Quick Facts
About the Tour:
The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour is Canada’s number one-played Junior Golf Tour as well as the only national junior tour run exclusively by PGA of Canada Professionals and the ‘Road to College Golf’ in Canada. The organization is supported by valued Premier, Tournament and Product Partners. The MJT hosts 100 events across Canada, including free Ford Go Golf Junior Clinics, the MJT Mini Tour for 12U and multi-day events for competitive players aged 11-19 which also offer qualifiers for international tournaments. The program has annual awards, scholarships and incentives to help reward performance and participation throughout each season. MJT alumni include many Professional Tour players and PGA of Canada Professionals, as well as Canadian Amateur, National and Provincial Junior Champions. The MJT aims to develop champions, in golf and in life, promoting the game from grassroots through to the provincial, national, university and professional levels.
Program Description:
The non-profit Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour is Canada’s #1 played junior golf tour and is run exclusively by PGA of Canada Professionals. The Maple Leaf Junior Golf Tour, formerly the Western Canada Junior Golf Tour, expanded from an original base in British Columbia in 1999 to include the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the Maritimes. The MJT is proud to play a role in developing champions, including several Canadian National Junior Champions such as Nick Taylor, Kevin Klebe, Mike Mezei, Darren Wallace, Mitchell Fox, Chris Crisologo, Inah Park, Soo Bin Kim, Eugene Wong, Adam Svensson, Adam Hadwin, and many Future Links and Provincial Junior Champions.
The MJT also provides opportunities for young Canadians to learn how to golf and introduces players as young as four years old to the game via free Ford Go Golf! instructional clinics. In addition, the MJT encourages young players to further their education with scholarship monies, as well as providing letters of recommendation, aid in recruitment and other support services for the procurement of college scholarships. All MJT Tournament Directors are qualified PGA of Canada Professionals who instruct golf and run tournaments, building golf skills and teaching sportsmanship and etiquette, fostering the meeting of new people and having fun. The MJT is proud to offer the best value to parents and junior golfers and is the only program with favourable refund policies, free clinics and significant subsidy of international competition, reducing the cost burden for juniors where possible.
Administered By:
PGA of Canada Professionals: Murray Poje, Chris Hood, Trent Matson, Jeff Chambers, Adam Boge, Dave Smallwood, Dylan Smallwood, Henry Brunton, and Andrew Noseworthy. Founding Directors included past and current Golf Canada National Coaches Dean Spriddle, Robert Ratcliffe, Derek Ingram, Pat DeCoste, Neil Bidewelll, Mike Skimson, Louis Melanson, Ed Boge and Garth Goodbrandson.
Program Objectives:
The program offers a schedule of professionally run tournaments, free instructional clinics and affiliation with instructional academies with the objective to improve golf skills, help build golfing resumes, learn sportsmanship and etiquette, and develop - from an early age - a lifelong enjoyment of the game.
Program Elements:
Free instructional clinics; one, two and three day events; affiliated instructional academies. Many events ranked by Golf Canada's Future Links National Junior Order of Merit, the MJT's Regional Order of Merit and the provincial associations of BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia all recognize various events towards their respective Orders of Merit. Internationally, the MJT is recognized by ranking systems from Junior Golf Scoreboard, the AJGA (American Junior Golf Association), Global Junior Golf Rankings and the World Amateur Golf Rankings administered through the R&A. The MJT is the Official Junior Golf Tour of the Saskatchewan Golf Association’s Order of Merit and the Official Player of the Year Series Tour for Golf New Brunswick and the Nova Scotia Golf Association.
The MJT also qualifies members for three major junior golf tournaments in the US: IMG Academy Junior World Championship, US Kids World Championship and as Canada's exclusive qualifying tour for Future Champions Golf World Championship.
Target Market(s):
Young people who enjoy golf; specifically those who would like to improve their game by receiving good instruction and playing in competitive events.
Current Members & Alumni
MJT alumni include top-rated players such as PGA Tour players Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Roger Sloan and Corey Conners. In addition, alumni include players on the LPGA Tour, KornFerry Tour, PGA Tour Canada and Symetra Tour.
Inception Date:
1999
Program Partners:
Many great companies, including Ford of Canada, adidas Golf Canada, Cam Clark Ford, Maui Jim, Zeal Optics, Odlum Brown Ltd., and Booster Juice. Please reference the partner section on website for the full list of MJT Tournament and Product Partners.
Contact:
Murray Poje, PGA of Canada
Executive Director
1-877-859-GOLF
jrtour@maplejt.com
Website:
www.maplejt.com