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Corey Conners has a good story to someday tell his first child, whom he and his wife, Malory, are expecting this fall. The Canadian can recount his Olympic experience, wearing the Maple Leaf and playing for his country in a sport that is usually about personal rewards.
“Yeah, it’s going to be kind of cool to be able to share that experience with him or her,” Conners said Sunday after finishing the Olympic golf tournament in 13th place, five shots behind gold medalist Xander Schauffele of the United States. “It’s awesome to be an Olympian. It feels just amazing to feel all the support from everyone across the country and putting on the Canadian shirt every day is definitely a special meaning and special feel to it.”
Conners had the kind of weekend that can win championships. He shot 5-under-par 66 Saturday and then one stroke better than that on Sunday. But his relatively slow start in the first two rounds, on a soft Kasumigaseki Country Club that was there for the taking all week, left him with too big a challenge to overcome.
Conners’ four-round score of 13-under 271 was two shots away from the seven-way playoff for the bronze medal, won by C.T. Pan of Taiwan. Rory Sabbatini, representing Slovakia, took the silver after an Olympic-record final round of 61.
Like Conners, fellow Ontarian and close friend Mackenzie Hughes entered the final round seven shots off the lead and five shots away from the podium. But he faltered badly Sunday, shooting 4-over 75 to plummet to 50th spot. “I sucked, like, the whole day and, yeah, super disappointing,” Hughes said.
Still, the experience in Japan whetted his appetite for more Olympic moments. He’s already looked ahead to the next Games, in Paris in 2024. “I’m just really disappointed in the effort that I had this week and, yeah, it will sting for a while, but it will make me work hard for Paris and hopefully I’ll be part of that team.”
The women’s Olympic golf tournament begins Thursday on the same Kasumigaseki course, with Canadians Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp in the field of 60, reprising their tandem from the Rio Games in 2016. Henderson is among the favourites.
The Olympics golf tournament brought out first-tee jitters like no others for Conners and Hughes.
Conners stood alongside playing partners Marc Leishman and local favourite Hideki Matsuyama as the event began last Thursday, TV cameras tight in their faces as they were announced at Kasumigaseki Country Club. “My heart was beating a little faster than normal on the first tee,” Conners said after the opening round.
Hughes, who, like Conners, was competing in his first Olympics, said he tried to treat the Games and its first tee shot like any other tournament, but acknowledged a different feeling.
“Maybe an extra deep breath and you just try and embrace it,” he said. “But I definitely felt like it was the start of the Olympics, not anything else.”
The intensity wore off a bit, though, as the first round went on, as there were no fans permitted because of COVID-19 safety precautions, harkening back to some events on the PGA Tour in 2020 played before empty stands. A rain delay further dampened the buzz. But Conners, at least, had the company of a large Japanese media contingent following Matsuyama.
Both Conners and Hughes opened with two-under-par 69s.
Conners and Hughes won’t be around for the finish of the Tokyo Olympics. They have regular jobs on the PGA Tour to return to, and Games organizers require all athletes to vacate Japan within 48 hours of their competition’s conclusion.
But the golfers still got a chance to wear their Team Canada closing ceremony attire – including a denim jacket, or what’s affectionately called at home a “Canadian tuxedo.”
They sported the jackets at a dinner the night before the first round. They booked a private room at the hotel where they’re staying, and shared a meal with their wives, caddies and coach Derek Ingram.
“We decided to throw on the denim jackets, just, I don’t know, just to have some fun with it,” Conners said.
While Olympians were prohibited from bringing spouses or other family members, Hughes and Conners got around the ban by registering their wives as coaches. And what advice did they bring?
“Oh, yeah, there’s lots of on-course instruction out there,” Hughes said tongue-in-cheek ahead of the opening round, “and I know that my wife only expects the ball to go in the hole from anywhere on the golf course. So it doesn’t matter where I am, it needs to go in the hole or it’s not up to par.”
In non-Olympics news, Nicole Gal showed her mastery of golf’s three most fundamental skills when she won her age division at the Drive, Chip & Putt competition at Augusta National in 2019. This month, the Oakville, Ontario, teenager proved she has a complete game, too.
Gal, 16, blew away the field at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship, posting a 13-under-par 275 that gave her a 12-shot victory over runner-up (and buddy) Katie Cranston, also of Oakville.
“I was lucky to play with my best friend so we kept each other smiling and
I think that was a big factor,” said Gal, who moved up 168 spots in the world amateur ranking to No. 811.
The victory at Leduc Golf Club in Leduc, Alberta, adds to a growing résumé for the precocious teen, who joined Canada’s national junior team this year and placed second at the 2020 Ontario Junior Girls.
The win also earned her a spot in the 107th Canadian Women’s Amateur, played last week at Edmonton Petroleum Golf and Country Club in Spruce Grove, Alberta.
Gal, squaring off against an exclusively Canadian field because of lingering pandemic-related travel restrictions that prevented international players from attending, finished in second place, just two shots behind winner Lauren Zaretsky.
For Zaretsky, a 17-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario, it was the biggest win of her amateur career. The world No. 2,677 was the only player in the Canadian Women’s Amateur to finish under par and she upset stars such as Monet Chun, Céleste Dao, Noémie Paré, Mary Parsons and Sarah-Ève Rhéaume.
The Shaw Charity Classic this month will have five World Golf Hall of Fame members in its field – Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer, José María Olazábal, Vijay Singh and Colin Montgomerie.
“This incredible group have delivered countless memorable moments in our game throughout their illustrious careers and I know they are determined to put on another great show in Calgary,” said Sean Van Kesteren, executive director of the PGA Tour Champions event.
They’ll be joined by 10 other players who won major tournaments during their PGA Tour days, including Canadian Mike Weir, as well as former Shaw champions Wes Short and Rocco Mediate. Play at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club in Calgary begins Aug. 13.
Prince Edward Island is holding a tournament this fall that will help it rekindle its golf tourism business – and maybe a few romances. The Cavendish Beach Couples Classic in early October is a non-competitive event that features not only two rounds of golf (at the Eagles Glenn and Green Gables courses) but also a smorgasbord of local food and drink, including oysters and craft beer.
PEI, like many provinces on the East Coast, has lost some of its business during the past 18 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has limited travel to the region.
Organizers say the Cavendish event is suitable for golfers of all levels, even beginners.
Top: Canada's Corey Conners surged to a 10th-place finish in Tokyo, two shots shy of playoff for bronze medal.
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