King's Forest GC to host RBC Regional Qualifier

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HAMILTON, ON – The opportunity to play in Canada's national open championship will start at King's Forest Club for amateur and professional players looking for a shot at playing in the 2012 RBC Canadian Open Championship.

The highly touted City of Hamilton municipal layout that ranks among the top-100 courses in Canada will play host to the Ontario Regional Qualifier on Monday, June 18th for this year's RBC Canadian Open Championship.

The King's Forest Regional Qualifier will feature 18 holes of with the low competitor receiving an exemption directly into the 2012 RBC Canadian Open field as long as the field reaches a minimum of 100 participants.

"We're absolutely delighted to be associated with this summer's RBC Canadian Open Championship," says Rob Gatto, Manager for the City of Hamilton Golf Courses. "It's a chance to showcase King's Forest GC and the entire region as the top players in the world come to Hamilton in July for our National Open Championship."

The field will be limited to 144 players with the top 15 per cent of the field (21 players based on a full event) from the Regional Qualifier being eligible to compete at final qualifying on the Monday of the RBC Canadian Open, July 23-29 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

The first regional qualifier will take place Tuesday, June 12 at Bearspaw CC in Calgary followed by King's Forest GC and finally the third regional qualifying event will be staged at Club de golf de l'Épiphanie in Épiphanie, QC on Tuesday, July 3.

Final qualifying for this year's RBC Canadian Open is scheduled for Monday, July 23 at Heron Golf , near Ancaster. Participation in the Monday qualifier is limited to those competitors receiving requisite exemptions, or individuals who have qualified through the three regional qualifiers. The event will feature 18 holes of stroke play, with a minimum of four (4) spots directly into the 2012 RBC Canadian open field. "King's Forest is an awesome course and it's in the City of Hamilton," says Adam Helmer, Manager of Rules and Amateur Competitions at Golf Canada. "It has the length we need, we can get the green speeds up, it has tight narrow fairways like Hamilton G&CC, yet it is a course everyone can enjoy."

Most recently, King's Forest played host as the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds returned to their winning ways and captured both the respective men's and women's titles at Golf Canada's 2009 Canadian University College Championship. Located in the heart of the picturesque Red Hill Valley and at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment, King's Forest is one of the premier public golf facilities in the country. It's also one of the busiest averaging 42,000 rounds annually over the last five years.

Along with ranking among SCOREGolf's Top-100 courses in Canada for 2010, King's Forest also ranked among the Top-3 least expensive public courses you can play on the list making it one of the best deals in Canadian golf. Adult green fees including taxes are: $60 Monday to Thursday and $68 Friday through Sunday including holidays, with twilight rates as low as $39 and great rates for seniors. It's just $32 seven days a week for juniors.

Designed by former parks foreman Matt Broman, who was 76 years-old at the time, the course opened for play in the fall of 1973. It measures 7,150 yards, -72 from the tips with a rolling layout that features some terrific elevated tee shots, lots of challenging doglegs and six holes cross the Red Hill Creek. The course features four sets of tee blocks with par for men at 72: Red at 5,580 yards, White 6,322 yards, Blue 6,765 yards and Black 7,150 yards from the tips. Par for women is 73. The competitive course record of 63 was set on July 27th, 1986 by Scott Clark in the club championship with the course playing 6,946 yards, par-72.

Jon Mills turned professional shortly after winning the GAO Ontario Amateur title at King's Forest in 2001 with rounds of 75-69-75-71-290. Mills also won the GAO Ontario Junior at King's Forest in 1996 with rounds of 81-73-74-73-301, while Jesse Collinson won the same event in 1997 with rounds of 66-72-72-73-283.

King's Forest is the only public access course in the Hamilton/Niagara/Halton corridor inside the Top-100 aside from Glen Abbey GC in Oakville. The City of Hamilton owns three golf courses, King's Forest GC and the Martin and Beddoe Courses at Chedoke . Built in 1896, The Martin course was the original home of the Hamilton Golf & Country Club, with the Stanley Thompson designed Beddoe course added in 1942. Graham Cooke is the consulting architect for the City of Hamilton golf courses. For more information visit www.hamilton.ca FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Arnett CPGA Head Professional City of Hamilton Golf Courses 905-546-2638 [email protected]

Rob Gatto Manager City of Hamilton Golf Courses 905-540-6378 [email protected]