our sites even higher because we think it can be done.”

The reason for the optimism comes from detailed research done by analyzing global golf – particularly countries with a similar climate and demographic to Canada, by interviewing stakeholders involved in high-performance golf, and by building the framework for the new plan.

Many of the top Canadian golfers were also interviewed for their experiences moving through the program.

There are plenty of