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Mary Parsons next on the tee for Canada

It was quite the whirlwind summer of golf for Mary Parsons. She won the bronze medal with the Canadian mixed team and placed fifth in the women’s individual event at 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
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Two of CanadaÕs top young golfers, Emily Zhu of Richmond, left, and Mary Parsons of Delta, played in the Astor Trophy tournament at Royal Colwood in August, and theyÕll spend the winter and spring at Bear Mountain as part of the national junior team.

It was quite the whirlwind summer of golf for Mary Parsons. She won the bronze medal with the Canadian mixed team and placed fifth in the women’s individual event at 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru. That was followed by representing Canada at Royal Colwood in the quadrennial Astor Trophy, which brought together the best young female golfers playing for their national sides from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Great Britain/Ireland. Sandwiched in-between was the CP Canadian Open in Aurora, Ont.

The 2018 B.C. women’s amateur champion from Delta, who played NCAA at Indiana University for the Hoosiers, headlines the list for Canada’s 2020 national junior and amateur teams that will be centralized on Bear Mountain from February through early June.

“I am always proud to play while wearing the Maple Leaf,” said Mayfair Lakes-member Parsons, during the Astor Trophy.

Joining Parsons on Bear Mountain next year will be two of her Canadian squad Astor Trophy teammates from Royal Colwood — Noémie Paré of Victoriaville, Que., and Emily Zhu of Richmond Hill, Ont.

Parsons and Paré were named to the Canadian women’s amateur team, along with Sarah-Eve Rhéaume of Quebec City and Brigitte Thibault of Rosemère, Que.

The men’s amateur squad to be centralize on the Bear includes Étienne Papineau of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., Cougar Collins from Caledon, Ont., Sam Meek |of Peterborough, Ont., Brendan MacDougall of Calgary and Noah Steele of Kingston, Ont.

Joining Zhu on the women’s national junior (U-19) team in Langford will be Angela Arora and Angel Mu Chen Lin, both of Surrey, and Monet Chun from Richmond Hill.

The junior national men’s team will consist of Laurent Desmarchais from Longueuil, Que., Jace Minni of Delta, J.P. Parr of St-Célestin, Que., Bennett Ruby from Waterloo, Ont. and Malik Dao from Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Que.

Derek Ingram of Winnipeg returns to the Island as men’s amateur team head coach while Robert Ratcliffe of Comox will will coach the junior boys’ squad. Tristan Mullally of Dundas, Ont., is women’s amateur team head coach and Matt Wilson of Newmarket, Ont., the junior girls’ lead coach.

“Derek and Tristan have had tremendous success with Team Canada athletes. And the evolution of our national team program will see Robert and Matt continue in their significant role of leading the centralized training program at Bear Mountain,” said Jeff Thompson, chief sport officer for Golf Canada.

The teams represent a big chunk of the future of Canadian golf.

“Each of them [golfers] will be fantastic ambassadors representing Canada on the global golf stage,” said Thompson.

This will be the third year for the Golf Canada national team program on Bear Mountain, which provides centralized training, accommodation and education for athletes, who also receive instruction in the areas of mental performance, physiotherapy, biomechanics and nutrition.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com