Golf Canada reveals roster of amateur athletes for Team Canada in 2025

Oakville, Ont. – Golf Canada is proud to announce the names of 29 amateur athletes named to the 2025 men’s and women’s Team Canada and Team Canada – NextGen squads. Golf Canada’s National Team program supports a group of experienced amateurs on the path towards playing professional golf along with a group of young professional golfers building their careers as touring pros. The program provides individualized training and competition support with a goal to help advance 30 Canadian athletes to the LPGA and PGA TOUR by 2032. Athletes are selected based on results from the previous season (September 2023-August 2024), with the Team Canada – NextGen program also considering performance at Golf Canada’s annual Selection Camps. Professional players that will be part of the 2025 Team Canada squad will be announced at a later date, upon the completion of Qualifying Tournaments. “Golf Canada is proud to announce the amateur athletes that will be part of our 2025 Team Canada and Team Canada – NextGen squads and we look forward to supporting their continued development in the journey to competing on the LPGA and PGA TOUR,” said Emily Phoenix, Director, High Performance, Golf Canada. “Our collective heartfelt thanks as well to the generous Golf Canada Foundation donors who continue to support the player development program as well as our corporate partners who play a critical role in allowing Canada’s top golfing athletes to compete at the highest levels of our sport.” National Team coaches work with Team Canada athletes and their personal support teams to develop annual training plans and identify areas to impact athlete growth in all areas of their game. Athletes are also supported by a comprehensive sport science team that includes mental performance, physical conditioning, and mental health supports. Players are brought together regularly for training camps with national team coaches and sport science staff. The Team Canada – NextGen program also supports juniors and young amateurs who are pursuing collegiate golf as a competitive pathway. The coaching staff for the men’s and women’s Team Canada squads will return in full for the 2025 season. Team Canada – Men will be led by Derek Ingram (Winnipeg, Man.) and Assistant Coaches Louis Melanson (Moncton, N.B.) and Benoit Lemieux (Montréal, Que.). They will be joined by Mental Performance Coach Dr. Adrienne Leslie-Toogood (Winnipeg, Man.) and Strength & Conditioning Coach Greg Redman (Kelowna, B.C.). Team Canada Women will be led by Stollery Family Women’s Head Coach Salimah Mussani (Vancouver, B.C.) along with Associate Coach Jennifer Greggain (Vancouver, B.C.), Strength & Conditioning Coach Andrea Kosa (Calgary, Alta.) and and a mental performance coach that will be added following an ongoing recruitment process.

The Team Canada – Women’s and Men’s squads provide support to developing professionals and amateur players who are on track to turn professional in the near future. The Women’s Amateur Team is led by 2023 Canadian Women’s Amateur champion, Lauren Kim of Surrey, B.C. Kim won The Peloton Glencoe Invitational as part of the She Plays Golf Championship Series this summer, earning a spot in the field at the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open. Katie Cranston and Nicole Gal, both of Oakville, Ont. return for their fifth seasons with the program. Lauren Zaretsky of Thornhill, Ont. returns for her fourth season while there are three newcomers for 2025. Tillie Claggett (Calgary, Alta.) joins the team and is in her Junior year at Vanderbilt University. Making the jump up from Team Canada – NextGen (Girls) are Vanessa Borovilos (Etobicoke, Ont.) and Vanessa Zhang (Vancouver, B.C.). Both Borovilos and Zhang were part of Team Canada’s historical win at the 2023 World Junior Girls Golf Championship. Borovilos is in her first year at Texas A&M University, while Zhang finished T3 at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship this summer and is currently in her first year at Harvard University. The 2025 Men’s squad will be composed of a group of professionals to be named later in 2024 and features two amateurs, 2023 Canadian Men’s Amateur champion, Ashton McCulloch of Kingston, Ont. and Hunter Thomson of Calgary, Alta. This past season, McCulloch won the Johnnie-O at Sea Island as well as finishing as runner-up at the 2024 Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship and third at the inaugural Canadian Collegiate Invitational. McCulloch, a Senior at Michigan State University, also competed at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open and the 2024 U.S. Open. Thomson won individual honours at the 2024 Canadian Collegiate Invitational earning an exemption into the 2025 RBC Canadian Open. Thomson also won the Palmas del Mar Collegiate tournament in February and moves up from the NextGen squad to the Men’s Team for 2025.

Team Canada – Women Professionals to be added following LPGA Q-Series.

Team Canada – Men Professionals to be added following PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.

The Team Canada – NextGen coaching staff is led by Boys Head Coach Robert Ratcliffe (Qualicum Beach, B.C.) and Assistant Coach Darcy Dhillon (Calgary, Alta.). They will be joined by Mental Performance Coach Dr. Charles Fitzsimmons (King, Ont.) and Strength & Conditioning Coach Dr. Mike Kay (Phoenix, AZ). Jeff MacDonald (Chester, N.S.) has been promoted to Team Canada – NextGen Girls Head Coach and will be supported by Assistant Coach Jennifer Ha (Calgary, Alta.). Over the past two years, MacDonald has led Team Canada to back-to-back podium finishes at the World Junior Girls Golf Championship, winning in 2023 and finishing as runners-up earlier this month. They will be joined by Mental Performance Coach Justin Fredette (Winnipeg, Man.) and Strength and Conditioning Coach Dr. Emily Wiggin (Dartmouth, N.S.). Tristian Mullally of Dundas, Ont. will continue as the Head of National Talent Identification overseeing the national talent identification system that was established in 2022. In this role, Mullally provides support to a promising group of younger junior golfers (11 – 16 years old) and their existing coaching teams to grow the pool of future Team Canada prospects.

Team Canada – NextGen (Boys) features four returning players including 2024 Canadian Junior Boys Championship winner, Isaiah Ibit of Orleans, Ont., Golf Ontario Men’s Amateur and Golf Ontario Spring Classic winner Matthew Javier of North York, Ont., B.C. Amateur back-to-back winner Cooper Humphreys from Vernon, B.C. and Ethan Wilson of St. Albert, Alta. They will be joined by six newcomers who were all victorious this season including Charlie Gillespie of Calgary, Alta. (NextGen Western Championship), Antoine Jasmin of Blainville, Que. (Golf Performance Center Killington Junior Golf Championship), Austin Krahn of Christina Lake, B.C. (Team Canada – NextGen Selection Camp, B.C. Indigenous Championship, B.C. Junior Boys Championship), Braxton Kuntz of Winnipeg, Man. (Manitoba Men’s Amateur Championship), Justin Matthews of Little Britain, Ont. (RBC Canadian Open Ontario Regional Qualifier) and Jager Pain from Woodbridge, Ont. (NextGen Ontario Championship). Team Canada – NextGen (Girls) features five members of Team Canada from the 2024 World Junior Girls Golf Championship. Shauna Liu from Maple, Ont., captured the title at the 2024 Canadian Junior Girls Championship, presented by BDO and the Team Canada -NextGen Selection Camp tournament to secure her place on the 2025 NextGen squad. Liu added a third title of the year at the AJGA’s CDW Girls Junior All-Star Championship. Joining Liu are her World Junior Girls Team Canada teammates Clairey Lin of Langley, B.C. and Aphrodite Deng of Calgary, Alta. Both Lin and Deng have won twice this season on the AJGA. Nobelle Park of Oakville, Ont. joins the program after winning ten tournaments this season including the inaugural U15 Canadian Championship and three Ontario provincial titles. Park was part of Team Canada 2 at the WJG Golf Championship. Teammate Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. returns for her second year in the program and won the NextGen Pacific Championship and once on the AJGA. Michelle Xing of Richmond Hill, Ont. returns for her second year and won four times in 2024 including the ORORO PGA Women’s Championship as part of the She Plays Golf Championship Series, the NextGen Ontario Championship and two AJGA tournaments.