IAGA Quick Hits | 4.28.26
Carolinas Golf Association Announces Johnnie-O as Official Apparel Partner
From the Carolinas Golf Association
The Carolinas Golf Association (CGA) has announced a new partnership with Johnnie-O, naming the Santa Monica born brand with a significant presence in Raleigh as the Official Apparel Partner of the CGA.
“Johnnie-O has become one of the most recognizable and respected apparel brands in golf, and we are excited to align their style, quality, and authenticity with the CGA,” said Andy Priest, Executive Director of the CGA. “With Johnnie-O’s product, sales, and marketing operations based in Raleigh, the collaboration with the CGA team in Southern Pines has been seamless from the start, and we look forward to elevating the championship experience for our players, staff, and volunteers.”
The partnership brings Johnnie-O apparel to the forefront of CGA championships and events, outfitting staff, volunteers, and teams across the association’s tournament calendar. With a shared presence in the Carolinas, the collaboration connects two organizations rooted in the region and is committed to growing the game.
Indoor facilities have opportunity to host sanctioned qualifiers for BDO National Golf League
From Golf Canada
Golf Canada is proud to announce the first nationally sanctioned pathway connecting simulator golf to an on-course national competition.
Off-Course Member Facilities of Golf Canada now have the opportunity to host and participate in the inaugural BDO National League indoor qualifier. Players who compete in facility-run simulator leagues will have the opportunity to advance to outdoor Provincial Finals as part of the BDO National Golf League.
“We are excited to offer this new pathway for players that compete in off-course leagues,” said Tim McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer. “This new pathway brings great value to off-course member facilities and offers their customers a competitive pathway tied to a national championship. This opportunity also creates greater connectivity between off-course and on-course facilities.”
Off-Course Member Facilities must host a simulator league that concludes by August 31 to be eligible. Competition is facility-defined while being supported by the standardized league guidelines provided by Golf Canada. Following the season of simulator league play, the top player at each participating facility will be eligible to advance to an outdoor Regional Final in their home province.
Top Regional Final teams advance to the National Championship, held the Saturday prior at the host venue of the RBC Canadian Open.
Never Too Late: IGA Champs Director Heads to PGA Professionals Championship
From the Idaho Golf Association
Kyle Weeks has spent much of his career driving across Idaho and Oregon on his way to Pro-Ams and PGA Section events. Chasing his ball for a score that matters is at the heart of why he made a career out of golf. And it’s an itch he can’t stop scratching, no matter how much the rest of his life keeps delivering joy.
“Maybe it’s too late,” the IGA Director of Rules and Competitions said, forced to reflect on the state of his competitive ambitions from behind the wheel of a green-and-white, IGA-branded Toyota Highlander on his way to a Pro-Am event at Canyon Springs. “I never felt as sharp as I did before.”
The thought that it might be too late was, in part, the product of a career shift that put him in the driver’s seat of that car. With two daughters under five years old at home, the Saturday-Sunday grind of a club professional promised to steal him from moments he refused to be stolen from. But preserving weekends with his wife and daughters would also mean fewer chances to play on Mondays and Tuesdays, when most club professionals trade tee sheets and landlines for competitive reps.
Beginners Luck? Norton Teenager Makes Ace in his First Ever Round of Golf
From Mass Golf
The ball didn’t look like much off the club. It came out low, hit the ground early, and started to bounce, nothing unusual for a beginner still figuring things out.
But then it kept going, rolling closer to the green than expected, picking up just enough speed to stay alive as it tracked toward the flag on the roughly 60-yard 3rd hole, the shortest of the 18 holes at The Links at Mass Golf.
For a moment, no one said anything. Then the group of teens all started running toward the green, awed by what they just witnessed.
By the time it dropped into the cup, Norton teenager Carter Theos had done something most people don’t accomplish in a lifetime of attempts — he made a hole-in-one on just the third hole of the first round of golf he had ever played.
Not his first of the season, or his first at the course. First round ever.