Bri-ann Tokariwski, Head Coach of the Team Manitoba Junior Girls program, will receive the PGA of Canada’s Tex Noble Professional Development Award tonight during Canada Night at the 2024 PGA Show in Orlando, Florida.

Tokariwski, who is also an assistant professional out of the Elmhurst Golf & Country Club, has been the Head Coach of the Team Manitoba Junior Girls program since 2021. She joins fellow Manitoba Zone professionals Andrew Steep of the Southwood Golf & Country Club (2024 Murray Tucker Class A Professional of The Year) and Dustin Wilson of the Whitewater Golf Club in Thunder Bay Ontario (2024 Warren Crosbie Community Leader of the Year Award) as national award recipients at tonight’s event.

It is first national award for Tokariwski and the first time that three Manitoba Zone professionals have been recognized with national awards in the same year.

For more about the 2024 PGA of Canada national awards, please click here.

It was a rewarding night for two PGA of Canada – Manitoba professionals during the 2020 PGA of Canada National Awards ceremony held on Thursday, January 28.  Golf Manitoba junior development team coach Derrik Goodwin was awarded both the Tex Noble Award for Professional Development and the Stan Leonard Class A Professional of the Year.  Team Canada men’s head coach Derek Ingram was recognized with the Ben Kern Coach of the Year award.

Golf Manitoba junior women’s development team coach Bri-ann Tokariwski was named as a finalist for the Moe Norman Apprentice Professional of the Year Award.

Tex Noble Award for Professional Development – Derrik Goodwin

Derrik Goodwin continues to show extreme devotion to his craft. The St. Charles Country Club assistant professional devours all things golf education to better himself. This is evidenced by his winning four-straight Manitoba Teacher of the Year and four-straight Manitoba Junior Leader of the Year awards. He’s also won two-straight Manitoba Class A Professional of the Year awards. Derrik is certified in numerous platforms and shares his knowledge with both his peers and students on social media platforms and on his own website.

Stan Leonard Class A Professional of the Year – Derrik Goodwin

Derrik Goodwin continues to add to his impressive trophy case. With thorough knowledge in numerous teaching technologies, such as TrackMan, Foresight Sports, K-Vest, and Quintic, Derrik brings a wealth of knowledge to members of St. Charles Country Club and to the players on the golf teams at the University of Manitoba, where he is the director and head coach. In addition, Derrik is a vital member of the St. Charles golf staff — running leagues, tournaments, club fitting, introductory clinics, the junior program, and the Future Links Learn to Play program. He also volunteers his time to numerous initiatives, such as the PGA of Manitoba’s Future Pros program.

Ben Kern Coach of the Year – Derek Ingram

Team Canada men’s head coach Derek Ingram took on even greater responsibilities in 2020, overseeing Golf Canada’s entire development program. He was one of the first coaches to use remote connection tools like CoachNow to work with his many students — including PGA Tour winner Corey Conners — and he shared his golf wisdom on social media with his popular Garage Series tips. Derek also operates a high-performance program at Elmhurst Golf and Country Club in his native Manitoba, where many of his pupils are ranked among the province’s top juniors. Derek is now a four-time national award winner, having been the 2003 Junior Leader of the Year and the 2003 and 2007 Coach of the Year.

For more information on the 2020 PGA of Canada national award winners, please click HERE.

Garth Goodbrandson, Director of Player Development with Golf Manitoba and PGA of Canada member, was recognized and honoured by his peers on October 8 when he was awarded the 2019 PGA of Canada Manitoba Zone Coach of the Year at the annual PGA of Canada Manitoba Zone Awards Ceremony.

Goodbrandson has been with Golf Manitoba since 1997 and was one of the first PGA of Canada members to assume the role of Player Development with a provincial golf association. Garth oversees all aspects of the Golf Manitoba Player Development portfolio including junior player development from grassroots to high-performance, multi-sport games team development and selection, coaching and technical sport instruction. In addition to his post with Golf Manitoba, Garth is the co-founder and former head coach of the University of Manitoba Bison Golf program where he recently celebrated 20 years with the team.  In 2014, Garth led the Bison men to their first ever national championship that was captured on the Bison’s home course at Southwood Golf & Country Club.

This year’s award is the third straight year that Garth has received recognition as Coach of the Year when he was also honored in 2017 and 2018.

About the PGA of Canada: The PGA of Canada was established in 1911 and is the second oldest and third largest professional golf association in the world. The PGA of Canada is a non-profit Association comprised of 3,700 golf professionals across the country. The PGA of Canada develops, promotes, and supports members in living a better life and earning a better living. The Association consists of the National Office located in Acton, Ontario and nine Zone Offices across the country.

The PGA of Manitoba are golf professionals and golf leaders in the community committed to preserving the well-being of the game within the province of Manitoba.

The 2019 spring

Future Links driven by Acura Golf in Schools campaign will officially come to a close on June 28, 2019. Created by Golf Canada in partnership with PGA of Canada and Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada), the Golf in Schools program brings the game of golf to Canadian Schools and is regionally administered by Golf Manitoba. The program has been developed to provide students the opportunity to develop aspects of “physical literacy” related to the sport of golf, and increase student knowledge and appreciation for the sport.

Since the start of May, NCCP and PGA of Canada certified

Community Golf Coaches have visited over 45 local schools and have introduced approximately 7,000 early years students to the game of golf. The lessons delivered through the Golf in Schools program help students to learn within specific skill themes including movement skills, health-related fitness, skill-related fitness and life skills and all in relation to golf.  With less than 1% of elementary school populations playing golf, the ultimate goal of the Golf in Schools program is to change this statistic and offer students the opportunity to develop a skill set and have experiences that will encourage and support their lifelong participation in golf.

Moving into the summer months, Golf Manitoba will continue to deliver Future Links junior golf programming to community centres and rural golf courses through Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.

In addition to the support of Acura Canada, the regional Golf in Schools program received funding support from the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation.

For more information:

Jared Ladobruk
Executive Director
Golf Manitoba
204.925.5729
jared@golfmb.ca

Winnipeg, MB – Physical Education Teachers from the Seven Oaks School Division and staff from the Lorette Golf Course are the newest members to receive PGA of Canada Community Golf Coach training. PGA of Canada golf professional and Community Golf Coach Facilitator Glen Sirkis, lead the session at the Sport Manitoba Sport for Life Centre on Thursday, May 16.

Community Golf Coach is a training program designed by the PGA of Canada in conjunction with the Coaching Association of Canada and Golf Canada to develop and educate individuals at the community sport level.

The PGA of Canada’s Community Golf Coach training workshop is designed for the individual who works with children or youth to introduce the basic skills of golf to them. The workshop helps to prepare Coaches to run Future Links, driven by Acura programs by focusing on a variety of coaching components from the basic rules and etiquette of golf, safety, equipment, using modified games and of course teaching the basic skills of golf.

The training session is a new initiative from Golf Manitoba that is focusing on sport development in the school system. By training and certifying educators and community leaders, Golf Manitoba is able to expand its Golf in Schools capacity thereby introducing more young girls and boys to the sport with physical literacy in mind. The training initiative was made possible by funding from the Alex & Peggy Colonello Foundation.

Head Coach of the University of Manitoba Bison Women’s Golf Program and Elmhurst Golf & Country Club assistant PGA of Canada professional Bri-ann Tokariwski, was recently awarded a $500 grant as part of the Sport Manitoba Women In Sport Grant Program.

Women to Watch

Working in partnership with Provincial Sport Organizations and Coaching Manitoba, Sport Manitoba provides grant awards to female coaches to assist them in further developing the skills necessary to attain a higher level of coaching or increased level of coaching experience.

“I am incredibly honoured to receive this grant and to continue to grow in my professional career,” said Bri-ann Tokariwski. “This will help offset some of the costs of going to the tee talks and national and coaching seminars in November. These two seminars, put on by the PGA of Canada, allow golf professionals from across Canada to learn about all aspects of the game from the ever changing business side to new techniques and technology for teaching and coaching. I was able to go this past year to the one in Toronto and I am very excited to be able to go back this upcoming year.”

As part of the Women in Sport Grant Program, Sport Manitoba also provides grants to female athletes, teams, officials or volunteers to assist them in enhancing their women in sport career. Annual Application Deadlines: June 15, November 15, and February 15.

About Sport Manitoba: Sport Manitoba is the leading planning, programming, and funding agency for the development of amateur sport in Manitoba. The primary focus of Sport Manitoba is on the development of athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers. We believe that sport is a healthy and positive tool to build strong and vibrant citizens and communities.

For more information:

Jared Ladobruk
Executive Director
Golf Manitoba
jared@golfmb.ca
204-925-5729

From April 22-26, Golf Canada will be celebrating all donations made towards the Future Links, driven by Acura Golf in Schools program in support of the third annual Adopt a School Week.

The week represents a coast-to-coast celebration to mark the efforts of all Golf in Schools adoptions. Since the program’s inception in 2009, adoptions have accounted for close to 50% of the over 3,800 registered schools delivering the curriculum. Together, Golf Canada, the PGA of Canada the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), and all provincial partners have aligned to celebrate the generosity of golf enthusiasts across the country.

“Golf Canada recognizes the many investments made by Canadians across the country in support of the Golf in Schools program,” said Jeff Thompson, Golf Canada’s chief sport officer. “It is in the industry’s best interest to support the continued growth of the sport at the grassroots level, which in turn benefits the future membership of facilities.”

For the first 30 adoptions, any golf facility, PGA of Canada professional or individual who adopts a school into the Golf in Schools program from April 22-26 will see their adoption matched with a school of their choice. This matching grant is possible due to Golf Canada’s partnership with the Canadian Seniors Golf Association (CSGA).

In 2018, 263 new schools were adopted, introducing an average of 120 students per school to golf.

A Golf in Schools donation includes the full program kit, which features safe, age-appropriate golf clubs along with a teacher-friendly learning resource. Developed in conjunction with the PGA of Canada and Physical Health Education (PHE) Canada, the learning resource incorporates Life Skills into the curriculum—placing added focus on transferrable skills both on and off the golf course.

The Intrapersonal Life Skills—perseverance, goal-setting and emotional regulation—are meant to instill focus while the Interpersonal Life Skills—honesty, teamwork and respect—embody a sense of sportspersonship.

Following Adopt a School Week, Golf Canada will be announcing all elementary, intermediate and high school adoptions conducted in 2019.

To adopt a school in your community, visit golfcanada.ca/adoptaschool