Canadian PGA and RCGA Launch Revitalized CN Future Links Program

- New website provides, interactive online experience for participants, instructors, facilities and parents -

ACTON, ON (March 31, 2009) - Canada’s junior golf community will become bigger and better connected as the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA) and the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association (Canadian PGA) have enhanced the CN Future Links junior golf program and launched a newly redesigned website, http://www.future-links.org/.

This national junior golf focused initiative is based on the collective efforts of the Canadian PGA, RCGA and Sport Canada with the purpose of delivering an enjoyable and educational golf program for junior players, as well as parents and golf instructors.

The new CN Future Links program will focus on all levels of junior golfers’ abilities and will better assist Canadian PGA professionals in developing the skills of Canadian junior golfers.

“The new CN Future Links program is the result of the strong partnership between Sport Canada, the Canadian PGA and the RCGA as well as our proud sponsor CN”, said Jeff Thompson, RCGA’s Chief Sport Development Officer. “The program has been modernized and enhanced, not only have we updated the content of the program to align with our Long-Term Player Development guide we have also introduced tools to instructors that will allow us to track players progress over time and will know exactly how many players are participating, what their ages and gender are. All of which are key to a successful development program.”

As part of program and website enhancements, CN Future Links has integrated the newly created Learn to Play and Certified Junior Site programs into its menu of programs.

Learn to Play is a seven-level development program, structured so that each level can be delivered through a series of eight to 12 lessons. It includes an online progress report that is updated by Canadian PGA instructors as players progress through their lessons, which participants, parents and instructors can use to track progress.

The Certified Junior Site program has been created to recognize and promote facilities that are utilizing the “best in class” CN Future Links programs along with having solid policies and procedures with respect to conducting junior programming. The intent of the program is to makes it easier for parents to find junior focused golf programming within close proximity to where they live.

In addition to adding elements to CN Future Links, existing ones were also improved.

The newly re-designed Junior Skills Challenge is an interactive program that focuses on developing the key golf skills of putting, chipping, driving and iron play. The new website incorporates an online Junior Skills Challenge leaderboard, allowing instructors to upload participants’ scores so players can track their skills improvement throughout the season. Another interesting element is the ability for participants to upload their own personal practice scores to measure their progress in specific skills.

Participants will be ranked nationally by age group and skills scores based on their results at official skills challenge centers and top scoring individuals will be eligible to compete in the National Junior Skills Challenge Event, which will be held in conjunction with the 2009 CN Canadian Women’s Open, being held August 31-September 6, 2009 at Priddis Greens Golf & Country Club in Calgary, Alta.

The Junior Golf League is a redesigned organized league for young golfers who have developed the necessary skills to begin playing on a course. The Junior League offers young golfers real game experience in order to develop sportsmanship, etiquette and teamwork skills. The introduction of a new, leading-edge online tool through the CN Future Links website provides everything instructors and players alike need to get a virtual league started.

“The Canadian PGA is proud to help introduce an enhanced CN Future Links program and the new interactive website which reflect its enhancements,” said Steve Carroll, Canadian PGA Executive Director. “The Learn to Play and Certified Junior Site Programs, as well as the redesign of pre-existing programs such as the Junior Skills Challenge and the Junior Golf League, will undoubtedly help to foster positive learning experiences for juniors engaged in the CN Future Links program.”

The CN Future Links program was designed to play a key role in supporting the development of young golfers aged 6 to 18. It gives children the chance to enjoy and learn the game of golf via affordable and accessible programs. Since its inception in 1996, more than 748,000 golfers have successfully participated in some form of Future Links programming, making it one of the leading junior sports programs in the country.

CN FUTURE LINKS
CN Future Links is Canada’s national junior golf program conducted by the Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association (CPGA) 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. Additionally the CN Future Links Championships provide Canada’s best junior golfers a chance to hone their competitive skills in multiple day championships. Almost 5,000 top juniors have competed in these premier championships since their inception in 2000. For more information about CN Future Links, please visit http://www.future-links.org/.

NORTH AMERICA’S RAILROAD
CN – Canadian National Railway Company – spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For further information please visit http://www.cn.ca/.

ABOUT THE CANADIAN PROFESSIONAL GOLFER’S ASSOCIATION
Established in 1911, the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association is a non-profit association comprised of approximately 3,500 golf professionals across the country with a mandate to promote and advance the game of golf, serving the needs of both its membership and the golf public through professional and junior golf development programs and high-calibre competitive events. The National Office is located in Acton, Ontario with nine Zone Offices across the country. For more information, visit http://www.cpga.com/

ABOUT THE ROYAL CANADIAN GOLF ASSOCIATION
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, the RCGA’s mission is to grow participation in and passion for the sport while upholding the integrity and traditions of the game. The RCGA conducts programs and services to help shape the future of golf in Canada. High performance athlete development, CN Future Links, Canada’s national junior golf program, turfgrass and environmental research, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum, Rules of Golf and amateur status, handicapping and course rating are only some of the initiatives the association leads for golf in Canada. In addition, the RCGA 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 showcase the best in Canadian golf.

For further information on what the RCGA is doing to support golf in your community please visit http://www.rcga.org/.