Opinion & Analysis

Vancouver Golf Tour: Growing the Game

Published

13 years ago

Jan 18, 2013

In 2012 we saw the PGA Tour introduce both the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and PGA Tour Canada. The latter being of personal interest as many here in Vancouver believed we would see the PGA Tour Canada make a stop in Vancouver when the 2013 schedule was released. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as corporate Vancouver didn’t step up to the plate to continue the success had by the 2012 CN Canadian Women’s Open and 2011 RBC Canadian Open.

Fraser Mulholland has done what corporate Vancouver didn’t and stepped up to the plate by introducing the VGT Majors series. It is a proposed eight-tournament series across Vancouver with each event hosting purses between $80,000 to $100,000, a move that Mulholland hopes will attract players from the United States and give PGA Tour Canada members an opportunity to turn their 2013 eight-tournament season into a 16-tournament schedule with the inclusion of the majors series events.

The VGT Majors Series is an opportunity for aspiring professionals and a move that I hope other mini-tours across North America notice. It provides a place for the best up-and-coming talent to play and more importantly, it helps to grow the game by enabling more opportunities to get tournament experience than the typical college route. I applaud Fraser and the Vancouver Golf Tour for providing the framework that other tours hopefully emulate in the future.

2013 VGT Majors Series Registration and Details

Adam Hadwin will start his 2013 season on the Web.com Tour after missing his PGA Tour by one shot at the final stage of Q-School. It was current Tour player James Hahn who birdied No. 18 and decided Hadwin’s fate. It was a disappointing finish at Q-School, but Hadwin will be getting other opportunities this season to play on the Tour by way of Monday qualifiers and sponsors exemptions.

Hadwin is one of the top Canadian golfers, and one of the biggest success stories of the Vancouver Golf Tour. It was the VGT Tour that provided Hadwin a place to develop his game and play against some of the top professionals in British Columbia. In three seasons on the VGT Tour, Hadwin earned just under $40,000 and won six times. I anticipate that it’s only matter of time before he’s on the PGA Tour full-time, but in the interim you can see Hadwin in Callaway Golf commercials and out on the Web.com Tour.

The success Hadwin had on the VGT Tour has also been enjoyed by other top Canadians, Eugene Wong and Nick Taylor. Because the VGT pays the Q-School entry to the Order of Merit winner, and gives aspiring professionals the ability to play a full schedule of events at a fraction of the cost of other mini tours, I expect the list of VGT Tour graduates will continue to grow.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

5 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

7 days ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

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Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.