07/28/2010

- Two-time defending champion Cam Burke leads field of 240 competitors looking to challenge
host London Hunt as well as Redtail Golf Course for Canadian Amateur crown -

London, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada announced today a contingent of top Canadian and international golfers who will compete at the 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship being hosted by London Hunt and Country Club this August 10-15 in London, Ont.

Players making early commitments to compete in London include Team Canada’s Eugene Wong of North Vancouver, B.C., Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., Cam Burke of New Hamburg, Ont. and Mitch Sutton of London, Ont.

Wong, ranked 11th, is Canada’s top ranked amateur golfer on the Royal and Ancient’s (R&A) World Amateur Golf Rankings. The 19-year old captured the 2010 Jack Nicklaus award as the best National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) golfer after leading his University of Oregon Duck’s to a 5th place finish at the NCAA’s Division I Men’s Golf Championship. Wong is also the 2008 British Columbia Men’s Amateur and Junior Boys champion.  In 2008, he became the first Canadian to win the Callaway Golf Junior World Golf Championships and finished 2nd at the Canadians Men’s Amateur Championship.

Taylor currently sits 32nd on the World Amateur Golf Ranking. The University of Washington graduate has a dazzling golf resume which includes a T3rd at the 2009 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, a runner-up finish at the United States Golf Association’s (USGA) 2009 Amateur Public Links Championship and a win at the 2009 Sahalee Players Championship. The 22-year old also captured the 2010 Ben Hogan Award and earned low-amateur honours at the 2009 U.S. Open where he finished 36th. Taylor, the 2007 Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion, also spent 21 weeks atop the World Amateur Golf Rankings (June 15-Nov. 4, 2009) as the world’s best amateur golfer.

Burke, 22, is the two-time defending Canadian Men’s Amateur champion. The Eastern Michigan graduate also finished 5th at the 2009 Ontario Men's Match Play Championship and runner-up at the 2008 Toronto Star Amateur Championship.

Wong, Taylor and Burke all played in the 2010 RBC Canadian Open at St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

Two-time defending Canadian Junior Boys champion, Mitch Sutton, will look to improve upon his runner-up finish at the 2009 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. Sutton also won the 2008 and 2009 Ontario Junior Boys Championship. The 18-year old is coming off his freshman year at North Carolina State University.

Also competing in London is Marc-Etienne Bussieres of Gatineau, Que. Bussieres, who finished 25th at the 2009 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, is ranked 65th on the World Amateur Golf Ranking. In 2009, the University of South Alabama graduate was crowned champion at Golf Quebec’s Amateur and Provincial Match Play championships.

Two-time Canadian Mid-Amateur champion, Dave Bunker of Woodbridge, Ont., will look to grab his first Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship title this August.  Bunker, who also competed in the 2010 RBC Canadian Open, finished T13th at the 2009 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship and first at the 2008 Ontario Amateur Championship. 

Team Canada’s Development Squad will be well represented in London, with Albin Choi of Toronto, Corey Conners of Listowel. Ont., Jesse Gibson of Saskatoon, Sask., Richard Jung of Toronto and Brandon Ng of Toronto all set to compete.

Other notable Canadians in the field include Brett Cairns of Courtland, Ont., Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. and Darren Wallace of Langley B.C. In 2004, at 15-years of age, Wallace made history by becoming the youngest player to win the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship, earning himself a spot in the 2005 Canadian Open.

“The field for this year’s Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship is exceptionally strong,” said Brent McLaughlin, Director of RCGA Rules, Competitions and Amateur Status for Golf Canada. “Canada’s best amateur golfers, including a mix of fantastic local and international talent, will vie for Canada’s most prestigious amateur golf crown when the 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship gets under way this August.”

The 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship also welcomes several international players including Andrew Stewart of Bay of Plenty, NZ. This year, Stewart was a member of the winning team at the New Zealand Foursome Championship and the leading amateur at the Tauranga Open. Another New Zealander, Matthew Perry of Waikato, will also trek to Canada to compete for Canada’s national amateur golf title.

Additionally, American standouts Matt Thompson of Battle Creek, MI, Lion Kim of Lake Mary, FL, and Kyle Kopsick of Lake Bluff, IL will vie for the Earl Grey Trophy, awarded to the Canadian Amateur Champion.

Many Londoners are hungry to capture Canada’s oldest golf championship including Britt Pronk, Russell Goodwin, Chris Battersby and Doug Alexander, who is club champion at London Hunt and Country Club.

The 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship will feature a 240 player field competing over 72-holes of stroke play. The field will be cut to the low 70 and ties following the first 36 holes. London Hunt & Country Club is hosting the championship, with the first 36 holes also being contested at Redtail Golf Course.

An inter-provincial team championship for the Willingdon Cup will take place in conjunction with the first two rounds of stroke play.  In 2009, Ontario captured the Willingdon Cup title - its first since 2003. The Willingdon Cup features four-member teams competing in conjunction with the first two rounds of stroke play.  The best three of four scores count towards the overall team total.

The winner of the 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship earns an exemption into the 2011 RBC Canadian Open being held at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club in Vancouver.

A Monday qualifier, consisting of 120 golfers vying for one of 15 exemptions, will be held at London Hunt & Country Club on August 9th to determine the final entrants into the 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship. 

Click here for a list of players competing at the 2010 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship:

Click here for the schedule of events for the 2010 Canadian Men's Amateur Championship.:


GOLF CANADA – YOU BELONG
Golf Canada – a member-based organization governed by the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) – is the governing body of golf in Canada, representing 377,000 members at 1,600 clubs across the country.   Recognized by Sport Canada as the National Sports Organization (NSO) for golf in this country, Golf Canada is responsible for promoting participation in and a passion for the game of golf in Canada. 

Golf Canada actively conducts championships, programs and services to help shape the present and future of golf in Canada.   High performance athlete development, National Golf in Schools, Golf Fore the Cure, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum and CN Future Links, Canada’s national junior golf program, are only some of the initiatives the association leads for golf in Canada.   As the authority for golf in Canada, the association also administers the Rules of Golf, amateur status and handicapping and course rating under the respected RCGA brand. 

In addition, Golf Canada conducts Canada’s most prestigious golf championships.  The RBC Canadian Open and CN Canadian Women’s Open attract the best professional golfers in the world, while regional junior and national amateur championships provide world class competitive opportunities for Canada’s top golfers to showcase their talents.

For more information about what Golf Canada is doing to support golf in your community, visit us online at www.golfcanada.ca. 

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Terry Lenyk                   
Coordinator, Media & Public Relations
Golf Canada
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