Morningstar Golf Course Set to Host 2009 CN Future Links Pacific Championship

CN Future Links Kicks-off 10th Championship Season

Parksville, B.C. (RCGA) – Canada’s top junior golfers will compete in Parksville, B.C. from April 24-26 as CN Future Links jump starts its 10th championship season with the CN Future Links Pacific Championship at Morningstar Golf Course.

The tournament marks the first of six regional CN Future Links Championships held across Canada, showcasing two divisions: Junior Boys 18 years and under and Junior Girls 18 years and under. The CN Future Links Pacific Championship will see 99 golfers competing in a three-day 54-hole stroke play competition.

“We are thrilled to start our tenth CN Future Links championship season at the beautiful Morningstar Golf Course,” said Adam LeBrun, Tournament Director for the CN Future Links Pacific Championship. “The talented competitors we have seen at these events over the last ten years have been nothing short of remarkable and we expect that this will be another notable year of impressive young golfers.”

In the Junior Boys division, the top six competitors of each CN Future Links Championship will earn exemptions into the 2009 Canadian Junior Boys Championship held from August 2-6 at Westmount Golf and Country Club in Kitchener, Ont.

The Junior Girls champion of each CN Future Links Championship will earn an exemption into the 2009 Royale Cup Canadian Junior Girls Championship at Hampton Golf Club in Hampton, N.B., being held August 3-7, and an exemption into a CN Canadian Women’s Tour event.

In its ten years of operation, the CN Future Links program has helped shape some of Canada’s finest amateur golfers including; two-time CN Canadian Women’s Tour champion and National Amateur Team member Sue Kim of Langley, BC. Kim was named CN Future Links top female junior after topping the Junior Order of Merit in 2008 and will compete in the Junior Girls division of the event. In addition to Kim, a number of Team Canada’s National Development Team members are set to compete at the event. London, Ont. native and reigning Canadian Junior Boys Champion and 2008 CN Future Links Quebec Champion, Mitch Sutton will compete against fellow team mates Julien Goulet of St. Roch de L'Achigan, Que. and 2008 CN Future Links Prairie Champion Richard Jung of Toronto. In the junior girls division, National Development Team counterparts Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont. and Rebecca Lee-Bentham of Richmond Hill, Ont. will butt heads as they compete for the title.

Starting times, post-round results and a full field list are available at www.rcga.org/championships.

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 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 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 www.cpga.com

ABOUT THE RCGA NATIONAL TEAM PROGRAM
The RCGA National Team Program incorporates advanced coaching, sport science expertise, training camps and world-class competition. The RCGA allocates over $1 million of its resources annually to the National Team program, encompassing strength and conditioning, sports psychology, nutrition, biomechanics and technique development. Players who are selected to the National Amateur and National Developmental Teams represent Canada at six to 10 internationally-sanctioned golf competitions throughout the year. The intent of this comprehensive program is to aid Canada’s top up-and-coming amateur players in all areas of their development, helping Canada produce the best golfers in the world.Team Canada, the pinnacle of the RCGA’s High Performance Program, provides access to world class resources including coaching, nutrition, sport science, mental management, equipment and elite competitive opportunities.

The RCGA’s High Performance Program and Team Canada are proudly sponsored by Titleist and Foot-Joy.For more information about Team Canada or to make a donation towards the development of Canada’s future golf stars, please visit www.rcga.org.

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 www.rcga.org.